For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2Â He agreed to pay them a denariusfor the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.â€
Matthew 20:1-16
This certainly would not go over today. All manner of groups and people would raise a fuss, not just those who worked in the vineyard!
Jesus objective was not to give a lesson on free market capitalism (“Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money?”). There is something else to be learned from this story.
Those first approached by the owner of the vineyard were offered a specific wage for the work. They thought it was a fair wage and agreed to work for that amount. As the day went on the owner hired more people who worked varying hours. At the end of the day when the workers were being paid those who had worked the least got their pay first and received the amount the owner had offered those he had approached first and had worked the entire day. Seeing this they figured he was going to pay them more since they had worked longer. That seems fair and logical. After all, isn’t God fair?  Then when they received their pay they were given the same as those who had worked less hours. That doesn’t seem fair; hmm, isn’t God fair?
Our thoughts about ourselves and about God are often completely backwards. For instance, we seem to think God exists for us. In our minds we are the center of our universe. But this is not true and is our corrupt nature at work. God does not exist for us. We exist for God. We are not the center of the universe, God is. It is this thinking that has caused so much pain and suffering. We were not created to be the center of our universe or to have everything be about us. This self-centered, self-serving view causes us to live our lives in pursuit of things to make us happy. The result is just the opposite because this is not how we were originally built. We can not fulfill our grand design by being the center of our own universe. The way we find fulfillment and subsequently happiness is by surrendering to God as the center of all things, including our own personal existence. We have our position in the world backwards.
God has promised us from His grace that if we come with Him, whether to work in the vineyard or to sit at His feet, He will reward us. This grace, this reward, is not something we earn from a God who owes, but rather is a gift from the God who loves us.