December 14th, 2025 - Bobby Dagnel - The Grinch Who Steals Joy

00:00 Introduction and Personal Anecdote

00:50 Opening the Bible: Matthew's Gospel

01:05 The Significance of Advent

02:29 Understanding Joy in Scripture

04:07 The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard

09:09 Attitudes That Steal Our Joy

40:44 The Importance of Grace

41:17 Closing Prayer and Blessing

Transcript

[00:00:00] 

[00:00:00] Introduction and Personal Anecdote

Patty regrets. She couldn't be here today. You, uh, you know, she had every intention, uh. When I was here last time of being here this time, but I'm gonna let you know, you got trumped by a 1-year-old grandchild, okay?

And, uh, we had a one Yearold birthday party yesterday over in, uh, McKinney. And, uh, she stayed, I still can't get my mind around birthday parties for one year olds, you know, to go. And these video moments of watching a kid smash a cupcake and uh, which will never be remembered. But, uh, she stayed there. I'm gonna leave after this to go back and pick her up.

And, uh, she probably will not be with me on the 28th either, since, uh, grandkids will be with us. We're kind of making up for all those years in Lubbock where we did, didn't get opportunity to do a lot of this family stuff, so we're taking advantage of it. But I know she'll be with me on the fourth. Okay.

And, uh, but she does send her love to you and she misses being here. 

[00:00:50] Opening the Bible: Matthew's Gospel

Um, I want us to open our Bibles this morning to, uh, Matthew's Gospel. It's gonna be an unusual text for this time of, of [00:01:00] year, I think because Advent is a, we're in this advent season. I love Advent. 

[00:01:05] The Significance of Advent

I love the themes of, of Advent that we, uh, that we follow those four major themes of hope, peace, joy, and, and love.

Uh, because Advent probably like, uh, no other season, I think perhaps, uh, gives us the opportunity to remember. Uh, to reflect, uh, to contemplate, uh, maybe also, uh, some recalibration. Um, and that's what remembering calls us to do. I think often of Paul's admonition to the church in Ephesus, uh, when he said to, to remember when you were without Christ and without hope.

In the world, the idea that we, when we remember life apart from Christ, it might help us to, uh, maybe recalibrate and reboot ourselves and recommit ourselves all the [00:02:00] more to the call of Christ in our lives. Uh, that call of service. Into kingdom life of which we are a part of God's redemptive purposes, what God has done, what God is doing, and what God is continuing to do to, uh, to bring about the eternal salvation, the redemption of his entire created order.

So this is a very, uh, significant time, and I think more so whenever it comes to this, this theme of, of joy. 

[00:02:29] Understanding Joy in Scripture

Uh, because our culture is a word that uses that word joy most often in association with, with a feeling or an emotion. Uh, this word joy is one in scripture. That is something that is separate and apart from our circumstances.

It's separate and apart from our feelings or emotions, how you might feel, uh, at any given time. Uh, the word joy. Interestingly, if you were to go back and do a word search, or even a word count, uh, the word joy in all of its derivatives, all of its [00:03:00] variations, uh, is a word that appears more often than scripture than any of these other words, hope, peace.

Love. And so it's something that is to characterize the people of God regardless of their circumstances. This joy that is to be ours as a people of God is something that transcends our circumstances. It's a conviction and a hope, uh, with which we live regardless of the circumstances those ever-changing circumstances.

That life would, would bring against us. And this kind of joy, uh, of which, um, I'm speaking to this morning, which the advent season highlights, uh, it's a, it's a joy. That is based upon the fact that we are beneficiaries, we are beneficiaries of that grace, uh, that we have experienced. The grace of God, the mercies of God that we have experienced, uh, that grace of God and commitment to Christ that has called [00:04:00] us into a life of service.

And it's a, it's a life and a kingdom life. 

[00:04:07] The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard

And Jesus in this parable in verses one through 16 of Matthew chapter 20, uh, it's, it's a kingdom life that is something antithetical. It is the antithesis, uh, of a world. That is secular in nature. When I talk about secularism, we're talking about the absence of God.

Uh, so it's a, it's a kingdom life to which we are called, which we are parti in which we are participating. Uh, but this kingdom life is something that has attitudes and perspective that are totally different from the temporal world in which we live. Now the secular world in which we live, the culture in which we find ourselves exercising our faith on a daily basis, the world around us is a world that is by nature, very [00:05:00] greedy.

It's self-serving, it's self preoccupied. And those are the, the kind of attitudes, sadly, those kind of perspectives. It's something that we battle as the people of God, do we not? I mean, it's very easy to fall back into those patterns of self-absorption, uh, greediness and self-serving attitudes and, and spirits.

And none of us are exempt. Uh, we battle, we compete against that. That kind of spirit and that kind of attitude, always worrying about what's in it for me. Now, the good news is, and one of the things I so appreciate about scripture. Is that whenever it talks about the saints, it shows all of their warts and all of their blemishes.

You know, sometimes I think that casual readers of scripture tend to take the characters and personalities, uh, found therein. And we put them on these, on these pedestals. And we think that these people are, are individuals that are totally different from us. That they're, that they [00:06:00] have no similarity to us, that they have probably some kind of genetic predisposition towards the things of God, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth.

They're, they're people of, of like flesh just like you, just like me. And so I always found great encouragement in reading the scriptures to find that, that these individuals are stumbling their way forward into the providential purposes of God. Uh, always encouraging to me as Peter. Uh, even Peter that's kind of sets the stage for our passage here.

Uh, what would lead into Jesus' telling of the parable of the laborers in the vineyard? You'll remember in the preceding verses in chapter 19, Jesus has his engagement here. This conversation with the rich young ruler who comes to Jesus concerned about what it is to have eternal life and how he can have.

Eternal life. And Jesus, of course, points to the commandments. And this man has, uh, to [00:07:00] his, to his thinking, to his perspective, he thinks he has done this well, that he has kept the law, he's done well in checking all the boxes. I haven't done this, I haven't done this. I haven't done this. Which can easily become a point of pride for each and every one of us.

But Jesus sent something else in this rich young ruler, something else that might be an impediment to him, ever truly making a commitment to Jesus is Lord. And you. You remember the the passage well, Jesus said to him, if you want to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me.

Of course, when the man heard those words, he was grieved because he had much, uh, and he departed. I love that Peter's standing nearby because Peter immediately has an attitude that is self-serving in nature. Having heard this, Jesus or Peter rather ask the question, he [00:08:00] says, behold in verse 27, behold we have left everything and followed you.

What then will there be for us? We've all thought that, haven't we? Our phraseology would probably be what's in this for me? Jesus said to them, to his disciples. Truly, I say to you that you who have followed me and the regeneration, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you shall sit upon 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel.

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or fathers or mother or children or farms on account of my name will receive many times as much and will inherit eternal life, but many who are first will be last and the last first E Jesus ends with that same statement at the end of the parable of the laborers in the vineyard [00:09:00] when he says in verse 16.

So the last shall be first and the first.

And so I think Jesus does in Matthew here in his account. 

[00:09:09] Attitudes That Steal Our Joy

Matthew does a masterful job in depicting these attitudes, uh, these emerging attitudes that that reflect having lost the joy of salvation. You see, there's certain Grinch like characteristics, Grinch like characteristics that are. That are grounded in greed, that are grounded in selfishness, that will steal away our joy, that will steal away our understanding of kingdom life and what it is to be a child of God and what it is to be a servant in the kingdom of God.

And so what I want to do is I want to read the, this parable in full, all 16 of these, these verses, and maybe you think, well, that's a lot of reading. But there's something [00:10:00] about reading these, these parables. I think that to be appreciated, they have to be heard in full, in total. It's like when I preach from the Old Testament, you know, the, the Old Testament narratives, uh, they're oftentimes just a sermon in themselves and to truly under and to truly appreciate the, the, the, the story and what the story is about.

You need to hear it. Full. That's nonetheless true when it comes to these, these parables. So I want you to listen to these words and the significance of these words as I read the words aloud, that you hear them, that you reflect upon them. I like what N NT writes said about reading aloud. He said, the reading aloud of scripture isn't just about feeding our own spirits and minds.

It's about rehearsing the mighty acts of God. For God's glory. So in hearing this, understand that we are rehearsing, if you will, the mighty [00:11:00] acts of God for God's glory. He begins in chapter 20 in verse one. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

When he agreed with the laborers for a denarius, that's a day's wage for the day, he sent them into his vineyard and he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. And to those, he said, you go into the vineyard and also, and whatever is right, I will give you. And so they went.

Again, he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour and did the same thing. At about the 11th hour. He went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, why have you been standing here idle all day long? They said to him, because no one hired us. He said to them, you go into the vineyard too.

Now, when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, call the laborers and [00:12:00] pay them their wages. Starting with the last group to the first. Those hired about the 11th hour came, each one received a denarius. And so when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius.

When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner saying, these who were hired last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us. Who have born the burden of the day's work in the scorching heat. But he answered and said to one of them, friend, I'm doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me For a denarius take what is yours and go, but I want to give to this last person the same as to you.

Is it not lawful for me to do what I want with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I'm generous? So the last shall be first and the [00:13:00] first last. Well, in hearing this, think in your own mind as I have this, this last week, I want you to think about what attitudes emerge in this story, and maybe in our own recollection, what attitudes emerge from, from this that, that reflect having lost the joy.

Of being a beneficiary of God's grace. What are the attitudes that reflect an absence of joy regarding being a beneficiary of God's grace and a servant in kingdom life? Well just jotting down about four of these. It popped out in my reading this week, the, the first attitude was, was one of bargaining.

One of of bargaining. Listen to verses one and two again. Jesus said For the kingdom of heaven, he's, [00:14:00] this is what kingdom, the kingdom of heaven is like. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into the vineyard.

Now it's, it's a reminder here. Notice first of all, when he, when Jesus talks about kingdom life and those who are a part of that life, he says that, that you and I are laborers. We're task masters. Uh, we, we are a people that have been called for a purpose. We have been called for a task. We, we have been called to participate in a, in a missional pursuit in our.

Lives that were a, that we're a part of God's story, we're a part of God's salvation history. That, that he is weaving in time and eternity. And in that story, you and I are [00:15:00] participants as, as laborers. We're not called to sit in soap and sour in sanctuaries. We're called to be workers. It's the, uh, blue collar attitude really, if you will, when it, when it comes to being a part of, of kingdom life.

So in, in your understanding and our understanding of kingdom life, being part of the kingdom, if I, in my mind, if I'm seeking to be more than a laborer, if I'm desiring more than, than just being a, a worker, if you will, in the kingdom, it's gonna lead to frustration. It's going to lead to disappointment if your understanding of kingdom life, if, if, if our understanding of the life of faith, that this is something that has been haggled out between us and God, that the life of faith is some sort of, um, quid pro quo.

[00:16:00] Something for, for something, if this is some kind of bargained out agreement between me and God, some sort of formulaic faith. That if I do this, then God is obligated to do this. Listen, you will not persevere. You will not endure. You're going, you're going to be disappointed. You're going to be hurt.

You're going to be wounded. Formulaic faith always fails you a consumeristic faith that if I pay this into it, that I must get this out of. It will always fail you and disappoint you. When my daughter was diagnosed with a neurological disorder, I had a friend about the same, about that same season of life, a physician in our community that had a similar situation with his daughter, who was about the same age as as mine, and we had an appointment together and he asked if I was regarding these [00:17:00] circumstances, if I was ever, if I ever found myself angry with God.

If I was mad at God about, about the things that, that have happened to your daughter, the diagnosis and what this means, the implications of this for, for your life, and he said, and, and you're a minister and you've given your life to serving the Lord, it, it has to disappoint you. Have you ever found yourself angry with God?

I'm sympathetic to those that, that, that, that do have seasons of anger at God. And there's nothing wrong. God's big enough to handle our, our anger and our disappointment. But, but in my own faith journey, I, I, I told him, I said, I, I've, I've not, I've never been angry. I've never had a formulaic faith.

I always just assumed that God was God and I allowed him to be God in ways that my finite mind simply could not understand. But I've never had a formulaic faith that if I [00:18:00] do A plus B, then God's gotta do C, because I understood that if you have a formulaic faith, it's going to fail you. Life is never going to be A plus B plus C.

We're all old enough here to understand that. Don't, aren't we. Life is never a plus B to see. I may have this vision of what I wish God looked like, that it was straight as I 20. But what I've discovered in my 67 years is that most of life is spent on the farm to market roads trying to get to that destination out there somewhere.

And yet if you have a bargaining attitude with God, it sets us up for heartache. And disappointment. We gonna learn to be where our feet are. A proper understanding of kingdom life is that in my difficulties, in my circumstances of life, you know what? I'm going [00:19:00] to stay in my lane. I'm a servant. I'm a worker.

I'm just going to stay in my lane and not try to haggle and bargain with God. When I was a welder in a pipe shop, engineering firm, pipe shop, I was putting myself through college, been certified as a welder. I was about 21 years old before I decided to go back to to college. But anyway, we were working 60 hour weeks.

And there was some frustration in that pipe shop that I was, that I was having anyway, I had dinner with my, my family, with my parents, uh, during that time. And I, I remember saying at the dinner table, it was something about I was, what? I was frustrated with that, that, uh, shop and I made this comment that if I was in charge, things would be different.

I'd get this issue dealt with and I know how to deal with it. It'd make it run more effectively and more efficiently. I'll never forget my father looking up and he was a man of very few words, but [00:20:00] he, he looked up and he said, lemme tell you something. He always called me Halls, lemme tell you something, halls.

He said, there's somebody with a higher pay grade, that's their problem. He said, it's not your problem. He said, it is the job they hired you for. Has that been affected? I said, no, sir. It's just, it's just aggravating watching it happen. He said, have they cut your hours? I said, no, sir. He said, have they changed your job description?

I said, no, sir. He said, they're still giving you a paycheck? And I said, yes, sir. He said, then halls, why don't you just keep your head down inside that helmet and run that bead and let somebody else take care of it? That was a great lesson for me. To stay in my lane, to keep my head down in that moment. And I was a new believer, but I realized that this is my task.

This is my duty [00:21:00] to shine in this moment, to seek, to glorify God, to seek to be the presence of Christ in my community at the workplace, and to do my job faithfully and diligently and every, let everything else sort itself out. That's, that's a struggle for many. But what it, what it truly comes down to is your view and your perspective on your, your calling, your understanding of your calling in your life and your service to the Lord.

Do I see my life? Do I see my calling through, through the prism of God's call upon my life? Do I? Do I see? Do I see life through the prism of my understanding of God's call upon my life? Do I see my life? Do I see my calling through the prism of kingdom life? Or do I see my life through the prism of the kingdoms [00:22:00] of men?

Do I do I need immediate gratification? Or do I have a sense of delayed gratification? Am I willing to tolerate delayed gratification in the anticipation of what God has in store? That is far beyond anything I could ever imagine because I've been faithful in my task here and now. Listen any, any attitude.

Any perspective that believes that it has leverage, our bargaining power with God always gonna be absence of joy. There's always going to be frustration. And disappointment here. Here's another attitude I I see in this, just jumping ahead to verse [00:23:00] 12, another one of those destructive attitudes, Grinch, like attitudes that still away our joy.

And that's one that, that's one of bookkeeping. One of of bookkeeping. Who's doing what notice here in, in verse 12, as we just jump ahead. These who were hired last worked only one hour. This is the one who is complaining. The one worker, the first one hired in the day. He's complaining about what he perceives as being an injustice.

He said they, these who were hired last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day's work and the scorching heat. That's, that's quite an eye for detail, isn't it? Along with supposedly doing his job, diligently doing what he's supposed to be doing, he, he has the ability to keep tabs on what everybody else is doing.[00:24:00] 

He knows what, he knows the details of what everyone else around him is doing. Have you ever seen that in the workplace before? Now a lot of you here have probably led organizations. I've seen it as, as a pastor, the church certainly isn't exempt, but in the office and in the, in the workplace, those individuals who are always preoccupied with what everybody else is doing, and I guess the, the irony has been lost on so many.

I can recall those who would come and lean on my door jam in my office while I'm trying to work. By the way. Who lean on my door jamb, complaining about other people down the hallway, what they're doing, what they're not doing, how my workload is so much bigger than theirs. My job is so much more demanding, and the irony is seemingly lost, that they're leaning on my door, complaining about how overworked they are in comparing themselves to [00:25:00] someone else that's down the hall actually working.

We can fall into that in kingdom life as well. We can start looking around, seeing how some people seemingly get all the breaks, how some people seem blessed in ways that, that my home and my household is not blessed. Really what our perspective is and our understanding if we truly understand kingdom life.

My perspective is that whatever it is, I do it unto the Lord and not as unto men, far more concerned about the Lord's judgment of my life, his opinion of my life than I am the subjective opinion offerings of those around me. If your bookkeeping. I would be frustrated in working with tech football. I've had the privilege of working not only with the great many.[00:26:00] 

Student athletes, uh, but also coaches and, and staff. And I remember one year, uh, many years ago, we had this one particular coach. It was actually his, his first full-time coaching position. You know, he had already been through the arduous journey of, of the GA years and the volunteer coach, assistant coach, and all that.

But this was his first full-time job as a position coach. And, and he was a, and he, and he took his faith very seriously. He was a very devoted follower of Christ. But when we went through a, uh, a time of transition and he was there with Coach Kingsbury, with Cliff Kingsbury, and when Cliff was let go, they were gonna let go.

All of the strength staff. And, um, and this young man was very frustrated and he, he, we had lunch and he was talking about his hurt, his disappointment, and he said, it's just not fair. He said, I can pull up the data right now. I don't understand why we are losing our jobs as [00:27:00] strength staff. I don't understand why we're losing our job when we have objective data.

I can pull up objective data and show the athletic director the objective results of how our players have grown, how they've gotten stronger. And then he made the con, he made the comment, I can't believe Texas Tech University is doing this, allowing this, this kind. Of injustice and I let him go on and rant.

'cause I could tell it was cathartic for him. He needed to have opportunity to rant. But when he was through, I told him, I said, listen, this is your full first full-time job. And I said, if you're going to do this for a career, listen, the, the, the, the network is very small. You wanna be very careful about being venomous about burning bridges.

Inevitably, these bridges cross paths again, in this, this industry. So you don't wanna leave your burning bridges, but, [00:28:00] but you need to understand going forward because your, your standard of expectation for institutions is way too high. Virtue is not endemic to institutions. Institutions are morally neutral.

I said, whether we're talking about higher education, whether, whether we're talking about athletics, whether we're talking about corporate America, institutions are neutral. If you're looking for virtue in institutions for that to be endemic to institutions, you're going to be disappointed. I said most institutions are are driven by greed and avarice.

And in my contention, listen, I've, I've been immersed in college athletics since 1988, and I will always say that there's no two darker entities in America than Power four athletics [00:29:00] and partisan politics because there's so much wealth at stake. But what I wanted this young man to understand. That. It's the people within institutions like you who are willing to be light, who are willing to shine, who are willing, who are willing to be diligent in their task.

Those are the ones that are game changers. You can't worry about everything else around you. All you can do is shine in your moments where your feet are right now.

And that's true for any of us. And I reminded him in closing, I said, you were in my chapel. I did a week ago. It was John 21. And you remember Jesus told Peter, Peter, you will in fact give your life for me. And I said in that [00:30:00] moment, you know what Peter did? Peter looked over at John. Peter said, what about him?

What about John? You know what Jesus said, Peter, what is that to you? You follow me?

None of us here will ever be asked to give an account of the books for someone else, not a one of us. God is never going to ask me my opinion of you. God's never going to ask me to keep books on you. All I can do is offer an accounting of my own life. But if you start bookkeeping by looking at the world around you and comparing and measuring and keeping score, then you never have [00:31:00] that.

You never experie experience that transcendent joy. God would have, let's look at a, a third one here very quickly, a third attitude, Grinch like attitude. Uh, and this is somewhat humorous when you consider it in, in the, in God's salvation history, but this third one, it's not just bargaining and bookkeeping, but it's also bellyaching.

I mean, that's what this one is, is doing here. Notice in, in verse 11, he says when they, when they received it. This is those first ones who came to to work all day. When they received their denarius, they, they grumbled at the landowner. In other words, they were bellyaching at at the landowner. Now, the thing is that is that from creation to flood, you follow the history of God's salvation from creation to flood patriarchs, to prophets from the Promised Messiah to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

[00:32:00] Through his church today. The handiwork of God's creation is evident for all. I mean, it is a glorious presentation of the handiwork of God, this salvation history of God from the beginning to now. But what is also and in glorious presence is the grumbling of his people, the complaining of his people. God continues through his grace to push us reluctantly forward into his providential purposes.

I mean, it goes all the way back, back to Moses. I mean, the wilderness, all the people did was, was grumble. You know, it was really easy to talk about faith back, back in Egypt. Talk about by faith someday, God, we know God is going to deliver us. But then when? When God, when God's process of delivery. Begins to unfold and it, and it's in a way of unfolding that you wouldn't have done it.

Not even a way [00:33:00] that you would've for which you would've hoped. People started complaining, but Jesus wasn't even exempt from the complaining of those of those around him. You'll remember that it was in the gospel. Also in the gospel in Luke chapter 15 in verse two, that the Pharisees and scribes, we should not be surprised.

The Pharisees and scribes, that religious leaders grumbled, complained about Jesus and in his association with with wine bearers and sinners. Then his own disciples in John chapter six in verse 61, his own disciples complained about him when he started talking about eating his flesh and drinking his blood.

His disciples began to grumble and, and complain Paul and John and their epistles. Uh, they, they would warn the people of God. Don't, don't become, like, don't become like your, your ancestors in one Corinthians 10, 10 and James [00:34:00] five, nine. Yet through all the bellyaching and complaining, we have this history of God's grace, God's patience, God's mercies, continuing to push God's people forward into the future that he would have for them.

You know the problem. Really the problem with bellyaching and complaining, and we, we all know people like this, is that when, when you, when you start bellyaching and complaining, you catch yourself in this boat. It, it, it just becomes, it can become a habit. It can become a, an eng It becomes a part of the fabric of who you are.

We all, we know individuals who just, they have a negative slant on everything. They complain about everything. Everything that comes up, they bellyache. You can tell 'em that the sky is blue. They're gonna argue that it's black. I mean, there's just people out there that, I mean, they would gripe at a cure for cancer.

But that's why, that's why [00:35:00] Paul would say to the church at Phil Pie, he says, do all things without complaining or argument so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you appear as white in the world.

Holding firmly the word of life so that you, on the day of Christ, I can take pride because I did not run in vain nor labor in vain. But if I'm being poured out as a drink offering upon the service, sacrifice, and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. You too. I urge you rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.

You and I are luminaries. He's saying that you, you and I, we are, we are lights in a dark world. People are, are looking at, at the light. We're to be, we're to be [00:36:00] lights, we're to be luminaries. Not, not blinking lights. Blinking lights that scream. You know, most of, you've put up your Christmas lights by, by now, whether on your house or in your tree.

And you know the frustration of having that one light, that blinks, that's not supposed to blink. I mean, your frustration, you've worked hard hanging those lights, but there's that one light that's all you see. I don't see the beauty of anything else. I just see the one light. It's like it screams at me.

Fix me. Pay attention to me. You and I are called to be light. We are called to be Be luminaries. Not these blinking light that are screaming like everyone else in our world. Social media that scream. Look at me. Pay attention to me. Notice me, affirm me. Accommodate me. And sadly, I have no expectation for everyone else.

But, but, [00:37:00] but for myself and for other clergy, it, it, it burdens me to see the number of clergy on social media, put anything that screamed, look at me, pay attention to me. Had a friend, a colleague that posted something about, about at work that day. He made the statement, a colleague reminded me that this was my 10th anniversary today.

Well, no colleague reminded you of that. Nobody keeps up with that. That's you fishing for compliments. That's your own ego, your own neededness, your own screaming. Look at me, affirm me. I need your attention. Your affirmation today, and I thought immediately of the, the Sermon on the mount. If you desire the, the award, the reward of men, the applause of men, you have your reward in full.

And he got what he wanted. [00:38:00] I mean there, there were 200 comments. Oh, we're just so blessed to have you. We're so fortunate to have you. He got the very thing he needed. The affirmation of men, you have your reward in full. Somehow in this, we need to re recapture this simple scriptural admonition that he must increase and die must decrease.

One other final attitude, and we'll close with this in verses 13 through 16, these attitudes that still are joy, not just bargaining and bookkeeping and bellyaching, but also begrudging. Begrudging what others receive. But he answered verse 13, but he answered and said to one of them, friend, friend, am, am I doing you no wrong?

Did you not agree with me For a denarius take what is yours and go, but I want to give this last person the same as to you. Is it not lawful, [00:39:00] lawful for me to do what I want with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I'm generous? So the, the last shall be first and the first last, like that eldest son in the parable of, of the prodigal.

These are, are, are envious. They're envious of those who who are receiving so much who seemingly did so little. And then if, if that's not enough, they, they consider this, this one, uh, this, this master, this Lord, they, they now consider him to be, to be unjust because he is chosen to do what he is desired to do with what belongs to him.

[00:40:00] They begrudge the master's grace. Mercy. You know, a more appropriate attitude for these and, and for us on, on these occasions is the attitude. I think we looked at it a few weeks ago, that servant in Luke's Gospel, chapter 17 and in verse 10, after having looked at, at all the work that had been completed, uh, he, he rightly said, we have only done what we were supposed to do.

He understood his role. As a laborer, as a worker, as a part of the work of God, the greater work of God that is being accomplished. 

[00:40:44] The Importance of Grace

If we truly want this kind of, of transcendent joy, I think what is foundational to everything is that we recover our understanding, if not our greater appreciation for grace.[00:41:00] 

The implications of grace that it is God doing in a greater way for us what we could not do and cannot do for ourselves and allowing him to do it for others. 

[00:41:17] Closing Prayer and Blessing

Let's pray together our Father, how we desire to recapture our appreciation for the mercies and the graces. That can be attributed only to you, and that by appreciating your grace, that only then can we truly recover our joy, our joy in knowing you, our joy, and in a relationship with you that transcends the offerings of this world.

A joy that comes from the knowledge of understanding that where we are makes us a part of your kingdom work in real [00:42:00] time and in real places. So father, we recommit ourselves to these themes, to their appreciation, to their implications for our daily lives, that as we are luminaries to this world. Lord, that we might be a presence of hope, peace, joy, and love.

In Jesus' name I pray, amen. And as we stand, we'll be dismissed with his blessing from the pen of the apostle Paul in Romans chapter 15 in verse 13. Now, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you'll abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. If God bless you, you're dismissed.