2026-09-20 - Heaven: Are You Really Waiting for It to Come?

For several years, the United Church has been asking for Guaranteed Livable Income. But in the age of AI, we hear something new. Some famous business leaders say AI robots will do all human work, so everyone should receive not just a basic income but a high income that lets them live richly. Hearing this from CEOs of big global companies sounds like an old idea coming back in new clothes.

So what do you think when you hear that? Does it sound wonderful? Or does a question like this come to mind? "Wait a minute. I worked hard all my life. Why should someone who didn't work as hard as me get the same as me?" I think that's a very human question. And I think Jesus knew this very human feeling well.

When I was in my early twenties, back in Korea, I once went to a morning labor market to find work. We call it "nogada." The minimum daily wage was about $6, but nogada workers without skills could earn $20 to $30. I got about $35 because I looked strong, and they gave me a hammer to break walls. After a few days, I thought I would die. My body couldn't take it. Also, not everyone who came got a job, though. The bosses would come and say, "We need five here, ten there." And the rest had to wait for another employer.

Jesus begins with exactly this scene to show us the kin-dom of heaven. A vineyard owner goes out at dawn and hires workers. He agrees to pay them one denarius for the day. Then he keeps going out at nine, at noon, at three, and even at five, just before sunset. And he brings everyone he finds there to his vineyard to work. When the day ends, the owner pays everyone, starting with those who came last, one denarius each. Then the workers who came first started to complain. Why should we get the same as those who worked only an hour or two?

Do you feel that complaint is fair? Maybe it is. If the early workers had gotten their pay first and gone home, they wouldn't have cared what the latecomers got. But the owner pays starting with the last, giving everyone one denarius. Those who worked all day from morning feel wronged and cheated. Because what belongs to others always looks bigger.

But let's stop and think about what one denarius meant. At that time, one denarius was the money a family needed to live for a day. So the owner gave everyone the least they needed so their family wouldn't go hungry. What's the difference? To some, he gave one denarius by contract, as agreed. To others, he gave one denarius out of kindness, so they could at least eat with their families. That was the owner's goodness. So what was the problem? The first workers started looking at what the others got. Suddenly, what they had seemed small. They had one denarius, exactly what they had agreed to get. But when they saw others doing less work and getting the same amount, their one denarius suddenly felt like not enough.

Isn't that something we can all understand? Sometimes we are happy with what we have until we see what someone else has. We look at our neighbor's house. We look at someone else's salary. We look at someone else's family. And before we know it, what we have starts to look small. There's an old Korean saying: "The other person's rice cake always looks bigger." We compare. And when we compare, even a blessing starts to feel like a loss.

Let's think a little more. The day workers in that market knew each other's situation better than anyone. Whether they were hired early in the morning or at five in the afternoon, they knew that others hadn't failed to find work because they were lazy. They knew that if they themselves had no work the next day, or if they weren't chosen today, then no matter how much they wanted to work, they would have to spend the whole day doing nothing, looking like they were just hanging around. They knew how disappointed their families would be when they came home with slumped shoulders after sunset.

Yet people still think they deserve more and should be treated specially. In a way, the first workers are like both the Jews under the covenant of the law and those of us who have been in the church a long time. Both have served faithfully and think they should be treated differently. But the kindom Jesus talks about has no superiority or discrimination. Whether you have a written contract of law and works, or a verbal promise, whether you worked long or short, when everyone is treated with dignity as a human being, that is the kin-dom of heaven.

Now think about the workers who were still standing there at five o'clock. Why were they still there? They weren't lazy. They were waiting for someone to hire them. Maybe they had children at home. Imagine the sun going down. You've stood there all day. Everyone else has found work and gone. But nobody chose you. What would you feel? Embarrassed. Disappointed. Afraid. And then, at five o'clock, someone finally comes and says, "You also go to my vineyard." How would you feel? I think you would run. You wouldn't waste time asking, "How much will you pay me?" You would just run. Even one hour of work could mean something for your family. And then, at the end of the day, the owner gives you a full day's pay. You can go home and say, "We have enough for today." That's good news. That's grace. That's the kin-dom of heaven.

I believe the owner knew their poor and miserable hearts. Even after filling all his morning jobs, he kept going out to bring in the so-called "lazy" workers who had no place to work. Whether they worked one hour or ten, he wanted them at least not to worry about feeding their families. He wanted to give them their daily bread. And this is the prayer we pray: "Give us this day our daily bread." This is the kin-dom Jesus talks about. In the real world of Roman oppression and inequality, where many had lost their land and become day workers, worrying about their next meal, Jesus declared that the time when they no longer have to worry about daily bread, and the making of such a place, is the kin-dom of heaven.

Now let's look at the last scene. The owner says to those who complain: "Did I not agree with you for one denarius? Take what is yours and go. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you jealous because I am generous?" With this one word, everything falls apart. Their complaint wasn't against an evil owner. Their complaint was against the owner's goodness. They had lost nothing. They just couldn't stand others getting as much as they did. Maybe this is the very picture of people today.

Friends, we can't hear this story as someone else's. We have often stood in the place of those complaining workers. We have received grace, yet we can't stand others receiving grace. We have received love, yet we envy others being loved. We don't fear that we might not get a reward in God's kin-dom; we fear that our neighbor might get the same reward as we do. This human desire to be treated better and to have more than others - this is the sin deeply rooted in us.

So I ask: Have we, who have believed in Jesus deeply for so long, been fighting and overcoming this sin? Can we joyfully accept the kin-dom where everyone lives without worry about food? Or will we be angry and complain, saying, "Why aren't we treated better than those who were lazy? We have worked so much longer, how can this be?" But even if such a world came, could we truly be happy when those we think worked less get the same as we do?

The kin-dom Jesus talks about isn't the time when I become more special than everyone else. It's when we slowly become free from the need to have more and to be recognized more, and from the feeling that we are cheated when others get the same as we do. Heaven is God's new order that we must begin to live out here and now. So if we truly want heaven, we must live heaven starting from this very place where we stand. Our church must become such a place. Not a place where we count who believed longer, who served more, who gave more, but a place where we rejoice together in the grace God has given, where everyone shares daily bread, and where everyone can sit at God's table. If, instead of asking, "God, why did you give so much to that person?" we can say, "God, thank you. You gave them what they needed too," then in that very moment we are living out the kin-dom Jesus talked about. When we have these eyes, heaven will no longer be a far-off future promise, but will begin today in our lives and in our church.