Day Laborers

Matthew 20:1 - For the kin-dom of heaven is like a vineyard manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers in his vineyard.

Clearly Jesus is about to tell a parable. This parable is an extension of his talk about the first being last and the last being first. It will illustrate what he is talking about. Since we only have the first line, it is difficult to say very much about it as a parable, yet we can locate ourselves in the parable and God as well.

Firstly, we can imagine that the vineyard owner symbolizes God, the one in charge of heaven. God being thought of as a king (kingdom) or ruler has interesting implications for theology in America, where we have no kings and our rulers are elected. Theoretically, anyway. What we have is an oligarchy in which the powerful work to keep their power and to keep others powerless. We have spent a lot of energy these last eight months into resisting the more egregious abuses of the current administration. In a similar way, many people put a lot of energy into resisting God. Not God's abuses but rather God's existence. We are accustomed to thinking of ourselves as in charge.

So, many people will see themselves as the vineyard manager. We have an obsession with individuality and self-determination. Not to mention a delusion of ourselves and our country as exceptional. "No one's gonna tell me what to do" seems to be our general attitude. Even some of us who identify as Christian have this attitude. Yet, even so, we are the laborers lining up to be hired, at least in this parable. Which brings up an interesting point about God? Paul says we are slaves to sin or to God. Yet Jesus here clearly refers to workers. The workers will get paid. The workers can choose whether or not to work. Slaves cannot. I think this tension is interesting, but maybe not yet.

So, God as vineyard manager also has implications from the prophets of Israel. A common image of Israel is as a vineyard that God owns and tends. God is our caretaker as well as our employer. (I have never thought about God as an employer outside of AA meetings.) God is intimately concerned about his vineyard (US? Israel?) and hires people himself to take care of it, whether we are the laborers or the vineyard or both.

Quick summary: In the kingdom of heaven God employs laborers (US) to work on his vineyard (US) much the same way we do here today. The Jewish members of Jesus's audience would have picked up on the ramifications of this immediately.
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