We are included in God´s vineyard

XXV Sunday "A" Matthew 20:1-16 Jesus told his disciples this parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o'clock, the landowner saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.' So they went off. And he went out again around noon, and around three o'clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o'clock, the landowner found others standing around, and said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.' When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.' When those who had started about five o'clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, 'These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day's burden and the heat.' He said to one of them in reply, 'My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?' Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last."

We understand parables well. They are stories that Jesus tells to help us understand his teachings. He tells us a story to make a point, to help us better understand his message. We know that a parable is not a story of some event in the past, it is not an account of something that actually happened. Rather, in the parables everything represents something else. In today's parable we can understand that the landowner is God the Father. The vineyard belongs to him. And God goes out and hires workers for the vineyard; this is evangelization. The vineyard is the kingdom of God and God goes out to invite us to enter his vineyard. God went out several times to hire more workers. He was not happy with just a few workers, he does not want only the best, he wants everyone, even the lazy ones who were asleep when he went out the first time to hire workers. All very well, so far. Now God begins to pay the workers, and he begins not with the first, the ones whoñve worked in the sun all day, no, God begins with the last. We are beginning to understand that the kingdom of God is not like this world. How does God deal with his workers, Equally! It doesn't matter if you're first, nor does it matter how many hours you worked. Everyone gets the same pay. That's kind of how we understand the parable. And it's okay to imagine that God is the owner and that we're the workers. But the kingdom of God is not a vineyard, and we're not hired laborers, no! We're sons and daughters of a loving father. Being inside the kingdom of God doesn't mean we're working like the people who work in Parras in this sun of Coahuila all day. And those who aren't in the kingdom are like the people in the plaza resting, eating, and drinking coffee all day. No, sir! Responding to God's invitation is not going to work in the sun on a day when the temperature is over 100. The kingdom of God is much more like a banquet, that's why most parables the image of the kingdom of God is a banquet, it's a party, and responding to God's call is to enter the party. And at the party everyone is treated equally. Everyone gets the same treatment. That is why we are sons and daughters, and good parents know that all children are treated the same, unlike workers in the fields. Now, then, why did Jesus use the example of working in a vineyard if the kingdom of God is a feast, a banquet, a celebration, why use the example or work? It's because there were people in his time who thought they were better than everybody else. People who thought they deserved more than everybody else. Before the time of Jesus, the image of the kingdom of God was something exclusive, something that only a few could get into, and most were going to be excluded. And when Jesus started talking about the kingdom as a place where everyone was going to be included, they all thought, "Okay, but at least we're going to get more, we're going to be in a higher place." And Jesus is very clear, that's not what the kingdom of God is like. The kingdom of God is for everyone, as Pope Francis said, "Todos! Todos! Todos!" No one is excluded, there is no one who gets better treatment or who deserves more than anyone else. The ones who are first, are the ones who are they are last, the excluded of this world. The ones that folks say don´t count. What a blessing it is that we have received the invitation. That is what evangelization is all about, it is about acepting the invitation, it is a matter as simply as saying yes. It isn´s something that we work for, it isn´t something that we deserve. It is something that we are freely given simply because of God´s love for each and everyone of us. Since we have already responded, since we are already included our job is to go out and invite everyone else. In God´s kingdom everyone is included no one is excluded no one is less! We aren´t merely workers, we are all God´s sons and daughters.