In our gospel reading, we hear of a Vineyard in which some workers put in more work than others. When paying time comes, they are all treated equally and the early labourers among them begin to complain and grumble. Why do the workers in the vineyard complain and grumble whereas the workers in the family farm do not? The answer is simple. One group of workers is made up of family members; the other group is made up of unrelated individuals drawn from the wider society. The norms of behaviour, of contribution and reward, in a family are different from those in the wider society. The big question that the parable poses to us in the church today is, "Do we see ourselves as family with a common purpose or do we see ourselves as a bunch of individuals, each with their own agenda? We call ourselves brothers and sisters in the Lord. Why then do some see and treat others as rivals and competitors?

For the early workers who ended up being reprimanded by the landowner it was all a business affair. Their working in the vineyard was preceded by a well spelt-out contract regarding their wages: a full day's work for a full day's pay. In the case of latecomers there was no negotiation with the landowner. They took the job trusting in the landowner's word of honour. "He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.' So, they went" (Matt 20:4).

In fact, those employed in the sixth, ninth and eleventh hours were told nothing whatsoever about payment. "He said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too'" (verses 6-7). The eleventh-hour people in this parable were not idlers. They wanted to work. It was just that nobody had hired them. Imagine how they felt as day drew to a close. Maybe, they felt rejected, useless, hopeless and have nothing that day to feed their families.

The idea that any employer would take these people on at the eleventh hour, and pay them a full day’s wage, was unthinkable. Yet this is exactly what the owner of the vineyard did. This is the strong point of the parable. The vineyard was the kingdom of God. Those who had been working all day long were the Pharisees and the Jews in general. The eleventh-hour people were sinners and Gentiles.

With this parable Jesus responded to the religious pride of the Pharisees who understood themselves as privileged sons of God as against the gentiles. They presumed it was enough to have been the descendants of the patriarchs and co-nationals of the prophets. They were scandalized at the attention Jesus gave to the tax collectors, publicans, prostitutes and sinners. They were shocked not only that the gentiles will be treated in the same way as themselves but that they will be attended to first: “Thus the last will be first, and the first last”.

And so, this parable illustrates the way in which God is reclaiming the world for true relationship with its creator and for values that will allow all people to live lives that are human in the fullest sense of the word. It is not about working conditions. Neither is it about how salaries should be fixed. It’s about God’s mercy. It’s about God’s abundant generosity. We are not in a business relationship with God, and there is no need to compete with the other for his or her favours. God loves and cares for us equally; he loves us even before we are able to do anything. No one is more deserving or less deserving of his grace.

Today we are challenged to see the kingdom of God more as a family where we are happy to expect from everyone according to their means and give to each according to their need -- as God our Father does.