Matthew 20:1-16

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received a denarius. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius.  And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Philippians 1:27-30

Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel and in no way frightened by those opposing you. For them, this is evidence of their destruction but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ but of suffering for him as well, since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have

She Knelt on the Pavement

Disclaimer: People hear what they want to hear.

I want to begin with a disclaimer. It’s an odd thing I have noticed about preaching sermons. People hear what they want to hear. It really is fascinating to me. A few weeks ago someone said to me after a sermon, “You were talking about the Muslims, right? You were talking about how we need to keep America a Christian nation, right?” And of course, that is not what I was talking about at all. But people hear what they want to hear.

In my sermons here, I will always preach on the Gospel, and on the spiritual life. In my sermons, I will not promote a particular partisan political side, but rather, I am committed to staying focused on the Gospel message, on what Jesus taught over 2000 years ago. So if you hear a political agenda in my sermons, you are reading into the message something that is not there.

Introduction

Here in Maine life is pretty good. We live in a kind of protected bubble, really. We do not have the kinds of problems people elsewhere in the world have. War, famine, landslides, earthquakes. Even so, there are problems to deal with. Everyone has problems. But we create more problems for ourselves when we compare. We look around and compare. Who has more? Why do I have to work more than he does? And this becomes a mental game. The comparison game. It’s a game that can make us very unhappy, comparing ourselves to others. It generates envy and resentment.

 Spiritual and Worldly Values

This is a sermon about two opposing value systems: the spiritual and the worldly. On the one hand, there is the mind of Christ, exemplifying the highest of spiritual values, that is, humility, service, forgiveness, unconditional love, and emptying of self. And on the other hand, there are the ambitions promoted by the world, that is, the things we are lead to believe will bring us happiness and peace, things such as power, wealth, status, the endless pursuit of pleasure, fame, honor, and aggrandizing of self. The Gospel teachings are clear on this. The way to the Kingdom of Heaven, the way to lasting peace and happiness, is a life lived according to spiritual values and not worldly values.

A Spiritual Giant

Here, I want to tell you about a spiritual giant who lives in Myanmar. Myanmar, the country that used to be called Burma, is located between Thailand and Bangladesh. It’s the largest country in Southeast Asia, about 55 million people, with over 100 different ethnic groups. Civil war, a military coup, and ongoing conflict have created great hardship for the people in Myanmar.

The spiritual giant I’m talking about is Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng. Sister Ann Rose is a Catholic nun in Myanmar. She is a nurse and a midwife who helps people. She is the director of a medical clinic located at the back of the Catholic church in Myitkyina, Myanmar. “For 16 years, the clinic has welcomed and helped people of all races and religions, helping the poorest of the poor, refugees from war, and people who need help with their medical issues.”[1]

In February of 2021, Sister Ann Rose made international headlines when she knelt on the pavement “in front of military and police personnel and pleaded with them not to shoot demonstrators.”[2] You may remember the stunning photo. A nun, wearing a white robe, her arms outstretched, kneeling on the pavement in front of a line of men with guns, begging them not to shoot. “Shoot me instead,” she said to them.

Sister Ann Rose was not trying to gain attention. It was not a media stunt. She didn’t know she was being photographed. She was trying to protect children and innocent people from being shot. The image went viral and she became internationally famous.

Later, she said to reporters, “I am happy that I can serve God with the gifts He has given me. Of course, wherever I am assigned, I am serving people regardless of their race and religion. As a nun, I cannot offer any money, but I offer the love and strength that Jesus gives me.”[3]

Two Value Systems

This story is an illustration of the two very different value systems I’m talking about. Sister Ann Rose, kneeling on the pavement, humbling herself, a Christ-like example, begging for the powerful armed men to be merciful, to spare innocent lives.

The Readings

 Our readings this morning present these two distinct views. In our reading from Matthew this morning, we have the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. And in Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we see his encouragement to the church to live “in a manner worthy of the gospel,” that is, in unity, “standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel.”

Paul’s letter to the Philippians

In his letter, Paul is probably responding to the threat of persecution, and so he encourages the church to stand firm together, to be committed to one another, and to Christ, even when suffering. He writes, “For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well.”

This is remarkable statement: “For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well.”

I think this underlines an aspect of Christianity that we tend to overlook, namely, that Christians are different. As followers of Christ, we are called to a different view, that is, a non-worldly view. This non-worldly view is of an inverted social structure. Jesus’ gospel is a gospel of an upside-down world, in which the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Our readings today show how different and how difficult this view is. We are called to be different, not conformed to the world, but transformed by the renewing of our spirit.

 The Parable

The parable shows us how radical, how strange and upside-down spiritual values are, as compared to worldly values. In the parable, a landowner hires workers to work in his vineyard for the day. The first group he hires early in the morning, and they agree to work all day for one denarius, one day’s wage. Later, he hires more workers, some at nine o’clock, some at noon, some at three o’ clock and more at five o’clock. And then, when evening falls and the day is over, he pays the workers. When those hired last, about five o clock, come to be paid, each of them receives one denarius. And then, when the first to be hired come to be paid, they think they will receive more, but each of them also receives one denarius. All the workers are paid the same wage, one denarius.

 The dilemma

So here is the dilemma. There were different agreements, differing time periods worked, but all were paid the same amount. So the question is, is it fair? Well, the landowner kept his agreement. He did nothing wrong. But because they were comparing, looking around, seeing what the other workers were getting paid, the first workers became resentful. Nothing in their situation had actually changed. And yet, because they were comparing their situation to the others’, they became resentful. It was envy. They became envious, and suddenly, this emotion caused their suffering. Envy is a very powerful and painful emotion.

Envy does not bring peace and happiness

There is a lot going on here, a lot to think about. So much of our peace of mind has to do with our perception. The workers hired first were fine, they were happy to work all day for one denarius, until they looked at the good deal the others were getting, the ones hired later.

You know, this happens in small towns, and it happens in big cities, too. Big cities are just a bunch of small towns put together, really, lots of neighborhoods, all functioning as small towns. And people compare. “Look what they have that I don’t have.” This kind of comparison can generate a lot of envy, you know? Envy. The grass is always greener kind of envy. They have more than I have kind of envy. It’s not fair. I didn’t get paid as much as they did. All that sort of thing.

But the mistake here is thinking that these things will bring peace and happiness. We all want to be happy. But the difference is in how we try to find that happiness, how we try to create that peace. Worldly values promote getting more. Whatever we have, we want more. No matter what kind of good deal we get, we’re always looking for a better one.

Looking through God’s eyes

But beyond envy, the lesson of the parable is for us to see through God’s eyes, to look at human beings from God’s point of view for just a moment. All are equal, all of us are children of God, all of us are equally loved, no one is privileged or entitled when it comes to God’s grace. We are all equally loved in God’s eyes.

The source of lasting peace, joy and happiness

Spiritual values are different from worldly values. Lasting peace, joy and happiness do not come from getting more, more stuff, more money, more recognition, more comfort, more pleasure, the right house, the right clothes, the new car, whatever. Lasting peace, joy and happiness come from living according to spiritual values, the values that drive a life like Sister Ann Rose’s. A humble life of service, aspiring to the mind of Christ.

I know this is true from personal experience. As a kid, growing up in the Salvation Army, we never had money or possessions. Salvation Army life is dedicated to service, to helping people, to living out the gospel message. But later, my family moved to Houston, and I found myself living in a very affluent neighborhood, going to school with kids from wealthy families, kids who lived in big houses in the neighborhoods on the other side of Memorial Drive. My family lived in a modest townhouse. We had an old beat-up car. But I went to school with lots of wealthy kids. And I wanted to be like that. I wanted to live in a nice big house and have all the good things, like my friends had, you know?

But what I started to notice was that these wealthy families had lots of problems, too. Maybe the father was an executive in the oil industry, or a doctor or a lawyer, and made tons of money. But that didn’t mean the family had no problems. There was drinking, there was drug abuse, there were car accidents, there was domestic violence, there was divorce, there were all those things. In fact, those wealthy families that I admired and wanted to be like, they had all the usual problems, just bigger and more expensive problems. My point is that the worldly values aren’t all they are promoted to be. The big house with the three cars in the garage, the beautiful life, the expensive life, all the right things, it all looks good, you know, it all looks good. But it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. These things do not lead to peace and happiness. Without spiritual values, there can be no lasting peace and happiness.

Conclusion

In conclusion, from a worldly point of view, life is not fair. Some people work more than others. Some people make more money than others. Some people live in Myanmar, or Syria, or Ukraine, or Gaza, places where there is so much war, so many problems. And then, other people live in Switzerland or Austria or Norway or the French Riviera. According to worldly values, it’s not fair.

But the pursuit of wealth, pleasure, power, and status does not lead to peace and happiness. Our peace, joy and happiness are found in spiritual values, as in the example of Sister Ann Rose, who said, “I am happy that I can serve God with the gifts He has given me. Wherever I am assigned, I am serving people regardless of their race and religion. I offer to others the love and strength that Jesus gives me.

May it be so for us, too.

Amen? Amen.

[1] Radio Veritas Asia, “Myanmar’s famed kneeling nun serves people of all races, religions,” April 27, 2022,

https://www.rvasia.org/feature-story/myanmars-famed-kneeling-nun-serves-people-all-races-religions

accessed September 19, 2026

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.