Placing God in the Parable of the Day Laborers

The Gospel of Matthew contains a parable where the Kingdom of God is compared to a wealthy landowner who hires day laborers to work in his vineyard.  Some of the workers are hired first thing in the morning, some later in the day, and some late in the afternoon.  The landowner pays the same wage to all the workers, which upsets those who have been working all day.  The landowner points out that the daily wage was agreed upon at the end of the day, and that none of the day laborers have any reason to complain.

Sermons on this parable normally identify the landowner with God, and the workers with those who are disciples.  The typical reading of the parable is that disciples who spend their lives serving God will receive the same prize as those who do not make a profession of faith until late in life.

The parable can also be read as autobiographical, with God, in Jesus as one of the day laborers, particularly those who are chosen at the end of the day.  It is extremely likely that Jesus, his father Joseph, and Jesus' brothers would have spent their days as day laborers.  We typically understand that Jesus was a carpenter.  Scholarship suggests that the word normally translated as "carpenter" is better translated to a modern audience as "builder." Builders were those who spent days laboring on building projects for the wealthy.  It is also very likely that Jesus and his family did this work in the town of Sepphoris, a Hellenized city located within walking distance of Nazareth.

Jesus says that the meaning of the parable is that in the Kingdom of God, the last shall be first and the first shall be last.  God, in Jesus, became the servant of all people.  God was revealed as a day laborer who would not have been given a second look by the rich and sophisticated population of Sepphoris, to show the world that the Spirit of God resides in all people.  Living in the Kingdom of God means that we will see God in ourselves, and in all people.

What We Want and What We Need

What we want is almost always the opposite of what we need.  This is true when it comes to just about everything.  The foods that we want; that taste good and bring us comfort are not the foods that we need for our bodies to be healthy.  When we want a new television and we don't have the cash, we want to make the purchase immediately on a credit card rather than save up the money first.  At the workplace, when we have something that we don't want to do, we put it at the bottom of our to do list for the day.

This is also true when it comes to our discipleship.  What we want is an image of God whose primary concern is our comfort, happiness, and material wealth.  And we want a Church that reflects this; a community that helps us be comfortable, happy, and materially successful.  And we see the goal of the Church as facilitating our eternal happiness; telling us what to do to be comfortable and to avoid punishment in the afterlife.

Paul says that this is the opposite of authentic discipleship.  Discipleship; following after the example of Christ and reflecting Christ in our belief and practice, means that we live as the servant of all people and that we place others' needs above our own needs. 

This is reflected in Paul's letter to the Philippians, where Paul quotes an early Christian hymn that appears to have been a predominant profession of faith in the early Church.  The confession states that we are to seek the mind of Christ, who was formed in the image of God, but intentionally chose to live as the servant of all people.  God's only thought in Christ was the redemption of the world.  Our only thought should be service to others.  Just like everything else in life, what is best for our souls is the exact opposite of what we immediately want.