Time is Short

I often think about the time it takes to accomplish something and the time it takes to forget something. Although time is a constant marker, the harder I work at something the faster time seems to go. The funny part is that when I try hard to forget, time seems to stop.

The Lord said this parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing; and 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.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the householder, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you, and go; I choose to give to this last as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’ So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Matthew 20.1-16

Today’s Gospel lesson churned up a lot of memories for me today about time spent with others over the years. I know the parable is about salvation, and more importantly, that we can be saved no matter when we come to Christ, but it is also about spending time together,

The servants who worked all day naturally learned each other’s weaknesses and strengths. They learned to cooperate for a better result. Those who came later undoubtedly must have felt the strain of ‘being new’ and tried hard to fit in. In the end, they all learned that time was short.

What can this parable mean for us, those who may never work a day in a vineyard let alone a crop field? The time we have, to work for Christ is limited. We don’t know when the clock will run out. Do we have only today, or will we be here tomorrow? Will others show up to help us?

In the end, Christ will return and expect an accounting of OUR effort for the time we had with Him. We won’t be compared to how much or how little others worked. It won’t give us ‘extra credit’ if we have been loyal followers since birth, if others just recently discovered Him.

In the end, Christ will expect that we have made good on the agreement that He had with us, just us. Did we live as He asked us to live? Did we work like He asked us to work? So long as the answer is yes, we will receive our reward.

If we compare our reward to others, we will not only be rebuked, but we will also create our own torment. The servants in the parable that worked all day were angry, they didn’t receive more than the others. Rather than being content, they were tormented.

Chances are they didn’t make the most of their time with Christ. It makes me wonder. Did they look at the newcomers in the vineyard and think, “Oh wonderful, now we have help!” From the ending of the story, it seems they thought, “Oh great, now we have to share the money.”

We have all experienced some version of today’s parable. The question I have for you today is, “Did you resent the others?” Maybe you are reading this blog and thinking back to an example of how you reacted to others, maybe not being as committed as you were, or so you thought.

If the workers in the parable had just focused on their work, the day would have ended, and they would have returned home with their reward. There’s a lesson in there for us. If we keep our head down and focus on what Christ has asked US to do, we will be rewarded.

If we spend our time comparing ourselves to others, whether it be commitment or spiritual success, we will lose every time. Nobody wants to be rebuke by God. Nobody wants to experience a reward as a punishment or as being slighted.

It will be up to us how we experience the reward God has planned for us. This we know from today’s parable. If we make good on the agreement we have with God, and don’t compare our agreement to the agreement He has with others, we will be better off.

If we waste the time we have by looking around rather than getting to work, it won’t end well for us. We only have a short time. The parable lasts just one day. The harder we work; the faster time will go. Don’t waste the time you have. Get to work and stop looking around.