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8 June: 

Workers in the Vineyard

 

Last week we looked at the parables of the mustard seed and leaven. We see in those examples that something may be small, but it can have great potential and therefore a great effect on the lives of people. We don’t have to be super-Christians to bring the kingdom of God into the lives around us. Like the tortoise, slow and steady can win the race. Like the mustard seed and leaven, we can “ordinary” and still be victorious for the Lord. We simply must allow God to work in our lives and be the sheep or Good Samaritan that He desires us to be where and when we can. Today I want to look at another parable:  the vineyard owner.

Mt 20:1-15 (paraphrased)   For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at different times to hire workers for his vineyard. The first laborers hired agreed to work for a denarius while the remaining workers hired throughout the day were simply promised to be paid “fairly”.      At the end of the day all the workers were called forward from the last hired to the first hired. They were ALL paid a denarius for their work. Upon seeing this, the first workers hired complained about their being paid the same amount the last, one-hour workers, were paid. The master replied that he paid them the agreed upon amount and he had the right to do what he wanted with his money. He would not let their envious attitude dictate what he could or could not do.

  1. In this parable we see the Master paying the workers the agreed upon price or paying them more than fairly. We, as children of God and Christ-followers are also going to be rewarded:
  1. Christians are promised a blessed eternal life after this earthly life.   James 1:12 “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”        I Peter 5:4 “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”   
  2. Christians are promised problems in this life.    Rom 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”    2 Tim 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”  
  3. Christians are promised blessings in this life.  Mt 6:24,25,33,34 “No one can serve two masters; … You cannot serve God and wealth. For this reason, I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; … But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.    Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God .... “          Phil 4:7,19 “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. …  And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”       Eph 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”       John 14:16,17 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the spirit of truth . . . but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”  Gal 5:22,23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…”      Consequences: Christians will have less struggles and consequences to deal with due to living the life lined out for us by God (e.g., Ten Commandments).
  1. The parable shows the contrast between the attitudes of God and man:
  1. God is generous and loving:

God loves us to the point of sacrificing His only Son for us, John 3:16;  I Cor 6:20 “We have been bought with a price”.  1 Peter 1:18,19 “You were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.” (paraphrased)

  1. The Lord rewards those who love and obey Him Heb 11:6 “… for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
  2. God is patient looking for those who will come to Him:  2 Pe 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
  3. God has work for His laborers: Eph 2:10 “For we are His workman-ship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”  2 Cor 5:20 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ …”
  1. Man tends to be selfish and ill-willed towards others.
  1. Gal 5:19 “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, sensuality, idolatry, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, envying, drunkenness, carousing and things like these”.
  2. 1 Cor 6:9 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, homosexuals, thieves’, covetous, drunkards, swindlers, or evil doers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
  1. God offers blessings but man must respond obediently – 2 Tim 3:16 tells us that Scripture is inspired and has been given to us to train us in righteousness and to be equipped for the doing of good works:
  1. Titus 2:11,12 “for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age”.
  2. 1 John 2:15 “Do no love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
  1. Col 3:2 “Set you mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”
  2. Phil 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely – whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything, worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

The parable of the vineyard workers tells us that God seeks to bring us under His control and desires to reward us for our love. It tells us that no matter when we come to His kingdom we will be rewarded.

 

Gal 6:9,10 “So then, while we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. Let us not lose heart doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.”

 

Let us all persevere and be God’s workers, producing fruit:

30 fold, 60 fold, 100 fold –

Let our 5 talents become 10,

Our 2 talents become 4

And our single talent become two

And in this way - receive our Crown of Life!

 

 

1 June 2025:  

Lessons from the Mustard Seed and Leaven Parables:     

Luke 13:18-21 “So He was saying, ‘What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.’ And again He said, ‘To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.’”    Luke 17:6 “And the Lord said, ‘If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you.’”  And in Mtt 17:20 our faith like mustard seed can move a mountain.   So what can we gather from these passages.

First, the seed starts off being very small.        Consider the beginnings of Christianity. Where did it get its start? From a baby born in a manger. Who was our Messiah? A humble, foot-washing leader who was flogged and crucified on a wooden cross. How did His message turn the world upside down? By 12/13 lowly and unassuming disciples. And currently, it has become the largest religion of the world.  In 2 Cor we are told that we are God’s ambassadors. We are to go out into the work force, neighborhoods and other social situations and we are to represent God’s kingdom. We don’t have to be talented, wealthy, power-speakers or super-Christians. We just have to acknowledge who God says we are – a royal priesthood according to 1 Peter 2:9. And what do priests do? They are the go-between, the mediator, between God and the lost.

Second, this smallest of seeds has the potential to become a tree for birds of every kind to nest.    Mtt 11:28-31 Jesus declares that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light, and we can find rest for our souls. Jesus is stating that His path, Christianity, has requirements and laws that will be a relief to those burdened under the Mosaical system and the guilt of their sins. How does Christ sum up the Law and the Prophets? To love God and love our neighbor. How does this love find a home within us?  Gal 5:18,22,23 “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.  22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” 

What is Paul indicating here? What law are we under? I believe that would be the law of love. And how is this law fulfilled? By allowing the Holy Spirit to develop and grow within us.           We can do nothing in and of ourselves. It will only be by the Holy Spirit living and growing within us that we will be transformed into what God desires us to be.        What did Jesus say was going to illustrate to those people around us that we were HIS DISCIPLES? If we have love, one for another. It is this type of religion that is going to win over people to the Lord – If we have love for each other.

“And again He said, ‘To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.’” Look at this second part of the parable – the leaven. What is leaven? It is a living bacteria that spreads out and takes over the whole batch of flour. That is the way our lives are supposed to be. We influence and exemplify God’s love to each and every person. Leaven is a living thing and so are we. Christianity is not a passive religion. If the extent of our religion is to read and memorize; if the extent of our religion is practice ceremonies and quote Scripture, then we have misunderstood the heart of Christ’s teachings. God said that there would come a time when He would write His laws upon the hearts of His children and what are those commands? To love God and love our neighbor. Jesus taught that love is a verb. That is the point of the parable of the  Good Samaritan – we stop and get down with the broken and help in their healing.

You may have noticed that the leaven was “hidden” in the flour. There is no drama or great flair about what leaven does to the flour. Consider the parable of the sheep. They are not invited into the kingdom of God because they baptized 3,000 souls but because they fed the hungry. They were not rewarded for preaching and converting dozens of people but because they clothed the naked and gave water to the thirsty. Jesus said in Mtt 10:42 “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is My disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”  It is through our actions of love that people will be influenced and brought to the Lord.   

Our reward will be obtained because we are kind, show love, share joy, exhibit patience and gentleness and other such qualities.

In describing the Kingdom of God as hidden in the dough of a woman’s baking bread, I think Christ is saying that people will be converted by the quiet deeds of love and not miraculous deeds of healing. Miraculous actions have disappeared, but love has not. If you want to know where God’s kingdom is today, you simply need to look in the mirror. God doesn’t require greatness – just commitment and compassion. The kingdom of God is ordinary and mundane, BUT it is transformative and infectious, and the kingdom of God is practiced in community.

Paul says that one person plants a seed and another person waters and then what happens? God gives the increase.       You have a choice: you can be like the sheep or the goats. You can be like the 5 or 2 talent servant or like the one talent servant. These two parables tell us that the kingdom of God is HERE!. It is us. 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”      2 Cor 5:18, 20 “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation”.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us …”     Eph 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we would walk in them.”

Isn't that what the Good Samaritan parable illustrates for us. John 9:1-3 Jesus was asked who had sinned causing a man to be blind? “Jesus answered, ‘It was neither that this man who sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed.’”                          Maybe Lazarus was placed at the rich man’s gates so that he could show the compassion and love he is supposed to have for his fellow man   AND   “honk” – he failed his test, his chance to show compassion. And where does he end up? Hades!

Let us not fail our chance to love. Remember, James tells us that to know to do good things and not do it = sin!

From the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven – we can see that the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit who is God, should transform us so that God makes a difference in our world and those around us.   We are the kingdom of God, let us begin to live like we believe this and accept it and desire it!