Readings:
Jonah 3:10-end of 4;
Psalm 145:1-8;
Philippians 1:21-end;
Matthew 20:1-16

Collect:
Lord of Creation,
whose glory is around and within us:
open our eyes to your wonders,
that we may serve you with reverence
and know your peace at our lives’ end
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Reflection

Parables only go so far: this one is talking about God’s generosity to all, his grace. All who answer his call in the marketplace get saved into eternity with him. It’s not about earning our way into heaven as it might imply, any more than Jesus saying to his fishermen disciples to become ‘fishers of men’ meant that they were going to catch people and eat them!

If we’ve been a preacher, vicar or whatever, in the forefront of ministry for years, or if we only just came to believe a week ago, we all get the same. We are all saved into eternity with God. 

Let’s do some slightly dubious maths to illustrate this parable:

           How long is a week compared to eternity? Answer, zero.
           And how long is 50 years compared to eternity? Answer, zero.
           So, what’s the difference between the two? Zero minus zero is zero!

So, in the light of eternity, there’s no difference between a week and 50 years. The point is that there’s nothing to compare with an eternity in God’s presence, and in the presence of all his people. It will be glorious!

And turning to the epistle, that’s what Paul is saying about his sufferings. He doesn’t mind staying in this world a bit longer if his ministry is fruitful: like the workers who worked all day in the vineyard. They harvested loads more than the late-comers. That’s a joy to Paul. It’s working for Jesus: hard but rewarding. But he’d equally love to retire and go and be with Jesus now!

The difference here is that Paul is working out that free gift he has already received – he is not trying to earn a benefitby working for God. 

In the gospels, can you think of one person (X) whose witness was only a one-liner before he ended up in paradise? X said, ‘Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom’. To which Jesus replied, ‘today you will be with me in paradise’.  

But whether it’s just prior to death, or years before dying, the need to repent and believe is the same. It must be done to guarantee our eternal destiny. We believe and declare to others that Jesus has the power to save – as did the repentant thief crucified with Jesus (X above!) – and to trust their life to that belief. 

Jesus once said about some people killed in a building collapse: all of us will eventually perish, maybe unexpectedly. We could make it topical for today: like those who died in recent floods or earthquakes, so we will all perish. 

Two things, then, to take away from these passages: firstly, let’s not think we are somehow spiritually better-off than those newly coming to faith because they are so young in it, whether they be school children or senior citizens.

And secondly, let’s not be slow to share the basics of the good news about Jesus, and our personal experience of it, so that death does not come and take those who have not yet believed, before they have had a chance to turn and be saved.

David Talks