Grace

(The fonts are a MESS in this entry, and don't have time right now to go through and fix, sorry!)

Right now at my church, we are in a series called More Than Fable. About the parables of Jesus. 'Many think they're just for kids, nothing more than fairy tales. Wrong. They're the source for truths that have changed our world and can change your life.'

This weekend was the parable of the workers in the vineyard. I've heard it before and have 'gotten' it, but it was even clearer to me.

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16)

 ¹"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. ²He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

 ³"About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. ⁴He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' ⁵So they went.

   "He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. ⁶About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'

 ⁷" 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered. 
      "He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'

 ⁸"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'

 ⁹"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. ¹⁰So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. ¹¹When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ¹²'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'

 ¹³"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. ¹⁵Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'

 ¹⁶"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

I can identify with those workers that were first. Can you imagine when they saw people who had only been there an hour being handed a whole denarius? They probably thought, wow, we've been here 12 hours!!!!! He's gonna give us a ton!!!!

But they 'only' got the same amount, what they had first agreed to. Not fair would be my first thought!!! But their pay was fair, it was what they agreed to! They just didn't like that the people after them were given a gift of generosity.

But I love how even as they are grumbling against the landowner, he still calls them 'Friend'.  

Our pastor talked about how we often think God owes us something. Because I've been a Christian for 15 years, or I go to church every weekend and give to charity. Because I am a 'good' person compared to that guy over there who murdered someone or stole a car or beat his wife.

The truth is that God doesn't owe us anything, but he offers us EVERYTHING...on His terms.

In the parable above, Jesus says "The kingdom of Heaven is like.."

So if we look at the landowner like God:

He seeks us out. He initiates and makes possible our relationship with Himself. 

Luke 19:10 - For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.

He establishes the terms of our relationship with Himself.

John 14:6 - Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

He continues to invite people into relationship, even those who are forsaken and forgotten (The people who no one wanted or hired by the end of the day. Even though only an hours work was left, he went and invited them and blessed them with the same reward as those who had been there the whole day)

Revelation 3:20 - Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

Those who begin their relationship with God early in life are no more loved or deserving than those who come to God late in life.

Romans 5:8 - But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since no one deserves to know or serve God, no one has any room for pride.

Ephesians 2:8-9 - "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.

It is an undeserved privilege  to serve and work for God and his kingdom.

Ephesians 2:10 - For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

We need to remember that, no matter how much we do for God or for how long we do it, we don't deserve what God has given us.

We should be as grateful as those last forgotten workers, who by the landowners grace, and generosity and mercy, paid them more than they deserved.

1 Peter 5:5 - All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because "God opposes the  proud but gives grace to the humble."

Receive God's Grace!

Matthew 11:28 - Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.