Welcome to a new edition of the Weekend Sermon. I am so glad that I am able to post the sermon this week. I hope that everyone is doing well today.
I want to begin today by asking everyone to pray for those in Spain who were victims of the terrorist attack. Several were killed, and many were injured. Pray for those who mourn, and pray for those who are hurt that they will quickly recover. Pray that the perpetrators of this terrorism will be captured and that no more terrorists attacks will take place in Spain or in any other country.
I asked everyone to pray for me about some various needs earlier in the week. I want to thank you all for your prayers. The storms caused a lot of rain again, but there wasn't bad flooding. I thank the Lord that my house didn't suffer any damage. I would ask that you pray for me again regarding storms again tonight. There is another possible severe weather situation predicted. Please pray once again that these storms will not be bad. Pray not just for me but for those in my area who don't need any more rain.
I am still looking for some additional work. Writing has been good this week, and I am thankful to the Lord for that. I am still looking for a part-time job that I can do without having bad anxiety issues. I thank you for your prayers in this matter.
I would like everyone to pray about the situation that is happening here in my country the United States. I have been saddened by the fact that many evangelical leaders have not spoken up against the statements made by the President. Many are serving on his advisory council, and some have even supported the President's statements on what happened in Charlottesville. My statement about the events in Charlottesville are in a post here on the blog from a couple days ago. Please pray that all Christians will stand up and speak out against any political leader that does not condemn racism or who does not respect the needs of the poor or the needs of the environment.
As I always mention, please continue to pray for peace in this world. Syria, Iraq, South Sudan and Yemen really need our prayers. There are many in Yemen and South Sudan who are suffering from a cholera outbreak, and they need our prayers as well.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for the nations of Sierra Leone and Jordan. Pray that many will hear of the love of Jesus.
In today's message, we will return to our study of the parables of Jesus. The parable for today is the parable of the landowner and the laborers.
Jesus said that a landowner went out to find day laborers to work in his vineyard. He found some men and said that he would pay them the normal daily wage. The landowner came later in the day and hired some more workers to work in the vineyard. Finally, when there was only about an hour left in the day, the landowner hired some more workers.
It came time to pay the workers. The men who had worked only one hour received a full day's wages. So did the others hired throughout the day. The men hired at the beginning of the day thought that they would receive more, but they too received the normal wage for a day's work.
The men grumbled that the men who only worked one hour received the same amount of pay.
The landowner said to them that he had kept his agreement. He just wanted to be generous to the men who only worked an hour, and he had the right to do what he wished with his own money. Jesus said that, "the last will be first and first will be last."
So, let us examine what this parable does not mean, what it means in its context, and what we can learn from this parable for today.
Unfortunately. some have tried to use this parable to speak against labor unions and equal compensation. They say that since Jesus said that the landowner had the right to do what he wanted with his money, an employer could pay anyone who worked for him what he wanted. I actually heard one of the ministers in my church preach about this when I was a young man.
This is absolutely not what Jesus was getting at in this parable. The man in the parable of course did not have an absolute right to do whatever he wanted with his money. The Bible is quite clear that we are our brother's keeper. The prophets were very clear that no one had the right to exploit their workers or keep back wages from them. In the book of James, we see that he brings down a heavy word of warning on those who would exploit the working person or the poor person.
Sometimes, people don't realize what Jesus is doing when He tells a parable. Jesus is telling a story to illustrate a point. Some take the illustration too far and try to say something that Jesus did not intend. We know Jesus' intention, because He was the Word made flesh and He would not be making a statement in conflict with the revealed word in the prophets.
What is Jesus trying to illustrate with this parable? Jesus is giving an example of how salvation works. For instance, there are many who have been followers of Jesus for most of their lives. I can't remember a time when I was not a follower of Jesus. Because of the mercy and grace of the Lord, I will be with the Lord Jesus in the place that He has prepared. On the other hand, there are those like my Dad who come to faith in Jesus latter in life. My Dad did not become a follower of Jesus until He was 40 years old. However, he is in Heaven right now with Jesus just the same as someone who trusted in Jesus for 80 years.
There are other people who come to Jesus, and they follow Him for only a short time before they pass away. They too will be in Heaven with Jesus, and they will inherit eternal life just as a long-time believer.
In Jesus day, the Pharisees and the religious leaders felt like they had a special place because they followed all of the laws since first remembrance. They did not like tax collectors and sinners coming to Jesus and being given a special place. I can only imaging how irritated the Pharisees were that Jesus made a tax collector like Matthew one of his twelve Apostles.
Jesus was demonstrating to the Pharisees that all are welcome in the Kingdom of Heaven no matter who they are, what their age is or what they had done previously. Jesus will receive anyone who comes to Him in repentance and faith. He will give eternal life and raise that person to new life. Whosoever will may come.
This is an important lesson for us to keep in mind. We are not better than someone else in the church just because they haven't followed Jesus for as long. Everyone is on their own path with the Lord Jesus. We have a personal relationship with Him that begins when we come to Him. Jesus will be with anyone who wants to serve Him and have Him as a friend.
We also need to keep in mind that Jesus loves everyone. Jesus' offers His love to people of any race, ethnic group. gender, socio-economic class, whoever. When we come to Jesus, all are one in Him.
I truly believe that the only way that we as followers of Jesus are going to reach the world with the message of Jesus is if we become people who are known for love and not hate and division. So many people in the world are turned off at the Christian faith right now because all they see is so called Christian leaders speaking endlessly about getting money, or they see them condemning people and supporting the powers of oppression.
Let us all follow Jesus who was and is the man of love. When we truly follow His example, the world will see Jesus in us and glorify the Father in Heaven.
Next week, we will continue with our parables of Jesus series. I will post the verses on Monday. On Wednesday, I will have a review of a most excellent cat book. May God bless you all. Amen.
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