Daily Lesson for June 25, 2014

Today's Daily Lesson is the Parable of the Vineyard Workers found in Matthew chapter 20:

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4 and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’. 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

A few years back I took a summer mission trip from one of my churches to Washington, DC.  We were right in the heart of the city and we soon found out what people meant when they say the city is a concrete jungle.  We staid in he basement of the church we were serving and it was miserably hot and grossly humid and the work was hard and physical, all of which we expected.  There were also rats the size of Volkswagons, which we did not expect.  After an exhausting day of leading Vacation Bible School for the neighborhood kids, stocking items in the church's food pantry, and helping to repair the dry wall in the nursery.  It seemed like every time we were done with one project one of the church members was finding us another without any rest for the weary and not much thanks.  By the end of the day we were wiped out and a little put off and decided to turn in early.  We went down to the basement and were surprised to discover it had somehow flooded during the day.  We spent the whole evening draining the basement of water.  We spent the whole time grumbling to ourselves about how come Sunday all the members of the church we were at would show up to worship upstairs without any consideration of all that we were doing for them.  We probably wouldn't even get a thanks.  It wasn't fair.

The next morning we met for our church group's daily devotion which one of the women on the trip led.  She chose  Jesus' Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, where after a lot of hard work the laborers grumbled because they didn't think they got their due.  "I have been listing to our grumbling," she said. "I have been listening to my grumbling.  And I thought about this parable.  And it occurred to me - we need to remember that it's a privilege to work in the master's vineyard."

That was the right word at the right time.