iv No excuse for refusal of Service. 45 



labourers is honest, they receive an equal reward 

 with those who have toiled all day. u God giveth 

 (and forgiveth) liberally, and upbraideth not." x We 

 are accepted, not according to what we have done, 

 but according to what we are. 



Perhaps the impression which the majority of 

 careless readers receive from this parable, is that 

 it is possible to enter the service of God at any 

 time of life, and at the end receive an equal reward 

 with those who have served Him all their lives. 

 This, however, is contradicted by the parable itself. 

 To the question, "Why stand ye here all the day 

 idle 1 " the answer was, " Because no man hath hired 

 us." But if any of the labourers had in the middle 

 of the day, or even early in the morning, refused the 

 offer of work from mere idleness, and in reliance on 

 the kindness of the owner of the vineyard, we cannot 

 think they would have been permitted to come in at 

 the eleventh hour ; or if they had, they would not 

 have received a day's wages for an hour's work. 

 From the language and imagery of this parable 

 alone it would be much more reasonable to infer 

 that God's call to work in His vineyard, if once dis- 

 regarded, will never be renewed. But no parable is 

 meant to provide for all cases. The case of those 

 who disregard God's call and their own privileges 

 is not here touched on; but that of the Prodigal 

 reveals a degree of longsuffering of God with sinners 



1 James i. 5. This also may be an unrecorded saying of 

 Christ. 



