Rev. Michael Cofer
Matthew 20
What an incredible day this is! It is one of those exceptional and rare days when our whole congregation comes together as one to worship and pray and celebrate what a great God we have. And not even the threat of rain can take away our joy because barbecue awaits us! No! Because God is here in this place and He is speaking to us today.
Today we heard a parable from Jesus about workers in the field. Some came early and stayed… Some didn’t show up till the last minute. But the landowner welcomed them all equally. How perfect is that reading for “Back to Church Sunday?” So, on behalf of God, let me just say to you, whether you’ve been with us every week since Moses taught Sunday School or whether you’ve been away for a while, or if you’ve never been to church before… Welcome. We’re glad you’re here.
After all, there is too much for us to do without your help. That’s right there in the parable… The landowner is watching the progress of the workers in the field, and he can see there’s no way they’ll be done at the end of the day. That’s why he keeps going back to the marketplace to hire more folks.
I think that’s a good reminder for us. We need as many people working the fields as possible, because we can’t do it all ourselves. What is it that Jesus said? ”The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” What He means is this: there are too many people out there who don’t know Jesus’ love and forgiveness for us to try and go it alone.
Some times we lose sight of that. We think, “This is my field, and my church, and my pew… I’ve been here forever, I deserve to have things my way.” Maybe some of you had one of those moments this morning… I’m glad I haven’t seen someone from the eleven o’clock service arguing with someone from the eight o’clock service, “I sit here every week!” “Yeah? Well so do I!”
We all have times when we confuse our preferences with what’s right. Isn’t that the very attitude that Jesus is warning us against in this parable? Everyone got paid the same, no matter how long they’d been there. But the early arrivers felt like they were better or more important.
But Jesus is clear… We are all equally important to the kingdom of heaven. We are all needed. There is way too much for us to do, too many people who need loved, for any of us to stop working or to turn away help when God brings it.
That means that sometimes the more mature and experienced Christians have to inconvenience themselves for the less mature. It’s not a matter of tenure and seniority; it’s about adopting a Christ-like attitude.
Having said all that, I think this parable speaks to the new folks as well. There are a couple verses I want to reread for you…
“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?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’”
This is that hour. If you have been idling on the sidelines, because no one has asked you to work, today is the day. We need you. We need you to be in your community and your workplace and your home to talk about Jesus, and to live a life of love and forgiveness. We need that, and so do you. But we also need you to work with us here, to commit to being part of this family, because God is calling us to do more than we can get done on our own.
This is that hour. Jesus could come at any minute, and that’s it. So we have to work in the kingdom today as if there is no tomorrow. No benchwarmers, no armchair quarterbacks. Each and every one of us is valuable to the mission of God. Because, after all, the church isn’t just for the people who are already here. It isn’t country club for Lutherans. The church is here for the people who aren’t. We are here for them. I believe most of you all know and believe and trust in Jesus as your savior. Most of you have no doubt that Jesus died and rose and because of that, you’ll be in heaven one day. But what about them, out there? Who will tell them?
You will. It’s the eleventh hour and God is calling you, today, to come work in His field.
