11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. That is, a vine produces certain shoots (called "sucker" shoots) which start to grow where the branch joins the stem. That is the main issue with this parable. When we understand ourselves as all workers in Gods vineyard (Mt 20:1-14), we cannot help but join the fight for our fellow workers who are being mistreated. I lived in the far corner of Northeastern Washington with my beautiful wife, but now live in Wisconsin while I look for work. And in the 80th Psalm, the Psalmist says that God "brought a vine out of Egypt" and planted it in a good land, Psalms 80:8). In Luke 10:2, Jesus was conveying 35 groups of two each to go out to others, the multitudes. In closing, the principle of this parable is that it is foolish to demand fairness from God. Their diversity of thought has a common theme, service to God and neighbor as a reflection of our faith in him and our acceptance of his salvation. There was no fruit. Look up Psalm 126:6; Matthew 25:21; 1 Corinthians 4:2. (John 15:3 RSV). When the guests arrive the crew simply relates to them and gives them the time of their lives. The person might have never addressed hundreds or thousands of individuals like some ministers and evangelists do, yet they loyally brought up their youngsters, and possibly those kids became teachers who served God on unfamiliar soil or someplace within their own country. God has so much work, and there is room for everyone who is willing. Gods vineyard is the entire earth, and the workers in the vineyard He says, first, "As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me." Now remain in my love. But when that call comes at the eleventh hour, they cannot say that they had not been called. 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." (John 15:9-10 RSV). These are signs of human dignity being upheld, of people being placed over profit. Choose from news (Monday), leisure (Thursday) or worship (Saturday) or get all three! We are to each be sowing seed in His field. All of us have learned, one way or another, that love demands a response if it is to grow. When God sent someone to give a message, they would not listen. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. God has blessed me tremendously and so thankful for His grace and the people He has put in my life and His work in and around me. You are to rest upon his ability to see you through, to work it out. I struggled for a while with this word prunes because in the Greek it is really "cleanses." None of us are worthy to be there, but Jesus paid for our sins and died for us, so that all who believe may enter into heaven. The fruit, in other words, is Christ-likeness. You can be flat on your back in bed, sick, but manifesting a Christ-like spirit, and you are glorifying God by that experience. Chris Swansonanswered the call into the ministry over 20 years ago. Look up Matthew 9:37; John 4:35. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Making decisions and then trying to do the whole thing yourself, as though the whole responsibility rests upon you, is going to produce a fruitless Christian life -- intense activity, but no results. As work became more industrialized, Pope Leo XIII advocated for just working conditions, the rights of workers to bargain collectively and form unions, and to earn a living wage all of which our church still supports today. The third question is, "Do you love Jesus?". Does the Pandemic Still Affect Church Attendance? What Does it Mean That We Are Co-Workers with God? But if you share where you are spiritually, what your struggles are, what you are going through, and if you bear one another's burdens and love each other in the Lord, it becomes a delightful, marvelous, strengthening experience. He responded, This man thinks that because he has been a consistent church member for thirty years, a faithful Sunday school superintendent for twenty-five years, and an elder in the church for twenty years, that God is under obligation to answer his prayer. Bible Meaning and Text. 3 About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. These three vineyard texts insist that God remains in personal relationship with his people, continues to care for and preserve them and stays faithful even when the people fail to do so. 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). (John 15:4-5 RSV). I love the saying, "Joy is the flag which flies over the castle of the heart when the King is in residence." The laborers are believers, people who come into the service of the King. 9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. (LogOut/ There is a great need for Gods people today to get a worldwide missionary vision because we can be very local and parochial in our concept of the Lords work. Jesus told the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard to illustrate the point that no one deserves Gods grace and each of us should joyfully serve Him with the time we are given. I suspect not! In verse three, the householder went out about the third hour into the marketplace and found others standing idly by. A certain sense of fairness comes into question among some of the workers, and the parable ends by emphasizing the owners generosity over any subjective view of (2) Others at the third hour (verse 3) - the first and second century Christians? That is the Father's pruning knife cutting off the sucker shoots of the old life within us, so that we might produce more of the Christlikeness, the fruit of the Spirit. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.. He not only does this, but he does it repeatedly. 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. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. He does not even owe us a denarius. Photo Credit: iStock/Getty Images Plus/BenGoode. As a result he was cut off, and he withered. In verses four-six, the householder went out each time the workers went out, compelling those to come and work in the vineyard. Look up Galatians 6:9. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country.. Workers in the Vineyard Gods Extravagant Grace PBCC. Our Lord goes on now to point out the consequence of not abiding in him: "If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned." Unite Here Local 11 in Los Angeles works tirelessly to support its members, hospitality workers who have suffered due to the pandemic closing their places of employment. Does it seem fair to our standards that this is the case? 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. Web-Working in the vineyard involves work! They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, The whole plant was the vine. You can check out his work here. It is the third of these parables that we will study, and notice in verse 1 that the Landowner is our Lord Himself, and the Workers He sent into His vineyard represent all who have been saved (Matthew 1:21), chosen (John 16:16), and commissioned by Him (Matthew 9:38). We trade the Giver for His gifts. 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 whole earth is the Lords, but other nations did not enjoy their lands as the planting of the Lord . Both of these are absolutely essential, and our Lord develops this fact. (1) Idleness (verse 6). The Father is at work to cut them off, to prune them back. But it is an As you venture out on that basis you expect him to support you and to carry you through. All rights reserved. That person may not have done anything of importance within the church but look at the rewards he or she may have. But if they remain unresponsive over the weeks and months and years, love finally is limited to that initial step of reaching out to them. It was then that the Landowner said, You also go (verse 7). But we are to be sober, be vigilant, and be steadfast in the faith (1 Peter 5:8-9). In this illustration, God is the householder, and believers are the workers. If you put in a certain amount of time and effort it only seems right to be fairly compensated for it. 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. "But the plans of the LORD stand firm for ever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Every Christian, everywhere, should be fully engaged in active service for the Lord in these desperately needy days either by prayer (Matthew 9:38), or by preaching (Acts 5:42) - or by both (Acts 6:4). They mistakenly believe that they are the ones in charge and can call the shots in Gods Kingdom. Well then, manifest fruit in your life by abiding in him, and he in you. (LogOut/ You can operate your business without Christ. If they respond just a little, then your love can reach out further, can deepen and grow. It becomes a continuing sense and experience of his love for us. If you try to make all the choices and carry all the responsibility yourself, you will lead a fruitless life. The late evangelist pastor, and writer, R. A. Torrey had an interesting perspective on this. On others you see luscious, tempting, delicious fruit which gladdens and delights your heart, glorifies you, and we thank you for that. The Gospel reading was -- and remains -- one of the most incendiary of Jesus' parables: that of the generous landowner We must decide to do things which expose ourselves to him and keep ourselves in contact with him. This sermon was delivered at Good Hope Baptist Church in Wake Forest, NC. Another way to state this and illustrate the unfairness is that those who worked the whole day received the same compensation that they agreed to receive as those who worked for only one hour. Jesus told a couple parables that deals with the heart of those who are called to do Gods work. 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. There is a spiritual principle here. Christians should work diligently to glorify the Lord and bring others to Christ, and because of the genuineness of our hearts will we obtain rewards in heaven. Are you going through a pruning season right now? Prayers are answered, growing out of that relationship of an obedient and a dependent heart -- leaving the process and timing to God. Note in verses 4 and 7 that He sent them out. He is responsible to see that the purpose of the vine is fulfilled. But you learned from the Word that it was wrong. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. I want to reassure you that this is not the case. (LogOut/ WebThey will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They continually were seeking ways to quiet Him or destroy Him. 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. He committed suicide within a few days, and he was burned -- eternally lost. He asks them only three questions: First, "Do you love work?" However, the illustration might be applied all the more by and large to show us that God is not in debt to anyone; an extraordinary truth. We are His Laborers Working for His Harvest. The point here is that it is the masters money and he can pay as much or as little as he wants. When our hearts are moved by love it is easy to obey his word, for we obey the one we love. We pray in his name, Amen. There are seven fundamental lessons relating to our service. They were not to attempt to do the occupation without assistance. For the master of the vineyard, there must have been a lot of work to be done for him to hire so many workers so many times during the day. Do you love God for Who He is, or do you love Him for the benefits He gives you? If allowed to continue to grow, they would dissipate the life of the vine through so many branches that the vine would produce little or no fruit but would produce leaves instead. All things being equal, we expect businesses would not pay workers the same wage who worked less than others. We do not have to work at it. Jesus says, "Abide in me, and I in you." But what about the other four groups of workers? (John 15:11 RSV). We could see this as people coming to faith in Jesus Christ during different periods of church history or at different ages in life. Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. Here is the process in which the branch is cut off, and then it withers -- grows dry and dull and dead. There is an activity which is to be done, and a passivity which is to be acknowledged -- an active voice and a passive voice. Only believing in Christ and accepting him as Lord and Savior is what prompts a home in heaven. You are God's field, God's building. It is now generally viewed as a time for barbecues and the end of summer, but it was originally observed to acknowledge the contribution workers make to our society. He even shared in the experience of ministry with the other disciples. He said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 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