Matthew 20 begins with the parable of the laborers:
"For 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 marketplace,
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 ye 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 has made them equal to 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 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."
Most of the time I've heard this parable discussed it is in the context of being thankful for what we have and the nature of fairness and justice. I think those are important parts of the parable to consider but my note made me think about it from the perspective of those called to work in the 11th hour. I'm pretty sure it was based on ideas from someone much smarter and wiser than I am but unfortunately I forgot to write it down so I can't give credit where it is due. It may seem extraordinary that the Master was willing to pay them for a full days wage after only one hour of work. My guess is though that these were extraordinary people.
They had waited all day hoping for work sufficient to meet their needs. I can only imagine their feelings as they saw others hired and the numbers dwindle. If human nature holds true it's likely that after a period of time many who had not received hire for earlier in the day left - either in anger, frustration, or despair. It's so hard to hold on to hope when it seems unlikely there will be any reward for our efforts and it's much easier to just give up and leave and go grumble about how awful the situation was or find other ways to distract ourselves from the problems of life.
These workers didn't give up though. Perhaps they had past experiences that they could rely on or were more desperate or more dedicated, but they held on to hope even when it was hardest.
I also noticed something I hadn't before - they had willingly gone to work without an agreed on payment. It was probably the understanding that their work would determine their earnings. I'm going to take a guess that knowing they were coming to the work with such a short time before the day would end they were eager to prove themselves of value and worked diligently while they were there.
I realized that that was my problem, I had lost sight of this idea and was starting to give up hope that my efforts would be rewarded. I just need to trust that as I continue in patience and persistence and give my best to the work I will be rewarded with all the things I stand in need of.
