1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you. ’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day? ’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us. ’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too. ’ 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first. ’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 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. ’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? ’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”
— Matthew 20:1-16, ESV

I am going to do something today I never do.  I am going to preach on politics.  Furthermore, I am going to tell you what party I favor, because I think it is God’s party.  

The election season is upon us, and never have we had such a diversity of candidates.  No longer is it just a Democrat verses a Republican.  Socialist Democrats are running against liberal Democrats to see who can get to the far left first.  On the Republican side, you have so-called MAGA Republicans running against mainstream Republicans, with both claiming to have God, and Ronald Reagan, on their side.  

The most interesting race is for a Senate seat in one of our southern states.  Both candidates appealed to God for support.  One, the Republican, is a long time member of one of our denomination’s silly churches.  He is also known to be an adulterer and liar.  He was actually impeached by the state legislature, dominated by members of his own party, while holding a current state office.  The other, the Democrat, is actually a preacher and a seminary graduate.  Yet he denies all of the cardinal doctrines of Christianity, believes all religions lead to Heaven, and claims the Virgin Mary is the poster child for abortion rights in America.  Oy vey!  

All of this brings to mind the old question, what would Jesus do?  Would He support the Democrats or the Republicans?  Or, to focus our discussion on the ideology ingrained in the parties, would our Lord and Savior be a Capitalist, Socialist, or Communist?  

God has actually tipped His hand.  He went on the record two thousand years ago.  His politics, His philosophy, His party is revealed, if you can decipher one of the most perplexing parables ever preached by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Is God a Capitalist?

If He is, He is a bad one.  I mean, put this parable in the present tense, and it becomes an unmitigated disaster.

There is no human resource department, no vetting of potential employees, no training program.  This guy just went out and hired the first people he could find and threw them out in the field.  Then, he realized he did not have enough workers, so he had to go out and grab some more off the street.  That’s poor planning.

When payday comes, he gives a full day’s pay to workers who only put in just one hour.  The same amount of pay was given to all the other workers, whether they worked full-time, part-time, or a fraction of the time.  He is going to hear about this from the union.  Nobody is going to sign up to work for him again, until the last hour, then not a whole lot of work is going to get done.  That’s poor policy.  

His business model is betrayed by his marketing slogan.  “So the last will be first, and the first last.”  What does that mean?  How is that going to attract workers and customers?  That’s poor promotion.

Admittedly, he is a private land owner, which is very capitalistic.  He had the freedom and rights to do essentially what he wanted to do with his land, his crop, and his workers.  But the picture of poor planning, policy, and promotion tells me God is no Capitalist.

Is God a Socialist?

This term, Socialist, is getting the most buzz in today’s politics, pro and con.  Of all of the idealogical and philosophical frameworks out there, Socialism is worth at least a strong consideration as being God’s party of preference.  At least this parable points in that direction, at some points, particularly the part about the workers’ pay.

The pay was equitable, to all, in the end.  “Equity” is a key word in Socialism.  In this story, everybody got paid the same, no matter how long they worked, nor how hard they worked.  They all got a denarius, which was considered a full day’s pay.

The pay was charitable, to most.  A denarius a day could sustain a family for a day, providing them with the big three: food, shelter, and clothing.  It was a living wage, part earned and part subsidized, like the salaries, healthcare, mortgages, and benefits of most Americans today.    

But, the pay and benefits in this story come from the individual, not the government.  He owned the land, he hired the workers, he gave the pay.  So, the “master of the house,” clearly a reference to God, could not have been a Socialist.

Is God a Communist?

You would think, “no,” automatically, right?  We have always considered Communism to be godless, right?  The most famous, failed Communist experiment in history is the United Socialist Soviet Republic, the U.S.S.R., which was pure, atheistic Communism, right?

Yes, but there are forms of Communism that are not atheistic.  Actually, Communism could work, if God sits on top of the politburo.  Consider some biblical examples.

Consider God’s Old Covenant with Israel.  It is often called, rightly, a theonomy, a sort of Communism run by God according to God’s law.  Land was divided up, according to family need.  Labor was shared, neighbor helping neighbor.  The poor were remembered, legally bringing in the sheaves from the edges of the harvest.  There were no elections, God appointed the leaders, even after the people clamored for a king.

Consider Jesus and the Apostles.  Again, no free elections, only divine appointment.  They lived as a collective.  Food was shared, work was shared, retreats were shared, taxes were collected and paid.  Everyone went where they were told to go and did what they were told to do.  

Consider the New Testament church.  At least at the beginning, people sold what they had and gave it to the new government, the church, to be equally distributed.  Of course, as Christianity spread worldwide, Christians were taught to submit to the government of their nation, remember the poor, and love one another.  

But while I would rather live under Communism led by Christ rather than a democracy led by dummies, I do not think this story portrays God as a Communist.  There is that sticky situation about private land ownership and freedom to run one’s own business that gets in the way.

So, what in the world, the world He made, is God?  Is God a Capitalist, a Socialist, or a Communist?  Read the story again and you will see.

God is a Monarchist.  

Most countries don’t have kings any more in our world.  But there is one kingdom that has always been ruled by an absolute monarch.  It is “the kingdom of heaven” (“kingdom of God” in the other Gospels), and God is the everlasting king.

The kingdom of God exists wherever and in whomever Jesus Christ is Lord.  In this kingdom, the king is not elected by the citizens, the citizens are the elect of the king.  The elect are called, but they come into the kingdom by a free and willing decision to trust the king.  Once inside the kingdom, they are expected to work, some harder than others.  When the curtain falls on all of the other kingdoms of this world, only the kingdom of God shall stand, and all of the citizens of His kingdom get the same reward.

By grace, the king contracts, or covenants, with laborers to enter his “vineyard.”  This is one of about two dozen instances in Holy Scripture where God’s kingdom, God’s people, are likened to a “vineyard.”  The invitation to come into the “vineyard” is an effectual call to join with the people of God.  

I say it is by grace, because the king did not have to do it.  He is perfectly capable of tending the vineyard on his own, and enjoying it on his own, without inviting anyone else to come inside.  But this gracious king loves people.  He wants to include them in His work.  So the king calls, the laborers answer.

Through faith, the vineyard is entered.  There was no upfront proof, no advanced pay, no guarantee the vineyard existed and pay would be rewarded.  But, the laborers trusted the king and came to work.

Work is an important component of faith.  It cannot substitute for faith, it cannot conjoin with faith, but it always comes after faith.  When God calls people to Himself, to join His kingdom, He expects them to come by faith and work their tails off, some longer and harder than others, but it is the king’s prerogative to put the people he wants in the place he wants to do the work he wants for as long as he wants.  Sometimes the laborers grumble, but they all do the work and they all get paid. 

In the end, the king keeps his word, pays what he promised, and all of those who came into the vineyard, the kingdom, get the same reward.  One day we will all see this “master,” this king, this owner of the vineyard face to face.  It will be the face of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

And so it is, as we unfold the parable, that God, the Monarchist, brings in the people to worship and work for Him, by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.  The grace is God’s to give, to whom He chooses.  The faith is always free and willing, flowing into good works.  The work is harder and longer for some, and God can handle our occasional grumbling.  The reward is the name of the kingdom, “Heaven,” which will be equally glorious, thrilling, and eternal for all who enter in.  

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”  First or last, you want to be there.  Listen for His gracious call.  Faithfully go to worship and get to work for Him.  He Himself, the “master,” the Lord, the King of the kingdom, the beautiful, smiling face of the Jesus Christ, will be your greatest reward.