‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. So he told them, ‘You also go into my vineyard.’“They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ “He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.’They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard.
3 sermons cite this verse
… The last will be first, and the first will be last. Matthew chapter 20, verses 1 through 16. It's a symbolic story, and Jesus is showing us that he's well aware of our tendency to compare ourselves to others. He knows that we imagine ourselves in a story of survival, in a race to the top of the food chain. And it's a dog-eat-dog world out there, survival of the fittest, competition for scarce resources, limited attention, diminishing returns. And if you get more for you and your people, then that means I have less for me and mine. And if I want more for me and my tribe, then I have to take it from you and yours or from someone's. And the clock is ticking and time is running out. Jesus understands our default view of the world. But in this parable about this odd vineyard owner, he offers an alternative. Because the owner doesn't see the world through the lens of competition, but participation. Not through the filter of scarcity, but generosity. …
… but God has a plan even when it looks like there are no openings. in Matthew 20 Jesus is sharing a parable to help people understand how the kingdom is set up planting maintaining and harvesting is hard work by all accounts especially in the summer months of the Middle East the owner of the field would go out at 6 a.m. looking for people to handle grunt responsibilities while offering the same wage the government did for those who were enlisted in armed services. Today, the average salary in armed services is roughly between $80,000 and $100,000 with benefits. housing tax credits and insurance and god is saying i'll match that because the government is on my shoulders in case you don't know it god can outdo whatever the world has to offer all. I came to announce to somebody who's under the sound of my voice that your season for having to be a strong soldier is coming to an end. God is getting ready to take some of that weight off of your back. …
… and said unto them, Go ye also into the venue, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again, he went out about the sixth and ninth hour and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour, now they were working a twelve-hour day, about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They saith unto him, Because no man has hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. And so when even was come, the Lord of the vineyard saith to his steward, Call the laborers and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they that came were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny, that is a day's labor, wages. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more. And they likewise received every man a penny. …