It Is FinishedSample

“Generosity”

The parable of the eleventh-hour workers is well known. The master of the house hires laborers in the morning to work his vineyard at an agreed-upon wage. At different points throughout the day, he hires more workers, including some that are hired at the eleventh hour, that is, an hour before the end of the workday.

At the end of the day, he paid the workers who had worked the least first and decided to pay them the same amount that he had promised the laborers who worked all day.

When the workers who had worked all day were paid the wage they’d agreed to, they were angry. After they saw what the eleventh hour workers had made, they’d expected more. When we read this story, it’s easy enough to understand why they felt cheated. Wouldn’t you?

But we forget that in the economy of the gospel, we are the eleventh-hour workers. Some people are pretty good at keeping it together, so it’s easy to convince ourselves that we deserve some greater reward. But the truth is, we’re far worse off than we think. Are you ever not “all you can be”? Do you have regrets from a damaged relationship? Do you have a dark secret that you can’t share with anyone? Jesus says, “You. You there that no one else thinks deserves much of anything. I’m here for you. Not because you worked hard, but because I am generous. I give you the same free gift, bought and paid for with My own life, that I give to those who you think are better than you.” This is a free gift of love and a free gift of grace. It’s a love that is given—a love for which you never have to work.