Today we start the third week in our message series, “Cornerstones,” which will be looking at some of the bedrocks of our Catholic Faith and how we try to live them here at Resurrection Parish.

We started the series by looking at the most fundamental truth of our Faith, namely Love. Love is not simply an action that God does, it is what God IS. Being made in the image and likeness of God, we are all called to love God, love our neighbors, and make disciples. Love is the mission of the Church and all the disciples of Jesus.

Last week we talked about the importance of grace. We all need grace. Grace is a gift. You can’t buy it, you can’t earn it, you’ll never ever work your way to it, you can’t pay it back. You can only pay it forward.

The Church was established to be the primary place where that happens. It is God’s chosen instrument of grace. Other organizations can build houses, feed the hungry, give shelter to the homeless and heal the sick. And we should certainly do those things as a parish, but no other organization has as its only mission the paying forward of God’s grace.

Today we are looking at something you have probably never heard of before, but something foundational and fundamental to the life of the church, and we are going to do so by looking closely at the parable that Jesus tells in today’s Gospel. 

“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, he 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.” (Mt 20:1–5). 

So we start with a landowner who needs some dayworkers for his vineyard. He starts off early, probably around 6 AM, and hires some men in the marketplace. A few hours later, he goes back to the marketplace and sees other guys looking for work, so he hires them too. As the parable continues, the landowner goes back to the marketplace three more times to hire more workers; at noon, at 3 PM, and at 5 PM.

“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” (Mt 20:8–10). 

So the people who came at the end of the day receive the same compensation as those who worked the whole of the day. The first group of workers were not happy, and they complained to 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” (Mt 20:12). 

This seems like a very valid point. You would think they would get more; since they labored longer and accomplished more for the vineyard owner. We would never do this in our own businesses and organizations. If we paid those who worked longer the same as those who worked less hours, everyone would start working less. But Jesus is talking about the kingdom of heaven. He is talking about God’s kingdom and God’s economy and not our economy. Apparently, God’s economy is different from ours.

The landowner, who you probably realize represents God, replies, “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?” (Mt 20:13–15). 

He reframes the real problem: the real problem isn’t his generosity, the real problem was their perspective. The money was his.

Like last week’s parable, this parable is about grace. Grace isn’t fair. And that’s only a problem when we don’t get what we think we deserve or want more than we got. The parable teaches us of the graciousness and generosity of God.

The parable also teaches something else about God. God is looking for more and more people to get to work in his vineyard, to get to work building his kingdom. God is gathering a growing movement of people who are about doing something, building something. And its never too late to get involved.

Earlier in St. Matthew’s Gospel, after renaming Simon Peter, Jesus says that He is going to build His Church upon this rock. We often think of buildings when we hear the word Church, but Jesus never built a building. The word in St. Matthew’s gospel which we translate as Church, was a very curious choice; in the original Greek the word “Ecclesia.” 

It’s a word that doesn’t even appear in the Bible until Jesus uses it here. The apostles wouldn’t have even known what he was talking about. That Greek word was not used to describe religious settings or gatherings, it wasn’t a religious word at all.

It refers to assemblies or gatherings of people in a given locale, for some specific purpose, usually a civic or community-wide one. Typically it was used in reference to town hall meetings, and here’s the key…for some purpose that impacted not just the people gathered in the assembly…for some purpose that impacted the larger community.

When Jesus launched the Church, He launched a movement. It’s a movement, so, you know what that means? Its gotta move. A growing movement so it’s got to grow. A growing movement of growing disciples who are gathering more people, who are not disciples, to become disciples.

The kingdom of God is the place where God rules people’s heads and hearts. It is the place where they allow God to have control over the family, their finances, their future, their career, their recreation and, increasingly, over every and all areas of their lives. The movement is to lead people into a growing relationship with Christ. The work of God’s kingdom is connecting people to that purpose. To be a part of the movement means to reorient our life around the person of Jesus Christ. 

It is a movement to be Jesus’ witnesses not only where we live but to the ends of the earth. And a mission that is expansive and has no room for permanent spectators or selfish consumers. It has no room for people sitting idle and not getting to work.

The Church is the only organization that gathers together all sectors of society on a regular basis, (a weekly basis) for a meaningful purpose. We gather together people from 

the Medical, Educational, the Business Communities, Non-Profits, Entertainment, and Government fields to join the movement of the kingdom of heaven in our community, in our generation. And its never too late to join.

Movements happen when they are embraced by the hearts of people who follow them. Movements happen when individuals willingly and passionately move in concert with one another. This is why it is vital that we gather each week at Mass and why we gather in small groups. We are gathering together so that we can move in-concert with one another to impact our community and our world. 

The point of gathering here is not to relieve our guilt, or avoid hell, or enjoy a break from the rest of life, or even for the simple benefit of your family. We gather together to change and transform our lives so that increasingly we can change and transform our community and our world. to reflect the kingdom of God. That is the Ecclesia. 

Lets be that Church.