March 8th, 2024
Friday, March 8th
Focus
By: Pastor Todd
Matthew 20:1-16
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon 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 five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These 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, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’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.”
The first thing we must admit is that our sense of fairness is insulted by this parable. If Jesus told this parable today, The AFL-CIO and the National Labor Relations Board would both flag this payment practice as a real problem. Come to church Sunday as we will talk about how to get past this.
Meanwhile, let me ask a broader question. Are we really that capable of always knowing what is fair? We think our judgements and opinions are always on point, but we could be wrong. Why? Because we just don’t know everything. The reason we need to leave what is fair up to God is he sees every nuance, knows every past circumstance, and understands currently what everyone is going through. We simply don’t.
So here is today’s task. Give the benefit of the doubt to the aggressive driver. Speak kindly to the person who speaks tersely to you. Defer to generosity and compassion. Let’s remind ourselves that we just don’t know everything in every situation so that we will be quick to generosity and slow to judgement. We will let God worry about what is just- while we focus on what is generous.
Focus
By: Pastor Todd
Matthew 20:1-16
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon 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 five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These 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, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’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.”
The first thing we must admit is that our sense of fairness is insulted by this parable. If Jesus told this parable today, The AFL-CIO and the National Labor Relations Board would both flag this payment practice as a real problem. Come to church Sunday as we will talk about how to get past this.
Meanwhile, let me ask a broader question. Are we really that capable of always knowing what is fair? We think our judgements and opinions are always on point, but we could be wrong. Why? Because we just don’t know everything. The reason we need to leave what is fair up to God is he sees every nuance, knows every past circumstance, and understands currently what everyone is going through. We simply don’t.
So here is today’s task. Give the benefit of the doubt to the aggressive driver. Speak kindly to the person who speaks tersely to you. Defer to generosity and compassion. Let’s remind ourselves that we just don’t know everything in every situation so that we will be quick to generosity and slow to judgement. We will let God worry about what is just- while we focus on what is generous.
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