A Case for the Un-Hired Hand
Notes
Transcript
What led up to this parable?
What led up to this parable?
A rich Young Ruler came to ask Jesus what it takes to gain eternal life
A rich Young Ruler came to ask Jesus what it takes to gain eternal life
Jesus said he must be will to give it all to God; and the young man turned away.
Jesus said he must be will to give it all to God; and the young man turned away.
The Jesus told his disciples it is harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.
The Jesus told his disciples it is harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.
The Peter, the outspoken said they had given up everything so what about them.
The Peter, the outspoken said they had given up everything so what about them.
Jesus said indeed if they stayed on that course they would make it to heaven but to understand that whether they are first or last is not up to them but up to God. And the parable of the workers in the field was told.
Jesus said indeed if they stayed on that course they would make it to heaven but to understand that whether they are first or last is not up to them but up to God. And the parable of the workers in the field was told.
Read Matthew 20:1-2
Read Matthew 20:1-2
“For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work.
It was probably peak harvest time and the landowner was desperately looking for working to help with the harvest. Maybe the grapes were exactly the perfect ripeness. Whatever, he needed workers.
It was probably peak harvest time and the landowner was desperately looking for working to help with the harvest. Maybe the grapes were exactly the perfect ripeness. Whatever, he needed workers.
He found some willing to work and contracted with them for the normal silver piece for a days wages, any they were happy to get the job.
He found some willing to work and contracted with them for the normal silver piece for a days wages, any they were happy to get the job.
Read Matthew 20:3-5
Read Matthew 20:3-5
“At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing.
The landowner went out again at noon and again at three O’clock, because he still needed workers to finish the harvest on time.
The landowner went out again at noon and again at three O’clock, because he still needed workers to finish the harvest on time.
This time he didn’t agree on a specific sum but just promised to be fair in the wages he gave.
This time he didn’t agree on a specific sum but just promised to be fair in the wages he gave.
Read Matthew 20:6-7
Read Matthew 20:6-7
“At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’
“They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’
“The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’
In a last ditch effort to finish the harvest THAT day, he went out at 5 and looked for more workers. Maybe the weather was threatening or the harvest was even bigger than he had calculated but he needed more workers to get the job done.
In a last ditch effort to finish the harvest THAT day, he went out at 5 and looked for more workers. Maybe the weather was threatening or the harvest was even bigger than he had calculated but he needed more workers to get the job done.
He asked them why they had been standing around all day and their simple answer, “No one hired us.” seemed to be enough so he hired them for that last hour of work.
He asked them why they had been standing around all day and their simple answer, “No one hired us.” seemed to be enough so he hired them for that last hour of work.
Read Matthew 20:8-12
Read Matthew 20:8-12
“That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage. When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage. When they received their pay, they protested to the owner, ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’
How would you have responded if you were one of the workers that put in a full day’s work?
How would you have responded if you were one of the workers that put in a full day’s work?
Do you think the land owner was fair?
Do you think the land owner was fair?
Read Matthew 20:13-16
Read Matthew 20:13-16
“He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’
“So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”
As you have figured out, Jesus wasn’t developing a new handbook for employer-employee relations. He wasn’t setting up a new system of economics. He was trying to instruct His disciples, you and me about what God and heaven are like and the result was a dramatic expression of GRACE.
As you have figured out, Jesus wasn’t developing a new handbook for employer-employee relations. He wasn’t setting up a new system of economics. He was trying to instruct His disciples, you and me about what God and heaven are like and the result was a dramatic expression of GRACE.
In business the rule is generally the last hired are the first hired, bu in this story the last hired are the first paid. Why would God do such a thing?
In business the rule is generally the last hired are the first hired, bu in this story the last hired are the first paid. Why would God do such a thing?
What do you think the disciples reactions might have been to this story?
What do you think the disciples reactions might have been to this story?
Be honest, what is your reaction to this story?
Be honest, what is your reaction to this story?
What shall we say about a God who promises the same heaven to a self centered scoundrel saved on his death bed as he does to a Mother Teresa, who spent her lifetime in pursuit of holiness and service to others?
What shall we say about a God who promises the same heaven to a self centered scoundrel saved on his death bed as he does to a Mother Teresa, who spent her lifetime in pursuit of holiness and service to others?
The answer can be found in the dialogue between the land owner and the un-hired hands.
The answer can be found in the dialogue between the land owner and the un-hired hands.
Read again Matthew 20:6-7
Read again Matthew 20:6-7
“At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’
“They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’
“The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’
The landowner challenges them: 1) Why have you been standing there ALL DAY doing nothing? or 2)Why have you wasted your lives away, so to speak? 3) In a world where there is work to be done, why have you been idle in the marketplace? The landowner wants a good reason. He isn’t going to give someone a place in his vineyard, no matter how badly he needs workers unless they can give a solid reason for their idleness.
The landowner challenges them: 1) Why have you been standing there ALL DAY doing nothing? or 2)Why have you wasted your lives away, so to speak? 3) In a world where there is work to be done, why have you been idle in the marketplace? The landowner wants a good reason. He isn’t going to give someone a place in his vineyard, no matter how badly he needs workers unless they can give a solid reason for their idleness.
They gave an unshakeable answer. They wanted work, that is why they had been in the market place(employment office) all day, but no one had hired them.
They gave an unshakeable answer. They wanted work, that is why they had been in the market place(employment office) all day, but no one had hired them.
Maybe there is a time when you or someone you knew were one of the un-hired hands.
Maybe there is a time when you or someone you knew were one of the un-hired hands.
If you have story about an un-hired hand then maybe you can see why the parable could easily center around them. If they are not the heroes then they are the most sympathetic characters. There are few experiences more demoralizing than being one of those whom nobody wants to hire.
If you have story about an un-hired hand then maybe you can see why the parable could easily center around them. If they are not the heroes then they are the most sympathetic characters. There are few experiences more demoralizing than being one of those whom nobody wants to hire.
But this can just as easily be transposed into eternity and God’s kingdom. It represents a waiting world. It depicts those millions of people who go through their lives with an almost unceasing emptiness, while they wait for someone to hire(invite) them.
But this can just as easily be transposed into eternity and God’s kingdom. It represents a waiting world. It depicts those millions of people who go through their lives with an almost unceasing emptiness, while they wait for someone to hire(invite) them.
There are in our world, ceaseless multitudes who want desperately to know life, for them has a purpose. And when we look back at the back story of the rich young ruler, we must understand that this isn’t just about the down and out but often those with the most riches on earth can be more like the un-hired worker than any other. In Ecclesiastes, the richest man to ever life, Solomon labels everything he has had and done to be meaningless, without purpose.
There are in our world, ceaseless multitudes who want desperately to know life, for them has a purpose. And when we look back at the back story of the rich young ruler, we must understand that this isn’t just about the down and out but often those with the most riches on earth can be more like the un-hired worker than any other. In Ecclesiastes, the richest man to ever life, Solomon labels everything he has had and done to be meaningless, without purpose.
To feel unwanted has led many souls to wander streets aimlessly, or live in isolation, or turn to drugs and alcohol or commit suicide because death seems better than no being wanted and without a purpose. How many of those people would have said, “I’ve been waiting all my life in the marketplace, but no one would hire me.”
To feel unwanted has led many souls to wander streets aimlessly, or live in isolation, or turn to drugs and alcohol or commit suicide because death seems better than no being wanted and without a purpose. How many of those people would have said, “I’ve been waiting all my life in the marketplace, but no one would hire me.”
What workers are we. Did we come to know Jesus early in life and been blessed with a life knowing you have a purpose. May you were hired as a teen, a young adult or after years of bouncing around trying who know what to find your purpose. Whenever it was think about the blessing you have recieved since. Virginia Law Shell, the widowed wife of a tragically murdered missionary at first envied those friends of hers who had it all, husband family riches until she realized “The Christian Life is its own reward.”
What workers are we. Did we come to know Jesus early in life and been blessed with a life knowing you have a purpose. May you were hired as a teen, a young adult or after years of bouncing around trying who know what to find your purpose. Whenever it was think about the blessing you have recieved since. Virginia Law Shell, the widowed wife of a tragically murdered missionary at first envied those friends of hers who had it all, husband family riches until she realized “The Christian Life is its own reward.”
So instead of complaining about the fairness of some getting into the same heaven as we do when they hardly got a chance to know Jesus, maybe we would be better off saying to the Great Landowner when he is passing out the silver pieces of eternity, “Give part of mine to that gentlemen over there who never came to Christ until his life had been almost lived to the end, or to that woman who only met Jesus on her death bed.” “I’ve been blessed in life with purpose and even communion with that Great Landowner while they had to stand in the marketplace just waiting for someone to invite them to the harvest.
So instead of complaining about the fairness of some getting into the same heaven as we do when they hardly got a chance to know Jesus, maybe we would be better off saying to the Great Landowner when he is passing out the silver pieces of eternity, “Give part of mine to that gentlemen over there who never came to Christ until his life had been almost lived to the end, or to that woman who only met Jesus on her death bed.” “I’ve been blessed in life with purpose and even communion with that Great Landowner while they had to stand in the marketplace just waiting for someone to invite them to the harvest.