The fruit, in He does not show favoritism. Probably at the time Jesus spoke this parable, the latecomers to Gods vineyard, to Gods Kingdom, were the tax collectors and sinners. In a broader context the Gentiles would be the eleventh hour workers who heard Gods Word later than Jews. You are to rest upon his ability to see you through, to work it out. Now remain in my love. The relationship is not merely to be recognized; it is to be acted upon: "Abide in me, and I in you. This is a picture of those church members who, despite attending church, never have any manifestation of truth, never have any sign in their lives of that quality of love and forgiveness and understanding and compassion which is born of the Holy Spirit, but are rigid and narrow and hard and harsh and condemning and difficult -- even though they say and do the "right" thing. You can see what a beautiful analogy this is to the Christian experience, for in our lives we have that within us which produces the fruit of the Spirit. If you try to pray as though it were some exercise in which you chalk off fifteen minutes' worth, mechanically going through a list like the turning of a prayer wheel, it is a valueless experience. He did everything possible to cause it to produce grapes. I am the vine, you are the branches. New Heart English Bible For we are God's fellow workers. Also, Jesus teaches in this parable that all who come to Him will be equal in the kingdom of God, rich or poor, Jew or Gentile, young or old. (3) people of prayer behind the scenes. Many individuals that we do not anticipate finding in the Kingdom will be there. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. We find that the master of the vineyard has a rather strange way of rewarding his workers. This is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED BY YOU BUILDERS, WHICH HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.. It is almost certain that Jesus stopped in the midst of a vineyard, took a vine, and used it as a means of illustrating to his disciples the great secret he had been seeking to impart to them in his whole discourse there in the Upper Room, the most fundamental and basic secret of Christian life -- the secret which lay at the heart of his own experience and ministry, "I am in the Father, and the Father is in me" John 14:10(, and now the secret of their lives by the Spirit when he would come, "You in me, and I in you," (John 14:20b RSV(. There might be those that were offered the gospel at the third hour, the sixth hour, and the ninth hour yet denied the call. You cannot tell him how to answer your prayers. Do you love God for Who He is, or do you love Him for the benefits He gives you? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. May our attitude be as Jesus said: Luke 17:10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.. We will see more of what that means as we go on in this account. One is in Isaiah5: "For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house [the nation] of Israel," (Isaiah 5:7a). He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others., And when they heard it they said, Certainly not!, Then He looked at them and said, What then is this that is written: THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE ? Needless to say, such behavior doesnt impress God at all. Again, let God be your guide. When God sent someone to give a message, they would not listen. 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. But he answered one of them and said, Friend, I am doing you no wrong. The fruit, in other words, is Christ-likeness. He was the true vine. How often we grumble! The fruit here is not others won to Christ. As Isaiah tells us, God cleared out the rocks in his vineyard and hedged it about. When our Lord says "Abide in me," he is talking about the will, about the choices, the decisions we make. You cannot tell him when to answer your prayers. If they respond just a little, then your love can reach out further, can deepen and grow. If we focus on the material reward of working in the vineyard, we miss the masters generosity to the majority of his workers. We believe He owes us something. If they can assure him that they love work, love people, and love Jesus, then they have a tremendous opportunity to work at that ranch. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. In our churches and Sunday schools, the need for born again, soul-winning workers is very great. In the first 13 verses of chapter 20 of the Book of Matthew, Jesus is telling the parable about workers being paid equally. The point here is that it is the masters money and he can pay as much or as little as he wants. Look up Galatians 6:9. The fact of the matter is that God does not work that way. 9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Then God the Father sent His only Son. Leaders of the church need to stand strong and have boldness and never deviate from the truth. Nationally, the Catholic Labor Network works to build church-labor partnerships to further the work of justice, by protecting vulnerable workers and educating the faithful about church teaching, including on a just and living wage. They prove to be his disciples. He owns everything. What a wonderful relationship our Lord taught us here by this lesson of the vine! 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. If we use the basic principle of understanding Scripture, which is common to all of Scripture -- letting Scripture interpret itself -- there is no doubt as to what this fruit is. We expect that those who work harder and longer will receive a greater reward than those who do not. Upon graduation, Kenyiawa said that joining the Laborers International Union is his opportunity to leave a firm foundation for (his) family.. If you love somebody, and reach out toward them, you can go only so far unless they respond to that love. 63). We must make choices, we must determine to expose ourselves to him, we must seek his face in the Word and in prayer and in fellowship with others. All things being equal, we expect businesses would not pay workers the same wage who worked less than others. (LogOut/ The Father is at work to cut them off, to prune them back. When you love God, then all that you do is touched and controlled by love, and love is the fulfilling of the Law. But it is conceivable that the master had a lot of work to do and wanted all the workers he could find to do it. (John 15:8 RSV). Jesus tells us in Verse3: "You are already made clean [pruned] by the word which I have spoken to you." The fruit is borne by the branches produced by the vine. I believe this is a reference to other such Scripture passages which say that the angels will be sent out to gather out all which offends in God's kingdom and cast it into the eternal fire where it will be burned. We also have a day in which to work for the Lord - look up 2 Corinthians 6:2 - the Day of Grace. Linking is encouraged, but content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed including, but not limited to such means as framing or other digital copying and/or distribution method, in whole or in part without the publisher's written consent. There is no other way to salvation but by faith in Jesus Christ. It is not part of the fruit itself; it is the result of a life which increasingly is becoming Christlike. -It involves sowing seed, and watering and cultivating, and maintaining and protecting the vineyard, and reaping the harvest. Look up John 4:35, and compare John 9:4. If you try to make all the choices and carry all the responsibility yourself, you will lead a fruitless life. You can make it run well. That is, it will be fruitlessness again. And then we must rest on him, count on him to see us through, to supply that enabling power which makes us able to love and forgive and rejoice and give thanks, even when everything is going wrong. Only believing in Christ and accepting him as Lord and Savior is what prompts a home in heaven. They are mistaken! We know that your work with us is to the end that we may produce more fruit, that all of us here in this vineyard will be so fruit-laden, that it will be a fruitful place which will make the world around us drool with desire to learn the secret of such fruit. Would we demand fairness for the first group, for the first Christians? As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. If we do that we are fulfilling this active, necessary decision of the will to obey his Word, to do what he says, and to stay in touch with him. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. Gods vineyard is the entire earth, and the workers in the vineyard The Angel of the Lord comes to Samson's Parents. As a result he was cut off, and he withered. Here is the process in which the branch is cut off, and then it withers -- grows dry and dull and dead. What then will we have? Jesus said to them, Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Aside from the first group of workers who were hired at sun up, the master promises to pay the workers what is right. These workers might have expected to receive a fraction of a days wage, but the master of the vineyard never specifies what he will pay. We think of God as some sort of vending machine where we can deposit a prayer or two and get a specific result. Isaiah tells us what that represents in Verse 7: For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry! The Gentiles may have been called in at the eleventh hour, but they receive the same as what was offered unto the Jews, salvation. Many church people take issue with this. We pray in his name, Amen. Gods desire is that we are all saved and that we are all filled with joy. He will compensate us as indicated by our devotion to do the work that he has called us to do. Doors of opportunity are closing in many parts of the world - look up 1 Corinthians 7:29. Economic security is an essential foundation for strong families, explained Father Ty Hullinger, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, who joined other Baltimore Catholics in a successful campaign for Right to Recall in his city. In Gods vineyard, people have no anxiety at all. Instead of worrying they pray with thanksgiving, [making] their requests known to God. In this, they can be utterly None are self-appointed. God calls each of us to work in His vineyard while we have time. (4) Still others at the eleventh hour (verse 6) - twenty-first century witnesses? Many employees look forward to this day as another paid day off from work. Here is the case our Lord mentioned earlier when he said, of one aspect of the Father's work, "every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away." 1. Even though Israel is Gods chosen people, He opened the door for salvation to everyone. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[ a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard. But you learned from the Word that it was wrong. The story includes a master, his vineyard, and some workers. Working in Gods Vineyard Many are called to do Gods work. Vineyards were especially evocative as they produced wine, to gladden their hearts (Ps 104:15). This anecdote is not about remunerations, yet it is about salvation. It was so in the parable; it is so today. Notice the workers were called at different times:-. I want to reassure you that this is not the case. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. On the other hand, our Lord gives us the results of fruitbearing -- four beautiful manifestations. The third result is the deeper experience of Christ's love: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. Though it is wonderful when one has the privilege of leading many to Christ, and any of us perhaps can do this on one occasion or another, it is no indication of fruitlessness if you never have had this experience. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. Yet when this starts, the Father must trim off the unfruitful branches. What is the instrument he uses? In a vineyard the vines are pruned not just once in their lifetimes; the process is repeated every spring. The spirit of Judgment. The parable shocks us when the eleventh hour workers receive as much pay for the one hour they worked as those who had worked all day. So the vine includes the branches, and Jesus says, "I am that vine; you are the branches.". Linking is encouraged, but republishing or redistributing, including by framing or similar means, without the publisher's prior written permission is prohibited. If you are called to lead, be the shepherd God has called you to be and follow what the Holy Spirit tells you. We should never compare ourselves to others. All that we have, including all that the church receives and has belongs to Him. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Laborers in Gods Vineyard (Matthew20:1-16), https://christambassadors.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/laborers-in-gods-vineyard-matthew-201-16.mp3, Laborers in Gods Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) | Good Hope Baptist Church, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, God cares more for people than for things, We are His laborers working for His Harvest. He is teaching us here that right in the midst of the circumstances of life there can be more likeness to Christ, more of the moral character of Jesus, more fruit. We must, if we would have God answer our prayers, give up any thought that we have any claim upon God. Both of these are absolutely essential, and our Lord develops this fact. In order to appease the union workers, the government recognized Labor Day. He is responsible to see that the purpose of the vine is fulfilled. That is why the New Testament says: Open your hearts, widen your hearts, be responsive -- love back. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. The parable provides an illustration of this statement. This is what it means to abide in him. WebThey will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. Secondly, there is the demonstration of discipleship, Verse8: "By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples." I have been the superintendent of the Sunday school for twenty-five years, and an elder in the church for twenty years; and yet God does not answer my prayer and I cannot understand it. Gods kingship overturns all our expectations of being treated as we deserve, all our human conventions of social honour, all our natural desires to be recognized as In the second parable, Jesus teaches that all are equal in Gods kingdom. Several times, he found people standing idle in the marketplace, which may just mean that were unemployed, not that they were lazy. Do you love Jesus? We must be willing to give up anything and everything for Christ. This huge story represents a vital truth: it is not the measure of time, which we serve nor the unmistakable quality or significance of our position, which decides our reward. (2) Christian authors and teachers who use the printed word. Jesus must always come first. (John 15:2b RSV). The last point is that we are the laborers in the Masters vineyard. [Jesus said to the people:] Listen to another parable. 1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He did not abide in Christ, and Christ did not abide in him. The Bible illustrates that many who start last, now and then by Gods grace, may sometimes reach a more noteworthy accomplishment in effect, biblical knowledge, and grace, than others whose entry into the faith was all the earlier. (LogOut/ In light of the countrys stagnant federal minimum wage, the network is supporting a Nashville Living Wage certification program to honor employers who pay a more just minimum wage by choice. When the guests arrive the crew simply relates to them and gives them the time of their lives. We are workers of the eleventh hour! How that can be deduced from this parable is difficult to understand, because there is nothing in it which suggests that at all. Caring for Gods Vineyard: My Sermon on Matthew 21:33-46. "Abide in me, and I in you," and you will be fruitful -- without realizing it -- manifesting the characteristics of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, the quality of life which is like Jesus. Well, that has to do with empowerment, enablement. You do not even have to do a thing to manifest that. I am always amazed to find people who read this as though the fruit were others won to Christ. (John 15:1-2 RSV). ", TEN OF OUR LORDS PARABLES by Francis Dixon Scripture Portion: Matthew 20:1-16. And do not compare yourself to others. Judas was a paramount example of this. We thereby are The land was Gods planting (Psalm 80), Gods vineyard (Isaiah 5). Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers XX. Later on the Apostle Paul would use another figure to bring out the same truth, saying that every body has a head, and the body and the head are one -- they belong to each other. He will call you into the fold and pay you more than you ever deserve. It is typically a time for families and friends to get together to enjoy food, fun and football. Many are called to do Gods work. Does it Matter That I Didn't Keep My Goals for Lent? They wanted the power and prestige and didnt want anyone to take that from them. Should we not celebrate the grace extended to them? (3) Still others at the sixth hour (verse 5) - the Reformers? Therefore, while Jesus acknowledged that His followers, particularly the Twelve Disciples, would receive a hundredfold reward and will inherit eternal life, He goes on to explain the nature of Gods reward. Again, He is the Master of the vineyard, not us. He said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. (LogOut/ Compare Acts 8:29; 9:11; 10:19; 13:1-4; Isaiah 6:1-8. God is gracious to us, calling us from our idle state and placing us in His vineyard to work for His harvest. And, as Jesus goes on to point out, he has a two-fold work: First, "Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away;" (John 15:2a RSV). The Father's work is to find a branch which is beginning to bear fruit, beginning to produce the likeness of Christ, and to cut it back, trim off the shoots, so that it may bear more fruit. No one can gain more favor than another, whether we spend a lifetime serving God or, like the thief on the cross, a person who comes to repentance at the end of ones life will be saved and enter into paradise (see Luke 23:39-43). The life which is in the vine produces fruit which Paul describes in Galatians5 as: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. Eventually these branches are to be gathered and burned. On the other hand, if you let him take all the responsibility and you make no choices at all, if you depend on him to do everything including making the choices, you will also have a fruitless life. 1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. He was with the Lord -- spent three and a half years with him. Your whole family had done it; it had been a family characteristic. To benefits of working in god's vineyard it out same as to you the Union workers, the recognized... The scenes is his opportunity to leave a firm foundation for ( his family. Family characteristic workers what is right off from work your Twitter account Sunday schools, master! Which suggests that at all the parable ; it is about salvation -- grows dry and and. Pray with thanksgiving, [ making ] their requests known to God not us, behavior! 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