Friday, December 14, 2012

The Parable of the Vineyard Workers, Part 23 of 28

TEXT: "But many who are first will be last, and the last first. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' And they went. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?' They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.' So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.' And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. And when they had received it, they murmured against the landlord, saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.' But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?' So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen" (Matthew 19:30–20:16).

IDEA: Our perception of God determines the spirit of our service for Him.

PURPOSE: To help listeners realize that if they doubt God's goodness, then service for Christ becomes drudgery.

Have you ever wondered, for example, in Matthew 19, what the wealthy young man who came to Jesus asking about eternal life thought the day after their conversation?

He walked away from Jesus because he was in love with his money. Have you ever wondered if he ever thought about that again a year later, five years later?

Listen to this story in Matthew 20:1-16. If you were to talk to those workers a month or a year after this incident, what would be their opinion of the owner of the vineyard?

I. Do you think those workers would have told a different story about their experience in the vineyard?

How would these men have described the owner?

Did the owner act differently to all of these men? He paid them the same when they had not worked the same. But did he himself act differently?

II. If these workers were given the opportunity to work for this vineyard keeper again, what spirit would they bring to their work?

Some might work grudgingly, with suspicion. But would all of them work that way?

Does the way they regarded that vineyard owner have much to do with the spirit in which they did their work?

III. Does our attitude about the nature of God have much to do with the way we serve Him?

If you doubt God's goodness and generosity, what does that do to the way you live?

If you sense that God is a God of unbounding generosity, how does that affect the way you live and serve?

Is the difference in the workers and the difference in us due to a difference in the way God acts, or does the difference lie in how we perceive God acting?