Hope for the 11th Hour Man

There’s something raw and real about today’s Gospel (Matthew 20:1-16) that hits us in a special way. A bunch of guys show up late to work in the field, some barely work an hour. Yet they walk away with the same full reward. If you’ve been grinding all day, sweating in the heat, that doesn’t exactly feel fair, does it?

But the way I want to zero in on this parable isn’t about the fairness aspect. It’s about the mercy. The gift of love given to all who accept, even in the last hour.

Some of us don’t hear the call or accept the gift until late in life. Some of us wasted decades, hurt people, failed hard, or ran fast from the God who never stopped chasing us. Maybe we didn’t show up at dawn. Maybe we barely made it to the field before sunset. But the landowner still says: “You too go into my vineyard.”

That’s the line that shook me in the best way. Because it means there’s always a place for the man who shows up. Even at the last hour.

Remember the thief on the cross? He wasn’t baptized. He didn’t pray the Liturgy of the Hours. He just looked over at Jesus and said, “Remember me.” And Jesus, bleeding and dying, says, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.”

That’s the kind of God we serve. The kind who gives the same eternal reward to the lifelong saint and the repentant sinner at death’s door.

Now don’t get me wrong, there’s immeasurable value in living a life with Christ from the beginning. It saves us from so much heartache, lets us build a legacy of virtue, and experiences a wondrous love while on this earth.

But if you’re late to the vineyard? There’s still hope.

God isn’t looking for the man who started first, He’s looking for the man who finishes with Him.

So don’t compare wages. Don’t grumble at grace. Rejoice that the vineyard gates are still open. And get to work bringing others in.