Sermon on Matthew 20:1-16, for Septuagesima "Seventy" (Days before Easter), "God is Generous to all who enter"
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. [Welcome to all of our Emmanuel Lutheran Preschool families! It’s a delight to have you as part of our ohana, and a blessing for our teachers to share in the joy of raising up our children in the knowledge of our Lord.] Today the parable Jesus tells gives us a surprise about how the kingdom of heaven works. But you’ll have to step out of the world of full-time employment for a moment to get the right picture. The people in the parable are “day-laborers” with no contract except a one day agreement for one day’s work and one day’s wage. At least the first to arrive on the job have that agreement. The ones who come later only have a promise to be paid “whatever is right.” How uncertain would life be if our employment was day to day, not on a more permanent basis? One thing is for sure, no work = no pay = no food. Consider the life or death value of that denarius—one day’s wage—in the story....