This weekend’s Gospel might annoy you. A property owner pays the same wages to those who worked only a few hours as those who worked all day long. You may think, “why didn’t the union rep step in and straighten out the owner of the vineyard?”

If you think that way, you thought exactly as those who had been hired at the beginning of the day. Of course, you would expect to be paid more because you worked longer.

Remember, our Gospel is a parable teaching a lesson, in Matthew’s words, about the kingdom.

If you lived your whole life very faithfully, would you expect a reward in heaven greater than the good thief that hung on the cross and slipped into heaven at the last moment. If you’ve done more, don’t you deserve more in return?

The early workers responded to the owner’s call as did the other workers hired during the day. Let’s look at it in a different way. If you receive a last-minute invitation to a party, should you receive less food than those who were invited two weeks earlier? Of course not.

The early hires are working away; why does the owner go out later in the day to find more workers? Were those first workers not working as hard as they should that he had to find more? Was the owner grateful because the early hires were not as resourceful as they should be?

The landowner admits his own generosity. The early hires couch their jealousy in terms of justice, like school kids who are jealous because another student who put in no effort on a project got the same “A” as someone who worked assiduously on the project.

The famous Winston Churchill once said: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” In today’s parable, the workers, no matter when they were hired, are trying to make a living. At the same time, the landowner is trying to bring peace and justice into his life through his generosity in what he gives the workers.

We should see ourselves in today’s parable. We have been called early in the day, and we have responded. We need to ensure that we are making a living and making a life for ourselves. We do not need to be in the business of judging others. We only need to make sure that we help others to respond to the invitation that God makes to all - the invitation is certain, we need to encourage others to respond no matter how early or late in the day it is.