The Ones No One Chose

Matthew 20:6-7 (CEB) · The Gospel on Stage and Screen

“Around five in the afternoon he went and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you just standing around here doing nothing all day long?’ ‘Because nobody has hired us,’ they replied.” — Matthew 20:6-7 (CEB)

“Because nobody has hired us.” Five words that carry a whole day’s worth of waiting, watching others get chosen, wondering what’s wrong with you.

These workers didn’t sleep in. They showed up at dawn like everyone else. They stood in the marketplace all day, through the nine o’clock hire, the noon hire, the three o’clock hire. Each time, someone else was chosen. Each time, they remained.

I recently led a funeral for a woman who had lived in care facilities since she was six years old. Eighteen people came. They were the caregivers and residents who had chosen her every day when no one else would. Sometimes the ones the world overlooks are found by the people who simply keep showing up.

God doesn’t pass by. God comes at five o’clock for the ones still waiting.

God who sees the overlooked, you come for those the world passes by. Teach us to show up for one another the way you show up for us. Amen.