Rev. William Calvin Whitford, D. D. Graduate of Colgate University in 1886. Graduate of Unicn Theological Seminary in 1892. Married to Jessie F. Briggs, September 20, 1892. Pastor of the Berlin, N. Y. Church, summer of 1891 and May, 1892 to June, 1893. Treasurer of General Conference from 1888 to present. Member of International Sunday School Lesson Committee from 1914 to present. Professor of Biblical Languages and Literature in Alfred University from 1893 to present. Same professorship in Alfred Theological Seminary since a distinction was made between the College and Seminary in 1901. Sabbath Day, January 6, 1917 FIRST AND LAST By REV. WILLIAM C. WHITFORD "But many shall be last that are first; and first that are last" (Matt. 19: 30). "So the last shall be first, and the first last" (Matt. 20: 16). Scripture lesson suggested, Matthew 19: 16—20: 16. At the beginning of the year we are rather more inclined than usual to take stock of ourselves and of the situation in which we live, and to consider our past and our future. Perhaps we have been simply drifting, and need to be aroused to the seriousness of life, or perhaps we have had our minds so definitely set on attaining success at all hazards that we need to be warned in order that we may make a new and more careful appraisal concerning what is really valuable and valueless in the things that are within our reach. I invite your attention therefore to the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, and in particular to the verse that immediately precedes and the verse that immediately follows: "But many shall be last that are first, and first that are last." This parable has been burdened with many mistaken interpretations. There are some difficulties in the way of a ready apprehension of its meaning; but all these disappear if we maintain the right point of view. The great mistake in interpreting any parable is in the attempt to assign meanings to every separate detail, Ordinarily each parable has but one particular lesson, and all the details that do not point to that are simply the setting of the story. It is easily possible to infer a number of secondary lessons, but we should not assert that the parable is intended to teach them, and when we refer to such lessons we should let it be known that we are speaking on our own authority, and not from the definite teaching of Jesus. In In studying this parable it is fruitless to spend much time in endeavoring to determine what is meant by the penny or shilling with which the laborers were paid, or upon the other details of the setting of the story. We should rather strive to note how it happened that certain ones who were once with propriety reckoned as in the first class are later with equal propriety reckoned in the last class. order to do this we need to realize that instead of four or five classes as one might think at first glance there are essentially but two classes of laborers: those who were hired early in the morning and with whom the lord of the vineyard made a definite bargain, and those who were hired later and trusted to the fair dealing of the lord of the vineyard to give them an equitable fraction of a full day's wage. The laborers of the first class received just exactly what they bargained for, while those of the second class received far more in proportion. An intense literalist might claim that as all were treated alike in the payment all were made of one class, and none preferred above the others. But the men who had borne the weariness and the heat of the day plainly felt a discrimination. It is easy to see therefore that the late comers were last ones made first. That this is really the point of the parable is substantiated by the verse which precedes the parable and the verse which follows. The last shall be first, and the first last. Some have imagined that this parable teaches that an employer has a perfect right to fix a scale of wages to suit himself and that employees should not complain, no matter how inequitable the arrangement may seem to them. The parable does not touch such a situation; for it represents that those who labored all day got the full market price for their labor. While others spent more in proportion to the time spent, it is possible that they worked with greater energy and enthusiasm, and if they did receive something more than fitting wages that was not additional wages but a present. Even if, however, we should be constrained to admit that the lord of the vineyard was rather unfair to those who bore the burden and the heat of the day that circumstance does not hinder our apprehension of the lesson of the parable, nor at all impair its value. Elsewhere Jesus teaches truth from the example of men whose conduct is not worthy of approval. The unjust steward was praised for his prudent dealings, although these dealings were dishonest. We are not to think that our Lord stand sponsor for all the deeds of the characters in his stories even if those characters were commended. Upon one occasion he even compares himself to a thief in the night. It would be absurd to suppose that Jesus meant to teach a general likeness of himself to a robber. It is the unexpectedness of the coming of the thief in the night that is the point to be noticed. Before we seek to find the precise lesson that our Lord meant to teach by this parable let us pause a moment to notice how beautifully the story is adapted to retain the interest of the listeners, and to impress itself upon the memory in such a way that its central feature is uppermost. There are two classes among the laborers as we have noticed, but the second class is divided into sections to deepen our interest and to develop climax. Possibly some of those who came at the third hour shared the point of view of those who began to work early in the morning; but to all those who began to work after the day began there was no definite promise in regard to wages, and to the eleventh-hour men there was not even an indefinite promise. (The last line of verse 7 has in the King James Version been expanded by some accident, making it appear that there was a promise to the eleventh-hour men.) Another artistic touch in the parable is, that evening those who had come last were paid first. This may seem a mere accidental matter, but it gave opportunity for the first ones to see how the last ones fared at the hands of the paymaster. They murmured through envy, and not because they did not receive their just deserts. They had their reward, like those who gave alms to be seen of men; but they missed the loving favor of their lord because they had given no loving service. They were hirelings. What then is the especial application of this parable which is set forth in that aparently contradictory statement concerning the last firsts? I think that Jesus meant to teach that the Pharisees, who regarded themselves as the most religious people and who thought that they enjoyed the divine favor and merited it, would find that the people whom they despised, the publicans and sinners and other disciples of Jesus, would be received as citizens of the kingdom of heaven long before themselves. He may have meant also that the poor and despised in general would find themselves taking precedence over those who were rich in this world's goods. And he certainly meant also that those of his followers who were taking pride in their selfsacrifice, and looking out for their own honor in the kingdom would very likely find themselves behind others. The Pharisees were not altogether bad. They really represented the religious element of the Jewish people. Our Savior upon one occasion went as far as to commend their teaching in general, saying, "The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses' seat: all things therefore whatsoever they bid you, these things do and observe; but do not ye after their works; for they say and do not" (Matt. 23: 2-3). We notice also that the apostle Paul was himself a Pharisee, and that after he became a follower of Christ he still thought the fact that he was a Pharisee a matter of boasting. But the Pharisees by their very diligence in protecting the law of God and building a hedge about it were turning away from God himself. In their minute attention to the letter of the law they lost sight of the spirit. The tendency of their teaching was to encourage a man to formal obedience to commandments and to consider his obedience complete even when by some subterfuge he might altogether avoid the obligation toward which the commandment was di¡ected. This attitude toward the law could not fail to develop hypocrisy. When a man has become a conscious hypocrite there is scarcely any depth of sin into which he will not easily fall. So then as a class the Pharisees fell from the rank of first in the matter of religion to that of last. As we read the Gospels we gain the impression that no one could be worse than the Pharisees. To be sure none of us in this age are precisely like the Pharisees; but we have tendencies toward their position to such a degree that we do well to take warning from their example. When any one is priding himself on his exact obedience to requirements, and is inclined to judge others who do not seem to be as careful as he is, then is the time for him to give heed to himself lest by his devotion to precepts rather than to God, by his consecration to abstract duty rather than to brotherly kindness toward fellow-men, he lose his position of preeminence and sink below the class that is ordinarily reckoned as sinners. This lesson about the last firsts is meant also for the disciples of Jesus. We are apt to miss a good many lessons by taking it for granted that they are fitted for certain classes of people with whom there is no danger that we should be included. When Jesus had been talking with the rich young ruler who, although he was not far from the kingdom, went away sorrowful on account of his great possessions, he took that occasion to give some instruction to his disciples in regard to riches. He said, "Verily I say unto you, It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God" (Matt. 19: 23-24). The disciples were rather surprised at this teaching; for they thought like the majority of people of that day and this, that riches are among the greatest of earthly blessings. But this saying of Jesus was a comfort to the Twelve in view of their lack of wealth and in view of their great self-denial. Peter, speaking for the rest, called attention to the fact that they had given much for Jesus' service, and asked concerning their reward. To him Jesus responded most reassuringly, in the words so familiar to us: "And every one that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundred fold, and shall inherit eternal life" (Matt. 19: 29). But with this declaration of blessedness there is a note of warning that is well worthy of our attention. Even Peter and his companions were in danger of going to work with the hireling spirit. We are ourselves also in danger. If our thought is set upon the reward to come for our work rather than upon the work itself and the Master whom we serve through the work, we are becoming hirelings. Perhaps we will not be at first envious of others who are getting more; but we will very soon be complaining that the wages are low, and the work wearing, and that we are not getting as much as we should for the labor done. Then we will be aligning ourselves with that class in the parable who were first and became last. It is We must not take pride in our self-denial, nor imagine that by giving up anything we are earning first place in the kingdom. proper to be sure that a man who is enduring earthly affliction should be strengthened by the thought of the spiritual blessings that will compensate for his losses; but just as soon as he begins to pride himself on what he has suffered for the Christ, and to assume that he has suffered or done any more than is required of him, he is on the road to the last place in rank instead of the first. No matter what we have done or suffered, the blessings that we attain come by grace and not as wages due. I have read of clergymen who had such an exalted idea of privileges and opportunities that they had given up that they imagined that every one was immeasurably in their debt, and that they were themselves worthy of the greatest consideration on the part of both God and man. Such an attitude of mind makes all self-denial of no account and brings discredit on their profession. But this is far from being a shortcoming of one class in society alone. We all need to learn the lesson from our Lord who taught us to say, "We are unprofitable servants: we have done only what we ought to have done." It is the motive that counts. The man who hates, even if he commits no hostile act, must be reckoned as a murderer. The poor widow who casts the lowest allowable amount into the treasury, a |