Category: “Tell Us a Story” series

A Story of Liberal & Lavish Invitation

adbLeave a comment

(Matthew 22:1-14)

How can God possibly convince you? What illustration, what picture, would be enough for it to sink in how good it is to be in Christ’s kingdom? What does it take so that your view of Christianity and Christ’s church is so much more than just a social club or service to tap into when you need it, but so much more? Think about what it would take for that to sink in, because God wants you to know how really great it is to be in his kingdom.

So Jesus tells a story. This story shares some similarities with previous stories – parables – we’ve heard from Jesus, but also a few unique elements. One that stands out: the party! “Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son’” (v. 1-2).

Mind you, this is not just anyone in the neighborhood throwing a party – this is a king. This is someone with the resources to put together a spectacular party! Someone in that position, for an occasion like that – a wedding reception for his son – is able to spare no expense in spoiling all of the guests gathered to celebrate his son’s marriage.

The king even makes sure his servants are highlighting his extensive preparations when he sends them out to personally follow up on the invitations he had extended. “Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet” (v.4). He was not throwing some party on the cheap, holding out and hoarding the best of the best for himself sometime down the road, but was planning to serve the best beverages, choicest cuts of meat, and every delectable treat one could ever hope to sample. It was all going to be there!

And it’s all right here – right here in Christ’s kingdom to which we believers belong. That – this – is the kingdom Jesus is portraying in his parable, and while it certainly includes the fullest measure of what is waiting for us in heaven, by no means are the blessings of the wedding banquet off limits to us until then! While the blessings of being in this kingdom are many, I want to highlight just a few that repeatedly seem to top the list for many believers: hope, peace, forgiveness, and love.

A familiar statement popped up again in a recent devotion. I’m not sure who is credited with coining it, but here’s the reminder of one of the great blessings of being in Christ’s kingdom: “Many people see only a hopeless end, but you have an endless hope.”

In a society that has more resources than it’s ever had at its disposal – in terms of stuff, support, treatment, etc. – it seems to take so little for people to slip into hopelessness. Yes, in recent decades we have done a poor job of teaching younger generations the value of resiliency and how to handle adversity, but there’s more to it than that.

If we don’t have the God of hope in our lives, then should it surprise us that so many are feeling hopeless? Let’s not make it more complicated than it needs to be! Paul captured the blessing of hope in the closing thoughts of his letter to the Christians in Rome. To those who had more than enough earthly reasons to feel hopeless, as persecution in the early church raged, he wrote, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

Without the “God of hope,” where else would we expect to be hopeful? But with him, hope overflows – a hope that is fueled by the certainty of the full-blown wedding banquet waiting for us in the future. And that hope is related to another blessing of being in this kingdom: peace. 

Will peace exist in the middle east when terrorists stop attacking Israel and Israel stops retaliating? Is peace merely a matter of putting down weapons? Of course not. Fear and terror of what could happen at any moment in the future would continue to exist on both sides.

That’s because peace isn’t found in the absence of war and aggression; it’s found in reconciliation. It is found only when two sides have completely hashed out their differences and restored and repaired their relationship. But as long as something – anything – stands in the way of that, there is no reconciliation, and therefore no peace. 

When we are riddled with guilt over what we’ve done wrong, we don’t need someone to merely brush it off and say that what we did was no big deal. No, we need something more. We need reconciliation. We need assurances that what we’ve done doesn’t stand between us and that person. We only have that in Jesus, who alone is able to assure us that because of his saving work, because of the forgiveness he came to secure for us, no sin or guilt remains between a Holy God and a sinner like me. The assurance Jesus gave to his disciples after his resurrection is also our assurance: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27). You are at peace. Jesus says so, because Jesus made it so. And just as your peace is related to the hope we have, so is your peace the result of another blessing of being in the kingdom: forgiveness.

Notice how beautifully that forgiveness is depicted in Colossians: “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14). We have been rescued! We were dominated by darkness, but having been brought into the King’s kingdom, a kingdom characterized by forgiveness.

It’s what sets this kingdom apart from all others. Other kingdoms are established by a show of might or political gamesmanship, but not this one. This one is far more powerful, for it is based on the authoritative pronouncement of God himself to the whole world, that his forgiveness through Christ means he doesn’t hold our sin against us. 

But what should prompt all of this? Why should the likes of any of us be able to rest in the hope, the peace, and the forgiveness that belong to us in this kingdom?

Simply because the God who is love loves you with a love that will never burn out or be bored of you. His is an eternal love, put into action before creation, carried out at Christ’s crucifixion, and continues to all in his kingdom.

Jesus’ disciple John, who preferred to be known not for his great sermons, his special privileges as being in Jesus’ inner circle, or any of his own accomplishments, but to be known simply as the disciple Jesus loved, wrote, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1).

In Christ’s kingdom we have all of these blessings – hope, peace, and forgiveness – because God loves us. In light of these reminders, doesn’t Jesus’ description of the lavish wedding banquet seem like a gross understatement? How could any worldly illustration – even Jesus’ own parable – possibly come close to adequately describing the blessings God lavishes on his people?!?

Yes, Jesus’ story is one of a lavish invitation to a never-ending party that nothing else will ever come anywhere close to imitating. But Jesus’ story tells us even more: everyone is invited. All are welcome! No one is excluded from being invited to the banquet! How liberal is God with his invitation, to exclude no one and include everyone?!?

The details in the parable capture this quite well. The king had already sent out invitations, but he didn’t just sit back and wait for people to show up. Rather, in addition to sending out the invitations, he took the initiative to follow up with all of those who had been invited to remind them of the invitation and urge them to now come and join in the festivities, for everything was ready.

If you’ve ever planned a party or an event – whether it’s been for just a small group or a large one – you know this is no small thing. It’s a lot of effort to make sure all of the details on the invitation are correct. Then, how will the invitations get distributed? Will you mail them with a stamp, send out an email and hope it doesn’t go into their spam, or create an event on social media? Will you invite via a phone call or text message?

There are so many ways to get the word out, which also means so many more ways for the word to get lost, ironically making follow up as necessary as ever! And who of us hasn’t wanted to pull out their hair trying to do that (or from the other perspective, been the ones responsible for causing others to want to pull out their hair because of our lack of response!)? Getting a response from people at a time when ghosting has become acceptable behavior is no easy thing! So see and appreciate what great lengths the king went to in his invitations, sending his servants out multiple times to follow up.

When one goes to such great lengths to plan and prepare a party and thoroughly extend invitation upon invitation, it makes it all the more inexcusable that any should react as they did. Some simply ignored the invitation. Others were preoccupied with other priorities, heading off to work or tending to a project at home. Still others did the unthinkable and murdered the messengers.

Recall that we witnessed this same behavior in the last parable Jesus told of his vineyard. However, this time Jesus included what it looked like to “bring those wretches to a wretched end,” to use the words from the last story of Jesus. He describes it here. “The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city” (v.7).

Yes, there will be punishment for those who reject Jesus’ offer of free and full salvation. While some may conclude that such punishment is unnecessary and that God goes too far and way over the top in carrying out such punishment, they forget that consequence is simply what we brought on ourselves way back at the first sin.

We brought it on ourselves. What’s more, remember that’s the very thing God sent out the invitation to rescue us from! So if we refuse his rescue, then we have just chosen for things to be the way we always deserve – to be punished ourselves for our sin and cut off from God’s grace forever. To those who reject God’s gracious invitation, God will give them what they want instead. 

But for those who do by faith accept his invitation, we notice from this parable that there’s also only one way to get into the banquet: you have to be wearing the wedding clothes.

The king saw one guest who was not properly dressed and he was dismissed – thrown out of the party! He didn’t have on the right fit. The only appropriate dress wear in Christ’s kingdom is Christ’s perfection. His holiness. His righteousness. Anyone who insists on wearing his own good efforts, noble intentions, or positive thoughts and vibes, will end up on the outside looking in. 

So after the invitations went out, who are those left out? Only those who chose not to attend the banquet and those insisting on getting in on their own terms.

So it is with the kingdom of God. The invitations literally could not have been sent out more liberally! They went out to everyone! Not only that, but the appropriate attire – the credit of Christ’s perfect life through faith – is also offered to everyone in attendance. And don’t forget the rich blessings of being in attendance: hope, peace, and forgiveness, all driven by the King’s love for you. How lavish & liberal is the king’s invitation?!?

Who are you in this parable? Wherever you are in life, there is a role depicted in the parable. Are you rejecting the invitation and/or those messengers who bring it? Preoccupied with other things that you don’t have time of the party? You want to come to the party but you insist on getting in on your own terms? Feel like your guilty past means you didn’t make the guest list? All are invited! The servants were sent out repeatedly to others with the invitation? At times we fall into different roles in the parable, but as we wrap up Jesus’ stories, let us make sure we take him up on his invitation. Not only does our eternity depend on it, but we don’t want to miss out on the party – then or now! And it’s so easy for us to miss out if we take for granted what is included in Christ’s kingdom.

The story is told of a family who wanted to travel to America for the chance at a better life. After saving up, they spent all they had on tickets for the family to travel on an ocean liner to America. Friends and family provided bread and cheese for the family of four. Dad figured they could stretch that out to last the ten-day trip and then they’d be much better off after arriving in America.

After six days of cheese & bread sandwiches, their little boy couldn’t take it anymore. Dad mercifully scrounged together enough change for the boy to go to the ship’s store and buy an apple. After quite a bit of time had passed, the boy hadn’t returned and dad, being worried, set out to find him.

As he left the lowest tier of the ship and climbed each level, accommodations became increasingly luxurious. Eventually the father made it into the the grand dining room, where he discovered his son sitting at a table surrounded by an amazing spread of food. “What are you doing?”, dad lamented. “We can’t afford that! I’ll be arrested and we’ll be taken back home!”

As the son replied, he took out the change his dad had given him and returned it, explaining, “Dad, all of the food is included in the price of the ticket. We could have been eating all of this for the past six days instead of cheese bread sandwiches!”

So often that describes how we go through life. We settle for cheese sandwiches instead of tapping into the banquet that God provides for us. Realize how lavish the party is in Christ’s kingdom, and rejoice that you’ve been invited by taking advantage of all of the blessings he provides! Oh, and don’t forget to pass along to everyone else that they’ve been invited, too!

A Story of A Determined Harvester

adbLeave a comment

(Matthew 21:33-43)

They were a camping family. They knew the outdoors. Their experience level could be considered way above average in terms of handling different types of geography, weather, and wildlife. Being outdoors was almost as natural to them as the daily routine back home, even for the kids.

All of this explains why the parents didn’t bat an eye at giving the okay when their thirteen-year old asked if he could go for a hike, even though they were camping in bear country. When he returned from his hike, everyone was pretty excited when he shared that he saw a bear on his hike, from a safe distance, of course.

The following day his parents again granted him permission to go on the hike, as he was excited by the possibility of seeing a bear again. This time he came back even more thrilled, because not only did he see the bear again, but it had even chased him very briefly this time.

While the parents were certainly a bit more apprehensive about letting him hike the same trail for a third time the next morning, not only were they were both confident in his experience ability to take care of himself, but they also reasoned that after two days in a row, the probability of a third bear encounter a was extremely low.

They were understandably shaken up then, to say the least, when he stumbled back into camp with cuts and scrapes and his clothes all disheveled. Sure enough, once again he had come across the bear’s path, but this time it charged at him and attacked him. He couldn’t get out his bear spray in time to deter the bear, but once he fell to the ground and played dead, eventually the bear became disinterested, left him alone, and wandered off. He was extremely fortunate to get by with only very minor injuries.

What would you think of those parents if they were to let their son go on that same hike a fourth time (let alone the third time!)?

Now, as you consider your answer to that question, how does your view of those parents compare to your view of the landowner in Jesus’ parable from Matthew 21, verses 33-43? Both were knowingly putting others at risk! While the actions of the tenants in Jesus’ story are of course inexcusable, at what point does the landowner bear responsibility for knowingly putting others in harm’s way by sending additional servants – and eventually even his own son! – back to the vineyard? Surely in today’s world he’d be looking at a lawsuit from the other servants or the families of those injured or killed! What justification could there possibly be for such action?

Surely the most shocking element of Jesus’ story is the landowner’s insistence on continuing to send servants after seeing how the tenants treated the servants he sent previously! The landowner appear to be completely irresponsibly, negligent – reckless, even!

But is the “irresponsible landowner” the only view of the vineyard owner can have, or do the details of Jesus’ story possibly provide a different perspective? Consider all the measures the landowner took in the first place. He’s the one who planted the vineyard on his plot of land – it belonged to him, not the tenant farmers. In order to keep the vineyard protected, he built a wall around it, complete with a watchtower to monitor everything. He even had winepress built on-site to make it as easy as possible to press the grapes into wine, so that they wouldn’t first have to be transported somewhere else for that step.

One could say the landowner went to great lengths to set up his vineyard to be successful. And what was the purpose behind all of it? “When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit” (v.34). He simply wanted fruit. That was, after all, the goal. It’s why he got into the business in the first place, so that his vineyard would bear fruit. 

When we keep that in mind, is he so crazy after all for sending additional servants to collect what was his? He simply wanted his business effort to generate a profit. He wanted to see the results of the blood, sweat, and tears he had put into the vineyard.

Moreover, if we put the best construction on the landowner’s continued efforts at sending additional servants, he was giving the tenants multiple opportunities to do the right thing. Each group of servants was another chance for them to realize their mistake, change their ways, and treat the servants well while sending them back to the landowner with an abundant harvest. So not only did the landowner care about his fruit, but also the tenants tending his fruit. He wanted them to do the right thing and serve faithfully in his vineyard. 

What does this parable of Jesus teach us about God? God is a determined harvester. And from that truth, we can draw out two applications for today: 1) don’t belittle the fruit collectors and, 2) do bear fruit. 

Don’t Belittle the Fruit Collectors

“Belittle” is an understatement for how the tenants treated the fruit collectors! Jesus’ parable states, “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way” (v.35-36). The tenants didn’t just tell the fruit collectors to bug off or go fly a kite. They could have just refused to let them into the vineyard at all. But instead they went to the extreme in their treatment, beating, killing, and stoning them. To do so was not just an injustice against the servants who were merely acting on behalf of the landowner, but a direct assault against the landowner himself!

Jesus is clearly addressing his listening religious leaders through this story, as the parable calls out Israel’s past – and present – penchant for persecuting prophets. In that regard, the Old Testament isn’t just a history, it’s essentially a RAP sheet listing the crimes Israel was guilty of committing against the prophets God sent to collect fruit. Again and again God’s people incriminated themselves in their treatment of God’s prophets. In every season of Israel’s history, God patiently sent one prophet after another to speak messages of repentance and promises of comfort for those who turn back to God. And in every season of Israel’s history, God’s prophets were belittled, rarely listened to, but often attacked and even killed.

The culmination of this was unfolding in the present during Holy Week as the prophet Jesus spoke this parable to those who would yet again fulfill it when they would murder God’s only perfect prophet on Good Friday. And, in the verses immediately following this Matthew reading, Jesus’ listeners knew full well that he was accusing and convicting them. “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet” (v.45-46). 

Do we realize how Jesus’ story accuses and convicts us as well? Or do we presume that since we’ve never been guilty of assaulting or murdering a man of God that this cannot apply to us?

But have we belittled those God has sent to serve us with his Word? Have we despised the preaching of his Word and reception of his body and blood by tending to other cares and concerns in this world as of much greater priority? Have we ignored attempts of elders to minister to us by not even responding to their efforts to do so? Have we downplayed when the pastor cares enough to call to our attention that we’ve been noticeably absent from regular worship? Have we ignored invitations to study his Word together and deepen our faith? Assuming you are a member of a congregation, have you forgotten that you were not forced into membership in that congregation, but willingly chose to be under its spiritual care?

Though we may convince ourselves otherwise, we have blood on our hands when we belittle God’s efforts at sending his servants to collect fruit and minister to us. It’s so easy for us to convince ourselves of how unlike those rebellious, stubborn OT Israelites we are, and that we’d never stoop to their level. But are we better or worse off if we learn nothing from their example and exhibit what is the same attitude of heart toward God, but refuse to admit it? 

What does that kind of attitude deserve? At the close of Jesus’ parable, even his enemies determined those tenants ought to get what they deserve: “‘Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,’ they replied’” (v.40-41a). They condemned themselves! And if we confess our guilt of the same sin, then we, too, are condemned. We, too, deserve to be brought to a wretched end! There is nothing more wretched than hell and being eternally separated from God and his love – and we’d have no one to blame but ourselves because we admit that’s the sentence that such actions deserve!

But there is more to Jesus’ story. As with other parables, there is a son. The landowner finally sent his own son, thinking his own flesh and blood would surely be respected. Instead he was rejected. Instead he was murdered.

That, thankfully, was by God’s design. Yes, someone had to get what those wicked tenants – what we – deserve! But the one paying that price was not at all the one who deserved it. The Son, Jesus, died for the tenants. They thought they’d kill him and get the inheritance, but the truth is, Jesus came to die to give them an even greater inheritance: heaven. The Son died to satisfy the Lord’s wrath against rebellious sinners. The Son died to satisfy the Lord’s wrath against you and me. 

So we will never bear it. We will never feel it. We will never experience what it’s like for wretches to be brought to a wretched end, even though it’s the wretched end our own actions deserve. Jesus did that for us. And what does he need from us in return?

Do Bear Fruit

Well, he doesn’t need anything, but we can’t but help give him everything. Our firstfruits. Our best. The harvest he longs to have from those that he took such care to bring into his vineyard. We have no fear of repercussion for our sin, as our punishment has already been carried out. Now we are free to bear fruit. 

And oh, there are so many ways for us to bear fruit, aren’t there? So many ways for us to express the depth of gratitude that God hasn’t cast us out of his vineyard, his kingdom, but lovingly keeps and protects and serves us here. Think of the fruit we can bear individually and together! Think of how God uses that fruit to invest back into his kingdom and build it up!

Rather than simply listing all the different ways we can bear fruit, let us consider how we can participate in one particular way: mission work. God bears so much fruit in and through us as we carry out his mission to make the good news about Jesus known everywhere. He does that through us individually and as we work together as Christians to carry this out (here’s an awesome example!). Your prayers will bear fruit in mission work. Your offerings will bear fruit in mission work. Your lips will bear fruit in mission work, as you tell others about Jesus, or consider full-time ministry to lead and equip others to do so.

However you can, in as many was as you can, bear fruit! God will take our fruit and build and bless his vineyard, his kingdom, through it!

A Story of Spiritual Insincerity

adbLeave a comment

(Matthew 21:23-32)

Can you imagine how hard it must have been for them? How excruciating to have had to utter the words! Surely it went against ever fiber of their being to have to give such a reply, but after having analyzed it from every angle, the best response the know-it-all religious leaders could give to Jesus’ question was, “We don’t know” (v.27).

How true it was, though! They didn’t know. Hardened hearts were not willing to accept the spiritual things that only the Holy Spirit can reveal, and so they truly didn’t know the answer to Jesus’ question. 

Nor did they wish to, which shows us how stubborn a thing unbelief is to overcome. Each possible response they considered showed them to be in the wrong. Either response would have taken them at least one step in the right direction closer to faith in Jesus.

But unbelief is a stubborn thing. It doesn’t wish to be overcome. It prefers to remain blind. It prefers to remain in the dark. It refuses to be humbled or corrected. So rather than acknowledge it is in the wrong, it offers uncertainty as a suitable middle ground.

We see it today. Nonbelievers are content to live in limbo, refusing to believe one thing or another on the basis of “How can we really know for sure?” Or, they deflect their responsibility in investigating Jesus’ claims or the veracity of the Bible by accusing Christians of believing themselves to be superior to everyone else because they’re so sure they’re right and everyone else is wrong. So they hang out in the middle, shrugging their shoulders like the chief priests and elders, while echoing their disinterested “we don’t know.”

And these are the same ones who want to point out how readily they would believe if they simply had any proof of God’s existence. To them, just as he did to the chief priests and elders who refused to acknowledge the proof right before their eyes speaking to them, Jesus says, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things” (v.27).  

Jesus is never one to waste words, not when he knew his time on earth – as well as theirs – was limited. For that reason he chose to steer the conversation in a different direction. Rather than trying to satisfy unbelieving ears with some sort of appeal that would legitimize his authority, Jesus instead focused on the greater issue that had to change before anything else: the unbelief in their hearts. To address that issue – the biggest issue by far in anyone’s heart, Jesus told a story. 

“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go” (v.28-30). Jesus’ parable is short and to the point. It would seem to be rather straightforward, and especially relatable to anyone with their own kids, or who has ever been around kids, or who has ever been a kid – so yes, relatable to all of us. At the end of the day, a person may have good intentions, but good intentions by themselves don’t yield good results. 

Jesus’ listeners rightly guessed the answer to his follow-up question, “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” (v.31). They knew the son who ended up actually following through with the father’s request was the one who did what he wanted. While the father would have most certainly been irritated, by the son’s initial refusal to do what told him to do, in the end, the father would have been happy to see the son end up doing the work. Perhaps there would be some additional conversation about how out-of-line it was for the son to say “no” to his father in the first place (a conversation that seems to be far too infrequent in our society today), but ultimately the son did the work he was told to do, even if after initially bucking against it.

On the other hand, how disappointed must the father have been when the other son’s initial, “Okay, I will” resulted in nothing but further inactivity! At least if the other son had done nothing, his inactivity would have matched his initial response. But what a different thing it is when expectations are raised, only to be dashed again! What a different thing it is when someone agrees and then doesn’t follow through. 

What exactly was Jesus’ point for his listeners then? What message did he wish to get through the thick skulls of the chief priests and teachers of the law? They knew Jesus’ teachings. They knew Jesus’ claims. They knew that others, too, were aware of what Jesus was calling for from his disciples – to repent and believe in him.

But since their hearts were hard, they rejected Jesus’ invitation, convinced they were already carrying out what the father, what the LORD, had called them to do: obey and embrace the law along with its “do’s” and “don’ts” as a means of satisfying the Father. In essence, they thought their lives were already a reflection of the perfect son who knew what the father wanted and proceeded to carry it out. But they missed that they weren’t at all carrying out what the father had asked: to believe in the one he sent, the Savior, Jesus. 

It was a different story, however, for the tax collectors and the prostitutes. They were the other son. They looked at what the religious crowd was portraying as far as the father’s demands, and they didn’t even bother pretending to say “yes” to such high demands. They knew such expectations were impossible for the likes of them. They knew they had no chance in following through with such lofty expectations, so they just presumed they’d always be on the outside looking in when it came to meeting religious qualifications. 

But when Jesus comes along and shares the exact same message – “repent and believe in me,” there was a different result. The very same ones who in their own minds were the “No way” sons and daughters to the father’s request were quick to follow through with what Jesus called them to do: believe he was the Savior.

Jesus shared their outcome with the chief priests and teachers of the law: “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you” (v.31).

The chief priests and teachers of the law were doing what they thought the father – God – was asking of them, but in reality they were doing what they in their own self-righteous hearts wished would have been the way to satisfy the father. In that regard, it wasn’t at all the father they were really aiming to please, but their own sense of self-righteousness.  

What does this have to do with us today? After all, when was the last time you came into contact with a chief priest or teacher of the law? Well, actually, we see them anytime we look in the mirror. What do I mean?

In the simplest sense, who can keep track of the number of times we’ve been the son who says “I will” and then doesn’t? We take the time to comment under the prayer request post that we’re praying or we text back the praying hands emoji, but we don’t take the time to actually pray the prayer we promised. We ask someone in need to let us know if there’s anything we can do to help, and when they lay out the specifics of how we could actually help, we fail to follow through. We commit to serving or volunteering in this or that role with a full understanding of what is being expected of us, only to not do what we said we’d do, and instead make excuses or keep putting off what we agreed to get done. It’s not the son in the parable we want to be, but it’s the son we so often are.

We’re that same son even when we do the right things we should do… but for the wrong reasons. Remember, those confronting Jesus did actually focus on obedience and following the rules. They were concerned with doing the right things, and they were sincere about it. But their reasons were sincerely wrong. Their doings and obedience and rule-following were not Christ-compelled gestures of overwhelming appreciation and thanks that stemmed from a vibrant heart of faith overflowing with gratitude. No, their doings and obedience and rule-following were prompted by perfectionist tendencies that believed the lie that peace with God was earned – or even could be earned – by hard work and dutiful effort on their part. As far as they were concerned, the attitude behind that effort didn’t matter. As long as it got done, that’s what God was looking for. 

When instead of joyfully jumping in we resentfully allow ourselves to be “roped in” to service and ministry, we might as well have come clean right from the start and instead been the son who said, “I will not,” because God isn’t looking for a church built on begrudging acts of service. When worship becomes an appearance that must be made to be seen by others instead of an eager acceptance of the King’s banquet invitation to be fed the divine food that satisfies our souls, we are the son who says he will, but doesn’t. When the days sandwiched between Sundays are lived out as if they were our “time-off” from Christian living instead of the actual time to punch in and put in the work of living out our faith, we are the son who says he will, but doesn’t. In so many ways we are the wrong son in this parable!

How much we need a third Son – God’s Son! He alone is the Son who not only said, “I will,” but also carried out the Father’s will perfectly. What’s more, he knew his purpose so well and realized his mission that he invited others to test him as they followed him, listened to him, and watched him carry out his work. His invitation then is still extended to us today – “Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father” (John 10:37).

To those still claiming “we don’t know,” Jesus says, “Fine, put me to the test and see! But if you see me doing what my Father commanded – in a way no one else ever has or ever could, then you have all the reason you need to believe in me!” 

And near the last hours of his, as Satan was preparing to use Judas and Jesus’ enemies to carry out God’s plan and purpose on the cross, Jesus explained why it had to happen: “so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me” (John 14:31).

This is the Son we need, the son we could never be, the Son who did all that the Father commanded – including the covering of our own failures as sons and daughters by giving up his very life on the cross! This is the Son in whom there is no insincerity or deceit, but only perfect obedience, carried out with a perfect heart, filled with perfect love for the Father. This is the Son through whom we have forgiveness and a place with our Father here and now, and home in heaven.  

Because he did, we are on the receiving end of that same perfect love, a love the Father has for us because of the perfectly sincere Son, our Savior, Jesus. There is no place for “I don’t know,” no place for “I’m not sure.” There is only absolute certainty in the perfect sincerity of Jesus, carried out in his perfect life, death, and resurrection, for you. 

A Story of Faultless Fairness

adbLeave a comment

(Matthew 20:1-16)

Kids love stories. Before they can even identify letters or read words, they are able to pick out their favorite books and have them read to them over and over and over again. As they are able to read on their own, they learn to like different characters and authors and get into book series and appreciate hearing how story lines play out over longer periods of time.

It isn’t just kids who love stories. Everyone likes stories – adults included. Whether they’re romance novels, gripping mysteries, tales of vigilante justice, or historical non-fiction, good stories will be appreciated. It’s also true of movies. While special effects and star power carry some weight, movies that have staying power are popular because of the story. Stories are powerful. Stories are moving. Stories can be life-changing. And so, stories and those who tell them will always have a measure of influence in the world.

Jesus knew the power of stories. Sometimes he referenced true stories from Old Testament history; other times he told another kind of story: a parable. In fact, parables were one of Jesus’ most popular teaching methods. Through parables, he used earthly stories to convey spiritual truths. In so doing, he helped his listeners grasp the important points he wanted them to learn – and in a much more powerful way than just bullet points. It would have been one thing for Jesus simply to tell his listeners to forgive. It was another thing to tell the parable of the unmerciful servant and showcase forgiveness (or the lack thereof!) in a memorable way. It was a story that left a powerful impact. Throughout this series of posts, Tell Us a Story, we’ll hear Jesus tell us a number of stories. May they not only capture our attention, but also our hearts, and may their truths be reflected in our lives.  

The story Jesus tells in Matthew 20 shows how different God’s idea of fairness is from ours. Our fallen world operates with a flawed sense of fairness. How could we really expect anything different? How could we expect two self-serving sides in any negotiation or arrangement to approach it with anything but a skewed sense of fairness? Each side is most concerned with making sure its own best interests are served. When each side has its own subjective idea of what is fair, achieving fairness will be nothing but a pipe dream. Just consider how many different labor strikes across various industries have happened, are happening right now, or are being threatened. Inevitably, employers and employees disagree as to what is fair.

That’s why the surprise of the workers in Jesus’ parable doesn’t surprise us. We’re not shocked to see their shock when the landowner distributes wages at the end of the day. The reason we’re not not surprised or shocked is because we’d likely respond exactly the same way!

No, the surprise comes not in the workers’ reaction, but in the landowner’s decision to pay everyone equally. The landowner determined that those who barely finished tying up the laces of their work boots were going to make exactly as much as those who put in a grueling day’s work. Ironic, isn’t it, that we scream “inequality!” when in reality he gave everyone exactly the same amount. By definition you can’t get more “fair” than that!

So what was the problem? Not with the payment, but with what the laborers felt they deserved. And that is why our sense of fairness will always be flawed. We simply do not apply the same standards to ourselves as we do others. We look differently at others than we do ourselves.

One explanation for this discrepancy between how we judge ourselves and how we judge others is that we draw our conclusions about others on the basis of their actions, while viewing ourselves on the basis of our intentions. So when someone else lies, we conclude that she is of course a liar. She probably lies all the time and hardly ever tells the truth. But if I lie, well, there’s a good reason behind it or I didn’t mean to lie, and I most often tell the truth.

When someone else cuts me off in traffic, they’re a bad driver and likely drive that way all the time. But when I do it, it was simply a very rare case, and I probably had a very good reason behind it. Do you see how hard it’s going to be to maintain any sense of fairness when we naturally tend to tip the scale in our own favor? 

How does that higher view of self on our part factor in to the relationship that matters most – our relationship with God? If we refuse to see how skewed our own sense of fairness is, we will always find it unsettling how a gracious, generous God deals with fallen mankind. Even though by definition, grace is God’s undeserved love for sinners, we nonetheless have our own personal ideas about those who are more deserving of that undeserved love than others. Do you see how nonsensical that is? 

It will always be that way to us as long as we insist on viewing man’s relationship with God being based – even the slightest, itty-bittiest bit – on what man is giving instead of entirely on what he is getting. We simply cannot base our relationship with God on what we give to him, even on our best days.

So although we might think that ideal family-man father or the dedicated single mom or the polite, respectable hard-working young adult all have so much going for them that God should take notice and factor that in to his final assessment of who’s in and who’s out, the Bible has plenty to say about thinking we could on our own give anything of worth to God or show ourselves to somehow be more deserving of grace. “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).

If you want to offer up your dirty, stinky laundry to God in hopes that it’s not as dirty or stinky as the next person’s, you are welcome to try. But at the end of the day, all you’re still offering is dirty, stinky laundry – nothing that would in any way endear God to you anymore, but would actually leave you worse off! So as much as we might try to polish it up or put on a fresh coat of paint or splash some perfume on it, the best we can offer up to God on our own is still nothing but condemning sin.

No, there is no place for our relationship with God being based on what we give. It can only be based on what we get. And in that sense, God’s fairness is faultless, because he treats everyone the same: his undeserved grace is for everyone – no matter when they show up in the work day. So yes, there is grace enough for the death-bed convert. There is grace enough for the death row inmate. There is grace enough for the top-ten list of all-time most wicked, wretched people in history. There is grace enough for your nasty neighbor. There is grace enough for your racist uncle. There is grace enough for the backsliding Christian. There is grace enough for all… so there is grace enough for you. 

If God wants all people to be saved – and he does, based on his own words repeated again and again in the Bible – then the only way that can happen is if he refuses to base salvation on what we pretend we can give him and insists on being the One who gives it to us. What he gives us – all of us – is unmerited, unwarranted, unconditional, unlimited grace. That’s the only way it can be fair. 

That also explains why God is so persistent and committed to making sure everyone is aware of his grace. Did you count how many times in Jesus’ parable the landowner went out to hire workers for his vineyard? Five times! While the number itself is not significant, the message it sends is clear – God continues to make sure his Word keeps spreading. God continues to make sure the good news reaches every ear. God continues to make sure no one misses out so that no one can say, “No one hired us,” that is, that they didn’t know about Jesus and the radical grace God extends through him.

Let us not forget, we are an important part of that. God gathers his church – believers – and uses us to keep sending out the message that God is hiring. There’s more room in his vineyard, his kingdom. There’s more than enough grace to go around. There is more than enough grace to forgive every sin. There is more work that needs to be done in his kingdom, so let us be about that hiring process and bringing others in so that he can lavish them with the grace he eagerly desires to give out. 

Then, let us rejoice – and not resent – when he does. We want to guard against displaying the attitude of the all-day workers in Jesus’ parable, no matter how long we’ve been in the kingdom. When they received their payment, “they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day’” (Mt. 20:11-12).

If their attitude sounds oddly familiar, it might call to mind the attitude of the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son. Just as he resented what he felt was the misdirected forgiveness and compassion of the father to his wayward brother, so those working all day long resented the short-shift workers receiving the same payment as the day-long laborers. If God wants all to experience the full measure of his grace, then let’s throw a celebration every time anyone receives it! 

Because there are still far too many who are outside of the vineyard. Some don’t know about the grace God has in store for them. Others are not interested in the grace God has in store for them. Still others are adamantly opposed to the grace God has in store for them or simply don’t think they need it to manage their way into the vineyard. Whatever the reason, there are still far too many on the outside looking in.

Let’s do what is in our power to do to get them into the vineyard. Let’s tell them the greatest story ever – the reality of the Savior they have in Jesus, a story for all people. Then, let us rejoice – not resent – every single victory that God generously grants through his grace.