“Thy Kingdom Come….”

Imagine getting a job for a startup company with a generous boss.  You trust him when he says: “I am going to pay you minimum wage….but at the end of this year, I will give you a HEFTY bonus.”  You trust him, and agree to work hard for him. January 6th you begin, and you put in hours to make the company great. As the bonus day on December 15 approaches, your boss brings in another worker to help.  And so this worker helps from December 1 to December 15.

With great anticipation, you walk into the December 15 meeting to see what a HEFTY bonus might look like.

The boss starts with your co-worker and gives him a check for $500,000!  This was MUCH MORE than what you thought you would receive—-and as you watch this transaction, you are now even more excited…..what does this mean for you?

When the boss gets to you……he gives you a check for $500,000.

Whatever you might think about this scenario—–this is a comparable parable to what Jesus describes at the Kingdom of heaven.

And Jesus makes reference to it in Matthew 20.

Matthew 20 1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.  3 “About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. 6 “He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’  7 ” ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.  “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’  8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’  9 “The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money?  Or are you envious because I am generous?’

16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

It is stories like these that probably lead people of religiosity to be strongly compelled to kill Jesus.  And yet, these stories are the very reason that I have chosen to accept Him as Lord and Savior.

Our reality, if you read this story like I did, is this:

1. We all think that we are the guy who worked all day long in the vineyard……We are not.
2. We all think that God somehow owes us something……He does not.
3. We all believe that our good works somehow please the Lord……they do not.

God’s offer is simple……

It is $5,000,000,000 for 10 minutes of work.

We don’t deserve it.

We didn’t earn it.

And we are not the most important person in the operation…..He is.

I am in utter amazement that the King of the universe would offer me what He has given……and it is my job to share it, offer it, and give it to every person I can encounter…..

And if I truly understand what He has given……my heart will do it willingly.

“Thy Kingdom Come….”

Take a moment to say the Lord’s Prayer….or listen to this song and sing it out in worship.  He will take whatever you’ve got. And remember what you are saying when you say: “Thy Kingdom Come”, because you belong to the King of the Universe, and our God has an incredible plan for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eIVSWdBaTE

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J