Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Monday, 10 November 2014 "The God we serve is generous"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Monday, 10 November 2014 "The God we serve is generous"
Daily Scripture: Matthew 20: A Story About Workers
1-2 “God’s kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work.
3-5 “Later, about nine o’clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. They went.
5-6 “He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o’clock. At five o’clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, ‘Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?’
7 “They said, ‘Because no one hired us.’
“He told them to go to work in his vineyard.
8 “When the day’s work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, ‘Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.’
9-12 “Those hired at five o’clock came up and were each given a dollar. When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, ‘These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.’
13-15 “He replied to the one speaking for the rest, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn’t we? So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. Can’t I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?’
In Jesus’ startling story, some workers agreed to work all day for a denarion, a typical day’s wage. Others joined in at various points during the day, including some who started just an hour before quitting time. The master paid them a denarion, which led the all-day workers to grumble. (We may identify with those all-day workers—this may not feel “fair.”) Then Jesus said that the master (God) asked pointedly, “Are you resentful because I’m generous?”
• So DOES the master’s way of paying the workers in this story feel unfair to you? “It was not unfair, of course. No one was underpaid; it was just that some received ‘unreasonable’ generosity. That is what the kingdom of heaven is like.” (New Bible Commentary) In 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul said Christ was treated as we deserved so that we would be treated as he deserved. In what ways does that “unfair” exchange draw your heart toward Christ?
• Salvation, eternal life with God, is a greater gift than we could possibly earn. Yet sometimes are we tempted to think “service time” should give us extra privileges, or rank us above “newbies” (cf. Luke 15:25-32). How long have you served God? Do you generously accept newcomers to God’s Kingdom as Jesus did (cf. Luke 23:32-33, 39-43)?
Prayer: Lord God, I’m not, yet, but you already see me and treat me as the person you made me to be. Thank you for your generosity to me. Keep growing that quality in my life. Amen.
Insight from Donna Karlen
Donna Karlen serves in Campus Communications at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.
I have mixed feelings about the story told in today’s scripture passage. I admit that crankiness and cries of “not fair!” would be my reaction if I labored all day and came away with the same wages as those who worked just one hour. It seems “generous” only to those who came last.
But I absolutely love the meaning behind the parable!
I don’t want it ever to be too late for someone to receive God’s grace. I hope that right up until the very last nanosecond, there will be scores of people who are saved. And even if they were mean, bad people – I still want them in because if they truly accept Jesus in their lives, they will be repenting as part of the deal, right? (And weren’t those most in need of grace the very souls Jesus came to save?)
The last ones in probably will need some extra attention and “training” since they haven’t had the joy of knowing Jesus for very long. So as one who has known him my whole life, I will happily stand aside for the late-comers and rejoice to see them receive the same heavenly reward as I do!
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