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September 18, 2011
by Youngshim Mason
Having the experience of being first or becoming the first is a
very important idea in human culture and history. Many of you still
remember your first love, first child, first car, first job, first day of
school, first house… Many people put great effort to become a first;
many companies and even churches put the word “first” in their name. Today, I am preaching for the first time in Gloria Dei
Lutheran Church. Honestly, I had a great desire to do well in my first
sermon because in Korean culture, children are taught that whenever they
do well the first time, it gives a good impression to others, and then it
is not too difficult to succeed in that position unless they are unwilling
or unable to do their job. I was very happy to have several weeks to prepare my first
sermon. I started to read Matthew chapter 20: 1-16. On the middle of the
first verse, I held my head and said, “Oh, no!” because the text is
the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. I did not even have to read
whole text; I knew I would have difficulty reaching my goal which was to
do “very well” in my first sermon. There is something ironic about
wishing to do well in my first sermon regarding today’s gospel text.
Jesus ends his parable with a paradoxical statement, “So the last will
be first, and the first will be last.” Thus, I say to myself,
“Great!” I was raised in the Christian tradition, and I also was raised
in the marketplace. Thus, at a very young age, I understood well the
concept of earning money, the value of money, and the value of labor. I
have learned that there is nothing free in this world; I need to work hard
to earn whatever I need to make a living. Then my effort and deeds will
bring a good result. Countless times I heard about the parables of the Kingdom of
God, and I very much enjoyed hearing the good news of kingdom of God;
however, whenever I heard this parable, “the laborers in the vineyard”
I did not understand why the owner of the vineyard paid same amount to
each of his workers. I thought the owner was not fair and dismissed the
hard work of those who came early in the morning. I
felt very sorry for them. I thought it was their right to complain to the
unjust vineyard owner. When I got older, I took some economic classes, and I also
heard some lectures and speeches based on this text. But still some parts
of this parable did not make perfect sense to me because it does not
follow common sense. I thought the owner of vineyard was a poor
businessman since he seemed not to understand basic economic principles,
the value of labor and wages. I live in a global economy with huge
institutionalized corporation, so my reaction is “If business people run
their business the way the vineyard owner does, they will fail in their
business and end up with huge debt. Today after Sunday worship service, we will have a funeral
service for our beloved member, Lenora Hiller. We will celebrate her life,
and we will remember the promise of the kingdom of heaven. Today’s text
is all about the kingdom of heaven. And I think it may be a good chance to
think about the kingdom of heaven. Is that only the place we can go after
our death? Or can the kingdom of heaven also come here and now? The kingdom of God is the one of central themes of Jesus
Christ’s teaching and life. He uses this parable, “the laborers of the
vineyard” for explaining the kingdom of God. In
his time, many Israelites and even his disciples did not understand his
teaching and life well.[1]
And now two thousand years later, we try to understand or make sense of
his teaching and life. Sometimes some of his parables totally make sense,
but many times especially parables like this become a stumbling block
since it seems unjust and unfair to our way of thinking. Furthermore, the paradoxical declaration of Jesus that in the
kingdom of heaven, “the last will be first, and the first will be
last” troubles our hearts. Thus, some people have gone away grieving
like the young man, who had many possessions, when he heard that “If you
wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give the money to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, then come, follow me.”[2]
Probably some of you may raise critical questions such as: why
didn’t the vineyard owner hire all the people from the market place in
the first time he went there? Why did he go out to the market place five
times? Why did he want to pay his workers from the last to the first? Why
did he pay the same amount of money to each of the workers? Does the
phrase “usual daily wage” mean anything other than its literal
meaning? If he wanted to be that generous, he could have given away his
money without hiring the workers. How about the statement, “So the last
will be first, and the first will be last.”? Does this statement become
a stumbling block to you? I do not know about you, but it does for me.
That statement does not make sense at all in today’s values. It might
sound very foolish. But this foolishness reminds us of Paul’s affirmation
regarding the cross of Christ in the first letter to the Corinthian
church. Paul states that proclaiming Christ Jesus, he who was crucified,
can be understood as foolishness or a stumbling block; however, he reminds
us today that “God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and
God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.”[3]
And he also reminds us today that with the spirit of the world we cannot
understand the secret and hidden wisdom of God. However, it is only
through, by, in the Spirit of God “we may understand the gifts bestowed
on us by God.”[4]
You have heard that this parable is about a representation of
Christ’s return, the final judgment, the afterlife or God’s
generosity. Today, I invite you all for a while to meditate on the
generosity of God since today’s texts are all about the generosity of
God for the sake of our salvation. Let’s read the parable of the vineyard considering our
situation as Christians. This world is the vineyard. God is the owner. The
workers are Christians. The work hours are the daily lives of Christians.
Some of them were called to become a Christian very early age, youth,
middle age, old age or even right before their death. How many of you are a lifelong Christian as I am? I was called
to become a Christian when I was three years old. Since then I have borne
and I will bear the burden of the day and the scorching heat until the end
of the day like the first workers of the parable of the vineyard. Then,
should I complain to God, asking why God called me that early morning? No,
it is a privilege to be called to work in God’s vineyard in very early
morning. Then I realized that my disappointments and my discomforts
with this parable were coming from my worldly point of view that gives
such great value to being first. If I see with the eyes of the last
workers, I would have a very humble heart before the generosity of the
vineyard owner. Then I refocus again and see this is a parable of Jesus which
he uses to teach about the kingdom of God. He does not come to the world
to show us how to become first, successful, rich, or powerful…. He comes
in the world because God loves us so much. He comes to show how to love
one other, to forgive our sins, to liberate us from our guilt, to feed our
hungry hearts, to heal our wounds and sickness, to proclaim the Kingdom of
heaven, to lead us to the Kingdom of God here and now. This parable is pure gospel. If we see the text with the eyes
of law, we cannot understand. We, Lutherans stress the gospel over the law
since we believe that we are not capable of keeping the law perfectly to
earn our salvation. Only with God’s mercy and grace are we saved by
merit of Jesus Christ who was crucified. It does not matter how long you
have believed in him. In the end of the day, we will equally receive
whatever is right in the mind of God. In the day of the Lord, we all will
receive the usual daily wage which is salvation. Our salvation does not
follow the rule of this world. Our salvation belongs to our God. Our
salvation does not depend upon the quality or quantity of the work of our
hands. It is the precious gift from God.
Thanks be to God who is good, merciful and of steadfast love,
slow to anger, abounding in love. Amen.
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