Matthew 20

The Ungrateful Laborers

And when they received it, they murmured against the householder. Matthew 20:11.

Once upon a time, there was a householder who had a vineyard. This householder was a very kind man, and the reason why he kept the vineyard was, not that he might get as many grapes as he could out of it and become rich, but that he might give employment to the poor people of the country.

Early in the morning he went out into the marketplace where the laborers were waiting to be hired. There he engaged men to come and work in his vineyard all day. Now these particular men were more anxious to get money than to work well, and before they would engage themselves to the householder they made a bargain with him. They “haggled,” as we say, about their pay. “Look here,” said they, “how much are you going to give us for this job? We want to make sure of our money before we do a stroke of work; and if you don't pay us what we consider enough, there are lots of other masters who will be glad to have us.” The householder offered the men the usual day's wage and the men agreed to work for that sum.

About nine o'clock the lord of the vineyard again went out into the market-place. There were still a good many men standing about waiting to be hired, and them also he sent into his vineyard. But these men did not bargain about what they were to get. They were too thankful to find employment. The householder said to them, “Whatsoever is right I will give you,” and, knowing him to be a just and kind man, they trusted him.

At twelve o'clock, and again at three in the afternoon, the householder went to look for more men. But still he was not satisfied. He was anxious that nobody should be left out, and at five o'clock he went for the last time to the market-place. There he found a weary, sad, little group of idle men. They had been waiting for employment through the morning hours, through the burning heat of the day, until the shadows grew long again. Sometimes a householder had spoken to them and then engaged other men; their friends had been taken, and they had been left; and they were sore of heart as they thought of careworn wives and hungry little children at home.

They were just giving up hope when the kind lord came along and asked them why they were standing there idle all day. “Because no man hath hired us,” was their answer. And how grateful they were when the householder told them to go into his vineyard! How diligently they worked, and how well, until the sun set and they were relieved from their task!

Then the lord of the vineyard told his steward to pay the men and to begin with the late-comers. To their amazement they received a full day's pay. Certainly they had made no agreement, but this was far more than their due, and their hearts overflowed with thankfulness to their kind and generous master.

So it was with the three o'clock men, and the mid-day men, and the nine o'clock men. Last of all came the laborers who had been at work since early morning. They expected that they would get more than the wages agreed upon, and when they also received a normal day's wage, they began to grumble, and to complain that they had been unfairly dealt with. But the lord knew that they had been thinking of nothing but their wages all day and that they had tried to do as little work as possible for their money. He saw that instead of rejoicing that their unfortunate friends had been so lucky in the end, they were jealous of their good fortune. They had been very keen on bargaining, and they had got all they had bargained for. So the kind lord, instead of giving them anything extra, sent them away with a stern reproof.

Of course we all think these early morning laborers are very mean, shabby sort of men, but are we quite sure we aren't a little bit like them sometimes?

I'm afraid we are not only a little bit, but a very big bit like them when we grumble.

Did it ever strike you that when we grumble about things that don't please us we are grumbling against God? We may think we are grumbling against our father, or our mother, or our teacher, or our friend; but we are really grumbling against God. It is He who gives us all things our homes, our kind parents, our friends, our food, our books, our toys; and when we grumble about any of them, we are being ungrateful to Him.

Away back in the fourteenth century there lived in the town of Strassburg a great teacher named John Tauler. Now Tauler was a very good man, but he felt he needed further teaching in the ways of God, so he prayed earnestly about the matter for two years.

At the end of that time he was directed to go to a certain church porch on a certain day. There he would find someone to teach him, Tauler obeyed, but when he reached the porch he found no one but a poor beggar.

The preacher felt sure there must be some mistake; however, he made up his mind to address the beggar. So he said politely, “God give you a good day, my friend.” To his surprise the man replied, “I thank God, I never had a bad one.” Tauler thought he must have misunderstood the beggar, so he tried again. “God give you a happy life, my friend,” said he. And the man replied, “I thank God, I am never unhappy.” “Never unhappy!” exclaimed the preacher. “What do you mean?” And the beggar answered, “Why, when it is fine I thank God, and when it rains I thank God; when I have plenty I thank God, and when I am hungry I thank God. And since whatsoever pleases God pleases me, why should I be unhappy?”

Tauler was so astonished at the beggar's words that he asked him, “Who are you?” “I am a king,” replied the man. “A king!” exclaimed the preacher. “Where is your kingdom?” And the man answered, “In my own heart.”

If you are contented and grateful, you are a king though your clothes be shabby and patched and you live in one room. If you are discontented and ungrateful you are a slave though you be clothed in silk and satin and live in a palace.

Would you like to know a cure for this horrid, black ugly thing called grumbling? Go and do something for somebody else.

One of our novelists tells us the story of the children of a Methodist preacher. They were early taught that “the verb to he is of infinite moment, the verb to do of great weight, and the verb to have of no significance at all.” It matters infinitely what we are, it matters greatly what we do, it matters hardly at all what we have; but we shall not stop worrying about the verb to have until we thoroughly know the verb to do.

There were once two little girls who lived in a beautiful house in a big city. They had kind parents, beautiful clothes, a motor to ride in, and more toys than they knew what to do with. And yet they were never happy. They had so many nice things and so many pleasures that they did not value them. They were often very bored and they grumbled for something new to do.

One day a grown-up friend took them to a children's hospital. There they saw a great many little boys and girls all of them much poorer than themselves, some of them suffering a great deal of pain, most of them looking very happy and contented. The little girls were sorry for the sick children. They went back often to see them. They took them flowers, they brought them their toys, and from the day they first went to the hospital they were much happier, and much nicer little girls.

Perhaps you can't all visit a children's hospital, but you can all find somebody less fortunate than yourselves, and do your best to cheer them. It may be a poor child, or an invalid, or an old person; but, whoever it is, you will be doing a Christ like deed and learning the secret of true happiness.