August 28, 2008

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

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

He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About 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?" "Because no one has hired us," they answered.  He said to them, "You also go and work in my vineyard."

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."

The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. "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."

But he answered one of them, "Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?"  (Matthew 20:1-15)

Dear Friends,

I never liked this story very much. It went against my grain. It didn't seem fair. It made me bristle. There's something that makes it look like God doesn't recognize a fair reward for the amount of work done.

It made me crazy because the last workers got paid as much as the first. I think the issue was that I always saw myself as one of the first workers, who toiled all day long in the field and only got as much as the ones who came to work at the end of the day.

Isn't that the way it is for most of us who have been Christians for a long time? We feel like we've put in our time, done our work, and we should get a bigger reward for it.

Doesn't it sometimes feel unjust when the serial killer on death row suddenly converts to Christianity right before the death sentence is carried out? They've done all kinds of unspeakable evil, and yet they get into heaven too.

Or, not on such an extreme scale, when the person you know who has lived a wild life, and done all kinds of things, becomes a Christian at a very old age, right before they die.

Sometimes it seems like we've done all we can to live a good life, and everybody else has all the fun.

Just doesn't seem right.

OK, here's where I've grown up a little bit. There are a few fallacies that come into play in this scenario.

The first one is that we see ourselves as the first workers in the field, rather than the last ones. We aren't sinless by any stretch, and very few of us have been really serious and enthusiastic about spreading God's Word our whole lives long.

I think the first workers in the fields were the early Christians and evangelists, the ones who put their lives on the line, many of whom died for the faith, being crucified, stoned, or sent to the lions. (Puts it into perspective, doesn't it?)

The next fallacy is that we are more righteous or better than anybody else, just because we've been church members for a long time. It's simply not true. Studies have shown that in America, there is very little, if any, behavioral difference between those who go to church and those who don't. (That's a little depressing, isn't it?)

The problem is that, generally speaking, we've taken our great faith, our fantastic message of grace, our whole new way of living, and reduced it to a moral code. The worst part of it is that even though we've reduced it to a moral code, it is a moral code that we generally don't live up to. (Which is exactly why non-Christians think of us as hypocrites; we are!)

The third fallacy is that we somehow think that living a sinful life is in some way better or more fun than living by God's principles (remember the line from the old Billy Joel song, - I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints, the sinners are much more fun....). If you think that is true, spend some with people who have turned away from God, who walk away from God's principles for a good and healthy life, who think that getting the next drink or the next fix or having the next affair is the most important thing in life, and see how much fun they are really having, and how happy they generally are in life. Lots of times they end up on the church doorstep, their lives broken and a wreck. Other times they end up somewhere else, like on the street, or in a seedy hotel, trying to figure out where their next meal is coming from. Or sometimes they live right next door, incredibly depressed and feeling empty.

The final fallacy is that there is a whole lot of difference in terms of what we deserve than anybody else. The whole thing that rankles us with this parable of Jesus is that we aren't getting what we deserve. We want what's coming to us!

No we don't. Because when you put it all into perspective, we are all, as Luther would say, "in bondage to sin." Not one of us has led a perfect life. Not one of us is sinless. Not one of us can say that we haven't hurt others with our words or actions. Not one of us can say that we have lived every moment for the glory of God.

And what do we get? Exactly what we don't deserve. We get to be sons and daughters of God, with an inheritance in heaven.

So what does this parable mean to you and me? It means that God is gracious and loves us and gives us far more than we deserve. It's not our place to worry about who else does or does not deserve anything - it's just our place to be thankful that God is gracious and loves us.

In His Grip,

Dave

P. S.  Other things to mention:

- The $100 Adventure: Several of you who went out into the community to invest $100 to make a difference in Jesus' name have returned your reports. Thanks! If you haven't returned yours yet, please e-mail me with it or drop it off at the church office. Thank you! Some great stories are coming in!

- Our Fall Carnival is coming up on Sunday, September 7th from noon until 2 p.m. Come for free food, fun, and games! Take a moment and think about who you can invite to come, and then invite them!  Click Here for More Information.

- Our denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has asked us to take part in a nationwide, multi-denominational survey on September 20th and 21st. This will be one of the largest, most far-reaching worship surveys done ever in the United States. There will be more information coming out about this in the weeks to come.

- We'll be starting a new worship setting for our 8:15 and 9:30 services in September. You'll enjoy it because the music is hymn tunes that we already know and love.