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1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. 3 “About nine in the morning 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 noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon 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 five in the afternoon 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 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, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one 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.” (Matthew 20:1-16 NIV Bible)
A blessed and marvelous Monday to you, dear Friend. This is my prayer for you. I share good news about our great-niece, Catalina Ramirez, who went home on Friday and is doing great, thanks be to God. Her Dad reports she's actually playing a lot; again, thanks to our loving God. I pray all is well with you and those who matter to you. I pray that we begin to pray harder for those who don't yet matter to us. Pray for them. Pray for your needs.
I have a confession to make. When I was a child I began to question the validity of a song that we were taught to sing in Sunday school and Vacation Bible School. The song's title is the entire song, almost, and it's Don't Do a Half-Day's Work for the Lord and Expect a Full-Day's pay." Wait. What? I sang it first because I didn't completely understand it, then I'd go to a class and the teacher would teach on this passage and I'd ponder both and they didn't quite line up. The little song was written, I believe, and I could be wrong, by a disgruntled boss. When I was on the cabinet as a district superintendent, the bishop told us about a friend who was a managing partner in a major law firm. The friend confided in him that the younger lawyers whom he had hired would come into work at 10 or 11 am, then leave at 2 pm, or earlier depending on their children's events, such as recitals, or soccer games, then they would lament that they had not been promoted to partner within the year. This managing partner wrote the song!
The kingdom of Heaven does not work like that at all. God's economy is way beyond our comprehension. The parable Jesus told explains this, and yet some do not yet quite understand it. A landowner goes to hire workers, and early in the morning he hires some and offers them a denarius for the day's work. At nine in the morning, the owner hires some more workers, who had been standing around "doing nothing." This time he says he will pay them "whatever is right." At noon, and then again at three pm, he hires more workers. Then at 5 pm, he sees more workers standing around, again, doing nothing, and he hires them. I should add this time he asks why they were not working. "Because no one hired us," was their answer. "Go and work in my vineyard.
When it was evening, the foreman is told by the owner to call the workers and pay them, but in an interesting order; the ones hired last would be paid first, and the ones hired first, would be paid last. All were paid the same amount!! Wait. What? In our world this does not make any sense, but this is not our world that Jesus is talking about. We claim it as ours, but it truly belongs to God, and thus God is in control. When God calls us to work, God will pay us according to His will, not ours. And while in our economy the pay may not make sense, in God's it does. A minister who isn't even born yet, may do far greater than things than me, and his or her reward will be great and while I may have used to have said, "That's not fair," now I say, "Praise the Lord!" That worker may be one of my grandkids, or one of yours; would you deny your grandchild the rewards of God just so that you not feel bad about your worth or work? I didn't think so!
The work of the Lord is to save lives. As a nation, really, as a world, we just had the anniversary of one of the worst attacks on American soil, and of the stories that we remember are those who worked hard to save lives in the midst of the chaos and horror of that senseless attack. I saw a report on a blind man who was on one of the top floors of one of the towers and he arrived early to set up a powerpoint presentation he was to make. He joked about what we think he could or not do since he was blind, but he said we would be surprised at what blind people could do. I remember at my first church in a new conference and hearing my associate speaking loudly on the phone with yet another church member calling to check (again) if I was indeed a Mexican and could I, indeed, preach in English, and he said, "Yes, he does, and well, you'd be amazed at what Mexicans are doing nowadays!" And this blind man felt the first attack on the tower and he and his service dog and a man who also had arrived early, made their way down the stairs, stopping to gather people together and encourage those who had given up. "You can make it, just be calm," was said over and over, and this pair of men saved so many lives by their determination to go and serve. God wants that from you and me. The pay we will receive will include those lives whom we have shared Jesus with, and who have accepted Him as their Lord and Savior. Anything else will be icing on a delicious cake of eternal life and love.
PRAYER: Awesome God of the awesome economy, we stand in awe of how loving You are to all people, even us. Help our minds to grow to better serve and to better share; in Christ our Lord's strong name we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Seek to better understand the work God has called you to do, and do it!
Receive my blessings of hope and joy,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
