WEBVTT 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:03.839 So I want to start the message with a question. 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:08.000 And before you raise your hand, because I would love it if you you would raise your hand if this applies to you. 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:09.039 I want to give some parameters. 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:10.800 So hold off on the hand raising. 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:14.800 I want to know if any of you have ever been significantly underpaid. 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:17.359 What I want to say, you're already raising hands. 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:18.239 Everyone's raising their hands. 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:19.120 Couple parameters. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:19.440 Hold on. 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:22.719 Number one, if your employer's in the room, really think about if you want to raise your hand or not. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:24.640 That's the first parameter. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:39.119 Number two, I'm not talking about a situation where you're really young and inexperienced, and so you have a job where maybe there are people who do the same thing you do and they make more, but they have a lot more experience and knowledge than you, and you're kind of in a season where you're just learning that and the pay will come one day. 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:46.000 I'm not talking about a decision where you decide to actually take a pay cut to go work for something that you're passionate about. 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:50.640 It's more of a cause than a career, and so you're willing to be paid less to do it. 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:59.600 And I'm not talking about you taking a temporary pay cut because you're part of like a startup and you're counting on the long-term success and you're gonna make it up on that end. 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:11.120 I'm just talking about a situation at any point in your life where you worked for an organization, for a company, for a person that drastically undervalued you and maybe everyone and paid you way less than you should have been paid. 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:13.760 Has anyone ever been underpaid? 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:16.640 All right, quite a few hands. 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:18.719 Follow-up question. 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:20.959 Has anyone ever been overpaid? 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:24.719 Like, a couple people raising their hands, there's fewer hands going up. 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:36.879 Like I'm talking if if my employer knew what I was actually worth, if my employer knew what I actually produce, they would come, they would take thousands of dollars off of my salary, and I would say, yeah, that's probably about right. 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:39.760 Anyone want to raise your hand for that one? 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:41.680 It's a few. 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:47.040 If your employer's in the room, by the way, I mean, raise your hand if you want to be honest, but just be careful. 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:50.640 Fewer hands for the second than than for the first. 00:01:51.200 --> 00:02:03.599 It's interesting, wages, payments, salaries, things like that, they they illustrate, or at least bring to light, something that's very deep within us as people, and that's that's a belief in fairness. 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:09.280 We we like things to be fair, and we hate it when things are not are not fair. 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:13.199 I have four kids, and three of them can talk. 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:18.400 One, he's he's working on it, he's he's real young, and he doesn't have a lot of time to talk, to be honest. 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:20.639 He's gonna have a hard time getting words in in our family. 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:28.879 Um but it's interesting because I don't think my children have ever heard my wife or I run through the house screaming it's not fair. 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:32.319 I don't think that's a behavior they have they have ever observed one time. 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:36.639 I can't remember a time that I got mad at home and went, it's just not fair. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:40.800 I can't remember my wife doing that. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:49.759 And yet, all three of my children who can speak have said that on a near daily basis for what seems like years now. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:51.439 Like they're obsessed with fairness. 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:54.560 This last week school started back for Cherokee County, and I've got two in school. 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:57.439 I've got a boy in the fourth grade, and my daughter just started kindergarten. 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:00.159 I put her on the bus on Thursday, and like a tear shed. 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:02.080 It's my girl, she's going to school. 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:10.000 I will literally kill someone if they like, if there's, I'm just, I wouldn't literally kill them, but I mean I'd be tempted at the very least. 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:12.000 Like, it's my girl, my one girl. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:28.159 And I'll never forget the the night before school, bedtime really kicks in hard when school's going on, and and my oldest boy gets to stay up 30 minutes later than his his sister, who's four years younger, and she can't handle that. 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:32.080 Like she she she literally is protesting that night. 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:32.639 Why? 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:34.639 Why does why does my older brother get to stay up? 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:39.120 He can stay up for 30 more minutes, and I said, Yes, he does. 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:41.199 And she says, That's not fair. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:43.759 He has to wake up at the same time I wake up. 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:45.280 And I said, That's correct. 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:47.360 And he needs to stay up later than I do. 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:49.439 That is also correct. 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:52.240 It's not fair, it's not fair. 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:58.159 And we had a long conversation, and uh I think she's a she's a genius because by the end of it it was his bedtime. 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:00.960 So she actually just, you know, worked that out. 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:05.680 But she's she's obsessed with fairness. 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:07.919 I think all of us are. 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:18.639 And this morning we're we're we're gonna look at a teaching of Jesus, a very important teaching of Jesus that really answers the question for us: is God fair? 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:26.000 And it's a teaching that centers around some people's wages and whether or not they're they're underpaid. 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:30.879 We're asking the question this morning, is God's kingdom fair? 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:34.560 Is fairness a value in the kingdom of heaven? 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:37.600 For some context, we're in a series called A King in His Kingdom. 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:39.839 It's very important for us as Jesus followers. 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:45.839 I know not all of us are Jesus followers, but those of us who would say, I follow Jesus, it's very important that we know what Jesus actually said. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:53.759 One of the tragedies of kind of modern Christianity is that we tend to be far more familiar with what Jesus did than with what he said. 00:04:54.079 --> 00:05:06.160 And that's that's not a good thing because what that means is we love Jesus, we're fans of Jesus, we kind of go, yeah, Jesus, but then we live our lives in ways that don't line up with the things Jesus actually taught, and we may not even be aware of that. 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:11.279 We have to be just as familiar with what our king said as we are with what he did. 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:14.639 And so what we're doing is we're in this series, we're studying the teachings of Jesus. 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:18.639 In fact, this morning we get really into the nuts and bolts of the teachings of Jesus. 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:24.240 And if you look at the teachings of Jesus, there's this one theme that runs through all of it, and it's the kingdom. 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:28.160 He's always talking in kingdom terms. 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:30.399 Matthew chapter 4, verse 17. 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:37.680 Very early in Jesus' ministry, it says, From then on, Jesus began to preach, repent of your sins and turn to God, for the kingdom of heaven is near. 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:39.360 He's always talking about the kingdom. 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:42.480 That was like the thesis statement of his ministry. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:46.399 He's always saying, the kingdom of heaven's like this, the kingdom of heaven's like that. 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:52.959 He uses illustrations, we call those parables, to teach us key points about the kingdom. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:06:00.639 What Jesus is really trying to do is he's trying to get us to become accustomed to the culture of the kingdom of God. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:09.040 Every kingdom, every nation on this earth has a unique culture, values certain things. 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:13.199 How many of us would say that we value being on time and value other people being on time? 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:14.800 Punctuality is important. 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:16.480 Yeah, we're Americans. 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:18.240 We expect things to start on time. 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:19.199 We we really, really do. 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:24.399 Like if you go to a movie that says it starts at 7 and it's 7.02, you've got all these people in the room who are antsy. 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:25.920 They're like, what is going on? 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:27.360 It's been two minutes. 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:29.439 It says 7 o'clock, that's false advertising. 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:30.240 I'm gonna get my money back. 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:33.439 If the movie doesn't start in the next three minutes, 7 o'clock. 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:34.879 We value punctuality. 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:37.279 That's part of our American culture. 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:40.319 But that is not something that everyone in the world values. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:46.000 Spend some time in South America and you'll learn that everything's like an ish, everything. 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:47.279 Like what time's dinner? 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:47.759 Five. 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:50.959 You get there at five, you eat at 6:30, and it's it's fine. 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:54.480 No one's freaking out because they're like, yeah, it's basically the same as five. 00:06:54.639 --> 00:06:56.480 And you're like, no, it's not. 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:00.959 But they just meant, you know, nighttime-ish. 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:02.800 They have different values. 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:11.920 And the thing about cultural values is that if you go to a place like South America and you go in with the expectations of your culture, you're gonna be disappointed on a constant basis. 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:21.759 I believe that many believers get frustrated with what's happening in their lives, almost feeling sometimes like God isn't following through on the things that he's supposed to be doing. 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:28.399 But the issue is is that they're trying to have God operate within their culture, their values. 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:32.079 And when we give our lives to Jesus, we become part of his kingdom. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:36.959 What we have to do is adjust to his culture, his values. 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:39.839 And if we don't, we're just gonna be frustrated in our lives. 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:41.759 God doesn't want you frustrated. 00:07:42.399 --> 00:07:51.519 So Jesus does this amazing thing by through through story after story teaching us the values and the culture of the kingdom of heaven. 00:07:51.839 --> 00:08:00.240 And we get to learn, and if we adjust appropriately, if we adopt God's values and we live our lives that way, things change. 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:03.600 Things actually transform for us in really powerful ways. 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:11.199 And so today we're gonna jump into this story that Jesus tells in Matthew chapter 20, verses 1 through 16. 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:17.360 He says, For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:23.600 When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:31.519 And he went out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to those he said, You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you. 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:32.720 So they went in. 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:40.320 Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour and did the same thing, and about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around. 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:44.960 And he said to them, Why have you been standing here idle all day long? 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:47.200 They said to him, Because no one hired us. 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:49.600 He said to them, You go into the vineyard too. 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:56.399 And 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. 00:08:56.559 --> 00:09:00.080 When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius. 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:03.360 When those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:05.759 But each of them also received a denarius. 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:15.440 And when they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, saying, These last men have worked only one hour, and you've made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day. 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:19.360 But he answered and said to one of them, Friend, I am doing you no wrong. 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:22.080 Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:24.399 Take what is yours and go. 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:28.080 But I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:31.279 Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:34.799 Or is your eye envious because I am generous? 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:38.320 So the last shall be first, and the first last. 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:50.080 Now, just out of curiosity, and again, raise your hand with honesty, how many of you feel like the guys who got hired first were treated unfairly? 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:55.840 Like there's just at least part of you that's like, I mean, I get what the guy says, he can do what he wants with his money, but like that's not fair. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:57.519 I can tell you what my daughter would say. 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:01.919 I can promise you what my five-year-old little girl would say if she was in that situation. 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:04.000 That is not fair. 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:06.799 It's not, it's not fair. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:10.240 It's a really interesting teaching. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:14.960 Jesus says something in that teaching that he said pretty often that the first will be last, the last will be first. 00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:20.720 This is his way of illustrating that God's kingdom just works so differently than this world, that it's upside down. 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:29.120 In fact, oftentimes his kingdom is called the upside down kingdom because it's just take everything that this world values, flip it on its head, and that's how Jesus operates. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:35.600 This is a really, really powerful story, and it has a lot of meaning for us if we can wrap our minds around it. 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:37.919 But to do that, we have to understand the context. 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:42.000 When we study scripture, when we read the Bible, we see chapters, we see verses. 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:45.279 What you have to realize is those were added hundreds of years later, and they're good. 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:48.320 They're good because they help us segment, they help us reference. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:52.240 But but originally those chapter breaks, they weren't there. 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:58.639 So sometimes what happens is if you start at the beginning of a chapter, you see what you're reading as if it's like independent of other things. 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:00.720 That's how most chapter books work. 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:03.120 But that's not how this story works. 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:07.919 Sometimes those chapter breaks happen in moments that cause us to separate two things that actually went together. 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:13.519 And so I've heard pastors say it this way: if you ever see the word therefore, ask yourself, what's the therefore, therefore? 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:15.279 And then back up a little bit, right? 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:18.799 And so this begins with Jesus saying, for the kingdom of heaven. 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:20.159 Well, why is that for there? 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:21.440 What's he talking about? 00:11:21.519 --> 00:11:22.159 What's the context? 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:26.720 And if you turn back to Matthew 19, you find a very, very powerful story. 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:28.080 And we don't have to put that up quite yet. 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:30.080 Leave that down for a second, because I want to set it up. 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:35.279 So, Matthew 19, you have this story of a man that's often called the rich young ruler. 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:36.399 Very interesting story. 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:41.440 This man comes up to Jesus and he says, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:46.399 And Jesus has a dialogue with him, and ultimately the way the dialogue goes, at first Jesus says, Why do you call me good? 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:48.159 Only God's good, and the man acknowledges that. 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:53.200 And then Jesus says, Well, you you like, you know the law, you know the rules. 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:55.360 He was a Jewish man, part of the Jewish faith. 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:58.639 And Jesus lists a few of the Jewish laws, and he says, just do those things. 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:00.159 And the man says, Yeah, I've done that. 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:01.200 I've done that. 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:07.519 And it's interesting because Jesus begins by getting the man to admit that only God is good, and then a few seconds later he's like, Oh, I'm good. 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:08.559 I'm good. 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:10.960 He's already tripped himself up. 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:19.919 But Jesus says, Okay, if you've done all that, and then this gets really cool, he says, and this man's very wealthy, he says, Sell everything you have, sell it all. 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:21.919 Then give all your money away to the poor. 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:23.919 Now come follow me. 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:30.879 And the man's heart sinks, and he can't do it because he's just so attached to what he has, and he walks away saddened. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:43.600 Now, the disciples who were there, their ears would have perked up when Jesus said what he said to this man about now come follow me, because what Jesus was doing with the rich young ruler was the exact same thing that he did with the disciples when he called them to follow him. 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:54.000 If you look at the story of Jesus calling Peter and James and John the fishermen, he goes up to them and he tells them to drop their nets, to let go of their earthly identity. 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:56.399 And he says, and I will make you fishers of men. 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:59.039 He says, I'll take what you do on this earth and I'll give it eternal value. 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:01.840 And then he says the exact words, now come follow me. 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:08.320 So here's this rich young ruler, and he says, Hey, sell all your possessions, give it away to the poor, drop your nets. 00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:11.120 And then he says, I'll make you rich in heaven. 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:14.240 He says, I'll give what you've been doing on this earth eternal value. 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:15.440 Now come follow me. 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:19.360 He's asking this man to be one of his disciples. 00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:21.919 Had this man said yes, we would know his name. 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:23.759 He may have written scripture. 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:29.679 And the disciples might have been freaking out a little bit because this guy, he's kind of like, he's kind of legit. 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:33.679 He's wealthy, he's successful, he's very different than the rest of the disciples. 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:39.600 And you have to understand that they're comparing themselves to him and they're going, like, oh no, is one of us about to get cut? 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:50.559 Like, because if this guy becomes one of the disciples, he's surely so successful, he's so, he's obviously smart, he's he's blessed by God, he's wealthy, surely, he's gonna outrank us. 00:13:50.720 --> 00:13:53.679 They're comparing themselves to this guy, and they don't see themselves as measuring up. 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:58.960 And you see that because after this man leaves, Jesus says, Hey, it's actually really hard for rich people to enter my kingdom. 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:01.440 They're just too in love with this world. 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:08.879 And the disciples who have been comparing themselves to this man, going, we don't stack up to him, they're like, Well, then who in the world could possibly measure up? 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:15.600 And all of a sudden, Peter has this thought, and he's like, Hey, we're not like that guy. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:18.879 We gave up everything that we had, we dropped our nets. 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:22.879 And so Peter has this conversation with Jesus, Matthew 19, 27. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:26.639 Then Peter said to him, We've given up everything to follow you. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:28.080 What will we get? 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:32.399 And see, now what Peter's doing is the comparison with the rich young ruler has flipped. 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:35.360 At first they're comparing themselves to the rich young ruler going, we don't measure up to this guy. 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:37.600 Now they're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, we're better than this guy. 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:39.759 Because look what we did, Jesus. 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:41.519 What will we get? 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:54.080 Jesus replied, I assure you that then the w when the world is made new and the Son of Man sits upon his glorious throne, you who have been my followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 00:14:54.399 --> 00:15:04.240 And everyone who's given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property for my sake will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life. 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:10.399 But many who are the greatest now will be the least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then. 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:12.639 The first will be last, the last will be first. 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:16.960 And then Jesus jumps into this parable to further illustrate his point. 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:21.679 He says, For the kingdom of heaven is like a man who went to hire workers for his field. 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:23.440 The context here is really important. 00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:28.720 What you have is the disciples essentially asking Jesus, hey, I'm gonna get my fair share, right? 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:33.519 Like when it all works out, it's all said and done, I'm gonna get my fair share. 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:38.159 I just want to make sure, Jesus, that that you give us what we deserve. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:41.120 And Jesus says, yes and no. 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:44.960 He says, like, guys, don't worry. 00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:52.080 When everything works out in the end and I'm reigning in fullness, yeah, yeah, you're gonna you're gonna be glorified and and blessed. 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:56.960 Yeah, but look, there's gonna be a lot of others who come after you. 00:15:57.679 --> 00:16:00.159 And they're gonna they're gonna serve me too. 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:02.799 And they're gonna make sacrifices too. 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:09.360 And they're gonna they're gonna have relationships that that don't work because of the fact that they follow me. 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:14.240 And they're gonna give up property and money for my kingdom. 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:21.840 And so, guys, yeah, you're gonna be blessed, but don't go down this fairness track because you're gonna see a lot of people blessed. 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:24.240 Like a lot of people blessed. 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:33.120 And if you have this scarcity mentality where you're worried about you getting what you deserve, and what if someone else takes a little bit of what's yours? 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:36.000 You're gonna be very disappointed in the kingdom of heaven. 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:38.320 Because it doesn't really work that way. 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:44.799 See, in Jesus' parable, the disciples, they're the first workers, they're the first workers. 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:50.080 And I don't know where we are in that whole timeline, but we're not first. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:52.240 We're 2,000 years later. 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:57.919 So I don't know if we're at the end or two-thirds of the way there, but we're we're somewhere way down the line. 00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:02.960 And when we read this parable, we should really see ourselves like the ones hired toward the end. 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:12.400 The fact that we can sit in this room and worship together and talk about Jesus and not be afraid of our lives is actually a very unique thing. 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:14.480 It's not the way it's always been. 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:21.440 Our ability to do this has been paid for by vast amounts of persecution and sacrifice. 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:35.279 And yet, Jesus tells us that just like those who have gone before us, even those like the disciples who gave up everything, we're going to receive the same reward. 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:38.559 So I have a question for you. 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:40.640 Is that fair? 00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:44.480 And the answer is no. 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:47.279 It's not fair. 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:49.200 But it's but it's good. 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:54.480 See, the reality is we we overvalue fairness. 00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:55.839 We really do. 00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:57.359 We overvalue fairness. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:05.039 That was illustrated in my conversation with Lily on on Wednesday night when she was so mad about Liam getting to stay up 30 minutes later because as the conversation went on, I said, Well, let's you a question, Lily. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:05.920 You want things to be fair? 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:06.559 She's like, yes. 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:09.119 And I was emotionally manipulating her at this point, because I can do that. 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:12.400 Um I'm like, I'm I'm leading her down this path, half joking. 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:14.160 So I'm like, you want it to be fair? 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:15.119 Yes. 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:16.960 All right, let's make things fair. 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:19.839 Your brother Eli, who is one, goes to bed at 6 p.m. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:20.720 every night. 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:23.039 And he has to take a two-hour nap in the middle of the day. 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:25.440 You don't have to take a two-hour nap, you get to stay up till 7:30. 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:30.079 So to make things fair, you're gonna start going to bed at 6, and you have to take a two-hour nap. 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:32.799 And she's like, No, I don't want that to happen. 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:35.200 I'm like, don't worry, I'll make Liam do it too. 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:38.000 That way it's it's all I want it to be fair. 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:39.440 So we'll make things fair. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:41.839 And she's like, that's not what I meant. 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:47.920 I'm like, oh, so you don't really value fairness all that much. 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:52.640 And I said, look, Lily, if I did that, I would be being fair. 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:58.559 But I wouldn't be just, and I wouldn't be good. 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:02.640 Don't don't overvalue fairness. 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:05.839 Don't worry too much about what you deserve. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:11.279 Because the truth is, in God's kingdom, you don't want what you deserve. 00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:13.279 Like you really don't. 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:16.960 You don't want what you deserve. 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:20.720 And God doesn't give us what we deserve. 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:22.160 He gives us so much more than that. 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:27.279 In fact, there's some interesting details in this story, this parable that we skip over because here we are 2,000 years later. 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:31.279 A lot of things don't quite have the meaning that they would have had if we were the original disciples. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:34.319 And if you understand some of the nuances of the story Jesus tells you, see it. 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:42.160 For example, he tells the men who worked the first hour in the Jewish calendar, the day actually started not at midnight, but when the sun rose. 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:44.319 And then, like, that that's that's what happens. 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:49.279 So these guys, when it says the first hour, they're being hired at dawn and they're working until the sun goes down. 00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:51.039 They're working 12 hours. 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:54.960 And he promised them a certain amount of payment, and it's a denarius. 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:59.680 Now, some of your translations will say a day's wages, and that's both accurate and not. 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:04.559 The beautiful thing about scripture is we have lots of translations, and they all sort of specialize in different things. 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:08.079 You don't have to worry about your translation being being horrible or anything like that. 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:11.920 If it's one of the main ones, it's it's good, but they all do some different things. 00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:17.119 So, the New Living Translation, it puts things in really normal day-to-day language. 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:22.880 We use that a lot, and in ways that we we understand, because we don't get paid in denarius, right? 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:27.440 None of us even really know what a denarius is, so it just translates a daily wage. 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:28.720 And that's good. 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:30.960 That helps us understand what it's talking about. 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:39.599 But that daily wage was a denarius, and something gets lost in that translation, and that's that a denarius was what a wealthy person would make in a day. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:41.839 It's what a skilled person would make in a day. 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:45.599 A soldier got paid a denarius a day, the Romans took care of their soldiers. 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:50.160 Someone who was really educated could expect to make a denarius a day. 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:52.880 This is actually a picture of a Roman denarius. 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:54.880 And it was a silver coin. 00:20:55.680 --> 00:21:03.039 It was worth originally, the reason it's called the denarius, D-E-N means 10, it was worth 10 of a smaller bronze coin called an Assarius. 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:05.519 And so this is a picture of a Roman Assarius. 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:07.039 You guys can bring up the extra, there you go. 00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:08.799 It's smaller, like rougher. 00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:17.680 Umriginally, denarius worth 10 of those, and by the time Jesus is around, a denarius is worth 16 a sorry. 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:31.920 And so, unskilled laborers, the guys that Jesus tells this story about, guys who are just day laborers that are gonna work for whoever hires them, no, no one would have ever paid them a denarius for a day's work. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:32.480 No one. 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:33.839 It's ludicrous. 00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:37.599 And the second Jesus said that, his disciples would have looked at each other like, what? 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:45.920 It'd be like if I was talking to you and I said, Hey, I wanted to get my car washed this week, so I saw some guys and I walked up to and said, Hey, I'll pay a thousand dollars to wash my car, you'd be like, What, what? 00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:47.200 Why? 00:21:47.599 --> 00:21:48.880 That makes no sense. 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:51.519 You can do it yourself for basically free. 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:55.440 Or you could go to a car wash, pay like 10, 15 bucks, get it done pretty well. 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:59.759 And if you're one of those really crazy people who I don't mean this in a negative way, sorry, uh, really passionate people. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:01.519 Not crazy, passionate. 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:04.640 Who wants your car like perfect? 00:22:05.440 --> 00:22:08.960 You can get it detailed, and that's gonna be like a hundred bucks, but it's gonna be immaculate. 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:11.920 You should never pay a thousand dollars to get your car washed. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:13.440 It just doesn't make any sense. 00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:24.160 The disciples would have had the same exact thought the moment they heard Jesus say that this man agreed to pay them a denarius for the day, because a denarius was was more than a day laborer could hope to make in a week. 00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:28.640 So he's already paying them far more than market value, like far more. 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:30.240 They should have been paid a few asari. 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:32.079 He pays them a denarius. 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:37.599 And then it comes to the end of the day, and those guys get a denarius too. 00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:41.920 And if you you see that detail, it paints the story in a little bit of a different light. 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:45.039 You feel a little less sorry for the first workers, right? 00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:55.119 Because basically what that means is they're complaining at the end of the day, and they're basically saying to the the owner, they're saying, hey, those guys got a full week's wages and they only had to work an hour. 00:22:55.359 --> 00:22:59.119 We got a full week's wages and we only had to, we had to work like a whole day. 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:03.920 And if you complain that way, it just doesn't quite have the same impact. 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:11.039 If you read this story and you see a denarius as minimum wage, then yeah, it actually looks like really unfair. 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:13.279 Because they all got the minimum. 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:24.799 But what Jesus is illustrating is that right off the bat, for those first workers, they were already vastly overpaid, given far more than they should have been given. 00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:29.519 What we have to understand in the kingdom of God is that we are all overpaid. 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:32.000 Every single one of us. 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:33.759 We're overpaid. 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:37.440 God is so, he's so generous. 00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:41.599 Deuteronomy 7.9, understand therefore that the Lord your God is indeed God. 00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:50.240 He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. 00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:52.559 God is he is kind, he is generous. 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:57.440 In fact, the number one word used to describe God in the Old Testament is kind. 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:08.640 God doesn't get portrayed that way in the Old Testament that often because people like to pick certain stories out and really highlight those, but the number one attribute of God described in the Old Testament is kindness. 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:11.519 And he lavishes his kindness on us. 00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:18.400 It's not minimum wage, it's not what we've earned, it's not what we deserve, it's far more than that. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:19.279 It's generous. 00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:24.160 Psalm 31, 19, how great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. 00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:29.279 You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world. 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:30.799 Again, there's that word lavish. 00:24:30.960 --> 00:24:39.200 Do you understand that if you've given your life to Jesus, the love of God has been lavished upon you, the favor of God has been lavished upon you. 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:41.440 Ephesians 1, 7 through 8. 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:46.960 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his son and forgave our sins. 00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:51.680 He has showered his kindness on us along with all wisdom and understanding. 00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:53.200 We don't deserve that. 00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:55.279 That's not fair. 00:24:56.079 --> 00:25:01.599 It is not fair that my sin was paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:16.480 It is not fair that Jesus, the perfect, blameless, sinless Son of God, died a death on a cross, and I get to live life basking in the favor of God the Father. 00:25:16.640 --> 00:25:18.880 That I actually get to call God my Father. 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:21.680 Jesus calls God Father, we call God Father. 00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:23.119 That's not fair. 00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:24.559 But it's good. 00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:25.920 It's good. 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:28.799 That's the way the kingdom of God works. 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:36.000 And so, practically speaking, this is how parables work, and we're going to study a lot of parables in this series as we learn about the kingdom. 00:25:36.079 --> 00:25:38.000 You can take a lot of things away from this. 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:42.319 But parables always have one main point that they're trying to drive home. 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:47.920 They're rich, so you can take things away from this parable, like, don't compare yourselves to others. 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:52.400 The thing that makes these guys miserable is not the payment they received. 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:54.880 They were overjoyed to be paid a denarius for the day. 00:25:54.960 --> 00:25:57.519 At the beginning of the day, they're looking at each other like we're gonna get a denarius. 00:25:57.680 --> 00:25:59.279 This guy's either generous or stupid. 00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:00.720 He's given all of us a denarius. 00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:01.680 This is awesome. 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:04.000 And then by the end of the day, they're upset. 00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:04.880 Why? 00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:07.759 Because they compare themselves to someone else. 00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:10.559 Comparison is always a destructive force. 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:14.480 Because we rarely compare ourselves to the right things or the right people. 00:26:14.640 --> 00:26:21.119 And so if you live your life comparing yourself to others, you're either going to be filled with pride or filled with regret that shouldn't be there. 00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:22.559 So don't compare yourself to others. 00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:24.640 If you want to compare yourself to someone, compare yourself to Jesus. 00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:28.079 And we all find ourselves in the same spot when we compare ourselves to Him. 00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:33.519 You can also take the practical takeaway that you should be excited for other people's blessings. 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:36.480 Very often people only get excited when they get blessed. 00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:40.079 They get something good, they're happy, someone else gets something good, they're kind of mad, right? 00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:41.359 And we've all had that experience. 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:45.200 You've all had the experience where like social media makes this all the more worse, right? 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:53.839 You open up your Facebook page or whatever you use and uh and you see a picture of someone and they've just received a blessing and they're like kind of bragging about it on social media, which is annoying. 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:58.799 Um, but you have that moment where you might even like hit the like button, which you don't like it. 00:26:59.039 --> 00:26:59.680 You know? 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:02.799 You're like, I'm so happy for you. 00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:08.400 And if if they could hear your tone, what you're really feeling is like, why isn't this happening to me? 00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:15.359 If you're only excited about the blessings you receive, you will experience so little joy. 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:19.359 But if you can be excited for the blessings of those around you, your joy will grow exponentially. 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:20.480 You'll be you'll be so happy. 00:27:20.559 --> 00:27:22.079 People look at you like, why are you so happy? 00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:24.000 I'm just so excited for what God did for that guy. 00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:26.160 And you're like, you're you're kind of crazy. 00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:28.000 But I wish I had that. 00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:30.000 That's a takeaway we could have from this story. 00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:35.279 Man, if they could have only been excited for the blessings of those guys who who came in at the 11th hour. 00:27:35.920 --> 00:27:43.680