"It is not fair" could be our reaction to the parable we hear today. The landowner is paying everybody the same including those who only worked for one hour.  This is a Human Resources problem waiting to happen. Everyone should get paid according to the hours worked. It is only fair. We even have coined the phrase "fair wages." So this parable is difficult to process.
   For me what is really hardest is that those who worked an hour get paid first while those worked the whole day are made to wait, tired and all. Okay so he paid them all the same; it's the landowner's money but as a courtesy pay those who work from dawn first so they can go to rest first. This is a way too human perspective. God thinks differently. God hires us in different stages of our lives and God, who is generous, will do with his salvation whatever He wills.
   We cannot limit His generosity. A brother or sister who accepts the Lord in the deathbed and one who believed since childhood have the same chance of salvation.  It is interesting that some conclude unhappy with this parable but it should cause great joy,  God gives first, and second and third and fourth chances in life.  God gives how many opportunities we need to get the recompense of eternal life. Some have been idle their whole life because others have been too busy working the land and caring more about productivity. We need to be like the landowner and, for us, people must come first and we need to reach out to others so many can be saved too. We should not be envious of those called last to salvation but thankful that they are. In the end those called sooner will experience sooner the presence of God while in this world. It is not about the wages acquired, it is about the experience of working with God while in this world. And though the parable does not say it, those working early on clearly had a benefit over those who only worked an hour...that is experiencing the presence of God longer in their lives. There is a famous song in Spanish that says "It not about getting there (the goal) first but to know how to get there (in style)." No one could take away the lived experience of those who worked early on. If only they would have valued it. For us the Lord is saying everybody gets salvation if they accept the invitation even at the last hour, but a life of service is more fulfilling than just repenting on the last moments. This may give us some solace to those who are called early on. We will be paid the same but no one can take away our experience of fulfillment with God while in this life.