Matthew 92
(Chapter 20)
If you ain’t first, you're last
Matthew 20:1–16 (NLT)
1“For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard.
2He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work.
3“At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing.
4So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day.
5So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing.
6“At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’
7“They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’ “The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’
8“That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first.
9When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage.
10When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage.
11When they received their pay, they protested to the owner,
12‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’
13“He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage?
14Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you.
15Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’
16“So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”
So, what is all this talk about workers and vineyards, and hours of the day??
Who is doing the hiring??
· God is
· He is hiring for the kingdom
· But He is not hiring because He needs us, He is hiring to save us
Who is He hiring??
· Us, we are all designed to be in the service of something
· And as I always say you are either on team Jesus or Satan
· And God is always looking for people to add to the labor force, the family
· We all have a choice!
Joshua 24:14–15 (NLT)
14“So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone.
15But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”
What are we hired to do??
· Work in the vineyard, which is the church, and on ourselves
· We are all called upon to be laborers in this vineyard. The work of religion is vineyard-work, pruning, dressing, digging, watering, fencing, weeding. Each of us had our own vineyard to keep, our own soul; and it belongs to God and is to be kept and ready for him. In this work, we must not be slothful, not loiterers, but laborers, working and working out our own salvation. [1]
What are we getting paid??
· This is the tricky part
· We are getting paid what the boss wants to give us
· And whatever that is is enough
· We can’t worry about what anyone else is getting
· We have to work for the gifts that God chooses to give us individually
How long do we have to work?? (it’s complicated)
· A day (or what’s left of it) is really a metaphor for your life
· From the day we decide to follow Jesus our day starts
· And that day ends when Jesus calls us home
· The work is sometimes hard and brings its own heartaches but it’s just for a day in eternity
o And that should bring us some comfort
· And folks are going to get hired along the way
o Some folks are born into the kingdom at birth and follow Jesus their whole life
o Some come along early in life
o Some in the middle and some as the sun it is setting on their day
o But the same gift applies to us all that truly follow!
If you ain’t first you're last!
16“So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”
· A disciple of Jesus should not measure his or her worth by comparing it with the accomplishments and sacrifices of others,
· but should focus on serving from a heart of gratitude in response to God’s grace.
· Jesus is not denying degrees of reward in heaven but is affirming that God’s generosity is more abundant than anyone would expect:
o all the laborers except the very first got more than they deserved.
o It is probably correct also to see here a warning that Jesus’ early followers (such as the Twelve) should not despise those who would come later.[2]
· We all need to run our own race, looking for our own prize
· This race is not about winning as much as it is growing
· And there is no one that we should be comparing to except the you of yesterday!
· The prize, Salvation is there for the taking
o You’re never too old
o and there is no sin that is unforgivable except that of not believing!
Bonus
1. God is in debt to no man
· God owes no one
· And we see that in VS 11-15
· God can give and take as He sees fit
· And we have to come to terms with that
· That some will be more blessed (by your standards) than you
· GOD OWES YOU NOTHING!
Ephesians 2:8–9 (NLT)
8God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
9Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
2. Some that begin late in life make the most impact in the kingdom
· Sometimes the best servants are the ones with a few battle scars
· The ones who have survived the wilderness
· The ones that appreciate being pulled out of the fire
· They still have vivid memories of what it was like before Jesus
· So just because they haven’t been following Jesus long, does not mean that they are not valuable or needed or wise
· Never count out the old dog, there is still a lot of fight left in them!
3. This is not about how long you have followed, but what you have done!
· The amount of time you follow is not as important as what you do with the time you have
· Some follow for a long time and have little impact on true kingdom work
o They say all the right things
o Show up to all the right events
o But have little impact in growing and cultivating the kingdom
· If you put in the perspective of a farmer
o A farmer has to work very hard to go from dirt to harvest
o And if you are the farmer, what does your harvest look like??
· Are you passing on your knowledge??
· Or are you just cruising along??
[1] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 1715). Peabody: Hendrickson.
[2] Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1863). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
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