Choose Welcome

Matthew 20:1-16

The Labourers in the Vineyard

The main way to understand this text is not from the point of view of the first employee, but the last, for that is precisely for whom Jesus came.

Jesus comes for the one left out, left behind, or left for dead. Until we accept this truth, Jesus makes little or no sense to our consumerist culture. We get stuck on the unfairness of this story. We commiserate with the angry first employee. We miss completely the miracle that the last receives, and, subsequently, the miracle ALL receive.

Consider the backstory to Jesus’ story. In the marketplace, workers come to find work and employers come to find workers. They all come in the morning. But like a sandlot ballgame, some get picked and some don’t. Remember what it felt like not to get picked? Disappointment turns to desperation as the slots are filled—no one wants to be the kid picked last, or worse, not picked at all. When the stakes are higher than hitting a baseball—more like feeding your family—that desperation increases astronomically. 

The good news comes in momentary revelations throughout this story. 

First, the employer never stops coming to the market. This strange vinedresser never runs out of work. There is always room for another, no matter how far gone the work day is. That tells us a lot about God. God never ceases seeking us. God never runs out of room. God never abandons us.

Second, God’s benefits are not gradated. They are always the same and equal. Grace is grace. So, no matter how long it has been since your last confession; no matter how far removed from the Church and the presence of God you are; nor how dull your sense of faith is; grace is offered fully and completely to you. 

Third, yes, the first employees grumble. So does the church! We erect barriers, doors, and gradations by which we judge the world. We cannot believe nor accept that grace for all really is grace for all. We feel cheated that we’ve worked so long and so hard, yet some no-account miscreant can waltz right in and find a place in God’s presence. No, this will never do! The third word of good news is from the vinedresser—

Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take 

        what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not 

        allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am 

        generous?

The Church finds its own hope and regeneration in hearing and accepting these words. 

Fourth, the unspoken implication comes when the Church does indeed accept these words. Then we abandon our human predilection for comparison, envy, and injustice for the more excellent way of grace. We can tend the desperate, feed the hungry, and comfort the discomfited all around us all the time. We can stop trying to qualify the grace of God. We can stop trying to prove there are exceptions to the rule. We can let go of the awesome weight of judging everyone around us. We can choose welcome. It is far simpler and easier to be open.

That is when the miracle for all comes fully into view. Yes, the immediate miracle is that no form of despair can rule our existence, but the further miracle is that neither can envy or our grudges. Grace transforms all of us. Grace transcends all of us. We can all enter the liberating presence of God in joy and confidence. God welcomes all. 

That is our hope.