The workers in the vineyard

Posted on Jan 10, 2009 in Sermons | Comments Off

Speaker: Jack Van Kampen
Key Passage: Matthew 20:1-16
Date: 14 September 2008

What do you make of that story? Can you rhyme that with rules of employment and payment in our world today? Let’s face it;  it seems totally absurd: some men work the whole long day; some part of the day, while the last ones spend no more than one hour working. The ones who hardly had time to get their hands dirty, are paid the same as those who are worn out at the end of a long hot day.

What is Jesus seeking to convey to His disciples and also to us at P.B.C. today?

Interestingly, only Matthew records this parable and it is important to notice where he placed it within the records of the teachings of Jesus.

If you are a serious Bible reader (and I hope we all are) then you will know the importance of reading around the item you are studying. What comes before and after the text concerned? In other words: What is the context?

When we examine chapter 19 (the one before our problem parable), it soon starts to relate in our thinking to chapter 20. So let’s read, starting with verse 16, and on to verse 30. The disciples question Jesus about salvation and service and what rewards – if any – they can expect. Jesus then mentions the future roll of the disciples and their rewards and as an illustration tells them the story of the Workers in the Vineyard.

There are three questions for us to consider: 1 The Sacrifice 2 The Reward 3 The way the contract is administered in the upside-down/back-to-front Kingdom of Heaven.

1. The Sacrifice. In Matthew 18 and also in Luke 9 there are records of Jesus’ interviews with potential followers. “Teacher, I’ll follow you wherever you go,” to which Jesus replies :”You had better know what that means, I have nowhere even to lay down my head”. To another candidate He says: “No-one who put his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the Kingdom of God”.

As a young guy in Holland I was a farmhand for some time. One of the things I had to learn was how to plough a field. A plough – pulled along – turned over the top 15 to 25 cm of soil in preparation for planting or sowing the next crop. My tractor was a four-footed one HP model; yes, a horse. I had just two hands ; one for controlling the plough, the other for controlling the horse. Now the skill of a good ploughman is to cut a perfectly straight furrow – no wiggles. Straight as a die, as far as from here to the bridge. You can take it from me ,you cannot look back! If you do, gone is your straight furrow! What a fantastic illustration.

Listen to a stern warning Jesus gave as recorded in Luke 14 : 25-33. That’s the cost of being a disciple: give up everything you have! How much is everything? Just that: every thing – nothing more, nothing less. Start by handing over your life – that’s the hardest, isn’t it? Handing over the control of your destiny, your will, your ambitions and dreams. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? However much or little we give away, the last thing we want to hand over is the controls, the steering wheel. Is the word “Sacrifice” too strong? I don’t think so. Jesus requires a total surrender of everything, with no thought of ever seeing it again. That is why He urges candidates for service to count the cost. Make sure you know what you are doing.

2. But wait; His demand is followed by the promise of a reward. Being a disciple of Jesus does bring with it a reward. Listen again to Matthew 19 : 29. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will receive eternal life”. Following Jesus means being His servant, His slave, bondslave. But once you have made the commitment to serve Him, you find that you are well looked after. God is no man’s debtor. When He calls to serve, you find that God supplies all your needs, in abundance. That is what Jesus said: “you will receive a hundred times as much as you have given, and inherit eternal life”. Every time I go back to the Solomons (where I’ve been at least 20 times in the last 10 years) God makes it up to me and it is a great experience, Yes, I do give up my family whom I love. Yes, I miss my Kiwi friends, my brothers and sisters, young and old. But He supplies all my needs, travel costs and so on. He blesses me every time I go, giving me abundant joy. Oh yes, God does give a reward. He accepts every one of His children who gives theirall and delights in blessing him or her.

3. We need to realize however, that God administers that grace (these undeserved mercies) in accordance with His wisdom and not in accordance with our human wisdom and sense of fairness. God has a plan for the life of each of His children and only He knows the details of the plan, the reasons for the details and where they lead. There are times when we cannot follow what He is doing, we cannot understand and even doubt that He has got it right. We may run into unexpected failures, brick walls, loss and sorrow and may even grope around in the dark as we experience the collapse of the cardboard house of our expectations that we built on our understanding of the ways of an all-wise and all-loving God. We may be puzzled by deep mysteries, when we can only cling to God by our faith, childlike faith

Many saints have wrestled with God and not received the answers to their questions. The list of heroes in Hebrews chapter 11 has two parts to it. Some of those listed on that Roll of Honour were used by God to achieve great things to God’s glory. But others were stoned to death or cut in pieces. No glory in that! But it says that “…they were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what God had promised. Not during their lifetime.

God’s pay-scales may not be considered fair and proper by us humans. Jesus explained that here too, that’s why He told the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. In our world, if you do X amount of work, you receive A amount of dollars. If you do Y amount of work, you will receive B number of dollars. More work, more pay; less work, less pay. In God’s economy it does not work like that. Doesn’t God reward hard work, success in ministry and so on? Yes, God does give rewards – there’s even talk of crowns. So do we go looking for that, secretly hoping that our crown will be brighter and of greater value than everybody else’s? Wow, I’ve been successful as a servant of God, so my rewards must be in proportion to my measure of success, surely? Tell me, when did God tell us – His slaves – to be successful? Rather did He tell us to be faithful, did He not? And at any rate, should we not ascribe our success to the working of God? Can any of us (pro or lay) convert a person to Christis slaves

No, only the Holy Spirit can convict of sin and righteousness – not we. God asks us to be willing, not successful.

You see, these guys in the parable who were hired for the last hour only, had they not stood in the market place all day, waiting for someone to hire them? Was it their fault that the employer turned up only at the 11th hour? They had been willing to work all day, but were only hired near sunset.

As far as Overseas Mission is concerned, I am one of those called at the 11th hour. But God knows of my desire, my willingness and failed attempt at becoming a missionary in earlier years. Finally, at the 11th hour my wife and I were enlisted for active service Overseas. And I tell you, it’s a thrill to be employed; the joy and satisfaction in themselves are more than enough reward. I’m not looking for a crown; I wouldn’t know how to wear it anyway. My reward is the service itself and I praise God for His wonderful grace towards me.

Brothers and sisters, both young and not-so-young, I want to encourage you to go to the market place, See if you can find the best of all bosses, the King of kings. He may send you to His vineyard; there is still so much to do there: countless millions have not heard of Him. The world is ripe unto harvest, but the labourers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send labourers into His fields and be prepared to be the answer to your prayers.