On Aug. 5, Pastor Katy preaches on Matthew 20:1-8.

A landowner hires people to help in the vineyard, then a while later he hires more people, a couple hours later even more, and two more times he hires people that day. The parable opens that the kingdom of heaven is like this landowner, and we settle into a warm-fuzzy understanding of Jesus’ words. We grasp that God is going to pursue us, to gather us together, and God isn’t going to give up on us. Then, when we receive our rewards it won’t matter to God if we worked our entire lives for God, or came at the final call, we will all receive the same. Thinking of this parable as an allegory teaches us about God’s nature, but is that all it teaches us? What if we didn’t read this story as an allegory, what would it teach us then?