It’s Never too Late
Matthew 20:1-16 recounts Jesus’s story of the workers in the vineyard who get paid the same amount whether they started early or came in late. I always thought this story was just meant for those who had been working to tend the kingdom of heaven for many years and who were jealous of those late comers who seemed to reap God’s biggest blessings. You know, the elder brothers who are jealous of the younger brother, the prodigal son’s, big party. This makes sense, of course, and is part of the message. But just prior to telling this story, Jesus says: “But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” You see, it’s never too late to answer God’s call to work in the vineyard.
In other words this parable has two points, and though one of the messages is for those of us who have worked in the vineyard, the kingdom of heaven, for our whole lives, this story is also for those of us who just started working in the vineyard recently. In the kingdom of heaven, the reward for the one who just stepped inside the garden gate and picked up a rake will be the same as the reward for the long-time faithful worker. I can’t help think that this is because the reward is so magnificent that it doesn’t come in smaller or larger amounts-it is amazing abundant life and eternal life to come.
For me personally, it means that just because the Thoughtful Proclaimer Ministry is a new direction for me, God can bless it every bit as much as if I’d started working on it in my twenties. And in fact, God has been preparing me for this ministry since I was one of those little children who came to sit on Jesus’ lap in Matthew 19:13-15 (just a few verses earlier). It is never too late to answer God’s call to do something new.
So I will be grateful for the faithful workers in the vineyard who came early and stayed late, as well as for those who just showed up. It is never to late to start, to learn more, to begin again because in God’s vineyard, in the kingdom of heaven it’s never to late to begin. The heavenly and earthly rewards are equally as complete, equally as full and abundant for both.
If you have been called to preach or teach the Bible, it’s never too late to prepare for ministry, to learn, or to improve. It’s never too late to do God’s work. That is why the Thoughtful Proclaimer Method is available too all, not just for those who started early or who went to seminary, but for all those who are called by the Master to work in His vineyard.
