More often than not, the scenes and scenery described in the Bible are foreign to our twenty-first century lives and lifestyles. How many of us herd goats and sheep for a living? How often do we offer lambs or calves or doves as bloody sacrifices to God on a regular basis? Corporate leaders and government officials are concerned with maximizing profits, not heeding the words of any prophet.

Today’s gospel text is found only in Matthew. But it reminds us that some realities never change. Across the creation and across the centuries, we all need to work. The same scene Jesus’ parable depicts, a crowd queuing up at dawn in hopes of being chosen to perform some job for that day, can be found as easily in any community across the USA as it was in first century Galilee. It is the very familiarit…