The Questions Jesus Asked Part 15
This week in our Questions Jesus Asked series we are looking at a question Jesus asks in Matthew 20, “are you envious because I am generous?” and we will be talking about the connection between grace and joy.
Matthew 20:1-8 (NIV)
1 “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.’
Some people define grace as unmerited favor. The word for grace in Greek, khar ece (cariss), means more than unmerited favor. It is something that brings joy. It brings pleasure. It causes us to be thankful.
Because of the grace of God you should be experiencing some measure of joy in your life. Joy is listed as the second fruit of the spirit, right behind love, so it is obviously very important.
When you are feeling annoyed, or you are being critical, or you are not experiencing any joy, the parable that we are looking at in Matthew 20 is one of my favorites for an attitude adjustment.
Are We Living for God or for Us?
Here’s the deal. As Christians, we are a people of mission. We have a purpose. We are called to enter a vineyard, and labor in a vineyard with others and for others. Our mission must be a labor of love, not of selfishness. We are not to compare the amount or length of our labor against others. In our hearts we are to settle that what we do, we do for Him. I want to look at the rest of what I believe is one of the most heart revealing parables in the Bible.
Matthew 20:9-16 (NIV)
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.”
A couple of Good Questions to Ask Yourself
How does that parable make you feel? Put yourself in the position of someone who worked all day. It doesn’t seem fair that people who worked one hour get paid the same as people who work all day.
What do you think Jesus reaction would be? I can only imagine that Jesus would have been happy to see people who did not have work get some work, He would have thought that it was cool that they got paid more than generously, He would have been blessed that His service for the day was a blessing to them, and He would have loved them by rejoicing with them in their blessing.
It is really eye opening to see how selfish we can be. Not in a beat yourself up sort of way, but just in the reality of how far we still have to go in our journey.
There is more to the story that we will be looking at this weekend at Keys Vineyard Church so be sure to join us in-person or watch online.
Steve Lawes is a church encourager and the lead pastor of Keys Vineyard Church.
