How could they be otherwise until the Landowner had commissioned them to work? The strike and a boycott shut down much of the nations freight and passenger traffic west of Detroit, Michigan. Compare Acts 8:29; 9:11; 10:19; 13:1-4; Isaiah 6:1-8. I have been a member of the Presbyterian Church for thirty years, and have tried to be a consistent one all the time. A friend of mine passed through Palo Alto this week on his way to Colorado to participate in a very unusual ranch. Cultivating the vineyard of the Lord includes cultivating the lives of those who toil in the vineyard. What Does it Mean That We Are Co-Workers with God? That person may not have done anything of importance within the church but look at the rewards he or she may have. 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. (John 15:4-5 RSV). He says, "Now, it may seem strange to you that I should ask that last question. For example, the Lord needs: To all of us the Lord says - Revelation 3:8! Was it unfair for them to receive what they received from the master of the vineyard? There was no fruit. Mark Bailey calls this parable, A day on the job in the kingdom of He responded, This man thinks that because he has been a consistent church member for thirty years, a faithful Sunday school superintendent for twenty-five years, and an elder in the church for twenty years, that God is under obligation to answer his prayer. Christians should work diligently to glorify the Lord and bring others to Christ, and because of the genuineness of our hearts will we obtain rewards in The point was to not hang on to your possessions too tightly. Then the last result of fruitbearing -- the fullness of joy, Verse11, "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." (LogOut/ Both of these are absolutely essential, and our Lord develops this fact. They mistakenly believe that they have earned whatever they have. He not only does this, but he does it repeatedly. In making claims of unfairness, we forget who the boss isand it is not us! Christians should work diligently to glorify the Lord and bring others to Christ, and because of the genuineness of our hearts will we obtain rewards in heaven. Another principle to this parable is what people focus on as being unfair. (3) Criticism (verse 15) - criticism of the Lord and of His dealings. The traditional site of the Upper Room in Jerusalem is on the western side of the Old City, on the slopes of Mount Zion. But when he came into his vineyard and looked for grapes, he found wild grapes instead sour, tasteless grapes. The relationship is not merely to be recognized; it is to be acted upon: "Abide in me, and I in you. As work became more industrialized, Pope Leo XIII advocated for just working conditions, the rights of workers to bargain collectively and form unions, and to earn a living wage all of which our church still supports today. From then on there are still no meetings, but invariably every week there are those guests who come and say, "I want to know more about this." As leaders, they should have been leading the people to Him. But if you try, you find that there will be no fruit, no Christlikeness, no manifestation of that beautiful character which arrests the attention of others. Judas was a paramount example of this. In light of the countrys stagnant federal minimum wage, the network is supporting a Nashville Living Wage certification program to honor employers who pay a more just minimum wage by choice. In the first 13 verses of chapter 20 of the Book of Matthew, Jesus is telling the parable about workers being paid equally. God owns the vineyard! But it is an No matter how long you have been a member of the church, have served on different committees, been a deacon, a Sunday School teacher, or whatever you have done, you do not deserve Gods grace, and you certainly do not deserve more of it. We know that your work with us is to the end that we may produce more fruit, that all of us here in this vineyard will be so fruit-laden, that it will be a fruitful place which will make the world around us drool with desire to learn the secret of such fruit. They mistakenly believe that they are the ones in charge and can call the shots in Gods Kingdom. All through this account his emphasis is upon the fruit. You can raise your family without Christ. One is in Isaiah5: "For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house [the nation] of Israel," (Isaiah 5:7a). If you left everything family, friends, a good job, material possessions in order to follow Jesus, you might expect something more from Jesus. We could see this as people coming to faith in Jesus Christ during different periods of church history or at different ages in life. (1) Idleness (verse 6). (LogOut/ St. Augustine once gathered up this very truth in a beautiful way: That frightens some people. Again, let God be your guide. We would be foolish to appeal to God for justice rather than grace, for if we really received justice, we would all be condemned. Jesus further explained the participation rules of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is only by God's grace. When the Landowner went out at the eleventh hour and asked, Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing? (verse 6), they replied, Because no-one has hired us (verse 7). Do you want to be known as a disciple of Jesus? I am sure you have all had the experience of being confronted with a word of Scripture and learning from it that something you had been doing all your life, and which you thought was right, was actually wrong. Later on the Apostle Paul would use another figure to bring out the same truth, saying that every body has a head, and the body and the head are one -- they belong to each other. (John 15:8 RSV). "But the plans of the LORD stand firm for ever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Probably everyone feels that a person ought to be compensated fairly for his or her work. Meaning and 10 Examples, What Is the Parable of the Sower? 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. So they went. It is almost certain that Jesus stopped in the midst of a vineyard, took a vine, and used it as a means of illustrating to his disciples the great secret he had been seeking to impart to them in his whole discourse there in the Upper Room, the most fundamental and basic secret of Christian life -- the secret which lay at the heart of his own experience and ministry, "I am in the Father, and the Father is in me" John 14:10(, and now the secret of their lives by the Spirit when he would come, "You in me, and I in you," (John 14:20b RSV(. The Collect. God graciously gives according to His will, as He so chooses. Look up John 4:35, and compare John 9:4. The parable shocks us when the eleventh hour workers receive as much pay for the one hour they worked as those who had worked all day. (2) In other continents the need is vast - where the darkness of heathenism, superstition and ignorance abound. If you try to pray as though it were some exercise in which you chalk off fifteen minutes' worth, mechanically going through a list like the turning of a prayer wheel, it is a valueless experience. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. I believe that this is similar to today. Isaiah tells us what that represents in Verse 7: For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry! Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? In between, theres not a lot of work to do. It becomes a continuing sense and experience of his love for us. None are self-appointed. Message transcript and recording 1973 by Ray Stedman Ministries, owner of sole copyright by assignment from the author. Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. It is typically a time for families and friends to get together to enjoy food, fun and football. We do not have to agonize and struggle to produce these qualities or characteristics; they are brought about naturally by the vine. No one can gain more favor than another, whether we spend a lifetime serving God or, like the thief on the cross, a person who comes to repentance at the end of ones life will be saved and enter into paradise (see Luke 23:39-43). (John 15:7 RSV), Answered prayer is one of the first signs of a fruitful life. The life which is in the vine produces fruit which Paul describes in Galatians5 as: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. Or is your eye evil because I am good? So the last will be first, and the first last. In verse three, the householder went out about the third hour into the marketplace and found others standing idly by. Is God using the sharp knife of circumstances to cut off the "sucker shoot" of an old habit or attitude in your life, confronting you with that word of truth which corrects and cleanses, causing you to see it and feel it and hear it and give heed to it? We must, if we would have God answer our prayers, give up any thought that we have any claim upon God. There is no more fundamental advice on the value of work, and how that leads to a good and successful life, than the word of God. Linking is encouraged, but republishing or redistributing, including by framing or similar means, without the publisher's prior written permission is prohibited. Rather, they were to ask God for additional helpers. In Verses4 and5 our Lord goes on to set forth, in the most helpful way I know of in all of Scripture, what might be called the law of fruitfulness: "Abide in me, and I in you." And if you are truly loving him, you can ask whatever you will. It was so in the parable; it is so today. Who Are the Workers in the Parable of the Vineyard? Can we or will we be able to say, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing (2 Timothy 4:7-8). Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Gods vineyard is the entire earth, and the workers in the vineyard That is, a vine produces certain shoots (called "sucker" shoots) which start to grow where the branch joins the stem. The steward, perhaps, represents Jesus Christ, to whom has been committed all judgment. He may have been eager to make sure people had work. Only believing in Christ and accepting him as Lord and Savior is what prompts a home in heaven. 07/15/2018. Even though Israel is Gods chosen people, He opened the door for salvation to everyone. 63). Surely, How vast the field of service is which the Lord calls us into! And leave pride out of it. The spirit of Judgment. On the other hand, our Lord gives us the results of fruitbearing -- four beautiful manifestations. As Isaiah tells us, God cleared out the rocks in his vineyard and hedged it about. It seemed to me a far cry from cleansing away debris to pruning back the branches -- until I learned that, in the usual practice of viticulture (i.e., the care of vines), the branches are pruned back each year in order to cleanse them. All that we have, including all that the church receives and has belongs to Him. Furthermore, it is added to any new believers as a consolation of the grace of God. And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out. California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. When you love God, then all that you do is touched and controlled by love, and love is the fulfilling of the Law. This is the glory of Christian liberty. Here is the process in which the branch is cut off, and then it withers -- grows dry and dull and dead. All of us have learned, one way or another, that love demands a response if it is to grow. Does it Matter That I Didn't Keep My Goals for Lent? Israel was that vine. Cultivating the vineyard of the Lord includes cultivating the lives of those who toil in the vineyard. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." Then God the Father sent His only Son. Some people think the world owes them something a particular standard of living, health care, mobile phones, or other stuff. Aside from the first group of workers who were hired at sun up, the master promises to pay the workers what is right. These workers might have expected to receive a fraction of a days wage, but the master of the vineyard never specifies what he will pay. (2) Christian authors and teachers who use the printed word. Open Jobs. (4) Murmurings (verse 11). Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. But that was not the end of it; there was to be more as they went on. As a result he was cut off, and he withered. They are most likely stunned to receive a full days pay for only small amount of work. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Laborers in Gods Vineyard (Matthew20:1-16), https://christambassadors.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/laborers-in-gods-vineyard-matthew-201-16.mp3, Laborers in Gods Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) | Good Hope Baptist Church, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, God cares more for people than for things, We are His laborers working for His Harvest. That is abiding in him. We are His Laborers Working for His Harvest. So it is evident from that parable that the fruit which God expects of the vine is moral character, or as we have it in the New Testament, the fruit of the Spirit -- the fruit which the Spirit produces. It is not part of the fruit itself; it is the result of a life which increasingly is becoming Christlike. It is the love of Jesus for us, "shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit" (Romans 5:5 KJV), which awakens our love toward him in response. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." The Diocese of Rochester In America 1868-1993, Catholic social teaching series 3: Human rights and responsibilities: Promoting the common good for all, Catholic social teaching series 3: Rights and responsibilities what we are owned and owe to others in justice, Catholic social teaching series 4: Developing awareness and action for the preferential option for the poor, Franciscan Center of Baltimore exemplifies the preferential option for poor. Christianity.com is a member of the Salem Web Network of sites including: Copyright 2023, Christianity.com. The good news is that God does bestow grace on us, the eleventh hour workers, and we receive the same reward of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal glory as the But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And there are conversions after conversions throughout the remainder of the week -- because of young people who manifest by their lives that they are Jesus' disciples. These three vineyard texts insist that God remains in personal relationship with his people, continues to care for and preserve them and stays faithful even when the people fail to do so. When we think of its size, how few workers there are! Choose from news (Monday), leisure (Thursday) or worship (Saturday) or get all three! We are workers of the eleventh hour! Because the field is so great, the variety of workers needed is also great. Why should it matter when and where God hires these workers, or how much they receive, as long as we are united in Christ and focused on the mission of making disciples? What then will we have? Jesus said to them, Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. There will be a harvest and we need to work until that time. This is what our Lord has in view. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. See how many times the Landowner went out to appoint workers - verses 1, 3, 5, 6. We expect that those who work harder and longer will receive a greater reward than those who do not. And he included in that vine not only the branches but the stem and root. That is, "If you do not abide in me, you will be fruitless." Change). Both these relationships are absolutely essential, not one as opposed to the other but both together. We can look at this as a progression from the calling of the Jews to the calling of the Gentiles (Mark 16:15; Luke 14:23). Again, He is the Master of the vineyard, not us. All of this is designed to relate to him -- "Abide in me." If indeed this is the location, they then took their way down across the Tyropoeon Valley, which separated the Temple from the rest of the city, around the wall skirting the Temple area, down into the Kidron Valley, across the brook, and then up the slope of the Mount of Olives to the garden. We are to each be sowing seed in His field. 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