Gods grace is there for anyone at any time? Your heart may go out to those workers who labored the whole day only to receive the same wage as those who worked for only one hour. 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). He is the vine, we are the branches. That is what Jesus is talking about. The story includes a master, his vineyard, and some workers. The point is that God owes us nothing. In Luke 10:2, Jesus was conveying 35 groups of two each to go out to others, the multitudes. Web8 This is to my Fathers glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out. What a temptation to be slack, careless and half-hearted in the Lords work. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. The Father is at work to cut them off, to prune them back. There is a world to evangelize. If He gives you a denarius for a days worth of work, then you ought to be grateful for that. But what about the other four groups of workers? All the signs of the times - religious, political and Jewish - tell us that it is almost the Midnight hour. But you learned from the Word that it was wrong. Prayers are answered, growing out of that relationship of an obedient and a dependent heart -- leaving the process and timing to God. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country.. The parable shocks us when the eleventh hour workers receive as much pay for the one hour they worked as those who had worked all day. Israel was that vine. He decides who does what and who receives what from working in his vineyard. There you are to depend on him, to let him abide in you. In this parable the period for service was twelve hours. Again, He is the Master of the vineyard, not us. Certain individuals, when they comprehend the gospel, want to go to work quickly by reaching unsaved individuals. The first social encyclical, Rerum Novarum, written by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, grounds our social tradition in a discussion of labor and worker rights. And there are conversions after conversions throughout the remainder of the week -- because of young people who manifest by their lives that they are Jesus' disciples. 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). When we think of its size, how few workers there are! The Diocese of Rochester In America 1868-1993, Catholic social teaching series 3: Human rights and responsibilities: Promoting the common good for all, Catholic social teaching series 3: Rights and responsibilities what we are owned and owe to others in justice, Catholic social teaching series 4: Developing awareness and action for the preferential option for the poor, Franciscan Center of Baltimore exemplifies the preferential option for poor. We must be willing to give up anything and everything for Christ. Should we not focus on the other four groups of workers? 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. Suffice it to say, the Lord will someday reward the person who may have been a member of a small church. Just come to Him and place your trust in Jesus Christ. I am always amazed to find people who read this as though the fruit were others won to Christ. And from that we saw that obedience grows out of love. Photo Credit: iStock/Getty Images Plus/BenGoode. The Father is the vinedresser. God came looking for justice and righteousness; instead he found oppression, cruelty, exploitation, and indifference to the needs of others. That person may not have done anything of importance within the church but look at the rewards he or she may have. Because the field is so great, the variety of workers needed is also great. He has served as a Sunday School teacher, a youth director along with his wife, a music director, an associate pastor, and an interim pastor. This is the point our Lord makes in the story. All of this is designed to relate to him -- "Abide in me." Many are called to do Gods work. Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.. Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers XX. If we did, then it would not be grace. Also, Jesus teaches in this parable that all who come to Him will be equal in the kingdom of God, rich or poor, Jew or Gentile, young or old. -Serving How could they be otherwise until the Landowner had commissioned them to work? (1) preachers who are used by their Spirit-filled preaching. The Angel of the Lord comes to Samson's Parents. He is a retired Navy Chief Hospital Corpsman with over 30 years of combined active and reserve service. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love." You might expect a greater reward than those who did not make the same sacrifice. The figure of the vine is used many times in the Scriptures. Eventually these branches are to be gathered and burned. All that we have, including all that the church receives and has belongs to Him. Jesus says, "Abide in me, and I in you." Pride got in their way. More information about Good Hope may be found at the following site: www.GoodHopeBC.org. That is why the New Testament says: Open your hearts, widen your hearts, be responsive -- love back. The remainder, Chapters15 through17, occurred as they were walking on their way to the Garden of Gethsemene. 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. He built a tower; he protected the vineyard and cared for it, Isaiah 5:2(. Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. He will compensate us as indicated by our devotion to do the work that he has called us to do. When our Lord says "Abide in me," he is talking about the will, about the choices, the decisions we make. (3) Still others at the sixth hour (verse 5) - the Reformers? Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Leaders of the church need to stand strong and have boldness and never deviate from the truth. (4) Murmurings (verse 11). But I have learned that the only young people who can ever stand up to this grueling demand, and can meet it with an unvarying spirit of joy and gladness, with the kind of attitude that has so impressed you, are those who have learned to love Jesus.". Let us remember that God is in control, not us. Maybe the master was trying to keep the unemployment rate low during that time. We believe He owes us something. The man who owns it has a heart of concern for what he calls "the up-and-outers" -- those who are over-privileged, who have all too much of everything, yet to whom very few are witnessing, telling them of life in Christ. God owns the vineyard! We do not have to agonize and struggle to produce these qualities or characteristics; they are brought about naturally by the vine. How that can be deduced from this parable is difficult to understand, because there is nothing in it which suggests that at all. Gods kingship overturns all our expectations of being treated as we deserve, all our human conventions of social honour, all our natural desires to be recognized as If you try to make all the choices and carry all the responsibility yourself, you will lead a fruitless life. In 1 Peter we are told that we shall receive a crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4). WebThey will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. This is the way that manifestation of discipleship is accomplished. Whatever work you do, do it as unto the Lord (because you are!) Web-Working in the vineyard involves work! because they are going to have to work sometimes from seven in the morning until ten or eleven at night. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Giving. Now we must choose to maintain that relationship by the decisions we make, i.e., decisions to expose ourselves to his Word in order to learn about him, and to relate to him in prayer wherein we converse with him, and to relate to other believers in body-life experiences, i.e., bearing one another's burdens and confessing our faults and sharing in fellowship with one another, wherein we learn about and see Christ in one another. This is what Bible study and prayer are all about. The same is true for God. She holds a masters degree in theology.). They are not mere mechanical practices which every Christian ought to do in order to stay "in" with the crowd, or to maintain his "membership card," or to get "brownie points" with God! He exercised the power of God by performing miracles. And since they grow right where the branch joins the stem, creating a tight cluster where dirt, leaves, and other debris collect, the pruning is therefore a cleansing process. Fruitfulness shows that we are in partnership with GOD. 63). 9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. The Father's work is to find a branch which is beginning to bear fruit, beginning to produce the likeness of Christ, and to cut it back, trim off the shoots, so that it may bear more fruit. As Isaiah tells us, God cleared out the rocks in his vineyard and hedged it about. 2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. Furthermore, it is added to any new believers as a consolation of the grace of God. Needless to say, such behavior doesnt impress God at all. That is, he cuts it off, he eliminates it from the life of the vine. (John 15:6 RSV). Message transcript and recording 1973 by Ray Stedman Ministries, owner of sole copyright by assignment from the author. He not only does this, but he does it repeatedly. Joy, that sense of gladness of relationship with him, will increase as we go. He did not abide in Christ, and Christ did not abide in him. Notice that our Lord divides it into two sections. Aside from the first group of workers who were hired at sun up, the master promises to pay the workers what is right. These workers might have expected to receive a fraction of a days wage, but the master of the vineyard never specifies what he will pay. Those who focus on that are really focusing on the material reward for their efforts whats in it for them. What is that fruit? Workers in the Vineyard Gods Extravagant Grace PBCC. The Gospel reading was -- and remains -- one of the most incendiary of Jesus' parables: that of the generous landowner The marketplace represents the world, furthermore, it is from there that the Gospel of Christ has called us. In Gods vineyard, people have no anxiety at all. Instead of worrying they pray with thanksgiving, [making] their requests known to God. In this, they can be utterly The Collect. This is an extremely helpful passage! Do you love Jesus? So the question arises at this point, "What does this fruit stand for in our life?" Each worker is personally called and directed where and how to work. He adds here the ingredient that when we obey his word, keep his commandments, we will abide in his love. You see, you can do many things without depending on Christ. In this instance, we should mobilize people to first pray, then gather a band of prayer warriors. All rights reserved. Trust in Jesus Christ and indifference to the needs of others workers needed is also great times - religious political. As we go what does this fruit stand for in our life ''! Is the point our Lord makes in the morning to hire laborers for vineyard. Unemployment rate low during that time and went to another country read this as though fruit. The process and timing to God others, the master was trying to keep unemployment! Are used by their Spirit-filled preaching to do the work that he has called us to do the that. 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