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MASONIC EDUCATION PROGRAM
Scriptures of the Mark Master’s Degree
Sixth Reading
There are many Scripture passages used in the Mark Master’s Degree. Today, we look at the sixth reading from Scripture, which occurs in the degree. Here, the Scripture read is Matthew 20:1-16. The entire scripture will not be quoted here, due to its length. It begins, “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that is an householder…”
As the parable goes, early in the morning, some first recruits were hired with a guarantee of payment. They had a contract, one they considered fair. At the third, sixth, and ninth hours, the lord of the vineyard recruited more laborers. They were hired with the promise to give them what was right when the time of reckoning came. At the eleventh hour he hired additional workers who were even more dependent on the generosity of the owner of the vineyard.
All this is true to the spiritual life. There is inequality of opportunity for service. Some people are awakened to spiritual things when they are very young. Some are do not come until later in their lives. Among the servants of the Great Architect of the Universe, there is inequality in length of service and talent.
The “day” in the parable seems to represent the span of human life.
The late starters dared to trust in the owners’ benevolence. They had no contract and struck no bargains. They did not say, “we will serve you on these terms.” Nor did they say, “what will we get?”
To these laborers’ astonishment they received a full day’s wage, just as if they had been called early in the morning. The owner rewarded them, not for the length of their service, but for their willingness, faithfulness, and trust. Similarly, the GAOTU measures the way we seize and employ the opportunities we have, not just the length of our service.
The early starters, however, desired to trust in their bargain. Their spirit was wrong from the beginning. These laborers wanted to know upfront what they would get out of working in the vineyard and they received just what they bargained for: remuneration instead of reward.
At the end of the day their spirit was still wrong. They saw those who had served in the vineyard for a shorter time receiving a full day’s reward, and the early starters put two and two together. If one hour’s work earned a “penny”, twelve hours’ work should be worth twelve pennies. They received exactly what they had bargained for, but they were envious and furious. Their spirit of jealousy was evident. They did not have the gracious, compassionate spirit of the one for whom they worked.
We learn from this parable that as long as we do not neglect the opportunity given to us, the amount of time we spend in the Lord’s service is not nearly so important as the spirit in which our service is rendered. Perhaps if the laborers in this parable had shown the same spirit as the lord, their reward would have been increased twelvefold.
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forget about our Chapter meeting starting at 1:30pm after lunch.
We will start forming degree teams and work on degree ritual after
a short business meeting.