And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, “These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ Matthew 20:11-12 (For the complete story, read verses 1-16)
What a curious and ugly bit of human nature is exposed by this story. We all like to have good things happen to us. We rejoice when we receive a promotion at work, or an unexpected financial blessing, or some undeserved benefit. But when it happens to someone else, our hearts become tainted with envy. We can think of 100 reasons why they didn’t deserve it and we did, convincing ourselves that life (and God) is unfair. Oh let the pity party begin.
But who is our complaining directed against? This story tells us that the laborers grumbled against the master of the house. We may think it is against the apparent unfairness of the situation, but in actuality, it is directed against God. Have we not realized that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above”? This Master who is so generous to others has also been generous to us in 10,000 different ways that we have long since forgotten or become too busy to notice. They forgot that had it not been for the master, they would still be idle in the marketplace with no denarius at all.
However, in spite of the horrible response of the laborers to the generosity of the master, his response to them is “Friend, I am doing you no wrong.”
Friend – the word means comrade (intimate friend or associate) and mate (an assistant to a more skilled worker). This implies that they not only worked for the master, but with the master. They had begun to know him. A relationship was being formed – a benefit of working the whole day with him. But these are the very ones who complain – those who have been laboring with the master the longest, yet apparently do not yet know his heart.
And the saddest part of this story is the master’s words to these complaining laborers in verse 14 – “Take what belongs to you and go.” So now having reviled the kindness of the master, they are sent away from his presence.
Oh let us take this story to heart, being mindful that all we have received from God is a gift of grace. We may live in an entitlement society, but God’s is not an entitlement kingdom, and He is not pleased with those who are angry over His kindness to others.
So let us rejoice with those who rejoice and learn to celebrate the goodness of God, not only in our lives but also in the lives of others.
I marvel at how the Apostle Paul was so consistently a man with a single purpose – the proclamation of the gospel. After meeting Christ, everything in his life seems to come back to this one goal.
In his letter to the Philippians he writes “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.” (V 12-13)
As he pens this letter, Paul helps the Philippian believers to see God’s perfectly unfolding plan – even in his chains. So although his freedom has been taken from him and his circumstances are less than ideal (to say the least), it all comes back to one thing for him – preaching the gospel. And this he can do even in his chains. The message is not hindered, only redirected to a new, previously unreached audience.
All of life, the good and the bad, is an opportunity to proclaim Christ. Although when life is less than perfect, and when difficult circumstances threaten our willingness to proclaim Christ, might it not be in these very difficulties that our witness may be most effective?
There is no time to be a fair weather Christian. There are yet multitudes who have not heard the saving message of Jesus Christ. And even if, in the midst of our sufferings, we cannot seem to find any compassion for our fellow human beings, couldn’t we still be so overwhelmed with His glorious grace that we cannot help but proclaim it?
May the Spirit of God strengthen us all to proclaim Christ, with all of our heart and all of our strength, even in our chains.
Recently in prayer meeting we sang that old hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy” and I haven’t been able to get this phrase out of my mind – “merciful and mighty”.Our God is powerful, mighty, able to destroy me with a glance if He so desired.And He would not be unjust to do so.But He is also merciful, and because of this great mercy He directed his great power toward my redemption, not my destruction.
Ephesians 2:4-7But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
God is glorified by the display of His grace in me.We, the church, are like a trophy case.God points to us and says to all powers and principalities “Do you see this one?Particularly wicked, she was.But now, spotless, blameless and righteous through the blood of My Son.”And all of heaven and earth can do no less than marvel at the kindness and mercy of God towards one so undeserving.It is a grace that astonishes and leaves one with their eyes wide with wonder.
In February of this year a good friend of mine died from cancer. He was also my boss and a brother in the Lord. He had been diagnosed with Stage 4 lymphoma 5 years ago and I was able to witness up close his journey through chemo, remission, chemo again, transplant, return of cancer, another transplant, and then a final downturn that he didn’t recover from.
Charles was a remarkable person in many ways, but the one thing that stands out above all others is his remarkable love for people. He was interested in the details of their lives. And not just the people he knew. His wife recently shared a story with me about Charles striking up a conversation with a man putting flyers on cars in our office parking lot. He gave the man a Bible and shared some words of encouragement with him and just genuinely showed interest in this man’s life. This man still remembers Charles and carries that Bible with him in his truck. The fact that a total stranger cared about him made an impact on his life.
But what I carry closest to my heart are these words that Charles was known to speak in response to those who became frustrated with others – Love the people.
Over the past 6 months I have reflected back on the 10 years I knew Charles. I suspect that there are many wonderful things about him that I never knew. But one thing I do know – Charles was a man whose heart’s desire was to demonstrate the love of Christ. And he did it. He did it.
And I am forever changed. And learning to love the people.
It happened after this that Nahash the king of the people of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his place. Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came to Hanun in the land of the people of Ammon to comfort him. And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Hanun, “Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Did his servants not come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?” Therefore Hanun took David’s servants, shaved them, and cut off their garments in the middle, at their buttocks, and sent them away. 1 Chronicles 19:1-4
Hanun was an inexperienced leader who followed the recommendation of unwise advisors. When he realized that his treatment of David’s envoys had offended David, rather than sending a humble apology to the King of Israel for his error in judgment, Hanun instead employs the services of Syria to assist him in battle against David – a battle that David had not even commenced. Hanun’s expectation of retaliation demonstrates that he knew he was wrong and had offended a king who had previously been an ally. So he prepares for battle.
This is the strategy of pride. It will not bow, so it must fight, oftentimes drawing others into the battle. For not only is Ammon forced to flee in battle, but Syria suffers losses as they flee as well. Needless losses, as the whole thing could possibly have been avoided by an admission of fault by Hanun.
What is more humbling than to admit you were wrong? This is a thing hard enough to admit to ourselves in the secrecy of our own heart, much less to expose our error before the onlooking eyes of others. We fear the loss of respect, the criticism, the perception of ourselves as being weak. So we draw our shoulders back, with chin firmly lifted in defiance, and map out our battle plan….only to end up fleeing.
The Word of God has much to say about pride; none of it good. While we live in an age that promotes self-esteem, self-pride and self-reliance, the Bible still says “without me you can do nothing”. Nothing. How’s that for an ego crusher? But the Lord God does have a way of getting to the heart of the matter.
To eliminate the stronghold of pride in our lives is no easy task, but it is a necessary one. The struggle to be free of it will put us at odds with a society that cannot understand the blessing of a life of brokenness and humility.
For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation. Psalm 149:4
When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom . Proverbs 11:2
The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. Psalm 34:18
Last week I read a tragic news story of a teenaged boy who trespassed into a restricted area of an amusement park to retrieve his hat and was struck by a roller coaster and died. The story was so terribly sad to me and as I pondered it, this spiritual parallel unfolded…..
There is unforeseen danger in the restricted areas. God has clearly – by His Word and His Spirit – marked certain things off limits. Why? Not to deny me any pleasure, but to protect me and preserve my life. Although I may not see the approaching danger, or be aware of any threat to my safety, I need to understand that these areas have been restricted to me because there is indeed danger lurking there. And when it comes, it may come so speedily that I am unable to escape.
Why do we feel the need to trespass into the restricted areas? Isn’t it true that sometimes the very presence of a sign warning us to keep out only increases the desire to go in? The apostle Paul said in Romans 7:7 “I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet”.
Just a glance at the forbidden thing is all we want. But Achan only took a few small items from the forbidden things of Jericho and it cost him his life and the lives of his family. (Joshua 7).
And who can forget the trespass of Adam and Eve that has affected us all?
Had this dear boy known it would cost him his life to retrieve the hat, I am convinced he would not have considered it that valuable.
And may we, as the people of God, not be guilty of disregarding the commands of God to possess trifles and worthless things.
He is my Delight 