26th Sunday in ordinary time
Philippians 2:1-11
Matthew 21:28-32
“Go and work in the vineyard today!” – This is what the father says to his sons in the parable. Working in the vineyard is what God calls each of us to do.
But what is meant by working in the vineyard? Why does Jesus use this image?
In my home region in south-west Germany, there are many vineyards. Cultivating wine (and drinking wine) is part of the local culture there. As children, we learnt about how wine is made at primary school. It involves quite a lot of work and is very physically demanding, as the vineyards in our region are often situated on steep hillsides.
In winter, the vines must be pruned. The new shoots must be tied up. The soil around each vine must be loosened.
Spring is the most critical time. That’s when you have to protect the young shoots from frost and disease. Throughout the summer, you’re busy removing superfluous shoots and positioning the grapes to catch the sun as effectively as possible.
The loveliest time is autumn, when the grapes are harvested. Then there’s a festival in every village where people taste the new wine even before it’s fully mature. The wine is very sweet and goes down easily. Everyone is cheerful. It is the highlight of the year. And I’m feeling rather sentimental right now, because I’m missing all of this…
Winegrowing is hard work. Most of it involves care. Careful and loving attention to the vines, the soil and the grapes. And there is no quick reward; rather, a whole year of work and sacrifice. But after the harvest, there will be a huge and joyful celebration!
The image Jesus chooses to describe God’s mission for us is very fitting: as long as we live, we are to work in God’s vineyard. This means we are to care for his creation with love and attention. He has entrusted it to us. The winegrowers in my homeland love their vineyards. They do everything they can to protect them from harm. This is how we, too, should treat God’s creation.
In the beginning, God gave us humans the task of ruling over the whole earth; that is, of caring for all creatures – the fish in the sea, the birds of the sky, and every living thing that crawls on the earth. And we are to do this together: as a married couple, within the family, in the community, in the village and in the town. That is why we should also care for our fellow workers in the vineyard, even more so than for the vineyard itself – with even greater care and love.
And at the end of our lives, after years of labour and loving care for creation, our families and our neighbours, there will be a feast for all faithful workers in the vineyard, which the Lord of the vineyard will host for us! We live in anticipation of this feast; we live in anticipation of heavenly glory.
But the time has not yet come. The wine festivals along the River Moselle are merely a small foretaste of eternal glory. We must still be patient and work hard.
Not everyone likes the hard work in the vineyard. Some say, ‘I will not!’ like the first son in the parable. Others may say, ‘I go, sir!’ like the second son, but do nothing. In any case, the wine is not given totally for free. We have to give our contribution. Once we have understood and accepted God’s mission for us, we should devote all our strength to God’s vineyard. We should lovingly care for everything that God has created and placed in our hands.
Sometimes, back in my homeland, you see a vineyard that is no longer being tended. Everything grows in a chaotic jumble, and the vines barely bear any fruit. What a sad sight! Often, there is a tragedy behind it. A family that could no longer withstand the financial pressure. Or an owner who perhaps has no children and has found no successor to take over the business. For me, it is a sign that caring for creation is closely linked to caring for our fellow human beings, for our families and our neighbours.
Are we doing God’s will? Are we accepting his mission? And are we doing enough to care for God’s vineyard?
Perhaps we feel that our efforts are not enough. Or we have a bad conscience because we have done too little so far. Perhaps we have even caused harm – to God’s creation, to our neighbours, to our brothers and sisters.
In his parables, Jesus is very strict with those who merely pretend to work for the good but in reality do nothing. Yet he is infinitely merciful towards those who do not always do everything correctly, or who may even have deliberately refused to work in his vineyard for a time, provided they repent and return to him. It is never too late to begin working in God’s vineyard! God reveals his power above all in mercy and forgiveness. Even tax collectors and prostitutes enter the Kingdom of God, as soon as they repent and believe.
What matters most is our trust in God’s love and mercy, and that we allow ourselves to be shaped by it more and more. Those who grow in their trust in God’s love and mercy will also understand more and more clearly what God’s will is, and will act in accordance with it to an ever greater extent.
The greatest help with our work in the vineyard is Christ himself. He, who is the Son of God, yet worked on earth in the form of a servant and was obedient to the Father even to the point of death. In the Eucharist, Christ unites himself with us in such a way that we are increasingly made like him, and that, through his strength, we become ever more capable of fulfilling God’s will. In this way, we can joyfully and confidently care for the vineyard together, looking forward to the joyful feast in heaven.
Let us go and work in God’s vineyard today!
