Laborers in the Vineyard

My Lesson from June - I teach on the fourth Sunday of each month to the Relief Society sisters (the women's organization in the LDS church).  I pull thoughts from so many bloggers that I thought I should return the favor.  Hope this helps:

Today’s lesson is from the April 2012 Conference talk:  The Laborers in the Vineyard By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  Elder Holland begins:
I wish to speak of the Savior’s parable in which a householder “went out early in the morning to hire labourers.” After employing the first group at 6:00 in the morning, he returned at 9:00 a.m., at 12:00 noon, and at 3:00 in the afternoon, hiring more workers as the urgency of the harvest increased. The scripture says he came back a final time, “about the eleventh hour” (approximately 5:00 p.m.), and hired a concluding number. Then just an hour later, all the workers gathered to receive their day’s wage. Surprisingly, all received the same wage in spite of the different hours of labor. Immediately, those hired first were angry, saying, “These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.”1 When reading this parable, perhaps you, as well as those workers, have felt there was an injustice being done here. Let me speak briefly to that concern.

First of all it is important to note that no one has been treated unfairly here. The first workers agreed to the full wage of the day, and they received it. Furthermore, they were, I can only imagine, very grateful to get the work. In the time of the Savior, an average man and his family could not do much more than live on what they made that day. If you didn’t work or farm or fish or sell, you likely didn’t eat. With more prospective workers than jobs, these first men chosen were the most fortunate in the entire labor pool that morning.

Indeed, if there is any sympathy to be generated, it should at least initially be for the men not chosen who also had mouths to feed and backs to clothe. Luck never seemed to be with some of them. With each visit of the steward throughout the day, they always saw someone else chosen.

But just at day’s close, the householder returns a surprising fifth time with a remarkable eleventh-hour offer! These last and most discouraged of laborers, hearing only that they will be treated fairly, accept work without even knowing the wage, knowing that anything will be better than nothing, which is what they have had so far. Then as they gather for their payment, they are stunned to receive the same as all the others! How awestruck they must have been and how very, very grateful! Surely never had such compassion been seen in all their working days.

As with all the parables, there is something to be learned from taking the point of view of all the players in the story.  Additionally, the story could cover just about any area of our lives – although this specifically compares to the kingdom of heaven, this could easily apply to actual employment, talents, or other situations in life.  As you relate this parable to yourself, try to put yourself in the shoes of all the players – those of the first hour, those of the last hour, and the householdman.

Elder Holland does a great job here putting us in the shoes of those asked to join in the final hours.  I remember being in seminary and talking about a woman who joined the church when she was 95 years old.  All of us talked about how lucky that she was to have her whole life to “make mistakes” and then be baptized so late in life.  But, a wise teacher helped us consider all that she wasn’t able to have throughout her life.

 Why were the people in the first hour upset?  As most of us do, we sometimes simply look at the final reward of the day.  We neglect in our own lives to see the good that we gained during the journey.  I expect the first laborers hired were able to gain much physical strength that would carry them to the next day’s work.  Maybe they gained new friendships or connections for other employement.  Plus, as Elder Holland explains so well – the first ones taken were able to have the peace of mind throughout the day knowing they would be able to take care of their families.  All of us know what a great blessing it is to have that peace and assurance.

On the other side, can we consider times when maybe we have been those hired at the eleventh hour.  Maybe we are asked to have a church calling that we would never think about in our stage of life.  Perhaps you discover a talent in your later years.  Maybe we have been lax at living a gospel principle that suddenly becomes important to us.  Most of us probably feel like the laborers in the story that we just want even a little something that can be of benefit to us and our families.  But. what joy we can receive at understanding that we too can gain the same rewards even if we are the very last ones hired. 

Elder Holland continues:

It is with that reading of the story that I feel the grumbling of the first laborers must be seen. As the householder in the parable tells them (and I paraphrase only slightly): “My friends, I am not being unfair to you. You agreed on the wage for the day, a good wage. You were very happy to get the work, and I am very happy with the way you served. You are paid in full. Take your pay and enjoy the blessing. As for the others, surely I am free to do what I like with my own money.” Then this piercing question to anyone then or now who needs to hear it: “Why should you be jealous because I choose to be kind?”

Again, let’s stop and put ourselves in the shoes of the householder.  Think about how much courage and kindness it took to do this.  The householder had to have known that paying everyone the same wage would cause controversy.  Yet he chose to do it anyway.  We may not have financial means to give, but we all can give kindness and support.  Are there times that we need to have courage to be kind?  Will we incur the judgments of our current friends if we try to make new friends? 

Are there times in our lives where we may hold back on giving praise or recognition to the new laborers simply because they weren’t there “the whole day”?  Do we look at someone called to a position in the church and hold back support because they haven’t been in the ward that long or are a new convert or maybe just don’t fit the profile?  As a single sister with no children, being called to be a Primary President surely would have been an eyebrow raiser for some – fortunately, I was lucky to be supported. 

Let’s take the opportunity to give mercy and kindness when we have the chance. 

Elder Holland states:
Brothers and sisters, there are going to be times in our lives when someone else gets an unexpected blessing or receives some special recognition. May I plead with us not to be hurt—and certainly not to feel envious—when good fortune comes to another person? We are not diminished when someone else is added upon. We are not in a race against each other to see who is the wealthiest or the most talented or the most beautiful or even the most blessed. The race we are really in is the race against sin, and surely envy is one of the most universal of those.

Furthermore, envy is a mistake that just keeps on giving. Obviously we suffer a little when some misfortune befalls us, but envy requires us to suffer all good fortune that befalls everyone we know! What a bright prospect that is—downing another quart of pickle juice every time anyone around you has a happy moment! To say nothing of the chagrin in the end, when we find that God really is both just and merciful, giving to all who stand with Him “all that he hath,”2 as the scripture says. So lesson number one from the Lord’s vineyard: coveting, pouting, or tearing others down does not elevate your standing, nor does demeaning someone else improve your self-image. So be kind, and be grateful that God is kind. It is a happy way to live.

There are several awesome points from this section that could be a whole lesson itself:

·         We are not in a race to see who is the wealthiest, the most talented, the most beautiful or the most blessed.  I often think that particularly the latter-day saints fall into this trap because we tend to believe that physical blessings are a result of the level of righteousness.  We often talk in the Book of Mormon how when the saints were righteous, they lived a better life in all ways – they were richer, had better homes and clothing, etc.  So, we may look at our circumstances versus anothers as a direct reflection on how righteous we are.  But, as we have learned so much in life – blessings come in many different forms.  And we are only racing against sin.

·         Envy is downing another quart of pickle juice every time anyone around you has a happy moment.  Unfortunately, I can relate to this in my own life.  I recall a situation a couple of years ago when we had a new department head begin.  I was extremely frustrated with the direction things were going for me and I took it out a bit on one of my dear friends at the office who was having things go very very well for her.  It’s interesting now that the roles are a bit reversed.  We’ve both had to work through some envy – although she is much better than I was in the same position. 

·         Coveting, pouting, or tearing others down does not elevate your standing, nor does demeaning someone else improve your self-image.  In our uber-competitive world, that doesn’t necessarily make sense our minds.  Dr. Steven Covey talks about a scarcity versus abundance mentality:  People with a scarcity mentality see life as having only so much, as though there were only one pie out there.  And if someone were to get a big piece of the pie, it would mean less for everybody else.  The abundance mentality, on the other hand, is the paradigm that there is plenty out there and enough to spare for everybody. Do we see the world as having one pie or having the ability to make an infinite number of pies?

Elder Holland continues:

A second point I wish to take from this parable is the sorrowful mistake some could make if they were to forgo the receipt of their wages at the end of the day because they were preoccupied with perceived problems earlier in the day. It doesn’t say here that anyone threw his coin in the householder’s face and stormed off penniless, but I suppose one might have.

My beloved brothers and sisters, what happened in this story at 9:00 or noon or 3:00 is swept up in the grandeur of the universally generous payment at the end of the day. The formula of faith is to hold on, work on, see it through, and let the distress of earlier hours—real or imagined—fall away in the abundance of the final reward. Don’t dwell on old issues or grievances—not toward yourself nor your neighbor nor even, I might add, toward this true and living Church. The majesty of your life, of your neighbor’s life, and of the gospel of Jesus Christ will be made manifest at the last day, even if such majesty is not always recognized by everyone in the early going. So don’t hyperventilate about something that happened at 9:00 in the morning when the grace of God is trying to reward you at 6:00 in the evening—whatever your labor arrangements have been through the day.

We consume such precious emotional and spiritual capital clinging tenaciously to the memory of a discordant note we struck in a childhood piano recital, or something a spouse said or did 20 years ago that we are determined to hold over his or her head for another 20, or an incident in Church history that proved no more or less than that mortals will always struggle to measure up to the immortal hopes placed before them. Even if one of those grievances did not originate with you, it can end with you. And what a reward there will be for that contribution when the Lord of the vineyard looks you in the eye and accounts are settled at the end of our earthly day.

What a wonderful perspective to this parable.  Have there been times in our lives when we simply “threw back” the wages we received because we suddenly didn’t like the terms.  In the movie “A Christmas Story” (about the boy who wants a Red Rider BB Gun), the little boy is forced to eat soap after using unkind words.  He dreams of the day of revenge when he shows up blind at his parents doorstep because he was poisoned by soap!  Do we often take that path – someone who offends us at church and we say “I’ll show you – I won’t show up for church next week.”  Yep, that will show them when our spiritual growth is stunted.  Let us make sure in our lives that we aren’t blinded. 

I love this simple, but complicated definition of Faith – hold on, work on, see it through and let the distress of the past go as we see the final reward.  I think Elder Holland makes a very strong point on ensuring that we don’t dwell on the past, we don’t think of times that seemed unfair and understand that the reward at the end was just.

Elder Holland states:

This parable—like all parables—is not really about laborers or wages any more than the others are about sheep and goats. This is a story about God’s goodness, His patience and forgiveness, and the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a story about generosity and compassion. It is a story about grace. It underscores the thought I heard many years ago that surely the thing God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful, especially to those who don’t expect it and often feel they don’t deserve it.

I do not know who in this vast audience today may need to hear the message of forgiveness inherent in this parable, but however late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don’t have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.

Whether you are not yet of our faith or were with us once and have not remained, there is nothing in either case that you have done that cannot be undone. There is no problem which you cannot overcome. There is no dream that in the unfolding of time and eternity cannot yet be realized. Even if you feel you are the lost and last laborer of the eleventh hour, the Lord of the vineyard still stands beckoning. “Come boldly [to] the throne of grace,” and fall at the feet of the Holy One of Israel. Come and feast “without money and without price” at the table of the Lord.

My beloved brothers and sisters, to those of you who have been blessed by the gospel for many years because you were fortunate enough to find it early, to those of you who have come to the gospel by stages and phases later, and to those of you—members and not yet members—who may still be hanging back, to each of you, one and all, I testify of the renewing power of God’s love and the miracle of His grace. His concern is for the faith at which you finally arrive, not the hour of the day in which you got there.

I can’t add much to this.  We know that in some aspect of our lives, we will all likely be the eleventh hour laborer.  We are in dire need of our Father’s mercy.  Let us share with our neighbors, friends and family this message that we all can come into the gospel and back into the gospel.

I close with Elder Holland’s words:

So if you have made covenants, keep them. If you haven’t made them, make them. If you have made them and broken them, repent and repair them. It is never too late so long as the Master of the vineyard says there is time. Please listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit telling you right now, this very moment, that you should accept the atoning gift of the Lord Jesus Christ and enjoy the fellowship of His labor. Don’t delay. It’s getting late. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.