Monthly Archives: July 2025

Find Me in the Vineyard

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Sometimes a song just grabs me. My son Matt introduced me to this song, wanting me to play so he could sing it at a family gathering. It’s called “Find Me in the Vineyard” by Matt Zoeller a worship leader at Resurrection in the City Lutheran Church in Denver, where my Matt sometimes plays the piano.

It’s about people in the Bible taking pride in what they do, people who don’t know…

…not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us… (Titus 3.5, NKJV)

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2.8, 9, NKJV)

The Bible is filled with teaching about this (the whole book of Galatians, for example), but this song captures it succinctly from the perspective of the prideful doers.

See what you think. I’ve annotated the lyrics with links to the biblical text from which they come.

Stanza 1

  • You’ll find me in the vineyard
  • since the morning up to dinner (Matthew 20.1 – 16)
  • And all of the latecome sinners
  • Who are not as tired as me
  • Cause I am the older brother (Luke 15.11 – 32)
  • I stayed home unlike the other
  • Planned for winter all through summer
  • When all he got was all for free

Chorus 

  • All I wants’ what I deserve
  • I kept records what I’ve earned
  • It’s my time and it’s my turn
  • These things I have kept from my youth (Matthew 19.16 – 22)
  • All my fasting and my praying (Luke 18.9 – 14)
  • All my doing and my saying
  • I am not in need of saving
  • In these rules …     I know the truth

Stanza 2

  • The promise that I heard is
  • You’ll have kids and you deserve this
  • (N’ if I) just take Sara’s servant (Genesis 16.1 – 6)
  • it’s in my control again
  • And I see myself in Judas 
  • Always pointing out what’s stupid 
  • Perfume wasted why’d she do this? (John 12.1 – 8)
  • Don’t you see what could have been?

Chorus

(See above)

Stanza 3

  • I am not my sister Mary (Luke 10.38 – 42)
  • Freed from burdens that I carry
  • Every word of Jesus’ sharing
  • (But) someone’s got to get it right
  • Someone’s got to keep the lights on
  • Cook the food and sing the fight song
  • Keep the wrong one from the right one
  • Til’ all this justice takes my life

Chorus

(see above)

Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (Romans 3.27, 28, ESV)