September 20, 2026 – The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. Mark Colbert
Matthew 20:1-16 Year A
Proper 20 (9/20/26)
RCL
The Rev. Mark Colbert
I remember growing up in a time where the phrase “If you ain’t
first you’re last” meant something. Some of us have probably heard that
same phrase. It was used in the very popular movie Talladega Nights.
The phrase simply means if you don’t come in any other place then first,
then you’re last. As an athlete growing up this phrase was used a lot. I
remember when I was growing up in elementary through high school if I
wasn’t one of the captains I was always picked pretty early in sports, like
kickball or dodgeball. I never wanted to be picked last. I always felt bad
for those who got picked last. I could tell that they felt unwanted and
that they weren’t good enough. But someone always has come in last
right? Not everyone can win or be in first, right? I think today’s Gospel
reading from Matthew tells a different point of view from those who are
in last place.
Today’s Gospel gives us one of Jesus’ most unsettling parables:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the
morning to hire laborers for his vineyard…” At first, the story sounds
simple enough. A landowner needs workers for his vineyard. He goes
out early in the morning and hires some laborers for the usual daily
wage. Then he goes out again at nine, at noon, at three, and even at five
o’clock just one hour before quitting time and hires more. When evening
comes, he pays them all the same wage. And that is where the trouble
starts. The workers who labored all day in the heat are furious. We
understand why. If we are honest, most of us feel the same reaction rise
up in us: That’s not fair. The people who worked one hour got exactly
what the people who worked twelve hours got. It offends our sense of
justice, our sense of effort, our sense of reward. This parable bothers us
because it confronts one of our deepest assumptions: that life should be
based on merit, and that blessings should be distributed according to
performance. But Jesus tells this parable not to confirm our assumptions.
He tells it to challenge them. He tells it because the kingdom of heaven
does not operate according to the calculations of the world.
In the world we know, wages are earned. Promotions are earned.
Respect is earned. Recognition is earned. We learn from a young age to
compare ourselves with others: who worked harder, who started earlier,
who sacrificed more, who deserves more. And so when we hear this
parable, we naturally identify with the workers who started at dawn. We
see ourselves in them. We think about all the ways we have been
faithful, responsible, dutiful, committed. We think about the prayers we
have prayed, the burdens we have carried, the years we have served.
And then we notice that someone else—someone who came later,
someone who seems less deserving, someone who has not done nearly
as much—receives the same generosity from God. And something in us
protests. But the landowner says, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did
you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? … Am I not allowed to
do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I
am generous?”
That last question cuts to the heart: “Are you envious because I am
generous?” Jesus is teaching us that grace is not a paycheck. Grace is not
a prize for the most productive. Grace is not a trophy for the most
religious person. And that Grace is not a bonus for those who have been
around the longest. Grace is the free, abundant, unearned gift of God.
And that is good news—especially when we remember that every one of
us depends on grace. This parable is about more than money; it is about
the daily wage in the story is not really about economics alone. It points
to something deeper: the mercy, welcome, and life of God’s kingdom.
In Jesus’ time, day laborers were among the most vulnerable people in
society. If they were not hired, their families might not eat. So when the
landowner keeps going back to the marketplace, he is not simply filling
shifts. He is seeking out people who would otherwise be left behind.
Some had been standing there all day, not because they were lazy, but
because no one had hired them. And when the landowner gives even the
last workers a full day’s wage, he is making sure every household has
enough. This is not a story about careless management. It is a story
about radical generosity.
It is a picture of a God who sees the forgotten, the latecomer, the
overlooked, the one left standing in the marketplace of life wondering if
there is any place for them—and God says, You also go into the
vineyard. This is the good news of the Gospel: No one is too late for
God. No one is beyond God’s call. No one is excluded from God’s
mercy because they arrived at the eleventh hour. Some people come to
faith early in life. Some come through suffering. Some come after years
of wandering. Some come after making a mess of things. Some come
trembling, unsure, and ashamed. But when they come, they are received
by the same gracious Lord.
You know something that interested me about this parable is that
the landowner keeps going out. He goes out early. He goes out again.
And again. And again. He keeps seeking workers. I believe this is the
heart of God. God does not make one invitation and then give up. God
continues to call, continues to seek, continues to invite. Some of us need
to hear that today. Maybe you feel like you are late. Late to faith. Late to
healing. Late to forgiveness. Late to purpose. Late to becoming the
person you hoped to be. But in this parable, even at the eleventh hour,
the invitation still comes.
I have a question for you all. What kind of church should this
parable make us? A place where lifelong Christians and first-time
seekers stand side by side. A place where the mature in faith do not
resent the newcomer, but rejoice in them. A place where those who have
known God for decades remember that they, too, live by mercy. A place
where no one says, “You are too late.” A place where everyone hears,
and knows the love and Grace of God. In a world obsessed with ranking
and reward, the Church should be a sign of God’s different economy: an
economy of mercy, welcome, enough, and joy. So in the end of today’s
Gospel reading in Matthew that says, “So the last will be first, and the
first will be last.” Meaning that no matter how long or how short you
have accepted God in your life all of God’s people will be accepted in
God’s Kingdom together. AMEN
Year A – The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 20, 2026 – The Rev. Mark Colbert
