Where Will You be in the Line?

Matthew 20:1-16

New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. ² He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

³ “About the third hour 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 the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. ⁶ About the eleventh hour 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 the eleventh hour 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 men 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, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take your pay and go. I want to give the man 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.”

(http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2020:1%20-%2016&version=NIV1984)

How many of us have blurted out in a fit of disarray, “That’s not fair!”?  I know that I have, how about you?  When I do that it is usually regarding a trial decision or some punishment issue such as the entire class getting in trouble for what one or two students did.  My definition of fair is, “providing for someone what is needed to help them in their situation”.  For some that might mean giving them a pencil to write their thoughts while another needs a computer. 

In this story the man went out looking for those who needed work.  Each time he found men that had not been hired for a job and he found men that needed the same amount of money to survive as did the first ones he hired.  I have a feeling that in this illustration, all of these men were looking for work but some were in the right place early in the morning while others were in some other part of town.  I think that is sometimes how it is in life.  There are people who have been raised in the church, they were in the right part of town at an early hour and then there are those who have lived in poverty all of their lives, either poverty of money or poverty of spirit.  Jesus is calling them and wants them to come to Him but no one is leading them until now.  Now that they have searched all their lives and are just now finding Him does not change the fact that they found Him and they deserve Him as much as the one that learned to know Him as a child. 

What is beautiful about this story is that it was an illustration by Jesus regarding the kingdom of Heaven.  I really hope that for those of us who have been Christians most of our life and who have gone out to do our part to share with others will not be complaining about someone else getting the same as us even though they accepted Christ later in life.  In fact we should be the ones encouraging those who have not accepted Him to do so. 

If our work for Jesus is all about whom we are doing the work for and because our hearts are right with the Lord, then we will rejoice and gladly give up our place in line in order for others to receive their reward.  We will rejoice that they did not lose out on the blessings of God.  On the other hand, if we are doing it for ourselves and feel that God owes us something then we will be jealous and envious of the one that did not work but received the same reward.   Working for our own rewards becomes a burden whereas work for the Lord brings refreshment and joy to our lives.  If you really consider the joy, comfort and strength we receive from serving Him for Him alone, we have begun receiving a blessing from God.  The others who have chosen not to serve Him until later years will have missed out on the greatness and goodness of our Heavenly Father but that all changes when they accept Him. The truth is that none of us deserve the forgiveness that our Heavenly Father extends to those who call upon His name.  We in our sinful nature deserve to be punished but Christ took that punishment upon Himself at the cross for all of us. 

I don’t know where I will be in line at the throne.  I am pretty sure I won’t be at the beginning of the line nor will I be at the end of the line.  It won’t really matter because we will have eternity to spend with Him and it will be an honor to even be in His line at all.

As you seek Him, may you find Him as you read His word and share His love with others.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila