Last Will Be First

Jesus said, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 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.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Matthew 20:1-16

As a child I always hated the process of picking teams. Two athletic types would choose their teams one at a time. It was always hard to be picked last, to be understood as less than valuable on a team. The kids who had all the athletic skills and the popular ones, never knew what it was like to be last, the leftovers. We rarely pay attention to the last in line, yet, it is often those who watch from the back of the line who not only survive but thrive. Those who are behind you notice so much more than the born leaders. Jesus remind us today that God is always generous and we should be mindful of those last in line. They are truly important to our Creator.

Loving Savior, you taught us to be humble

to lovingly care for the outcast and rejected

knowing how loved they are by you.

Let us strive to walk with the back of the line

let us go at the pace of the least and the poorest

so that we might witness your love in action. Amen.