The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States [Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).] "Workers in the Vineyard" for Sunday, August 7, 2016
(Jesus said) "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first, and the first last."[Matthew 20:15-16]
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
The salvation story of Jesus Christ reaches around the world. So that the readers of our Daily Devotion may see the power of the Savior on a global scale, we have asked the volunteers of our international ministry centers to write our Sunday devotions. We pray that the Spirit may touch your day through their words.
In Christ, I remain, His servant and yours,
Kenneth R. Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
It doesn't make any sense to us.
It doesn't make sense that a person who came early in the morning and worked all day would end up getting the same pay as a person who came late in the evening and worked for one hour.
It is quite unfair to human eyes, but God sees things differently than we do.
God sees differently because He thinks differently, and we should add, He loves differently -- better than we do.
Consider the Lord didn't reduce the daily pay of the workers who had come to work earlier in the day. He gave them what He had promised, and He gave the same daily wage to the late-comers as well.
Unfair?
So it seems, until you understand in Jesus' day many people, especially the unskilled laborers, lived from hand-to-mouth. When the vineyard owner promised a day's wage, he was making sure the workers he hired early in the day would be able to provide adequate food for themselves and their families. But if he had reduced the wages proportionately for time worked, those who were hired later in the day would not have enough for themselves or their families.
Now you may understand why the owner who knew the circumstances of His workers acted generously. His is a generous action, which is reflected in this modern-day story.
The story begins with a man being allowed to visit heaven. He tried to look up an old friend whom he was sure had gone to heaven. He was shocked to find this man's soul was not there. He was equally shocked to find another soul, a soul he had been sure was destined for hell, was walking the golden streets.
Shocked, the man asked, "How did you get in here?"
The soul replied, "I'm not sure!" He continued: "I had been a great sinner all through life. One day, shortly before I died, I met a pastor and he told me about Jesus, and the Holy Spirit called me to be a Christian. I died and woke up here. As a result, I continuously thank God for what He has done."
Having heard this witness, our man traveled to hell. There he encountered the fellow whom he had expected to be in heaven. Seeing the lost soul's pain, he inquired, "Why are you suffering here like this?"
The soul answered, "Actually, I had been in heaven, but I saw it was filled with prostitutes, robbers and cheaters. I got angry at how God was treating those sinners, so I came here."
Of course, the story is fiction. We dare not judge God's love by our poor standards, nor should we think once we are in heaven we can opt to go to hell.
On the other hand, we ought to admit nobody is deserving of receiving anything from the Lord. It is His grace, not our work, which brings salvation. Our work is only a poor thank You for what we have received from His mercy and grace.
THE PRAYER: Lord, we would like to give thanks for the Savior who has rescued us. May I point others to the salvation Jesus has won through His life, death and resurrection. This I ask in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Biography of Author: Today's international devotion was written by the Rev. Park Ju-Young. He is a pastor of Woori Lutheran Church and serves as supervisor at the Talitha Koum House. (Talitha Koum is a healing center.) At present he serves as the Korean Lutheran Hour broadcasting speaker.
Since reopening in 2003, the Lutheran Hour Ministries center in South Korea has been working to spread the Gospel and create a youthful vibrancy within the church. The Christian resources produced by our ministry in Korea are valuable evangelistic tools that incorporate Korean traditions. Its youth programs, including Project JOEL, retreats, and music festivals are making positive inroads with younger audiences. Theater events sponsored by our center, as well as seasonal television specials and Advent and Lenten devotions, provide opportunities for non-Christians to connect with Christians and local Lutheran congregations. Our ministry in Korea, by collaborating with the Korea Lutheran Church, is also taking steps to spread the Gospel in North Korea and China.
You can visit LHM-Korea's blog by clicking here.
To learn more about our International Ministries, click here or visit www.lhm.org/international.
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible in a Year Reading: Psalms 133-135; 1 Corinthians 2
Psalms 133:(0) A song of ascents. By David:
(1) Oh, how good, how pleasant it is
for brothers to live together in harmony.
2 It is like fragrant oil on the head
that runs down over the beard,
over the beard of Aharon,
and flows down on the collar of his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon
that settles on the mountains of Tziyon.
For it was there that Adonai ordained
the blessing of everlasting life.
134:(0) A song of ascents:
(1) Come, bless Adonai, all you servants of Adonai,
who serve each night in the house of Adonai.
2 Lift your hands toward the sanctuary,
and bless Adonai.
3 May Adonai, the maker of heaven and earth,
bless you from Tziyon.
135: Halleluyah!
(1) Give praise to the name of Adonai!
Servants of Adonai, give praise!
2 You who stand in the house of Adonai,
in the courtyards of the house of our God,
3 praise Yah, for Adonai is good;
sing to his name, because it is pleasant.
4 For Yah chose Ya‘akov for himself,
Isra’el as his own unique treasure.
5 I know that Adonai is great,
that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Adonai does whatever pleases him,
in heaven, on earth, in the seas, in all the depths.
7 He raises clouds from the ends of the earth,
he makes the lightning flash in the rain
and brings the wind out from his storehouses.
8 He struck down Egypt’s firstborn,
humans and animals alike.
9 He sent signs and wonders among you, Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his subjects.
10 He struck many nations,
and slaughtered mighty kings —
11 Sichon king of the Emori,
‘Og king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Kena‘an.
12 Then he gave their land as a heritage,
to be possessed by Isra’el his people.
13 Adonai, your name continues forever,
your renown, Adonai, through all generations.
14 For Adonai will vindicate his people,
he will take pity on his servants.
15 The idols of the nations are mere silver and gold,
made by human hands.
16 They have mouths, but they can’t speak;
they have eyes, but they can’t see;
17 they have ears, but they can’t listen;
and they have no breath in their mouths;
18 The people who make them will become like them,
along with everyone who trusts in them.
19 House of Isra’el, bless Adonai!
House of Aharon, bless Adonai!
20 House of Levi, bless Adonai!
You who fear Adonai, bless Adonai!
21 Blessed be Adonai out of Tziyon,
he who dwells in Yerushalayim!
Halleluyah!
1 Corinthians 2:1 As for me, brothers, when I arrived among you, it was not with surpassing eloquence or wisdom that I came announcing to you the previously concealed truth about God; 2 for I had decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Yeshua the Messiah, and even him only as someone who had been executed on a stake as a criminal. 3 Also I myself was with you as somebody weak, nervous and shaking all over from fear; 4 and neither the delivery nor the content of my message relied on compelling words of “wisdom” but on a demonstration of the power of the Spirit, 5 so that your trust might not rest on human wisdom but on God’s power.
6 Yet there is a wisdom that we are speaking to those who are mature enough for it. But it is not the wisdom of this world or of this world’s leaders, who are in the process of passing away. 7 On the contrary, we are communicating a secret wisdom from God which has been hidden until now but which, before history began, God had decreed would bring us glory. 8 Not one of this world’s leaders has understood it; because if they had, they would not have executed the Lord from whom this glory flows. 9 But, as the Tanakh says,
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard
and no one’s heart has imagined
all the things that God has prepared
for those who love him.”[1 Corinthians 2:9 Isaiah 64:3(4), 52:15]
10 It is to us, however, that God has revealed these things. How? Through the Spirit. For the Spirit probes all things, even the profoundest depths of God. 11 For who knows the inner workings of a person except the person’s own spirit inside him? So too no one knows the inner workings of God except God’s Spirit. 12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God, so that we might understand the things God has so freely given us. 13 These are the things we are talking about when we avoid the manner of speaking that human wisdom would dictate and instead use a manner of speaking taught by the Spirit, by which we explain things of the Spirit to people who have the Spirit. 14 Now the natural man does not receive the things from the Spirit of God — to him they are nonsense! Moreover, he is unable to grasp them, because they are evaluated through the Spirit. 15 But the person who has the Spirit can evaluate everything, while no one is in a position to evaluate him.
16 For who has known the mind of Adonai?
Who will counsel him?[1 Corinthians 2:16 Isaiah 40:13]
But we have the mind of the Messiah!
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CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS. THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
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