In this 24th week, it is good that we are still the church! This world needs us to be a firm foundation. We need to be a rock because the world feels like sinking sand. We need to be a church that is a light, showing the way to which God is guiding us in a time when there seems to be no way. It is good that we are still the church in such a time as this.
Feast your ears on this piano selection.
One of the Charlie Brown comic strips shows Snoopy getting his dinner on Thanksgiving Day. It was just his usual dog food in a bowl. So, Snoopy took one look at the dog food and said, "This isn’t fair. The rest of the world today is eating turkey with all the trimmings and all I get is dog food. Why? Because I’m a dog, so all I get is dog food?"
He stood there and stared at his dog food for a moment,
then he said, "I guess it could be worse. I could be a turkey."
Life isn’t always fair. We do not always get what we
deserve. We do not always get what is right. Nevertheless, God is good ALL the time and always worthy
of our thanks and praise. Yes, folks in California would say that it’s not fair
that they get all those fires. Those living in the tropics may not think it’s
fair that they are inundated with flooding and hurricane damage that has
changed their lives forever. Those who’ve lost their business or their freedom
during the pandemic may not feel life is fair when others are doing even better
business because of the pandemic and some are enjoying the liberty of working
at home, saving gas money and making the world a greener place to live.
Folks living in temporary shelters, under bridges,
in non-nurturing homes and neighborhoods known for their violence, might say,
“This isn’t fair!”
If you have ever been demoted, passed over,
diagnosed, misdiagnosed or mistreated, you may have thought, “That’s not fair?”
You may have asked, “God, don’t you care about us? Don’t you care about
justice? Don’t you care about me?”
No matter who we are, where we come from or where we
are going, we all eventually learn that life is not always fair.
Matthew chapter 20 draws our attention to a
situation that most of us would say is not fair. A landowner hired some folks bright
and early in the morning to work in his vineyard. It reminds me of a time when in
certain cities, one could see crowds of people, presumably not yet citizens, waiting
at a corner, but they were not waiting for a bus. They were waiting for a truck
to pick them up and take them to work in the fields.
20“For the kingdom of
heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers
for his vineyard. 2After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he
sent them into his vineyard.
The
landowner went back and hired more people at nine a.m., again at noon and by
five o’clock when the work day was about to come to an end, he even hired
another crew. What some thought was unfair was that they all got paid for the
whole day, even when they worked fewer hours.
Verses
10-16 tell us
10Now when the first came, -that is the first to be hired - they
thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the
usual daily wage. 11And when they received
it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12saying,
‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have
borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13But he
replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree
with me for the usual daily wage? 14Take
what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to
you. 15Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or
are you envious because I am generous?’ 16So the
last will be first, and the first will be last.”
The landowner who hired the workers emphasized the
same points God emphasizes with us: I am doing you no wrong, didn’t you sign a
contract? Didn’t you know how much you
would receive for the work you would do? Am I not allowed to do what I want
with my own money and resources? Are you complaining because you cannot be as
generous as I can be? Do you want to be something you are not? Do you want to
have something you do not have, or have something someone else has? Do you want
to be God?
God has the power to make what is wrong in this
world right again, to bring light where light is needed, to bring bread where
there is hunger. God has the power.
If we were God, all of us would not necessarily use
our power to make the wrongs right, or the darkness light or assure the hungry
are fed. We can barely manage to do right with all the power that God does give
us in the Holy Spirit. It is good that God is God and we are not.
It is good that those who are made last in this
world are blessed as if they are first. It is good that those who are first in
this world know that if they ever found themselves in the position of being
last, they too would be rewarded as if they were first.
It is not easy to be last, even for a moment. The
world teaches us that first choice is the best choice. And, that there is no
satisfaction in serving God if it means we are last in this world.
I listened to Janet Parshall on WBYN this week and she had a guest who had written a book called Dangerous
Virtues talking about seven deadly sins mentioned throughout the bible
- pride, greed, anger, envy, lust, gluttony, and laziness. These deadly sins,
notes the author, have now become virtues in the eyes of many in this world
these days. For example, “ "anger" is often considered an admirable
emotion, "lust" the only expression of love, and
"greed" the unassailable right to "get what’s yours." The
world can rebrand sin all it wants and declare the death of truth, but it has
no power against the truth of the Scripture. What God calls sin is sin—no
matter what the world says. And sin always has the same destination—death and
destruction.””
The world has turned sins into virtues, thus the
title of the book, Dangerous Virtues. What I gleaned from Janet Parshall’s talk
show was that society works hard to get the best of everything, to do all we
can to be first and never be last. We desperately want to control our future,
when the only way to be free and satisfied is to surrender our life and put our
future in God’s hands, and most of all, cultivate an appetite to be satisfied
with God, and God alone. God is faithful and will be with us whether we are
first or last.
It’s great to be first, to have the best –
especially when we are not exalting ourselves above God or above others. Then
we put ourselves in the worst position of all. But, when we are last, for whatever
reason and for whatever season, it is good to know that God is determined to
bless us. That is good news in our world today when so many may be feeling last
because of ill health, poverty, unemployment, and relationship problems. Just
when you think you have lost it all, just when it seems like there is no hope,
we can remember that God has a wonderful way of putting us first. We see that
we are the apple of God’s eyes. God’s eye is on the sparrow, and we know God
watches us, too. May this truth sink deep in our souls today and forever. Amen.
Let us pray.
God, you are so good to us. Help us to be good to
one another and to make decisions that represent your justice and your mercy
even when the playing field is not level. Increase our faith and increase our
appetite for your presence and your righteousness. We pray as you taught the
disciples.
Our father who art in
Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it
is in Heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory
forever and ever. Amen.
We hope this message has strengthened you in your
journey and blessed you with a hunger and thirst for more of Jesus who will
never leave you or forsake you. I invite you to give your live to Jesus today.
Next week we will continue looking at Matthew chapter
21 on the topic “Reconciliation– Changing Our Mind”
If you would like to make your contribution to the
great ministry and mission of Bethel, the website is
Or you can send it to 952 Bethel Church Road, Spring
City, Pa. 19475.
God bless you!
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