God is gracious to us, calling us from our idle state and placing us in His vineyard to work for His harvest. Though it is wonderful when one has the privilege of leading many to Christ, and any of us perhaps can do this on one occasion or another, it is no indication of fruitlessness if you never have had this experience. That person may not have done anything of importance within the church but look at the rewards he or she may have. We ought not to resent the people who go to God in the last snapshots of life, in light of the fact that, truly, nobody merits timeless life. At the close of Chapter14 our Lord said to his disciples, "Rise, let us go hence." He asks them only three questions: First, "Do you love work?" Instead there will be a shabby sham, a phony imitation of the real thing, which will drive people away from Christ and will produce nothing but a dull, mechanical religiosity which is piousness without God. How could they be otherwise until the Landowner had commissioned them to work? I have been a member of the Presbyterian Church for thirty years, and have tried to be a consistent one all the time. When you do that, then love grows into this deepening, quickening experience. In a vineyard the vines are pruned not just once in their lifetimes; the process is repeated every spring. We thank you for these possibilities which we have in Jesus Christ our Lord. Catholic social teaching upholds the dignity of work and the rights of workers. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. As a result he was cut off, and he withered. He committed suicide within a few days, and he was burned -- eternally lost. The purpose of this vine, obviously, is to bring forth fruit. He has served as a Sunday School teacher, a youth director along with his wife, a music director, an associate pastor, and an interim pastor. It is not about us, but about the Master, His vineyard and His harvest that He is reaping. 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. (John 15:6 RSV). (1) For the kingdom. Remember that earlier in the passage our Lord had said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments," (John 14:15 RSV). In the first 13 verses of chapter 20 of the Book of Matthew, Jesus is telling the parable about workers being paid equally. If you are not feeling the depth of love you would like to experience, one of the reasons may be that you are not responding to the love which is already reaching out to you. That is the Father's pruning knife cutting off the sucker shoots of the old life within us, so that we might produce more of the Christlikeness, the fruit of the Spirit. All through this account his emphasis is upon the fruit. God sends the invitation to everybody to come to him, come by faith in Christ (Acts 4:12). Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. So every vinedresser knows it is important to prune away these little sucker shoots in order that the vine may produce more fruit. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. Here in remarkable imagery he captures the work which goes on in our lives as the Father employs the circumstances in which we are found, the situations of our lives, to make us heed and hear the Word which corrects and changes. Either we will feel inadequate or have pride or grumble. It is typically a time for families and friends to get together to enjoy food, fun and football. Well, that is the work of the Father, and it is done in order that you might bear more fruit, be more like Jesus in your reactions -- in your home, in your shop, in your recreation, wherever you may be with people -- that you may be like Christ. I want to reassure you that this is not the case. The third question is, "Do you love Jesus?". Many religious leaders are more interested in their fame and fortune than they are at leading people to the truth. He will interview perhaps 300 young people and from them select only 30. (John 15:11 RSV). In agriculture theres a sowing season, then a reaping season. In verse three, the householder went out about the third hour into the marketplace and found others standing idly by. The parable occurs between two very similar statements in Matthew: The first will be last, and the last first. The Jews would grumble when salvation is provided to gentiles as well. Jesus must always come first. The Collect. There is also the other side -- "Let me abide in you." How often we grumble! That is, "If you do not abide in me, you will be fruitless." There you are to depend on him, to let him abide in you. But you learned from the Word that it was wrong. The laborers in this parable were hired to do a work for the master of the vineyard. 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. The evening is eternity. We thereby are All rights reserved. Jesus further explained the participation rules of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is only by God's grace. Both of these are absolutely essential, and our Lord develops this fact. See how many times the Landowner went out to appoint workers - verses 1, 3, 5, 6. Thus, this parable flies at the heart of that assumption. And leave pride out of it. If you left everything family, friends, a good job, material possessions in order to follow Jesus, you might expect something more from Jesus. Listen to godly advice. The point is that God owes us nothing. He wants them to love their work. The religious leaders of the day knew that Jesus was speaking of them. This is an extremely helpful passage! And, as Jesus goes on to point out, he has a two-fold work: First, "Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away;" (John 15:2a RSV). 1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. And from that we saw that obedience grows out of love. View all posts by davesdailyscriptures. His beautiful analogy has helped a great many Christians to understand the relationship God wants them to know. Making decisions and then trying to do the whole thing yourself, as though the whole responsibility rests upon you, is going to produce a fruitless Christian life -- intense activity, but no results. I struggled for a while with this word prunes because in the Greek it is really "cleanses." Some people think the world owes them something a particular standard of living, health care, mobile phones, or other stuff. What Is the Meaning of Psalm 91 and Why Is it Popular? 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." He is the vine, we are the branches. What is the instrument he uses? None are self-appointed. Perhaps for a while you paid no attention to that Word, as many of us don't, and went on blithely exhibiting this characteristic even though it hurt you and hurt others -- until some circumstance occurred by which the Father put you in such a place that you had to listen to the Word. Jesus tells us in Verse3: "You are already made clean [pruned] by the word which I have spoken to you." Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. Did you ever see a bunch of grapes struggling to hang onto the vine, trying to grow larger? He employs the workers and not the other way around. This is also suggested in the parable. The last point is that we are the laborers in the Masters vineyard. Gods kingship overturns all our expectations of being treated as we deserve, all our human conventions of social honour, all our natural desires to be recognized as Jesus needs laborers (Matthew 9:38) who know how to function and manage individuals' concerns. We pray in his name, Amen. Look up Psalm 126:6; Matthew 25:21; 1 Corinthians 4:2. Pingback: Laborers in Gods Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) | Good Hope Baptist Church. Jesus told the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard to illustrate the point that no one deserves Gods grace and each of us should joyfully serve Him with the time we are given. The whole plant was the vine. God graciously gives according to His will, as He so chooses. We must think about what is important eternally. Suffice it to say, the Lord will someday reward the person who may have been a member of a small church. WebJesus, by the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, shows that God is debtor unto no man; 17. foretells his passion; 20. by answering the mother of Zebedee's children, teaches his disciples to be humble; 29. and gives two blind men their sight. In this illustration, God is the householder, and believers are the workers. He is responsible to see that the purpose of the vine is fulfilled. ", TEN OF OUR LORDS PARABLES by Francis Dixon Scripture Portion: Matthew 20:1-16. 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 All rights reserved. Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. That is abiding in him. Do you want to be recognized as one who follows Jesus? You see, you can make choices but you cannot fulfill them. Even though Israel is Gods chosen people, He opened the door for salvation to everyone. (2) Others at the third hour (verse 3) - the first and second century Christians? If they respond just a little, then your love can reach out further, can deepen and grow. 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. Prayers are answered, growing out of that relationship of an obedient and a dependent heart -- leaving the process and timing to God. Fruitfulness shows that we are in partnership with GOD. Mark Bailey calls this parable, A day on the job in the kingdom of 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(. (LogOut/ I believe that this is similar to today. You may believe that the master of the vineyard owes those workers more. We Christians are God's great vineyard. Do you love God for Who He is, or do you love Him for the benefits He gives you? Even though Israel is Gods chosen people, He opened the door for salvation to everyone. (LogOut/ Several times, he found people standing idle in the marketplace, which may just mean that were unemployed, not that they were lazy. A friend of mine passed through Palo Alto this week on his way to Colorado to participate in a very unusual ranch. 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). 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. And then we must rest on him, count on him to see us through, to supply that enabling power which makes us able to love and forgive and rejoice and give thanks, even when everything is going wrong. This is what Bible study and prayer are all about. All that we have, including all that the church receives and has belongs to Him. It appears that this master, however, does not share that expectation. What Is the Significance of Not the Letter but of the Spirit? This is Labor Day weekend. Your whole family had done it; it had been a family characteristic. God has blessed me tremendously and so thankful for His grace and the people He has put in my life and His work in and around me. That is, "This pruning has gone on in your life already." That is a hard lesson to learn, because oftentimes when we go to God in prayer thinking we deserve something from Him. Photo Credit: iStock/Getty Images Plus/BenGoode. Take what is yours and go your way. 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. We are to abide in him (that is active, something we do), and we are to let him abide in us (that is passive, something we allow him to do). WebThe life which is in the vine produces fruit which Paul describes in Galatians 5 as: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. It is a matter of human dignity, he said. WebFor we are Gods servants, working together; you are Gods field, Gods building. Because it is large, many workers are needed. If you try to make all the choices and carry all the responsibility yourself, you will lead a fruitless life. 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). 9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. "Without me you can do nothing.". Are you going through a pruning season right now? Similar efforts are underway in cities across the country. You cannot tell him when to answer your prayers. Copyright 2023 Catholic News Service, Inc. All rights reserved. God does not need us to do anything for Him He is completely sufficient on His own; however, God desires to employ us to work in His vineyard. That is what Jesus is talking about. The figure of the vine is used many times in the Scriptures. Workers in the Vineyard Gods Extravagant Grace PBCC. The relationship is not merely to be recognized; it is to be acted upon: "Abide in me, and I in you. But that was not the end of it; there was to be more as they went on. Thankfully, there are prophets in our midst who cry out in defense of and solidarity with workers. 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? We will be compensated for our steadfastness to the errand that God has given us to perform, paying little heed to how little or how irrelevant it might show up as. None of us deserve Gods grace. You can even pastor a church without Christ. Some of you may have been there and seen it. The Bible illustrates that many who start last, now and then by Gods grace, may sometimes reach a more noteworthy accomplishment in effect, biblical knowledge, and grace, than others whose entry into the faith was all the earlier. It was so in the parable; it is so today. Message transcript and recording 1973 by Ray Stedman Ministries, owner of sole copyright by assignment from the author. People come and spend a lot of money, staying a week or so at a time. It might be something seemingly insignificant that may be behind the scenes or a small task or it might be something that will impact many others. So you can do what you please when you love God. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. 1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. It was the 25th Sunday of the Year, cycle A. Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our conc Parable flies at the rewards he or she may have been a member of Kingdom. Benefits he gives you while with this Word prunes because in the first be! 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