teaching further the nature of service, and what kind of service is pleasing to god, jesus told his disciples the parable of the laborers in the vineyard.

the parable of the laborers.

"the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. and when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. and he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the market place, and said unto them: go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right i will give you. and they went their way. again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. and about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, why stand you here all the day idle? they say unto him, because no man hath hired us. he saith unto them. go ye also into the vineyard: and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.

"so when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward. call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. and when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. but when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. and when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, saying. these last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast {246} made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.

"but he answered one of them, and said, friend, i do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? take that thine is, and go thy way: i will give unto this last, even as unto thee. is it not lawful for me to do what i will with mine own? is thine eye evil, because i am good? so the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called but few chosen."

the value of service in the world's work.

in the world's work, there are many today who become offended for the same reason that the laborers, who had borne the burden and the heat of the day, became offended. but that is because they do not understand the principle of service and wages. in every industrial or commercial institution rewards in the way of salary or promotion are made dependent, not upon the length of service, but upon the quality of service and the spirit put into the service. in a certain mercantile institution, for example—an institution with which you are perhaps all acquainted—there was employed not many years ago a young man of unusual ambition and energy. there were then in the department in which he was placed, men who had been in the employ of the institution for fifteen or twenty years. this young man gave value received in return for the compensation he was given. he put quality into his service; he put spirit into his service; he threw himself into his work body and soul. before long, he was made head of the department. those who had served for many years were offended, and murmured against the manager. but the reward came, as rewards worth while must {247} always come, for quality and spirit of service. the young man has continued to give to the institution the best that it was in him to give; he has continued, too, to advance; today he stands next to the superintendent, with the outlook that ere long, when the superintendent retires, he may become himself the superintendent. in the meantime, men of long years of service are still in the same positions that they held when this young man entered the employ of the institution. promotion and reward are based on merit.

the value of service in the church.

if we turn now to the spiritual life, we shall find that the same principle obtains. length of membership, or service, in the church does not assure exaltation. indeed, there are many men in the church who have belonged to it from childhood to a ripe old age, who may nevertheless receive a very meager compensation. theirs has been a life of membership only. they have rendered little or no service; and such service as they have rendered has been of inferior quality and questionable spirit. in reward, they will receive whatsoever is right. on the other hand, men who have had the privilege of belonging to the church in this life for only a short time may receive as large a reward as the others, or even a larger reward than theirs. for again, these members of few years, have in those few years rendered service of a quality far superior to that of those of long years of membership. in the spiritual life or in the temporal life it is true that one may hope to get in return only as much as one gives. it is a law of physics that action and reaction are equal and opposite. an adaptation of that law may be applied here. {248} when we enter into service, temporal or spiritual, our lord will give us whatsoever is right.

the test of profitableness.

a question like this may now arise in your minds: how shall we know whether or not our service is sufficient and adequate? another parable of the lord's will help us find the answer to the question. "which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, go and sit down to meat? and will not rather say unto him. make ready wherewith i may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till i have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? i trow (believe) not. so likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, we are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do."

the application to the day's work.

in any position in life, there are certain duties which we are required to do. the cash-boy in the department store, the elevator boy, the clerk behind the counter, the stenographer in the manager's office, the bookkeeper, the what not, has each one a specified kind of work to do. but if each one does only that which he is required to do, no more, he is in a sense an unprofitable servant. he can lay claim to no special consideration, no special reward. but if one of them does more than merely what is required of him; if he comes early and stays late; if he plans and toils to make the business more attractive, more efficient; if he promotes business, then is he indeed a profitable servant. when we enter into {249} the employ of others, it is our duty to do faithfully all that is required of us; it is our privilege to give extra service, to make ourselves thoroughly useful and wholly efficient, to merit special consideration.

the application to church service.

so is it also in the church of jesus christ. there are many things we are required as members to do. it is our duty—and a duty full of pleasure it should be—to attend the regular services of the church, to partake of the sacrament of the lord's supper, to magnify one's calling in the priesthood, to give offerings cheerfully to help the poor, to pay tithing, and so forth. but if we do these things only, the duties required by virtue of membership, we do only the things commanded us to do. we may count ourselves unprofitable servants. to become profitable servants, we should look after the thousand and one other opportunities that lie about us. it is our privilege to perform extra service.

an exclamation against mere formal performance of duty.

one day when jesus was apparently wrought up by the hypocrisy of the scribes and the pharisees, he exclaimed against them thus: "woe unto you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."

a privilege to give extra service.

it is right that we should pay our tithes and offerings, and attend to the duties of our membership. these ought we to do. but in doing them we ought not to leave undone other things that may possibly be of even greater weight in {250} the estimation of god. reward cannot come merely because of length of service, but must come because of the quality and the spirit of the service. and to become truly profitable servants, we must seize every opportunity for extra service.

the references

matt. 20:1-16. luke 17:7-11.

matt. 23:23.

the questions

1. on what terms were the laborers of the parable employed in the vineyard?

2. how can you justify the paying of the same wage to the laborers who were employed at the eleventh hour as to those who worked all day?

3. what is the application of the lesson of this parable to man's daily work?

4. what is its application to church service?

5. how shall we know when our service is sufficient and adequate?

6. why did jesus condemn the scribes and the pharisees?

7. show that extra service is a privilege.