The tension between "now" and "not yet"...

At the church where I serve we are nearing the conclusion of a sermon series entitled the kingdom of heaven is. During this series, we are spending our time together looking at a series of statements that Jesus made that are recorded for us in an account of His life that has been preserved in the New Testament of the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew. 

During this series, we are discovering how Jesus described the kingdom of Heaven. During this series, we are discovering how one enters into the Kingdom of Heaven. During this series we are discovering how one should live as part of the kingdom of Heaven. And as we go through this series, our hope and our prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit, in our heads, hearts, and hands in such a way that we would live lives that reveal and bring the light and love of the kingdom of Heaven into the areas of influence we have been given.  

This week I would like for us to spend our time together talking about a tension that we must wrestle with when it comes to the kingdom of heaven. As we have been going through this series, one of the tensions that we have found ourselves wrestling with is the reality that while, in one sense, the kingdom of heaven is in the here and now, in another sense, the kingdom of heaven is not yet.

You see, in one sense, when we recognize and feel remorse for what we have done that has hurt God and others as a result of our selfishness and rebellion and see our and need for forgiveness and respond by changing the trajectory of our life that was moving away from God back to God by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader, we receive forgiveness and enter into the relationship with God that we were created for as part of the kingdom of heaven. In a very real sense, we are participating in the kingdom of heaven in the here and now.

And yet, at the same time, there is this other sense that the kingdom of heaven is not yet. While as followers of Jesus we are members of the kingdom of heaven, we are not participating in the kingdom of heaven in its fullest sense; the kingdom of heaven has not yet been arrived in its fullest sense. We still have to deal with our old nature that is dominated by selfishness and rebellion; we still have to deal with the flawed and broken nature of the world we live in; we still have to deal with things like the Coronavirus; we still have to deal with our aging and decaying bodies.

As followers of Jesus and the church, we are waiting for Jesus to come again to earth. And the reason that Christians, that followers of Jesus make such a big deal about Jesus return to earth is because of the hope that we have at his second coming; the hope of the kingdom of heaven being arriving in its fullest sense and the establishment of God’s royal reign on earth where selfishness, sin and death will be removed and we will experience the fullness of the life and relationship with God as it was designed to be.

Now this tension between the kingdom of heaven as being in the here and now and the kingdom of heaven as being not yet is not a new tension. You see, 2000 years ago, as Jesus walked the earth, His disciples felt this same tension. You see, the disciples heard Jesus state the that kingdom of heaven is at hand. The disciples saw Jesus fulfill predictions that were made hundreds of years earlier that validated His claim as being the Messiah, the promised one of God who would usher in the kingdom of heaven.

Yet Jesus kept bringing up that He was going to be crucified; that He was going to allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. So the disciples were confused as this tension built in them as they followed Jesus. And some 2000 years ago today, Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, which we celebrate this morning as Palm Sunday.

And as Jesus entered into Jerusalem on what we refer to today as Palm Sunday, His closest followers felt this tension grow as the tide slowly began to turn against Jesus and opposition grew against Him. As we saw last week, by the Wednesday afternoon after Palm Sunday, Jesus had a heated confrontation with the scribes and Pharisees, who were the self-righteous religious leaders of His day. And after that confrontation, these self-religious religious leaders began to plot how they might kill Jesus.

The following day, Thursday morning, as the Jewish people began their preparations for the Passover feast, Jesus went to the temple and pronounced a harsh condemnation against these self-righteous religious leaders. And as Jesus and the disciples left the temple, the tension was palpable. And that Thursday afternoon, after walking from the temple to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, the disciples could take the tension no longer and asked Jesus the very question that we still ask today “When is the kingdom of heaven coming in its fullest?”

And it is in this context that Matthew gives us front row seat to an event from history where Jesus tells a story in response to their question, and the tension behind the question, that reveals for us a timeless truth about the kingdom of heaven. So let’s take that front row seat together, beginning in Matthew 25:1-4:

"Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² "Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. ³ "For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, ⁴ but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.

Matthew begins to give us a front row seat to this event from history as Jesus responded to the disciples question about the kingdom of heaven’s arrival by telling a parable. As we have seen throughout this series, a parable is an earthly story that is designed to reveal a deeper spiritual truth. In this parable, Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

To understand what Jesus is communicating in this parable, we first need to understand what a wedding looked like in Jesus day. As we talked about last week, in the Jewish culture of Jesus day, a bridegroom would make a wedding proposal to the bride and her family. The bride and her family would then agree to the wedding proposal. At this point, the bridegroom would then go back to where his family lived and would prepare a place for them to live, with his family.

The bridegroom would basically build an addition on his parent’s house for them to live in. After the addition was completed, bridegroom would then come back with his entire family banging pots and pans in a loud parade-like celebration. The parade would then stop at the bride’s house, where a wedding ceremony and reception would take place, which could last several days. At the end of the celebration, the bridegroom would pick the bride up, and take her to be with his family.

With that background in mind, when Jesus refers to ten virgins, these would be unmarried friends and relatives of the bride and bridegroom who would be looking and waiting for the bridegroom to return from preparing a place for the couple to live. These friends and family would then meet the bridegroom and His procession and lead the procession back to the bride’s house for the wedding feast.

Of these ten virgins, Jesus explained that five of them were foolish and five were prudent. Jesus then provided the reason for their foolishness and prudence. The foolish virgins were foolish because they took no oil for their lamps, while the prudent took oil flasks with their lamps. Now the fact that the foolish virgins took no oil for their lamps was significant because of the nature of the wedding.

You see, the virgins had no idea how long they would have to wait until the bridegroom arrived. And because they had no idea when the bridegroom was going to arrive, the foolish were foolish because they were not prepared for the potentially long wait. The prudent virgins, on the other hand, were prepared for however long it took the bridegroom to prepare the place for the couple and then come back for His bride.

Tomorrow, with that background in mind, we will see Jesus continue His parable…

While the kingdom of heaven is calling to all, it is only given to few....

This week, we are looking at an event from history where Jesus told a parable about a wedding invitation that reveals for us a timeless truth about the kingdom of heaven. In the midst of this confrontation with self-righteous religious people that Jesus told a parable that compared the kingdom of heaven to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.

Jesus explained that those who were invited and had accepted the invitation had changed their mind and were unwilling to come. The king responded to their change of mind by sending out other slaves to remind those who he had invited about the wedding feast. This second appeal revealed how much that they king had already done for the guests.  Yet, in spite of this second appeal, Jesus explained that the king’s guests were still unwilling to come.

The guests were disregarding and neglecting the commitment that they had previously made to the king by rejecting the invitation. Instead of following through on their commitment, those were invited proceeded to give a variety of excuses as to why they were not willing to attend. Each of the excuses demonstrated that the invited guests had put their own selfish concerns before their responsibility to the king. And in doing so, they demonstrated that they cared more about themselves than the king.

Jesus then explained that those who did not reject the invitation due to selfishness responded to the king’s reminder by mistreating and killing the king’s messengers. Not only did they reject the message of the invitation, they rejected the messenger as well. Now this rejection would have been considered nothing less than a slap in the face and a betrayal to the king by those he invited.

Jesus explained that the king was enraged by the rejection of his invitation. The king responded to the rejection by doing two things. First, the king ordered his armies to go and punish those who had rejected his invitation. You see, those who were invited were not worthy because they refused to put into practice their professed acceptance to his invitation. They originally accepted the king’s invitation to be present at the wedding feast, but when push came to shove, they backed away from their commitment to the king out of their own selfish concerns and commitments. And because of their failure to practice what they had professed, they revealed where their true allegiance was.

Second the king did commanded his servants to go to the main highways and invite everyone that they could find to the feast. The king responded to those who rejected his offer by extending his offer to everyone. The king even invited those who did not seem to have any natural status or advantages. But even though they may not have had status or advantages, they were willing to come if invited and needed no second invitation or reminder.

This would have been considered a gracious offer by the king. Jesus then explained that the slaves responded by going out and gathering together all that they could find, both good and bad, into the wedding hall to the point that it was filled with guests. Now once the wedding hall was filled with guests, then the feast can begin right? Not exactly, as we see what happens next in Matthew 22:11-12:

"But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, ¹² and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?' And the man was speechless.

Jesus explained that prior to the beginning of the feast, the king came in to look over the wedding guests. And upon looking over the guests, the king noticed a man who was not dressed in wedding clothes. You see, there are times when Julie and I go to a special occasion that requires that we dress in a way that is appropriate for the occasion. And as much as I hate wearing a tie, there are times when the occasion requires me to wear a tie. And because the occasion requires a tie, I respond by changing my clothes so that I recognize and respect what the occasion requires, and more importantly, the relationship that I have with the person who invited me. To do anything less would be a sign that I did not respect either the occasion or the relationship.

And in the same way, this man did not even take the time to dress in a way that was appropriate for the occasion. He did not even take the time to go home to change; instead he turned up in ordinary dirty clothes which would be an insult to the host. Even though this man was offered a gracious gift of being invited to the kings wedding, this newfound offer of the invitation did not result in a change that would demonstrate that a new relationship had been formed.

Jesus then explained that the king upon seeing the guest confronted the guest and asked, “How did you come in here without wedding clothes?” In other words, the king asked “why have you not responded to my gracious invitation? Do you only want the free meal without doing what it takes to be a part of the wedding ceremony?”

You see, by not wearing wedding clothes, the man was demonstrating that he did not want to be rightly related to the king; the man only selfishly wanted the privileges without the responsibilities that the relationship would have required. Jesus then stated that the man was speechless. Now this does not mean that the man had nothing to say, however.

This phrase, in the language that this was originally written in, literally means that the man was prevented from responding. There was nothing that he could say that could justify his behavior. This would be very similar to when you are in an argument and reply “Ah, Don’t! You have nothing to say that I want to hear! Shhh! Jesus then revealed what happened next in verse 13:

Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

The king responded to this man’s selfish rejection of the new relationship that he was invited to receive by commanding his servants to bind him and throw him out of the feast into outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  The man was to be permanently removed from the king’s presence and was sentenced by the king to experience the punishment that was due him as a result of the rejection of the invitation that had been made. Jesus then concluded this parable with a statement that reveals a timeless truth about the kingdom of heaven in Matthew 22:14:

             "For many are called, but few are chosen."

And, it is here, in this simple statement that concluded His parable that we see Jesus reveal for us a timeless truth about the kingdom of heaven. And that timeless truth is this: while the kingdom of heaven is calling to all, it is given to few.  Like the king in this parable, God is sending out an invitation to all of humanity to receive the forgiveness of sin and enter into the relationship with God that we were created for by believing, trusting and following His Son, Jesus Christ as Lord and Leader.

Unfortunately, many people will respond to God’s invitation by rejecting the invitation. Some reject the invitation as soon as they receive it; they simply fill out the RSVP form and mark the spot “I am not planning to attend”. Others respond to the invitation by filling out the RSVP form and mark the spot “we will be attending”. Then, as the time draws near, they disregard and neglect their commitment to instead focus on their own lives. And, just like the chief priests and Pharisees who they represent in this parable, they instead choose to commit to follow a religious centered life that is based on a list of rules, instead of maintaining their commitment to their relationship with God.

And there are others who do not want to change in order to have the relationship that the invitation requires; they only and selfishly want the privileges of the party without the responsibilities that come with the relationship. And, as Jesus reveals in this parable, for all three of these responses, the end result is the same; eternal separation from the relationship with God that we were created for, but that was rejected in hell.

Now, maybe you find yourself pushing back against everything that I have said. If you are here and I have just described how you are responding to what has been said, I just want to let you know that you would not be the first, because, in the next verse, Matthew tells us that the chief priests and Pharisees went and began to plot against Jesus. They began to plot against Jesus because they knew where they fit in the parable. And many times, religious people spend much more time plotting against men than they do pondering about God.

So here is a question to consider: If you were to find yourself in this parable as a character in this parable, which character would you be? Or better yet, if those who were closest to you, who knew you best, were to place you in this parable as a character in this parable, which character would you be?

Would you find yourself in this parable as the one who responded to the invitation by rejecting the invitation outright? Would you find yourself in this parable as the one who responded to the invitation by filling out the RSVP form and mark the spot “we will be attending”, only to disregard and neglect their commitment to instead focus on their own lives? Would you find yourself in this parable as the one who responded to the invitation by selfishly wanting all the privileges but none of the responsibilities that the invitation requires?

Because, the kingdom of heaven is calling to all, it is given to few. The kingdom of heaven is only given to those who recognize the nature of their selfishness and rebellion apart from God and who see their need for forgiveness. The kingdom of heaven is only given to those who see the need to change the trajectory of their lives that is moving away from God and respond to God’s gracious invitation by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

So, how are you responding to God’s invitation? Because, as we have discovered, while the kingdom of heaven is calling to all, it is given to few…

Responding to a rejected invitation...

This week we are looking at an event from history where Jesus tells a parable about a wedding invitation that reveals for us a timeless truth about the kingdom of heaven. In the midst of a confrontation with self-righteous religious people, Jesus told a parable that compared the kingdom of heaven to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. 

Jesus explained that the king sent out slaves to call all of those who were invited to the wedding feast. Now in the Jewish culture of Jesus day, during a wedding, the bridegroom would come to pick up the bride at her parents’ house, where the wedding feast would begin with a meal.

So what would happen in Jesus day was that a wedding invitation would be sent to inform those invited of the impending wedding. Then as the bridegroom began his journey to pick up his bride, the family would send slaves to inform those who have already been invited and who had already accepted the invitation that the time for the wedding feast had come. 

In this particular case, however, Jesus continued by stating that those who were invited had changed their mind and were unwilling to come. Jesus then continued the parable by revealing how the king responded to their change of mind in Matthew 22:4-6:

"Again he sent out other slaves saying, 'Tell those who have been invited, "Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast."' ⁵ "But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, ⁶ and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.

Jesus explained that the king responded to their change of mind by sending out other slaves to remind those who he had invited about the wedding feast. You see, the reception hall had been reserved, the caterer had been hired, all of the food had been prepared and the bar had been stocked. The king has already made all the preparations necessary for the feast based on the RSVP’s that he had received.

And even at this point, although the king had already sent out slaves throughout the time leading up to the wedding; he was still willing to send out another reminder to those who have been invited that the feast was about to start. You see, this second appeal revealed how much that they king had already done for the guests.  Yet, in spite of this second appeal, Jesus explained that the king’s guests were still unwilling to come.

Now by ignoring this second reminder, these guests were going back on their word. The guests were disregarding and neglecting the commitment that they had previously made to the king by rejecting the invitation. Instead of following through on their commitment, those were invited proceeded to give a variety of excuses as to why they were not willing to attend.

But did you notice the common theme behind each of their excuses? You see each of their excuses revealed the reality that they were more concerned about their own affairs than responding to the invitation from the king. Each of the excuses demonstrated that the invited guests had put their own selfish concerns before their responsibility to the king. And in doing so, they demonstrated that they cared more about themselves than the king.

Jesus then explained that those who did not reject the invitation due to selfishness responded to the king’s reminder by mistreating and killing the king’s messengers. Not only did they reject the message of the invitation, they rejected the messenger as well. Now this rejection would have been considered nothing less than a slap in the face and a betrayal to the king by those he invited. And as Jesus continued the parable, we see Jesus reveal the king’s response to this rejection and betrayal in Matthew 22:7-10:

"But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. ⁸ "Then he said to his slaves, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹ 'Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.' ¹⁰ "Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.

Jesus explained that the king was enraged by the rejection of his invitation. Now this word enraged, literally means to be set on fire. With this word, Jesus was making it unmistakably clear that the actions of those who had rejected the king’s invitation ignited and provoked a response of anger. Now maybe you can relate to the king’s emotions here? Have you ever been enraged because an invitation that you had made to someone was rejected?

Jesus then explained that the king responded to the rejection by doing two things. First, the king ordered his armies to go and punish those who had rejected his invitation. But, did you notice the reason why the king sent out his armies to punish those who had rejected his invitation? In verse 8, the king explained to his slaves that those who were invited were not worthy.

Now a natural question that could arise here is “Well why were they not worthy? And why would the king have invited them in the first place if they were not worthy?” If that question is running through your mind, you are asking a great question. 

You see, those who were invited were not worthy because they refused to put into practice their professed acceptance to his invitation. They originally accepted the king’s invitation to be present at the wedding feast, but when push came to shove, they backed away from their commitment to the king out of their own selfish concerns and commitments. And because of their failure to practice what they had professed, they revealed where their true allegiance was.

Second the king did commanded his servants to go to the main highways and invite everyone that they could find to the feast. The king responded to those who rejected his offer by extending his offer to everyone. The king even invited those who did not seem to have any natural status or advantages. But even though they may not have had status or advantages, they were willing to come if invited and needed no second invitation or reminder.

This would have been considered a gracious offer by the king. Jesus then explained that the slaves responded by going out and gathering together all that they could find, both good and bad, into the wedding hall to the point that it was filled with guests. Now once the wedding hall was filled with guests, then the feast can begin right?

Not exactly, as we see will see on Friday…

One of the most stressful events that occur on earth...

At the church where I serve we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled “The Kingdom of Heaven is…” During this series, we are spending our time together looking at a series of statements that Jesus made that are recorded for us in an account of His life that has been preserved in the New Testament of the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew. 

During this series, we are discovering how Jesus described the kingdom of Heaven. During this series, we are discovering how one enters into the Kingdom of Heaven. During this series we are discovering how one should live as part of the kingdom of Heaven. And as we go through this series, our hope and our prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit, in our heads, hearts, and hands in such a way that we would live lives that reveal and bring the light and love of the kingdom of Heaven into the areas of influence we have been given.  

This week I would like for us to spend our time together by talking about one of the most stressful events that occur on earth. And that stressful event is a wedding. Weddings can be incredibly stressful events. In a marriage, you are merging two separate lives together into one covenant relationship.

And if the changes and adjustments that happen during that process aren’t stressful enough, there is all of the planning and preparation that goes into a wedding. First, you have to find someone who is willing to marry you. Then you have to set the date. Then you have to figure out where you want to have the wedding. Then you have to decide what kind of reception you are going to have.

But even when you come to a place where you have agreed on all of those decisions, there are still two major decisions that are potentially explosive and yet cannot be avoided. The first decision involves how many people will be in the wedding party. How many bridesmaids and groomsmen will there be? Will it be just your closest friends, or just family, or a combination? What if there are too many bridesmaids and not enough groomsmen? Who are you going to leave out and end up offending?

And if the decision on your bridal party is not difficult enough, then there is the decision about who to invite to the wedding. Do you want a small wedding or a large wedding? Is the wedding just for close family or are you inviting the entire town? If you have been involved in this process, either as the bride and groom or as a friend helping with the process, you can relate to what I am talking about, especially if you are trying to have a small wedding.

As a couple, you sit down and begins to make the invitation list. And as you begin to put your list together, you watch the list grow and grow and grow. And the conversation usually starts to sound a lot like this; “well if you invite John, aren’t you going to have to invite everyone else from work?  If we are going to invite your great aunt from your mom’s second cousin, then we have to invite my sister’s cousin’s great uncle”. Sound familiar? So the couple, often with lots of feedback from many sources, makes out their list and the sends out the invitations.

But the stress is not over when it comes to the invitations, is it? No, because you still need to wait to see who RSVP’s. And inevitably, there are several people who do not respond. So you wait, and you wait. And what are the greatest fears and frustrations?

One potential fear and frustration is that you will not adequately prepare for the wedding and end up with more guests than you have room or food. On the other hand, there is the fear and frustration that you will plan for the wedding and the reception and have a large group of people who said that they were going to show up then fail to show up.

We know that can be the case because we have all been on the other end of the invitation, haven’t we? We all have been in that place where we receive a wedding invitation from that distant friend or relative that we have not seen or talked to in years. And then we have that discussion “Should we go, or should we just send a gift?” And as you ask that question, you are hoping that your spouse says no, because deep down you really don’t want to go.

You see, there are always decisions that need to be made when it comes to invitations. There are decisions that are made on who receive an invitation; and there are decisions that are made on how we respond to invitations. And when it comes to invitations, the decisions that are made can have a profound impact on future relationships.

We have all experienced the damage that is done to a relationship when someone is not invited to a wedding or other function. And we have all experienced that damage that is done to a relationship when someone rejects an invitation, especially after they had earlier committed to attend. And as we continue in this series, we see Jesus tell a parable about a wedding invitation that reveals for us a timeless truth about the kingdom of heaven. We find this parable in Matthew 22:1-3:

  

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, ² "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. ³ "And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come.

Matthew brings us into this section of his account of Jesus life as Jesus is in the middle of a conversation with the chief priests and the Pharisees. Conversation is probably too nice a word; confrontation is probably more accurate. The chief priests and the Pharisees were the religious people of Jesus day; these were the people who had their lists of what they thought you needed to for God in order to be right with God that had nothing to do with actually being in relationship with God.

Lists like you should only sing hymns, that the Old King James is the only accurate translation of the Bible, you need to wear a shirt and tie to church, especially if you are the pastor, and there should be no dancing or drinking, those kinds of lists. These are the people who will try to force you to follow their lists and if you did not follow their lists, then you were not as spiritual as they are.

You see, there have always been religious people, and it is the religious people that make it most difficult for people to actually enter into a relationship with God. And these religious people did not like Jesus, because Jesus broke all their rules. Jesus didn’t wear the right clothes; He didn’t use the right translation of the Bible; He actually had the nerve to heal hurting people on a church day. He actually cared more about bringing people into an encounter with God than He did about following their man-made rules.

And it is in the midst of this confrontation with religious people that Jesus told a parable that compared the kingdom of heaven to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. As we have talked about throughout this series, a parable is an earthly story that is designed to reveal a deeper spiritual truth.

Jesus explained that the king sent out slaves to call all of those who were invited to the wedding feast. Now in the Jewish culture of Jesus day, during a wedding, the bridegroom would come to pick up the bride at her parents’ house, where the wedding feast would begin with a meal.

So what would happen in Jesus day was that a wedding invitation would be sent to inform those invited of the impending wedding. Then as the bridegroom began his journey to pick up his bride, the family would send slaves to inform those who have already been invited and who had already accepted the invitation that the time for the wedding feast had come. In this particular case, however, Jesus continued by stating that those who were invited had changed their mind and were unwilling to come.

Tomorrow we will see Jesus continue the parable by revealing how the king responded to their change of mind…

The kingdom of heaven is unfairly generous...

At the church where I serve we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” During this series, we are spending our time together looking at a series of statements that Jesus made about the kingdom of heaven that are recorded for us in an account of His life that has been preserved in the New Testament of the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew. 

During this series, we are discovering how Jesus described the kingdom of Heaven. During this series, we are discovering how one enters into the Kingdom of Heaven. During this series we are discovering how one should live as part of the kingdom of Heaven. And as we go through this series, our hope and our prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit, in our heads, hearts, and hands in such a way that we would live lives that reveal and bring the light and love of the kingdom of Heaven into the areas of influence we have been given. 

Today we see Matthew give us afront row seat to an event from history where Jesus told a story that reveals a timeless truth about God and how He runs the kingdom of Heaven. So let’s jump into this parable together, beginning in Matthew 20:1-2:

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² "When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.

Matthew brings us into this section as Jesus was having a conversation with His disciples about how His followers will relate to one another as members of the kingdom of heaven. And in the middle of this conversation about rank and rewards, Jesus began to tell a parable that compared the kingdom of heaven to a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 

Jesus explained that the landowner entered into an agreement with the laborers to pay them a denarius for their wages and then sent them into the vineyard to work. In the Jewish culture of Jesus day, a denarius was the equivalent of a day’s wages. So this landowner was paying the laborers what was generally accepted as a fair pay for a fair days work. Jesus then continued His parable in Matthew 20:3-7:

"And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place; ⁴ and to those he said, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' And so they went. ⁵ "Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing. ⁶ "And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day long?' ⁷ "They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.'

To understand what is happening in this parable, we first need to understand a little about what working in a vineyard entailed. Now in the agricultural society that Jesus lived in, a typical workday would begin at 6 a.m. and end at 6 p.m. Laborers would be hired during the harvest season to go into the vineyards to hand pick the grapes off the vines. There was no special automated machinery; this was manual, intensive, time sensitive work.

Jesus explained that as the landowner looked over his workforce, he saw that he could hire some more men. So the landowner went out about the third hour, which would be around 9 a.m. and saw others standing idle at the marketplace. The landowner approached these men standing at the marketplace and offered them a job, saying “go into the vineyard and whatever is right I will pay you”.

Notice that the landowner did not enter into a prearranged agreement with these laborers; he only stated that he would do what is right. The landowner is simply stating to these laborers that they would not be shortchanged or treated unfairly. Jesus continued by stating that the landowner went back to the same marketplace at the sixth and the ninth hour and did the same thing. In other words, the landowner went out at noon and at 3 p.m. and hired more workers.

Now here is a question to consider: Why would laborers still be standing at the marketplace at noon and 3 p.m.? The workday is more than half over, isn’t it? You see, most likely, either these workers showed up late or they were less motivated to work than the earlier workers. However, the landowner could still hire more workers, so he chose to enter into the same agreement that he entered into with the workers that he hired at 9 a.m.; “go into the vineyard and whatever is right I will pay you”.

Jesus then explained that, at the eleventh hour, the landowner went out to the marketplace and found others still waiting to be picked up for work. To these laborers, however, the landowner asked a question: “Why have you been standing here idle all day long”? In other words, “What have you been doing all day? Why have you not been hired? What’s your problem? Are you not worthy to be hired?” The laborers respond to the question simply; “because no one hired us”.

You see, no one hired these laborers because they were the least desirable workers. They showed up to work late; they were not as prepared or as motivated as the other workers; they did not have the best resume or work history. However, the landowner chose to hire the workers and sent them into the vineyard for the remaining hour that was left. And at the end of that hour, when the workday was over, it was time to pay the laborers. We see Jesus reveal what happened next in Matthew 20:8-9:

"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.' ⁹ "When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius.

At the end of the day, as a day laborer, you would be paid for the days work. You were not under a contract; you are not a salaried employee; you simply received your pay and went on your way, because tomorrow you would begin this process all over again. So at the end of this day the landowner called his foreman and directed him to pay out their wages, beginning with the last group and ending with the first group. What would happen is the foreman would call all the laborers to line up in a line according to the time that they were hired. The laborers would then come forward, one at a time, and receive their pay for the day.

Now remember, the only laborers who entered into a prearranged agreement for a denarius for a day’s wages were those who were hired first; all of the rest of the laborers have no idea of exactly what they are going to get paid. All the landowner said was that he would pay them what was right. Now, if you were hired at 5 p.m., were you really expecting to receive much in terms of pay? Probably not.

Yet Jesus explained that when the laborers came forward to receive their pay, they each received a denarius which, as we saw earlier, was the generally accepted pay for a fair days work. The reason that a denarius was considered a fair days pay for a fair days work was because a denarius was what was needed financially in order to provide for one’s family. So the landowner did not pay them what they deserved; the landowner paid them what they needed.

Now you might be thinking to yourself “But Dave, just hold on there, just wait a minute. These are the least desirable workers; these are the scrubs, the slackers, the losers. They did not earn a full day’s wages; Dave that’s not fair”.  Well, if you think that is unfair, look what happens next, in verse 10-12:

"When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ "When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, ¹² saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.'

Jesus explained that when those who were hired first came to receive their wages, they expected to receive more. I mean that would only be fair, wouldn’t it? However, they were in for a surprise, as the landowner responded to their day of hard work by paying them the exact same amount that he had paid the laborers who worked for only one hour.

Jesus explained that the laborers responded to the wages that they received by grumbling at the landowner; in other words, the laborers responded by whining. “These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day. That’s not fair”.

But if we are brutally honest, isn’t that what we do when it comes to fairness? “God it’s not fair that she is better looking than me. God it’s not fair that he makes more money than me. God it’s not fair that she is married and I am single. It’s not fair that he always has a girlfriend and I can’t get a date”. However, when we become concerned and even consumed with fairness, we tend to focus on the wrong things, don’t we? We see the landowner’s response to the whining and grumbling of the laborers in Matthew 20:13-15. Let’s look at it together:  

"But he answered and said to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ 'Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. ¹⁵ 'Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?'

Now did you notice the landowner’s response here. “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius.” You see, the landowner responded to the whining and complaining about his lack of fairness by reminding the laborers that he simply gave them what they had agreed upon in advance. You see, the landowner did the right thing, not the fair thing, or the even thing. The landowner followed through by keeping the agreement that was made in the beginning.

And to bolster his point, the landowner reminded that laborers that as the landowner, he had the right and the freedom to distribute his resources as he desired because they were his resources. The landowner then exposed the motivation behind the laborers whining and complaining with a simple question: “Or is your eye envious because I am generous?” The phrase “Is your eye envious” literally means to give someone the evil eye as a result of being jealous of what someone else has or has been given.

You see, the laborers whining and complaining had nothing to do with whether or not the landowner was just; the laborers whining and complaining had everything to do with the landowner’s generosity. Jesus then concluded this parable with a statement that reveals a timeless truth about the kingdom of heaven in Matthew 20:16:

            "So the last shall be first, and the first last."

Now if you have grown up in church or have spent any time in church, you may have heard this phrase used as a punch line for a joke about the fact that you ended up being last in line seem spiritual. But Jesus used this line at the end of this parable to reveal for us a timeless truth about the kingdom of heaven. At that timeless truth is this: The kingdom of heaven is unfairly generous.

Just as you grew up hearing life is not fair, God is not fair. God does not do the fair thing; instead God does what is most unfair but what is most generous. Jesus told this parable, this earthly story designed to reveal a deeper spiritual truth to reveal for us the reality that fairness is not a Biblical value. Instead rightness is a Biblical value. And God, in His rightness and rule of the kingdom of Heaven, has the right and the freedom to distribute the resources of His kingdom as He desires because they are His resources.

So here is a question that this parable confronts us with: If you were to find yourself in this parable as a character in this parable, which character would you be? Or better yet, if those who were closest to you, who knew you best, were to place you in this parable as a character in this parable, which character would you be?

Would you find yourself in this parable as the laborer who started at 6 a.m.? You see, the danger for those of us that have been members of the kingdom of heaven for a while is that we begin to whine and complain and stamp our feet while saying “it’s not fair” after someone responds to their selfishness and rebellion against God by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader later in life. “God that’s not fair; they get the same reward that I get and I have been with you doing the right thing my whole life. I should get what I deserve”.

Are you okay with the reality that the kingdom of heaven is unfairly generous? Are you more concerned with fairness, or evenness, than you are about God’s rightness? Do you really want what you deserve? Or are you responding to the reality that the kingdom of heaven is unfairly generous by reflecting that generosity to those around us that so desperately need God’s unfair generosity?

Would you find yourself in this parable as the laborer waiting at the marketplace at the eleventh hour. Maybe you are here and feel like you are less desirable to God; that if God was to look at your resume and your history that He would not want to have you as part of His kingdom.

If I have just described you, God wants you to know that just like the landowner in this parable, God is seeking and pursuing you, even at the eleventh hour. God desires that you would respond to receive what those who were found by God earlier have received; the forgiveness of your rebellion and the relationship with God that you were created for by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

If you were to find yourself in this parable as a character in this parable, which character would you be? How are you responding to the offer that has been extended to you to be a part of the kingdom of Heaven?

Because, as we discovered, the kingdom of Heaven is unfairly generous.

The kingdom of Heaven is upside down in its pursuit of status...

Today, after a break due to current events, I would like for us to jump back into a conversation that Jesus was having with His disciples. In this conversation, Jesus painted this word picture so His closest followers to clearly understand that just as a child in the Jewish culture of Jesus day had no self-rule and must submit to the will of their fathers, their involvement in the kingdom of Heaven would require a surrender of status and a submission to the will of God the Father.

Jesus then continued to answer the disciples question by revealing the implications that would come to those who embraced such surrender of status and a submission to the will of God the Father as part of the kingdom of Heaven in verse 5-6:

 "And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; ⁶ but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Now can you imagine yourself as one of Jesus closest followers. Can you imagine what they were thinking? How they were feeling? You ask Jesus who among you will be the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven; you ask Jesus who among you will have the highest status in the kingdom of Heaven? And instead of getting the answer you were hoping or expecting to get, Jesus basically tells you that you are not at a place where you are ready to be a part of the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus basically tells you that to enter into the kingdom of Heaven, you would have to embrace the status of a child, who had no status. Jesus basically tells you that to enter into the kingdom of Heaven, you would have to surrender your pursuit of status and instead surrender to the will of God the Father.

And then Jesus basically says to you that the person who demonstrates that they are receptive to the child that He had placed in the middle of their conversation, a child who was universally viewed by the culture of the day as having no status or rights, will be the person who will be receptive to the things of Jesus and the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus explains to you that true greatness in the kingdom of Heaven is demonstrated in how on welcomes one who has no status, because to welcome someone who has no status is to welcome Jesus. To welcome the least of the Kingdom of Heaven is to welcome the King of the Kingdom of Heaven.

And if that was not enough, Jesus then tells you that for whoever would cause a child, like the child that Jesus has placed in the middle of your conversation, who has no status, but has placed their confident trust in Jesus, to be brought to a downfall by influencing them to selfishly rebel against God; it would be better for that person to have a large, heavy millstone that was moved by the power of donkeys to crush grain to be placed around their necks and them be thrown overboard into the open sea.

Now imagine yourselves as one of Jesus closest followers. Jesus has just blown up every category that you had held when it comes to status, to position, to greatness. Jesus has just told you that everything that you had learned and embraced in the Jewish culture that you had been raised in was wrong. What would you be thinking? How would you be feeling? How would you respond? However, before the disciples could respond, Matthew tells us that Jesus hammered His point home in what He had to say next. So let’s look at what Jesus had to say next, which we see in Matthew 18:7-9:

"Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! ⁸ "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. ⁹ "If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.

Jesus hammered His point home to His closest followers by explaining that while stumbling blocks, those actions or circumstances that leads one to act contrary to proper belief, and instead embrace false belief are a part of life in a fallen broken world, for the person through whom those stumbling blocks come, there will be great pain and displeasure. And because of the reality, Jesus explained to His disciples "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. "If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.”

When Jesus refers to hell, he was pointing the crowds to a place called Gehenna. Now Gehenna was the place where the Jewish people of Jesus day believed that God would exercise His final judgment. Now you might be here this morning, and your natural reaction to Jesus statement here is “Dave is Jesus serious here? I mean, you don’t actually believe that Jesus is literally saying that we should pluck out our eyes or chop off our hands if they cause us to rebel against God. I know that there are some legal systems that do such things, but are you saying that Jesus would want us to do such a thing?” So, this morning, is Jesus literally saying that we should chop off our hands or feet, or cut out our eyes, if they cause us to rebel against God?

The answer to that question is a resounding no. And there are two reasons why the answer is no. First off, just because a person only has one hand, foot, or eye that doesn’t mean that a person couldn’t still selfishly rebel against God with their other arm, foot, or eye. Second, Jesus has just explained that we are guilty when we cause someone who demonstrates such humble surrender and submission to God to stumble so as to rebel and reject God. And that desire to cause someone who is open to the things of God to stumble so as to rebel and reject God has nothing to do with one’s eyes or hands; that desire has everything to do with one’s heart. You see, Jesus is not being literal here.

Instead, Jesus is using an exaggerated metaphor to reveal the seriousness of such selfishness and rebellion against God and its ability to cause people to reject the message and teachings of Jesus and experience salvation. Jesus uses this exaggerated metaphor to reveal the reality that anything that would cause someone to fail to follow Jesus and live in a right relationship with Jesus must be removed or eliminated at all costs. Jesus used this exaggerated metaphor to reveal the reality that the danger of selfishness, rebellion and sin, requires drastic action to avoid such selfishness, rebellion, and sin.

Jesus is explaining that it would be better for a person to lose the part of their body that was causing them or causing others to selfishly rebel against God and still be able to live in relationship with God than have all of the parts of their body, only to be in a position where they could be judged worthy of the eternal punishment that one would experience from God in Hell. Jesus then left no doubt when it came to what His answer to their question was and why He answered their question the way that He answered it with what He said to conclude His conversation with His closest followers in verse 10-11:

"See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. ¹¹ "For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

Jesus concluded the answer to the disciples question by commanding them to “See that you do not despise one of these little ones.” What is so interesting is that the word despise literally means to look down on someone with contempt as being of little value or worth. Jesus then provided the reason behind His command by explaining that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. Now while this verse is often used to argue that people have guardian angels, that is not Jesus point here.

Jesus point here with this statement is that angels, who serve as messengers of God are in the very presence of God and have constant access to God. Jesus point behind this statement is that those who looked at such a child, like the child that Jesus had placed in the middle of their conversation, as being of little value and worth because of their lowly status, would have to answer to God for how they viewed and treated that child. They would have to answer to God for how they viewed and treated that child because Jesus, as the Son of Man had come to seek and save the lost. When Jesus says that He is the Son of Man, He is identifying Himself as the Messiah that had come from God as God in a bod to usher in the kingdom of God here on earth.

Jesus here is revealing the reality that as the Son of Man, Jesus came to seek and bring back to relationship with God those who were outsiders that were far from God and had been lost as a result of their selfishness and rebellion. As the Son of Man, Jesus came on a mission to rescue from eternal separation from God and bring back to God those who were outsiders that were far from God as a result of their selfishness and rebellion. Jesus came on a mission to provide all humanity the opportunity to experience the forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for, but had been separated from as a result of their selfishness and rebellion, through His life, death, and resurrection by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

And it is here, in Jesus answer to the disciples question, that we discover a timeless truth about the kingdom of Heaven. And that timeless truth is that The kingdom of Heaven is upside down in its pursuit of status. The timeless reality is that just as if was for the disciples, there is something that lurks under the surface of every one of us that desires to compare ourselves with others. There is something that lurks under the surface of every one of us that desires to be viewed as being superior to others. There is something that lurks under the surface of every one of us that desires to be viewed as being more important than others. There is something that lurks under the surface of every one of us that desires to be viewed as deserving of a higher status than others.

However, when we are saying to ourselves, or telling and arguing with others “I should have the highest status. I should be viewed as being most important. I should be viewed as being superior to the rest, we are revealing the reality that we are not ready to be a part of the kingdom of heaven. Instead of pursuing greatness at the expense of others by placing ourselves above others as being superior in status to others, true greatness in the kingdom of Heaven requires that we surrender the pursuit of status so as to place others before ourselves.

True greatness and involvement in the kingdom of Heaven requires a willingness to surrender the pursuit of status and instead demonstrate a submission to the will of God the Father. True greatness and involvement in the kingdom of Heaven is demonstrated in how one welcomes one who has no status, because to welcome someone who has no status is to welcome Jesus. To welcome the least of the Kingdom of Heaven is to welcome the King of the Kingdom of Heaven. And true greatness and involvement in the kingdom of Heaven requires a willingness to take drastic action to remove or eliminate at all costs that anything that would cause someone to fail to follow Jesus and live in a right relationship with Jesus.

So here is a question to consider: What status are you pursuing? And what does the status that you are pursuing reveal about your position in the kingdom of Heaven? Are you pursuing a status that is driven by a desire to be viewed as being more important and superior to the rest? Or are you pursuing a status that is driven by a desire to place others before yourself and surrender to the will and desires of God?

You see, here is the thing, Jesus never chided His disciples for pursuing greatness. Instead, Jesus redefined what is means to be truly great. Jesus redefined true greatness as being willing to serve others so as to place others before yourself. And that is what it means to follow the example of Jesus, because as Jesus pointed out in Mark 10:42-45:

"You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. ⁴³ "But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; ⁴⁴ and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. ⁴⁵ "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

You see Jesus never asks us to do something that He has not already done. And this morning, the timeless reality is that the kingdom of Heaven is upside down in its pursuit of status. Unlike the culture around us, which promotes and pursues upward mobility for the benefit of self over others, the kingdom of Heaven pursues downward mobility that places others before themselves…