{"id":11,"date":"2009-03-05T22:44:39","date_gmt":"2009-03-05T21:44:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=11"},"modified":"2009-03-05T22:44:40","modified_gmt":"2009-03-05T21:44:40","slug":"a-fair-days-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=11","title":{"rendered":"A fair day’s pay"},"content":{"rendered":"

A fair day\u2019s pay<\/p>\n

It is a scene I have found in Uganda and in Bulgaria. It is multiplied all over Eastern Europe and all over the Third World. Groups of men standing by the side of the road in the hope that a truck or bus will stop and offer them some work. They don\u2019t know what kind of work it will be. In the fields or on a building site. Some work \u2013 any work \u2013 so that they will earn enough to feed their family for that day. If nobody stops they won\u2019t find work and the family will go hungry. The strongest and the young are chosen first. They will get the full day\u2019s pay. But the others, the old and the lame, stay waiting and hoping that that somebody will still chose them to work that day. If more workers are required employers will come back for a second bus load. For all of those people who gather, work is not a luxury or something to avoid, it is essential for survival. <\/p>\n

This background to Jesus\u2019s story hasn\u2019t changed for some people across the world for 2000 years.
\n
\n20 \u201cFor 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.<\/em>
\nThe landowner hires his workers for the day and agrees to pay them the going rate \u2013 which was a denarius a day. The Jewish workday began at 6:00 AM. This was called the first hour. The third hour began at 9:00 AM, the sixth hour began at noon, the ninth hour began at 3:00 PM, and the eleventh hour at 5:00 PM. The Landowner hires other workers through the day. Even when the day is almost over he takes on those who were left standing around all day, who could well have given up any hope of any work that day. At the eleventh hour \u2013 and that is where we get that phrase \u2013 the Landowner hires some men and agrees to pay them \u201cwhat is right\u201d. At the end of the day the time comes to be paid.
\n8 \u201cWhen evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, \u2018Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.\u2019 9 \u201cThe workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius.<\/em>
\nNow there is the surprise. A whole day\u2019s pay for just an hour\u2019s work! Well if those men were being rewarded so generously, no wonder those who had worked a whole day were expecting a little bit more!
\n 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 \u2018These men who were hired last worked only one hour,\u2019 they said, \u2018and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.\u2019<\/em>
\nWorking in a vineyard was very hard work. It involved laboring on a hillside in the heat of the day with few breaks! We can sympathize with these workers. We can understand their complaint. Their joy turned to anger as they realized that they received the same pay as those who had worked for only one hour. As such, they were determined not to leave until they received \u201csatisfaction\u201d from the landowner. However this is only a symptom of the real problem. They were upset that the landowner had made the other workers equal to them.<\/p>\n

13 \u201cBut he answered one of them, \u2018Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn\u2019t 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\u2019t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?\u2019<\/em>
\nIndeed \u2013 they were jealous because the Landowner was generous! This is not a parable about workers\u2019 rights. This is a parable about the generosity of the Landowner. Generosity which treats everybody the same however much or little work they have done. Generosity which is a picture of God\u2019s grace. God\u2019s Riches at Christ\u2019s Expense.
\nGrace makes us equal to everyone else. The workers\u2019 complaint in verse 12 is interesting. \u201cYou have made them equal to us.\u201d The all-day workers don\u2019t complain about their own wages because they knew their pay was already generous. They\u2019re upset because they wanted to be superior.<\/p>\n

The word \u201cgrumble\u201d is in the imperfect tense, which means that they complained not just once, but were in a constant state of grumbling. They weren\u2019t saying, \u201cYou have put us on a par with the late-comers,\u201d Instead, they grumbled, \u201cyou have put them on a par with us.\u201d In other words, they weren\u2019t so much dissatisfied with what they themselves had received; they were also envious of what had been given to the others. They emphasize that they bore the burden of the work in the sweltering heat of the day. Compared to these upstarts, who only worked an hour, these workers thought they were worth a lot more.<\/p>\n

But that is not the way grace works. Here is the marvellous truth about grace.
\nThere is nothing you can do to make God love you more.
\nThere is nothing you can do to make God love you less.
\nLike a gift, the only thing we can do with grace\u2026is to receive it.<\/p>\n

The 12 hour workers \u2013 in Jesus\u2019s day<\/p>\n

Jesus told this parable to challenge the attitudes of the Jews of his time and especially the strictest and most religious of all \u2013 the Pharisees. The Pharisees lived to the letter of the Jewish Law. For that reason they thought that God\u2019s blessings were especially for them, and that the best places in heaven would be reserved for them. The Pharisees thought they were better than everybody else. Through this parable, Jesus was teaching the them that God\u2019s generosity is not just for them, who had worked all day and borne the burden of the work and the heat of the midday sun. Instead God\u2019s blessings are for everybody \u2013 even those who only make an appearance at the eleventh hour, when the work is coolest and easiest.<\/p>\n

The end of the day workers \u2013 in Jesus\u2019s day<\/p>\n

Last week \u2013 Parable of the Lost Sheep
\nLuke 15: \u2018Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.\u2019 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
\nLuke 19: 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.\u201d<\/em>
\nIn Jesus\u2019s time what really annoyed the respectable Jews was the company he kept. Not respectable people like them \u2013 but the lost sheep.
\nLuke 15 Now the tax collectors and \u201csinners\u201d were all gathering round to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, \u201cThis man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt 9: 9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector\u2019s booth. \u201cFollow me,\u201d he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
\n10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew\u2019s house, many tax collectors and \u201csinners\u201d came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, \u201cWhy does your teacher eat with tax collectors and \u2018sinners\u2019?\u201d
\n12 On hearing this, Jesus said, \u201cIt is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: \u2018I desire mercy, not sacrifice.\u2019 For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.\u201d<\/em>
\nIt really annoyed the 12 hour workers that Jesus spent his time with outcasts and drop-outs. That God cared about such people just as much as He cared about those who had done their very best to live by the Jewish Law. But the gospel really is for the lost sheep, the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the \u201csinners\u201d.<\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.<\/em>
\nThese are the kinds of people God welcomes into His Kingdom!<\/p>\n

The eleventh hour workers \u2013 today
\nGrace teaches us that God does for others what we would never do for them. We would save the not-so-bad. God starts with prostitutes and then works downward from there. Grace is a gift that costs everything to the giver and nothing to the receiver. It is given to those who don\u2019t deserve it, barely recognize it, and hardly appreciate it. That\u2019s why God alone gets the glory in our salvation. Jesus did all the work when he died on the cross.<\/p>\n

In the end grace means that no one is too bad to be saved. God specializes in saving really bad people. Some people here today may have some things in their background that they would be ashamed to talk about in public? Don\u2019t worry. God knows all about it. His grace is greater than any sin.<\/p>\n

Who are the eleventh hour workers? Items in the news this week:
\nOn Wednesday in Zimbabwe long-time opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in to the office of Prime Minister by president Robert Mugabe. At last there is hope for that country. Democracy has been trampled for too long. Under Mugabe\u2019 tyranny inflation has completely wrecked the Zimbabwe economy. Cholera has killed thousands with tens of thousands infected. Yet Robert Mugabe could still become an eleventh hour worker. He could yet repent and be gloriously saved!
\nThe great train robber 79 year old Ronnie Biggs is so ill he has been moved from prison to hospital. He was part of the 15 strong gang which attacked the Glasgow to London mail train in 1963 and stole 2.6 million pounds. But Ronnie Biggs could still become an eleventh hour worker. Even on his deathbed he could repent and be gloriously saved.
\nAlfie and Chantelle are the proud parents of Maisie, born this week in Eastbourne. Chantelle is 15 years old. Alfie is only 13.
\nFormer Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, who runs the Centre for Social Justice think tank, said the birth highlighted another case of “broken Britain” where “anything goes”. He said: “It’s not being accusative, it’s about pointing out the complete collapse in some parts of society of any sense of what’s right and wrong. It’s as if no-one is saying this is wrong.”
\nAlfie and Chantelle cannot shoulder all of the blame in this tragic situation. Maisie\u2019s grandparents must also be held responsible for their children\u2019s actions. Children should not be having children. But Alfie and Chantelle and Maisie and their parents could all become eleventh hour workers. If they repent they could be gloriously saved.
\nYesterday mother-of-two Varsha Champaclal, 43, was attacked in a store room at the rear of a branch of Peacocks in Mitcham. She died of stab wounds to the neck and chest. She is believed to have been murdered by her husband. But that man could become an eleventh hour worker. If he repents he could be gloriously saved.
\nAnd here in Brentwood the front page story in the Brentwood Gazette is about a man with a serious criminal record who is being employed by a Christian charity in the town. The manager of the charity said, we are \u201ca Christian charity seeking to help people regardless of their circumstances or lifestyles.” Should a Christian charity employ a convicted criminal? I see no reason why not. ANYBODY can become an eleventh hour worker. By the grace of God – anybody can be saved.
\nIn his book, What\u2019s So Amazing About Grace, Phillip Yancey describes grace like this. \u201cGrace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us more\u2014no amount of spiritual calisthenics and renunciations, no amount of knowledge gained from seminaries, no amount of crusading on behalf of righteous causes. And grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us less\u2014no amount of racism or pride or pornography or adultery or even murder. Grace means that God already loves us as much an infinite God can possibly love.\u201d <\/p>\n

If these are the eleventh hour workers, then who are the
\nThe 12 hour workers \u2013 today <\/p>\n

Anybody who thinks they can earn God\u2019s favour. Anybody who thinks they actually deserve the blessings which God offers.
\nIf it\u2019s a wage that we want from God, the Bible says that our salary is already figured out for us. If we want to be rewarded for our merit, if we want God to recognise all our good work, then Romans 6:23 spells out how we will be paid: \u201cFor the wages of sin is death\u2026\u201d There is NOTHING we can do to earn or deserve God\u2019s favour. But, if we want to receive what God wants to freely give us, then here is the wonderful promise of the second part of Romans 6:23 \u201cbut the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n

12 hour workers today – Any Christian who looks down on any other Christian \u2013 who thinks, \u201cI am better than you because I have served God longer, because I have been a minister or a missionary or a preacher or an Elder or a Deacon or a Home Group Leader.\u201d Any Christian who thinks I am better than you because I know my Bible better, or because I have prayed more, because I have sacrificed more for Christ. Anybody who thinks like that is represented in the parable by the twelve hour workers. They thought they deserved more because they had worked harder and longer \u2013 but they were wrong. <\/p>\n

12 hour workers today – Any Christian who is jealous of another Christian. If we think it is unfair that God lets prostitutes and tax collectors and \u201csinners\u201d into his church. If we are worried they might spoil it for us respectable Christians.
\nThe eleventh hour workers and the twelve hour workers. Which of those groups are you in? So we come to the post-script to the parable.<\/p>\n

Matt 20:16 \u201cSo the last will be first, and the first will be last.\u201d<\/em>
\nThe Pharisees thought they deserved the best place in God\u2019s Kingdom. But that place was reserved for Tax Collectors and \u201csinners\u201d.
\nWe may think that we deserve a good place in God\u2019s Kingdom. We may be surprised! It is the last who will be first \u2013 those who think they should be first will be last!
\nLuke 14:7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honour at the table, he told them this parable: 8 \u201cWhen someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honour, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, \u2018Give this man your seat.\u2019 Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, \u2018Friend, move up to a better place.\u2019 Then you will be honoured in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt 20:16 \u201cSo the last will be first, and the first will be last.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A fair day\u2019s pay It is a scene I have found in Uganda and in Bulgaria. It is multiplied all over Eastern Europe and…<\/span><\/p>\n

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