Back to the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard after the Kentucky Derby’s history-making demonstration of “the last shall be first,” also part of that parable (last verse of the preceding chapter). I suggested that what the first workers received that the last workers didn’t was a full day of meaningful work.

My friend Rob Webster, contemporary worship leader at Frazer Methodist when I was on staff back in the early 2000s, now Director of Communication at Custer Methodist in Plano, TX, is a creative genius who has just started a blog series, The Story that Writes Us. The second episode is entitled, A Mandalorian and a Theologian Walk Into a Bar – only Rob Webster could come up with this. In this episode, he talks about the Star Wars spinoff, The Mandalorian, and the filming of the Season 1 finale, episode 8.

The short version is that at the last minute they wanted more Stormtroopers, but they had already sent the costumes back, they would have to hire actors, etc., etc. What to do? They called the 501st! What’s the 501st, you ask? It’s a group of people, Star Wars fans, who have formed a volunteer organization to dress up like Star Wars Stormtroopers and make appearances at various public events:

Some fans are content to collect action figures…other fans want to be action figures. Nothing professes your passion quite like building your own detailed costume replica of a classic Star Wars villain, and there’s nothing quite like the feeling that comes from bringing the characters of Star Wars into the real world and sharing the magic with others. – From the 501st Legion website, emphasis mine

So members of the 501st show up to be part of an actual Star Wars television episode. As Rob puts it:

Can you imagine that you are a huge Star Wars fan? You are such a big fan that you even make this armor yourself that looks just like the real thing. And can you imagine what a dream come true it was for these people to realize I’m no longer going to just be dressing up like I’m a character in a movie, I’m going to get to actually be in a Star Wars…production…How incredible is that?

And Rob’s application is, I think, like the workers in the vineyard, especially the 6:00 am guys, ready to go to work:

And I don’t know if we ever think about what it means to live as Christians in this world and how incredible it is that we get to be a part of this story… I had a chance one time to spend some time on a big-budget movie set [Bob’s note: this was The Big Fish, filmed near Montgomery, AL, in 2003], and the extras would be called in, they’d be in costume, and sometimes they’d just be waiting in this tent in costume all day and never really knowing if or when they would even get called to be on camera. But they were prepared…and couldn’t wait for the opportunity to do the thing that they’d been called there to do.

I feel like the Christian life can and should be like that. Not that we sit around and wait. We actively seek ways that we can follow after God, that we can be his hands and feet. But we’re prepared. And when the opportunity comes, we’re ready just like these Star Wars fans. They were trained. They knew what to do. They were ready. And they were so excited that they got to be a part of the story. – Rob Webster, The Story That Writes Us, Season 1, Episode 2

Good stuff. We are called to a great Adventure, called to be part of the story. Back to the Vineyard: the first guys still got the biggest reward: the joy of participation.

When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd. “What a huge harvest!” he said to his disciples. “How few workers! On your knees and pray for harvest hands!” The prayer was no sooner prayed than it was answered. Jesus called twelve of his followers and sent them into the ripe fields. He gave them power to kick out the evil spirits and to tenderly care for the bruised and hurt lives. (Matthew 9.36 – 10.1, MSG)