Jennifer Tan
St. Thomas More Writing Group (co-leader), St. Francis de Sales Writing Group
When we’re prompted to believe in or deepen our faith in Jesus Christ, we’re also invited to build God’s kingdom on earth. What is it like being on this mission? Jesus uses the parable of the laborers in the vineyard to enlighten us.
In the parable, a landowner hired laborers for his vineyard at different times of the day. At the end of the day, he paid them all the usual daily wage, as promised to the first laborers, starting with the last group and ending with the first. On receiving their pay, the first laborers grumbled, “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” (Matt. 20:12).
The landowner was displeased. They had agreed on the pay, and he had the right to pay everyone the usual daily wage, which he considered fair. Jesus seems to affirm his stance by concluding the parable thus: “So the last will be first, and the first will be last” (Matt. 20:16).
Isn’t it unfair that those who worked the least become first and vice versa?
God also calls us at different times throughout our lives, through various ways—stirrings in our hearts, someone’s invitation, or life circumstances, among others. At the end of time, God’s promise to us is eternal life. Does Jesus’s statement mean that deathbed converts, who would’ve worked the least, will become first in God’s kingdom?
We recall that the landowner didn’t vet the laborers’ qualifications. He hired everyone he saw who was jobless. Weren’t they lucky! Wasn’t he worried whether they could deliver? As owner of a vineyard, he knew how to run one. He would have set up everything necessary, including tools and supervisors for his laborers and provisions for their well-being—for example, food and water, shelter for respite, and first aid for emergencies. Similarly, companies in our time offer employee benefits, such as training, free onsite meals, and medical benefits.
Just as the landowner had asked one of the grumblers, “Are you envious because I am generous?” (Matt. 20:15), he might have said to another, “Didn’t you notice the provisions at the vineyard? Did you not use them?” Or to others, “You’ve been in the vineyard all day, and could’ve used everything I’ve provided. But these last ones endured the scorching heat almost the whole day by themselves, and would’ve worried about feeding their families. Don’t you see that you’d been better off?”
What could’ve been the last laborers’ responses on receiving their wages? Most would’ve exclaimed, “What a generous and merciful master! We’re blessed to be his workers!” Some might have said, “Thank goodness he paid us first so we can leave immediately; I’m so hungry.” Or others: “The day would’ve been more bearable with the provisions here. I wish I’d been hired earlier.”
Which group of laborers would do their best in working for the landowner?
God, too, calls us unconditionally. Answering his call gives us the privilege of building his kingdom on earth. However, we still have to bear “the burden of the day and the scorching heat”—the challenges and temptations of the world. We can take heart, though, that God will give us the necessary abilities and his Church to help us weather them. He who calls us desires us to be first in his kingdom.
Should God call, would we rather answer him earlier or later?