December 22, 2020
Here we are just 3 days from celebrating the birth of Jesus! Oh the expectation! And as I sit here writing (two weeks prior), I am excited for all that is to come.
Today we get to read about the parable of the worker’s in the vineyard. “Get to”, that phrase became something I heard quite often from my husband this year. I want to show you how this phrase helped me get to see God’s grace.
Just prior to this chapter, we read, 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[e] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But , many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
Jesus is telling His disciples that people who lay aside their worldly possessions, their pride; their need to impress others with status and success - leave it all behind - and, free of all worldly burden follow Jesus in His mission of faith… all of these people, no matter how lowly or poverty stricken will have the same reward… a place in Heaven.
In just three days we celebrate Jesus’ coming to earth. He gave up everything to spread this good news. All He is asking is that we drop everything and join Him on His mission. If you can do that, you will be allowed to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who stay behind gratifying in their riches, and boasting of their successes will never know this Kingdom.
This is a difficult lesson for most people to hear. Jesus is telling us the opposite of what society is telling us is the “right way” to live our lives. Isn’t it positive to have financial comfort; to be successful; to be the pride and joy of the family, the company, the community because of all the great things we do? What’s so great about a guy who doesn’t have two nickels to rub together, and who is always doing things for others even when he doesn’t get credit for it?
Being first isn’t good enough for God. In fact, He doesn’t care about that. He cares about life lived in faith, not a life filled with achievements.
This year many churches provided their services via live stream over the internet. In fact, in my church, all the Christmas services will be live streamed, because if you don’t have a reservation to attend one of the services, you will not be allowed in. I have to admit, this year has caused me to struggle because of the closures of churches and businesses. This isolation has caused a lot of side effects which many of us don’t even want to talk about. And this phrase, “Get to” has been used and heard quite often in my home. What have you gotten to do this year? Where has your focus been? Want? Or what you get to do/have?
The parable of the worker’s in the vineyard is yet another difficult message. Jesus tells us that our reward as Christians is solely dependent on the grace of God. In this story, Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a landowner who ignores the rules when he hands out wages at the end of the day. He does not base the amount he pays each worker on how many hours they worked - he gives everyone the same wage whether they worked twelve hours or just one. How can this be? Where is the fairness here and how is the landowner like the Kingdom of Heaven if he’s not being fair? Talk about being upside down! Those who began work late in the day - last - get as much money as those who started at dawn - first!
The landowner represents God’s grace. Jesus tells us that we all have an equal share of this grace: first, last or in the middle - everyone gets the same amount. It doesn’t matter who you are, or when you started, as long as you entered the race. Once you place your faith in God, just as Jesus placed His faith in God, your shares of God’s grace equal everyone else’s shares of grace!
Perhaps this lesson of the worker’s in the vineyard is even harder to digest than the lesson of giving up everything to follow Jesus. Harder because, frequently, when we look around us, it is difficult to believe that we are all on equal footing; all on the same playing field. Hard to believe that our faith, our way of life, our accomplishments are not somehow just a little, if not a lot better, or more correct, that everyone else’s. Yet, in God’s eyes we are all equal. God sees us all through the same lens. Unfortunately, it is not until we all understand this - until we come to understand just what His grace is all about - it’s not until then that we can experience the peace that passes all understanding, confident in the knowledge that the Holy Spirit is with us every inch of the way, every moment of the day, no matter what our life circumstances might be.
I think the irony of this lesson is that when it comes to experiencing God’s grace, those who grasp it early in life, or first - they get to receive a fortune early in life. How much greater a gift to live a life in, with and through Christ filled with hope and love from a very young age, than to find Christ only on one’s deathbed after a lifetime of loneliness and despair.
This is a hard lesson to learn, to accept and to live. And they are harder lessons to achieve without faith. Whatever your circumstances are this Christmas, you “get to” experience God’s grace. He shows no partiality. With faith in Him, we all get the same reward.
Blessings,
Lisa