The Biblical Role of Christian Coworkers
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Good morning, its good to be back among the land of the living. I want to speak with you this morning on the role of Christian Coworkers.
Howard Hendricks wrote of a plane that was delayed and delayed again, and delayed once more. The flight attendance sought to make it up to the passengers by offering free drinks. Of course one fellow had one too many drinks. He became loud and obnoxious and disrespectful.
But Hendricks said that the flight attendant did not respond in the same manner. Before he left the plane he went to the attendant and let her know that he had been flying american airlines for decades, he had the highest level of frequent flyer and he wanted her name.
So that he could write a letter to the company to commend her on what a good job she had done on the flight. She was thankful but said the letter would not be neccesary. It was her explanation that shocked him.
She said “I DONT ACTUALLY WORK FOR AMERICAN AIRLINES.”
“I WORK FOR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, I JUST HAPPENED TO BE ASSIGNED AT AMERICAN AIRLINES.”
What you see in this woman is someone who understands who she is, but more importantly she sees whose she is. she may recieve a paycheck from American airlines but thats not her goal in life her goal in life is to please the one she answers to and the only one she answers to is the Lord Jesus Christ.
She understood her role as someone who is a worker or servant of the King. This is the supreme reality of the Christian life, to understand that we serve the Lord not mankind, that we might never make a million dollars but we have an eternal reward wating for us if we live to pour out what god has so richly poured into us.
Do you understand that when you became saved that you were enlisted into a greater army? Soldiers of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Do we understand that it is our job as believers to advance the Kingdom of God no matter the cost?
Thats why you were born it is why I was born not to live life advancing our own agenda but to do whatever it takes to advance Gods agenda in the world.
God’s agenda- to seek and save that which is lost, to serve and not be served. In short to do whatever is neccessary to reach as many possible with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians
For we are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
We are working alongside god himself to advance the Kingdom of Heaven on the Earth. What a responsibility! This is what were called to do!
People might say well, I dont know what my meaning and purpose is in life, well God tells you very clearly that you are to be tools in the Masters hand and as the church we are to carry on the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ until He returns or calls us home.
We are workers in the Lords vineyard. Let’s look briefly at .
Matthew 20:1-16
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the workers on one denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine in the morning, he saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. To those men he said, ‘You also go to my vineyard, and I’ll give you whatever is right.’ So off they went. About noon and at three, he went out again and did the same thing. Then about five he went and found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?’
“ ‘Because no one hired us,’ they said to him.
“ ‘You also go to my vineyard,’ he told them. When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and give them their pay, starting with the last and ending with the first.’
“When those who were hired about five came, they each received one denarius. So when the first ones came, they assumed they would get more, but they also received a denarius each. When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner: ‘These last men put in one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day and the burning heat!’
“He replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius? Take what’s yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my business? Are you jealous because I’m generous?’
“So the last will be first, and the first last.”
What you need to understand about this parable is that it doesn’t just pop up into the book of Matthew out of nowhere, its not just a random disconnected teaching of Jesus. Its actually has a specific function within the story of Matthew.
Its launching from the question that Peter asked Jesus at the end of chapter 19. If you want to you can look back, Jesus has been having this conversation with the rich young ruler and he tells him its easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.
the disciples are all astonished and they say well who then can be saved?
With man this is impossible but with God all things are possible. Well Peter as is his way steps in with a question that looks really kind of self-serving.
Matthew 19:27
Then Peter responded to Him, “Look, we have left everything and followed You. So what will there be for us?”
I’ve left my fishing business, ive left all of my life that came before I followed you, dont I deserve something?
BRASH question to ask the Lord of the universe isnt it?
This is coming after Peter confesses Jesus as the Son of the Living God. He knows who He is, but he still asks this question, WHAT AM I GONNA GET FOR SERVING YOU?
One of the most amazing things about what follows is that Jesus doesn’t just body slam Peters question, and we know jesus has the ability and the right to bodyslam any question that He wants to. There are times when the Pharisees come and ask Jesus a question and Jesus just picks it up turns it over on His head and pile drives it into the ground.
Tells them thats a terrible question your missing the whole point he doesn’t do this to Peter.
Jesus said to them, “I assure you: In the Messianic Age, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel.
Matthew 19:
And everyone who has left houses, brothers or sisters, father or mother, children, or fields because of My name will receive 100 times more and will inherit eternal life.
Matthew 19:
But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
Jesus says there’s something crooked in the way your thinking about these rewards. He says listen many who are first in this life will be last then, and many who are last now will be first then.
you see Peter your thinking about these rewards in transnational terms you do this you do that and you get this. Then in chapter 20 he launches into this story about the vineyard.
MAIN IDEA: GODS GOOD GIFTS ARE HIS, THEY BELONG TO HIM, AND HE WILL GIVE THEM TO HIS CHILDREN HOWEVER HE CHOOSES TO DO SO.
Its according to His standard not according to our standard.
In the last day Jesus is saying that Gods standard does not always line up with our standard. Now that idea cuts against the grain of our thinking, its a little bit appalling in fact, that Gods standards would be different than the standards that we set up for ourselves.
This is a very easy parable what happens is, is that youve got this master of a vineyard who goes into a marketplace and hes gonna hire workers to work in his vineyard for the day.
Now in the marketplace there would have been people standing around as day laborers waitin on someone to hire them. So he walks in he finds a group of guys its early in the morning he says I want you to go out into my fields work it tend it and at the end of the day I’ll give you a denarius.
thats the day laborers wages, so they go out into the vineyard and do that well in the third hour and sixth hour and ninth hour he does the same thing goes out into the marketplace and there is a dwindeling number of workers because they are all being hired out.
So He says you third hour guys you go into my vineyard and ill pay you what is right. Notice He doesnt say a specific amount, he simply says whatever I decide to pay you whatever is right ill give you.
well at 5oclock in the afternoon theres one hour left the whistle is gonna blow at 6 they are gonna get paid but at 5 he goes back into the marketplace and he says the same thing. He says you guys go into my vineyard for the last hour of the day and I will pay you whatever is right.
so they do they head off into the vieyard. 6oclock rolls around everybody starts lining up to get paid but the master tells his foreman I want you to line em up in reverse order. I wanna pay the last guys first. So they get all lined up here comes the last group of guys they have worked one hour and the master reaches into his wallet gives these guys a WHOLE DENARIUS a days wages for doing one hour of work.
well you can imagine what happens, they start chattering down the line. If someone had a twitter account they would have tweeted or put it on face book.
So people in the back of the line start getting excited because they are thinking man this dude is so generous he is giving a denarius to those guys for one hours work! WE GETTING PAID !
Well the third hour guys come and he gives em the same thing. 1 denarius, the tweets go out again. People start getting worried, well hey wait a minute whats up with that same thing the next group