The Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost | 20 September, 2026 | A Sermon on Matthew 20:1-16 | by David M. Wendel

 First Lesson: Isaiah 55:6-9; Second Lesson: Philippians 1:12-14, 19-30

Matthew 20:1-16 English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.² After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius^[a] a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴ and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ ⁵ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. ⁶ And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ ⁷ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ ⁸ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ ⁹ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.¹⁰ Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, ¹² saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ ¹³ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. ¹⁵ Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’^[b] 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”

“Kingdom Employment!”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

     I suppose we all have our own true stories of inequity, unfairness and injustice on the job somewhere, sometime in our employment history. I have one from the time when I worked in a Pittsburgh Paint and hardware store every summer and school vacation throughout high school and college. Usually, it was three old guys, or I should say, three seasoned, experienced guys, and me, the teenager who did the lifting and the cleanup and the deliveries in the old Dodge truck. It was always Clayton, Harold, Harry and me. Until that one summer when Harold, the store manager, felt his grandson Mark, needed a job, so Mark was employed that summer. But Mark wasn’t a very good worker. When one of the older guys were around, he would get up and get busy right alongside me. But when they walked away, he would sit down on a pile of lumber or behind the stacks of Sakrete and playsand bags, where no one could see him if they walked in unexpected or unannounced. As the more experienced employee, I said once, “Mark, we’ve got things to do. Get up and let’s get after it.” And he replied, “They don’t pay me enough to actually work.” Which was irritating because we got paid the same wage all summer long, while I did the work and he sat on his—well, on the bags of playsand. But he was the manager’s grandson, so what could I say? It’s enough to say that was the one summer Mark worked there. Next summer, it was just me again. For those of us who have experienced some kind of inequity, unfairness or injustice on the job, as we hear the parable Jesus tells in our Gospel lesson, it’s hard not to commiserate with the workers who complained that those who worked only a short time were getting paid the same as those who worked all day! It’s doesn’t seem fair or equitable. And when the workers filed a grievance, the owner of the vineyard took the side of the Johnny-come-latelies! It also makes us hesitant to go to Jesus for employment advice! Maybe he and his father Joseph worked alone in the carpentry shop, never having to deal with managing employees and figuring out compensation!

     Except that the parable Jesus tells is not at all about job creation or employment policy.  In fact, the parable Jesus tells isn’t about employees or employers at all!  For how does the Lord begin His teaching? He starts by saying, “For the kingdom of heaven is like…” And then He goes on to tell a parable using the image of laborers in the vineyard, but teaching something about the kingdom of heaven—and who receives the kingdom of heaven and why.

    Now, it is important to point out that the reason Jesus tells any given parable explains the message of the parable, as well.  So that the first thing we ask of a parable when we hear it is, why did Jesus tell this parable?  As we’ve said recently, we’ll always want to ask, “What was the context or the situation in life to which Jesus was speaking?”  In this instance, we find quite readily that the parable Jesus tells was in response to Peter and perhaps the other disciples who were concerned about all the people being welcomed into God’s kingdom, whether early or late.  Of course, that’s not such a big issue for us today, but in biblical times, it was a concern because the Jews and the disciples, in particular, were worried, not so much about the kingdom, but about their place in the kingdom.

     The Jews, for example, had been God’s faithful people for thousands of years and many had dedicated their lives to obeying God’s commandments, rules and regulations.  They kept to the dietary regulations as instructed in Leviticus and they tried, at least, to live by the 613 rabinic extrapolations of the law which explained how it was that they would or could keep God’s will perfectly.  Then comes Jesus, this itinerant rabbi and teacher, together with his disciples, who didn’t seem to be all that concerned about the letter of the Law.  Honestly, to most Jews, Jesus seemed to be saying that what mattered most was not external observance of religious laws and regulations, but a relationship of the heart with God the Father, and actually living in that relationship.  So to the Jewish people, this seemed quite unfair, and unjust!  Would God really let these new believers into His kingdom, willy-nilly, without concern for how long the Jews had been toiling and struggling to be faithful and obedient?  Now, these followers of Jesus would get in at the drop of a hat, a snap of the fingers?  This was a real concern for the Jews who saw these disciples of Jesus as getting, so to speak, a free pass into the kingdom!  But, as we said, not only were the Jews upset by these followers of Jesus, but the disciples were bothered, as well!  And why?

     As human nature would have it, they too, saw the crowds and multitudes coming after Jesus, wanting to be his followers.  Just before our gospel lesson, they saw the so-called rich young ruler come up to Jesus, curious how he too, might have eternal life and be part of the kingdom of God.  Naturally, after that exchange, Peter said to Jesus, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”  In other words, Peter was saying, “Look, we’ve been with you since the beginning.  We’ve made sacrifices.  We were called straight-away and have walked with you and lived with you and helped you along the way.  So,” Peter asks in Matthew 19:27, “What then will we receive?”  Surely our reward will be greater than the others. Surely, we’ll have a higher place or better seats or more compensation in the kingdom of heaven, won’t we?“

     And Jesus’ answer in the form of a parable, to Peter and all of us is, “You will receive what I have promised–you will receive–the kingdom of heaven!”  What the parable demonstrates is that we will all receive the kingdom, regardless how long we have been Christians, when we were baptized, how many years we’ve served on the church council, or how much we’ve given to the stewardship campaign.  For the parable tells us that the kingdom comes to us regardless who we are, or what we have done, because the kingdom of heaven is given freely, out of the love and generosity of God—without regard for who we are, or what we have done, or what we think we should receive. For this parable of Jesus is all about God’s grace and mercy, and how sometimes, we begrudge God his manifold generosity, even though all of God’s gifts to us are just that—unearned, undeserved gifts, freely given!

     Which is why Jesus speaks, at the end of the parable, through the mouth of the landowner, to those who were protesting the payment schedule, as the owner says, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?  Or are you envious because I am generous?”  What Jesus says in the original language is, “Why are you looking at me with an ‘evil eye’ because I am generous?”  The Jews understood someone looking with an evil eye, as being someone who is jealous, or as the NRSV translates it, envious.  And yes, that’s it.  The disciples were sometimes jealous and envious of how Jesus, in the name of God the Father, treated all people fairly and equally, lovingly and graciously, not according to worldly standards, not according to state or Federal compensation guidelines, but according to the plan and purpose of God’s kingdom, even though all would receive exactly the same reward, ultimately.

     St. Augustine writes of this parable, “In that great reward, then, we shall all be equal—the first to the last and the last to the first.  For the denarius stands for eternal life, in which all will have the same share.”  Augustine says, “Where eternal life is concerned, there can be no question of more or less for anyone.”

      And while this is “bad news” for those of us who are concerned about who gets more or less from God, it is good news for those of us who humbly know that the truth be told, we’re not deserving of God’s love and mercy and we have certainly not earned the kingdom of God here and now, or eternal life later.  For we have regularly sinned and disobeyed.  We have not followed Jesus perfectly. In fact, sometimes we have not followed him at all!  When we’ve been given a task in the kingdom or the church, we sometimes put it off until we’ve forgotten all about it.  We are lazy Christians, at times, and lukewarm at other times.  If God loved us and gifted us according to our work, our behavior, our obedience, who would ever receive the kingdom of heaven?  And that’s the point of Jesus’ parable.  That all enter into the kingdom of heaven by God’s grace and God’s grace alone, so that we have no reason to grumble or look with an evil eye at those we think might be unworthy, or undeserving.  For as Paul writes, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.  We are all unworthy and undeserving—but just so, God shares His grace freely, with all!  And that is the Gospel!  That we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  That all are saved and enter the kingdom by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ.  So that now, far from being envious or resentful of those who are continually being received into God’s kingdom, we rejoice! We rejoice, give thanks and sing praise to God, the gracious landowner who calls us all, whether early or late, to work in His kingdom, and gives to us equally, the reward that has been promised us—salvation, eternal life, by the free gift of Jesus Christ!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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© David M. Wendel

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Westerville, Ohio  USA