Welcome to Pastor Jack Buckley's weekly blog and podcast.
You have three ways to hear his weekly message:
- Read Pastor Jack's GODblog.
- Listen now to an audio of the scripture reading and Pastor Jack's sermon.
- Listen anytime. You choose the time and place. Download Pastor Jack's GODcast to your MP3 player.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Far Better Than Fair
"In this case, I side with the workers."
My elder, a small businessman, said that. His surprisingly pro-labor comment made perfect sense in context.
You see, I'd asked him to read Matthew 20:1-16 in our worship gathering. It's the parable about a landowner who hired day-laborers in several small groups, beginning at 6:00 a.m. all the way through 5:00 p.m., just an hour before quitting time. When pay was handed out, all the workers got the same pay -- whether they'd worked twelve hours or just the last sixty minutes!
Predictably, the 12-hour guys grumbled about fair wages for a fair day's work, even giving the boss "the evil eye" about it. If looks could kill!
But the boss answered them, "I paid you a day's wage, just as we agreed. How is that unfair? And won't you agree that I can do what I want with the rest?"
I told the elder that I would jump on their side, too, if I thought Jesus was teaching about business ethics or labor relations.
But they say a parable is "an earthly story with a heavenly meaning." In other words, the story's details aren't the important part. They can even trip you up en route to the real point. Instead, look and listen for the spiritual meaning threaded through the story or packed into its punchline.
In this story, Jesus' last sentence is: "So remember, the first shall be last, and the last shall be first."
Clear as mud? Maybe, unless you back up to Matthew 19:27.
That's where Peter asks Jesus, "We've left everything to follow you. What will we get in return?" (Read: What's in it for me?!)
Jesus' short answer there was, "Trust me that all along the way you'll share every blessing I get from God, and in the end you'll share my rewards. Meanwhile, remember that the first shall be last, etc."
Then he tells the parable to drill home the point.
Which is...?
For the disciples: Please don't assume your privilege of being my first followers means you'll outscore all those yet to come, when God's accounts are tallied and scores settled. Everybody, wherever or whenever, is equally valuable to God. (See John 3:16 for example.)
For the religious leaders: Please don't count on your Chosen People status to put you at the head of the line on Judgment Day. All you've been blessed with is totally unearned, and undeserved too, when you get down to it. If people from all over the world get in on God's grace, celebrate with them instead of grousing at God.
For you and me: Please don't miss out on the invitation to enlist in God's good work. Some of us hear the call early in life, some have the proverbial "deathbed conversion." Either way, and all in between, the payoff is a gift, pure and simple.
If you're a lifelong believer, good for you! You've had a long time to live with divine purpose, to develop spiritual gifts, to serve the Lord with gladness. You can look back with gratitude, and ahead with confident hope.
If you're getting on in years, or on death row, and wondering if God could have mercy in spite of all the wrong you've done, here's good news for you! There's room for you in the plan of God. What matters most isn't how good you've been, or how long you've messed up, but how willing you are to say "Yes" to God's call.
From any angle, then, it seems an honest soul has to be very very glad that God won't settle for being merely fair.
posted by Jack Buckley at
5:29 PM
<< Home
|
|
 |
|
|
