WEBVTT 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:04.160 Thanks for listening to the His Hands Church podcast. 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:12.720 If you're using the His Hands Church mobile app, please turn off the auto lock on your phone's general settings so that you can listen to the message uninterrupted. 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:15.839 And thank you for being part of what God is doing at His Hands. 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:22.160 Great to see everybody. 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:24.640 Welcome. 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:27.280 You know, I'm sure we have some people here for the first time. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:29.039 We're really glad you're here. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:33.840 Hope you can tell that you can just relax and um be yourselves. 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:54.320 Got uh one quick thing to share, and that's that uh every year for the last six years, we've had an opportunity to help um give a kid a chance, which is a local uh charity that provides school supplies and other things, haircuts and shoes and clothes to kids that need help as uh they go back to school. 00:00:54.479 --> 00:01:02.320 And so this year we're gonna get to do it again, and we're hoping to provide a couple hundred backpacks with school supplies for uh these children. 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:14.640 It's really simple, you just uh get a list back at the info desk and then go and buy a school backpack and then fill it with the school supplies in the list and then bring it back um before July 4th. 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:21.040 Uh really you could bring it on July 4th uh if you want, because the fireworks will be uh over our building. 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:26.239 But um so anyway, if you'd like to help with that, that's a great uh great thing, and it just means a lot. 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:32.799 It's really exciting for these uh kids to get uh new school supplies as they as they start the new year. 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:38.159 Well, let's uh let's say a quick prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to give us each something this morning. 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:40.239 So, Father, first, we just praise you. 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:45.040 We thank you for being such a great dad and for adopting us as your very own children. 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:48.640 And Holy Spirit, we do thank you for being a teacher and our counselor. 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:57.439 We ask you to teach each of us this morning that every one of us we would leave with something uh new from you that we know that you spoke uh to us. 00:01:57.599 --> 00:01:58.480 And we thank you for that. 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:02.799 And Jesus, we just thank you for being our Savior and our friend. 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:04.959 And it's in your name we pray. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:05.840 Amen. 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:15.759 So I've been needing to travel on business a lot more than I would probably like, and I got a little bit more of that uh left to do. 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:16.960 And I'm gonna tell you about a trip. 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:21.759 It doesn't sound like work, but there was definitely um work involved. 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:30.560 But about a month ago, um went on a trip, Susan was able to go with me, and we went to uh the Napa Valley in California. 00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:34.879 And we've never been there before, and it's just absolutely beautiful. 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:42.719 And one of the things is um Susan and I, we've got this kind of informal bucket list, I guess, with maybe 10 things on it. 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:52.080 And one of them is a restaurant, it's called the French Laundry, and it's in uh Napa Valley, and so we got to eat there uh one night, and so that was a real highlight. 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:58.639 But another highlight was just uh visiting some of the um the vineyards in the area. 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:04.560 Most of them were big and they're just beautiful, and and really more than I could have uh imagined. 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:05.840 I mean, they're stunning. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:15.360 The the property, the landscaping, a lot of them there's streams and there's small lakes, and uh it's just a really lush area. 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:29.280 There was about a group of about a hundred of us that were at this this meeting, and thirty or more uh didn't even drink wine, but still had a great time as they enjoyed uh uh the area and the food and the properties. 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:34.560 And one of the days we had a tour of three different uh vineyards. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:45.680 And uh we had a tour guide and um he described himself as a wine geek and it was kind of charitable because he was a little uh obsessive, I guess. 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:48.000 But uh he knew everything there was to know. 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:55.120 And but he started the tour by by talking about the origin of grapes and and of wine making. 00:03:55.439 --> 00:04:02.879 And he said that that the vineyards and grapes originated in Mesopotamia. 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:12.319 And uh from there were cuttings made and and uh throughout the Middle East and then to Europe and then finally uh here in North America. 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:31.279 Well that got my attention uh because as as many of you know, Mesopotamia is a region that is in uh part of Iraq now, uh, but it's where the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers uh flow together, and it's widely uh considered uh where the location of the Garden of Eden. 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:41.040 And it's just interesting that the more we know as people, the more it points back to uh to what God teaches us in his word. 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:47.199 But the first vineyard that we went to that day was one called Silver Oak, which is uh pretty prestigious and well known. 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:53.920 And again, it's this huge, beautiful property and uh large uh um vineyard. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:05:05.519 And then the second was one called Mom, which makes uh sparkling wine, and again, dramatic views in this, I mean, a huge facility that uh that we toured. 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:11.120 And then the third was a small, kind of rustic uh vineyard, and it was my favorite. 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:15.120 It was uh William Harrison Vineyards and uh winery. 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:26.240 And uh there's a picture of uh of the vineyard, and it's relatively small by by Napa standards, it's just 10 acres, um, it's not fancy. 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:30.160 Uh there's you know picnic tables out uh outside. 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:36.639 And when we went to the other um wineries, there's a whole process. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:48.319 You know, they've got tour guides, and you go from room to room to room, and and uh but this one was different because when we got there, the general manager of the uh of the vineyard met us, and his name is uh Jim McMahon. 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:53.199 And uh that's Jim, it's not the football player, it's a different uh different Jim. 00:05:53.759 --> 00:06:21.439 Um but he was uh fascinating and he gave us a visual tour of the of the vineyards because this uh building set up on the property, and so we were looking out on these 10 acres, and so he was telling us about the different types of grapes that were were grown and what they had to do, and and the workers were out uh in the vineyards going along uh the rows, and what they were doing that day is they were pruning uh what what he called suckers off of the vines. 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:35.600 And so there'd these these offshoots of the vines, and so they were going down each row and pruning those off, and so all the energy of the plant could go um into the uh into the grapes. 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:49.759 And what made this uh this trip really especially interesting is that the owner of the vineyard um came by, and it's William Harrison Um Vineyards, and uh that's Bill Harrison. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:07:01.439 And uh he's in his late 70s, and what he's kind of renowned for in that area is about 30 years ago he invented a portable bottling system. 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:14.079 And he he bought a truck and he he created this bottling system, and up to that point, only the biggest vineyards could have their own wine because the equipment was just way too expensive to bottle it. 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:32.160 But but he would take this truck and small vineyards could rent it out, and in three days or so now they could have their own label and uh and their own wine, and he was real successful with that and was able um to purchase uh this estate and create his own uh vineyard. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:46.959 And of all the things, and with that invention and all that, what he was easily uh most proud of and passionate about was that vineyard that we were um overlooking. 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:50.959 And I share that to kind of give us a picture of a story that Jesus tells. 00:07:51.040 --> 00:08:01.759 Because Jesus' story uh revolves around a vineyard with a manager and with workers and a very passionate uh owner. 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:06.639 We're taking a few weeks uh together to look at stories that Jesus told. 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:17.279 Justin shared uh one last week, really two, about an annoying neighbor and and um a persistent uh widow and how that teaches us about uh prayer. 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:25.600 Uh Ben Sykes has a two great stories that he's gonna share, and I've got a couple more in upcoming weeks that uh I'm gonna share as well. 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:35.200 And well, Jesus, you know, we call these stories parables, and it's the way that Jesus most often uh taught, especially to large uh groups. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:45.440 Um there are metaphors and analogies, and he would find a way, a simple way to explain uh a big, uh profound truth. 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:52.559 In Matthew 13, it says, Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when speaking to the crowds. 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:57.519 In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables. 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:00.639 And we've looked at some of these stories together in the past. 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:08.639 You know, it's been over four years ago that we looked at a group of parables, you know, and uh in uh in some weeks uh together. 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:20.320 We don't want to go too long without reminding ourselves of the stories that were important enough for Jesus, that he would create the story, and that he would share the story, and that the Holy Spirit would preserve the story for us. 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:32.240 And one thing that uh Jesus did with each story is he would share a practical principle, you know, something that they could apply in their everyday lives. 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:59.759 I mean, he would talk about uh parenting, he would talk about business, he would talk about farming, he would talk about construction, he would talk about different things, and they would contain some practical truths that they and we can apply, but there was always a profound truth, a big truth that Jesus was sharing about God and about the kingdom, and we'll see that in the story we're gonna read together this morning. 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:09.840 This particular parable is in response to a very famous interaction that Jesus had with a we call the rich young ruler. 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:16.240 You know, he was a wealthy young man about in his 30s, probably, and he was a ruler, not like in a political sense. 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:26.320 He was a ruler in a religious sense, that he had uh religious authority, he had a big a big title in the Jewish uh culture. 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:36.879 And so he comes to Jesus and he's really testing Jesus, but he says, uh, tell me, what do I need to do to uh inherit eternal life? 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:41.919 And so Jesus did, like he did quite a bit, is he would answer a question with a question. 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:44.080 And so he says, Well, what do you think? 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:53.200 And the young man says, Well, I guess you have to keep the law perfectly, which I've done since I was a child. 00:10:53.840 --> 00:11:06.960 You know, so Jesus in a very loving way, here's a young man who's independent, uh obviously uh confident in his own righteousness, and so Jesus gives him something to process. 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:09.039 And he says, Well, how about this? 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:13.679 What if you just sold all of your possessions and gave it to the poor? 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:32.639 You know, and and the young man walked away, but he walked away with an opportunity, an opportunity to think about that and and to come to realize that he needed a savior and that he needed grace and forgiveness and Jesus. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:38.879 But Jesus talks to his disciples for a couple minutes about that, but then a light bulb goes off in Peter's head. 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:44.240 This happened quite a bit with his um with his closest followers. 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:50.559 But uh in Matthew 19, 27, then Peter said to him, We've given up everything to follow you. 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:52.159 What will we get? 00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:55.279 This is kind of humorous. 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:58.960 Um they actually kind of argued about this all the time. 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:09.600 And what what they were expecting, you know, even after Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead, what they were expecting was a physical kingdom. 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:14.879 You know, and they were following him and they were doing all this and they'd left all this, and so what are we gonna get? 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:15.679 You know? 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:28.000 And um Jesus responds in a way that's a little bit surprising because he didn't reprimand Peter or really correct him in any way, but instead he makes him a promise. 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:44.320 And he says, 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. 00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:52.159 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. 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:54.879 And he goes on to tell them a story. 00:12:54.960 --> 00:13:04.159 And it's a story I cannot help but think about as I was sitting at that picnic table looking over the ten acres of that uh small vineyard in Napa. 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:14.240 And uh Jesus says, this is Matthew 20, verse 1, for the kingdom of heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:19.120 He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:22.559 So this is a farming uh community. 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:26.399 Uh they would start about uh six in the morning. 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:33.200 And there's one thing we know right away from the story is not what what time of year it was. 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:34.799 It had to be harvest time. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:46.480 We're gonna find out later in the story that there's a general manager, a foreman over the property, uh obviously had workers that he was responsible for, but for some reason today they needed extra help. 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:48.320 They needed extra workers. 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:50.960 And the reason would be that it was harvest time. 00:13:51.840 --> 00:14:05.600 Um, Jim McMahon was telling us about how at harvest time, I mean, they have a big celebration in Napa, and they said that uh you can hardly even get in because it's wall-to-wall traffic, and uh it's a huge deal. 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:09.360 But they can't schedule it because they never know exactly when the harvest is going to be. 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:14.720 You know, for the valley, but also for each vineyard or even within each vineyard. 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:26.000 And so when it's close to harvest time, uh Jim said that he would get up super early and start walking all the rows in the vineyard, and he would taste the grapes. 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:32.799 And the day that the grapes tasted perfect to him, that's the day they would harvest. 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:36.639 And he would never know it until that morning when he tasted the grapes. 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:39.840 And sometimes it would just be one row that they would harvest. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:42.639 You know, the whole vineyard, one row would be perfect that day. 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:46.480 Sometimes it would be ten rows, sometimes it could be uh a section. 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:57.360 Rarely, uh maybe never was it the whole vineyard because there's different types of grapes grown out or grown throughout the uh uh vineyard. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:08.799 And so this owner, you know, he's got an exciting opportunity, but he's also got a problem because he's got to bring those grapes in today while they're um perfect. 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:17.120 And so what he does is he goes and he finds some people in the marketplace and and they agree on a day's wage. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:19.919 He says, Hey, I need the help, this is what I'll pay you. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:26.720 And let's say it's an agricultural area and it's really hard work, they're gonna work for about 12 hours, it's gonna be super uh hot. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:30.320 And so let's say it's$15 an hour. 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:37.759 Um and so that'd be$180, and they agree on that, and they go off to the vineyard. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:43.519 And then at 9 o'clock in the morning, he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:48.960 So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:53.679 And this is the first really unusual aspect of the story. 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:55.360 The first group, they have an agreement. 00:15:55.519 --> 00:15:58.080 Okay, this is the deal, this is what I'm gonna pay you. 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:01.840 From then on, it's all on trust, it's all on faith. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:14.480 And this owner must have had a reputation uh for being trustworthy, because everybody agrees that they'll just trust him and they'll go to the vineyard. 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:21.600 And so they went to work in the vineyard, and at noon and again at three, he did the same thing. 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:32.639 Again, even someone at three, when you're trying to get in all the grapes that day, whatever he could get to get help uh was what he needed. 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:38.000 And so at five o'clock that afternoon, he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:40.240 He asked them, Why haven't you been working today? 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:42.320 They replied, because no one hired us. 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:47.279 The landowner told them, then go out and join others in my vineyard. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:54.000 That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. 00:16:54.639 --> 00:16:59.440 And so the foreman, the general manager has got this group all gathered around. 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:04.000 These are the ones that just came today to help them get in this harvest. 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:09.759 And remember, there's only one part of this group that knows what they're gonna get paid. 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:16.880 That's the very first group who had uh come to an agreement uh with the owner. 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:21.279 And so we can put ourselves in the position of this group that came at five o'clock. 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:24.160 You know, they only had to work an hour. 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:33.680 They got to work in what was probably the more fun part of the day, you know, when everybody's bringing in the last of the harvest and people they'd be excited and feel good about what they're accomplishing. 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:35.359 It was the cooler part of the day. 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:38.720 It was now uh early evening. 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:44.720 And so what they're expecting is$15 for the hour that they worked. 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:47.279 And they would have been thrilled with that. 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:51.759 An hour ago, they hadn't made anything that day. 00:17:53.759 --> 00:18:01.200 But one of the things that Jesus does with a lot of his parables is there's a twist, there's a shock uh in the story. 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:08.480 And he does that because it forces the listeners to maybe rethink a belief that they've always held. 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:15.680 You know, and so he kind of shocks them out of that and into really processing what uh what Jesus is uh teaching. 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:26.160 And that comes here in this story when Jesus says, when those hired at five o'clock were paid, each received a full day's wage. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:35.039 And so each of these people were paid$180 for their one hour's work. 00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:39.039 And that would have been really shocking because that wouldn't have happened in that culture. 00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:50.480 You know, in in that time in the Jewish culture, uh they were extremely precise when it came to possessions and it came to money. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:53.359 You know, it probably wouldn't have happened in any culture. 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:59.200 But you can imagine that they were blown away, uh, they were so thankful, they were ecstatic. 00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:03.119 But we can also imagine this other group that started at six, what they're thinking. 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:09.920 They're thinking, okay, I know we had a deal, but obviously this owner is just crazy generous. 00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:13.359 I wonder what he's gonna pay us. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:19.599 When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:22.480 But they too were paid a day's wage. 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:33.200 When they received their pay, they protested to the owner Those people worked only an hour, and yet you paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat. 00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:37.839 He answered to one of them, friend, I haven't been unfair. 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:41.519 Didn't you agree to work all day for the usual wage? 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:43.359 Take your money and go. 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:46.240 I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. 00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:49.839 Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:53.359 Should you be jealous because I'm kind to others? 00:19:54.319 --> 00:20:00.000 So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last. 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:07.440 There's a profound part of this story that Jesus is teaching, excuse me. 00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:10.720 His um his followers. 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:19.920 But there's also a practical point, like we talked about, that can affect our attitudes, it can affect our careers, it can affect um our level of joy. 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:26.160 And it's simply should we be jealous when God blesses other people? 00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:28.559 You know, it's a real trap. 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:34.799 And God blesses all of us, but he does it in his own timing, in his own way. 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:39.519 And it's so easy to be jealous. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:59.279 It might be a small thing when someone gets a car, or um, it could be a really big thing when we've been praying for a spouse and a friend meets their perfect match, or even more when we've been praying for a child and it seems that all our friends around us are getting pregnant. 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:11.440 Um, you know, we talked about the Philippians 4.8, and and and this is just one of those keys is asking God to help us to be happy when he blesses other people. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:18.319 Because that's what he does, he blesses, and our time is coming, and his time and um his way. 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:24.319 But there's even a more specific point um that can help us. 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:31.839 And and that's that we should never worry at work what other people make. 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:44.240 You know, when I was uh 29, I worked for Dunham Bradstreet, and um we had moved to Atlanta, and I I was responsible for a small regional office here. 00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:56.000 We had I think maybe eight people, and I got this big promotion, and it was really a God thing, but then all of a sudden I'm responsible for the tire entire eastern half of the country. 00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:59.759 And now there's 12 offices that I'm responsible. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:03.759 Before, hired someone to run the Atlanta office. 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:06.400 They all reported to me. 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:19.519 And in these 12 offices, there were mostly people that were older than me, and mostly people that had been worked longer at D than I had. 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:27.200 And even with the promotion and the raise I got with the promotion, several of them made more than I did. 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:32.880 And that was true, you know, for the next uh for the next few years. 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:35.359 You know, was that unfair? 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:38.000 Should I have been upset about that? 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:52.319 You know, I don't know, but I do know that if I had been bitter or complained, I would have never gotten the next big promotion and put myself in a position to for God to help me again. 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:56.720 It just doesn't matter what other people make. 00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:06.000 You know, and it's uh it's a real trap for us to worry about what other people make, even if we're leading a business. 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:15.599 You know, you see it all the time where uh a new leader will come into maybe a corporation and they change the pay schedule because they notice that the bunch of the salespeople are making more than them. 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:33.680 Um and uh you know a wise leader wants people in their company to make more than them, you know, especially if they're in a part of the company that brings in sales and revenue and helps um grow the company. 00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:54.079 Uh one of the greatest pieces of business advice I ever got was that I should always aspire to be underpaid, um, which didn't make sense at first, but uh when they explained it, and this is a principle, and I should say that like all principles, there's you know obvious exceptions. 00:23:54.160 --> 00:24:04.720 And there's times when we're working hard and we're providing extra value and assume extra responsibility, and perhaps whoever we're working for is busy, doesn't notice it or whatever. 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:15.440 And it's uh totally appropriate to pray and ask God for favor and then go say, hey, I'm doing all these things, you know, maybe would you think about paying me uh more? 00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:23.759 But in general, we should aspire to be uh underpaid, because no one gets raises in advance. 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:30.000 This might be helpful even for the younger people as we're starting careers, but you just don't get a raise in advance. 00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:46.079 What happens is we start and we go above and beyond and we work harder than it's expected, and we provide more value than it's expected, and then eventually someone notices and then raises our income up to that level, and then it starts all over again. 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:58.559 You know, and it never, at least shouldn't it work the opposite way, where our boss comes to us and says, you know, I know you're not working very hard, but I'm gonna give you a big raise. 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:02.400 And what I need is for you to really step it up, you know. 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:09.200 Need you to work harder and assume extra responsibility and go above and uh beyond. 00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:12.640 Um it just doesn't uh it just doesn't happen. 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:13.279 So it's good. 00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:14.799 We shouldn't get it really even upset. 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:20.720 What you know, this is going back to Jesus saying, what should you be jealous of what someone else makes? 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:35.440 Uh is that it'll all work out over time as long as we're working with a great attitude and really serving the people that give us the opportunity to provide for ourselves and our families. 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:44.160 You know, here I'm not paid, uh which is great because we're all volunteers, and uh it's just an awesome um thing. 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:56.720 In our company, we've got several owners, and I own the larger percentage, and we've got 65 people, and off the top of my head, there's at least 12 people that make more than I do. 00:25:57.440 --> 00:26:06.319 And I'm thrilled because the company is growing and people are successful and are getting more opportunities. 00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:11.359 And by experience, I know that over time, you know, it all uh it all works out. 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:22.319 And that's a small point, but it is something specifically Jesus is teaching, and he's specifically talking about uh employees and work and careers and those types of things. 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:25.759 So we don't want to miss the practical point. 00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:35.759 Should we be jealous uh because God uh blesses someone else, or should we be jealous if our employer pays someone else differently? 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:41.039 But that's not the main point, or definitely not the uh profound point. 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:49.599 Uh the bigger point is easy to see because uh Jesus uh starts and finishes the story in the exact same way, or almost the same way. 00:26:49.680 --> 00:26:50.799 It's kind of bookends. 00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:55.119 There's a verse right before the story, and there's a verse uh immediately after the story. 00:26:55.359 --> 00:26:57.920 The verse right before the story is Matthew 19, 30. 00:26:58.000 --> 00:27:05.759 It says, 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. 00:27:06.720 --> 00:27:08.480 And then the verse right after the story. 00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:14.319 So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last. 00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:32.720 And so we've all heard that, and it might seem a little cliche in a way to us, but it wouldn't have been cliche to his followers, this group that's gathered around Jesus, you know, that he is is talking to and telling this story. 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:39.680 It wouldn't be cliche because they knew the point of the story. 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:45.440 That they were the workers that started at five. 00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:56.400 The seemingly unwanted, the least important, you know, the the ones that wouldn't have been the obvious choice, the last. 00:27:56.559 --> 00:27:59.759 They weren't admired by the religious crowd, his followers. 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:03.359 In fact, they were scolded, they were looked down on. 00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:08.319 They were the least likely, the least and the last. 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:12.319 There wasn't a theologian or seminary student amongst them. 00:28:12.559 --> 00:28:14.319 And we know who Jesus' followers were. 00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:25.920 In Mark 2, 15, it says, Later Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. 00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:30.960 There were many people of this kind among Jesus' followers. 00:28:31.519 --> 00:28:41.759 In Matthew 21, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees, and he says, For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn't believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:51.440 Jesus wasn't even saying that his followers didn't fit into the world, into the current culture, because they actually did. 00:28:51.680 --> 00:28:57.119 I mean, Matthew was wealthy, he had uh a position of uh great authority. 00:28:57.279 --> 00:29:00.319 Luke was a doctor, Peter was a small business owner. 00:29:00.559 --> 00:29:05.839 You know, where they didn't fit in was the church crowd, the religious establishment. 00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:16.799 Every one of them would have been disqualified from the club because they had a past, they made some high-profile mistakes, uh, they were all definitely still in process. 00:29:16.880 --> 00:29:22.000 I mean, they didn't even know all the man-made religious rules of the day. 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:25.759 They were the ones coming late to the party. 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:33.440 They were the least likely in the eyes of people, but not in the eyes of God. 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:46.559 And so this parable, the shocking, interesting twist is when the vineyard owner is kind and generous and interested in them. 00:29:49.200 --> 00:29:56.960 The last thing that John writes in the book of John, it's John 21, 25, it says, Jesus also did many other things. 00:29:57.200 --> 00:30:02.079 If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written. 00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:21.279 And so of all the things that Jesus did and taught and said to his followers that could have been preserved for us, why would the Holy Spirit choose to include this particular story? 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:28.720 It's because we too are the workers that started at five. 00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:32.880 You know, it's okay if we're not the obvious. 00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:35.200 It's okay if we have a past. 00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:41.200 It's okay if we're in a process, or maybe if we came late to the party. 00:30:41.519 --> 00:30:43.200 But God owns the place. 00:30:44.400 --> 00:30:45.599 He owns the place. 00:30:45.920 --> 00:30:51.440 And he's loving and he's generous, and he's interested in us. 00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:55.200 And it's even bigger than that. 00:30:55.519 --> 00:31:04.960 You know, Jesus' story, the first group that came labored in the heat of the day for an agreed-upon wage. 00:31:06.799 --> 00:31:16.480 God's original kid kids, the Jewish people, labored under an agreement called the old law. 00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:23.279 You know, in the garden, Adam and Eve had an opportunity for a life-giving relationship with God. 00:31:23.680 --> 00:31:30.000 But instead, they chose the rules, the knowledge of good and evil, and we got the law. 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:42.559 You know, uh Paul said uh or or called laboring under the law, laboring under the tyranny of the law. 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:55.440 Yet we, like the other workers in the story, get to operate on faith and on trust and knowing that there's a generous owner. 00:31:55.839 --> 00:31:59.920 We get to work in the relative cool of the early evening. 00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:02.480 You know, we get to have a relationship with God. 00:32:02.559 --> 00:32:04.240 We get to live in freedom. 00:32:04.480 --> 00:32:18.559 You know, we get to enjoy the uh the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, you know, with love as our rule, with Jesus as our Savior and our example and and even our friend. 00:32:20.079 --> 00:32:25.680 And yet our reward is great, greater than we could ever even imagine. 00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:29.200 It's because God owns the vineyard. 00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:37.279 And with him, sometimes the least and the last get to be first. 00:32:38.960 --> 00:32:39.759 Like us. 00:32:41.039 --> 00:32:45.599 And so Jesus told the greatest, you know, most well-known stories of all time. 00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:56.960 Sometimes the stories, a lot of times really, they would teach, they might correct, they might uh challenge, but this story is simply a promise. 00:32:57.440 --> 00:33:04.160 It's a promise to this group of followers that were gathered around Jesus, and it's a promise to each of us. 00:33:04.640 --> 00:33:11.839 You know, us, the other workers that started at five and get blown away by God's love and his generosity. 00:33:12.559 --> 00:33:14.000 And so we'll stop there. 00:33:14.079 --> 00:33:18.720 Uh, if the worship team will come up, we'll get to sing one more song uh together. 00:33:19.359 --> 00:33:22.079 Let's stand and we'll get ready for that song. 00:33:30.400 --> 00:33:37.119 You know, religion and people, just I guess by our nature, we try, we make things so complicated. 00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:41.440 And sometimes we make it seem so difficult to have a relationship with God. 00:33:41.519 --> 00:33:44.559 And one thing Jesus always did is tried to make it simple. 00:33:44.799 --> 00:33:52.640 He spoke in the simplest language of the time, he told simple stories so everyone would be able to understand. 00:33:52.720 --> 00:33:59.759 And one thing that is simple is coming into a life-giving relationship with God. 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:17.679 I mean, there's not an aisle to walk, there's not even a prayer to repeat, uh, definitely nothing to get notarized, but it's just in our own words, in our own way, you know, being the workers that put their trust, put their faith in our generous God. 00:34:18.159 --> 00:34:20.159 And we can do it in our own words, in our own way. 00:34:20.239 --> 00:34:23.760 And it's going to be different for all of us depending on where we're at. 00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:25.280 It could be Jesus, I need you. 00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:26.719 Jesus, please save me. 00:34:26.880 --> 00:34:28.239 Jesus, please help me. 00:34:28.719 --> 00:34:30.000 Jesus, I want to follow you. 00:34:30.159 --> 00:34:32.480 Jesus, I want to live my life with you. 00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:44.159 And talking about profound truths, one of the most profound truths ever is that each of us is created in the very image of God with great value. 00:34:44.719 --> 00:34:47.039 And part of that is like God, we have a spirit. 00:34:47.119 --> 00:34:56.480 And so when we put our trust in Jesus, that relationship, we come back in relationship, and that comes alive, and our spirit comes alive. 00:34:56.800 --> 00:35:05.840 And then God starts doing the heavy lifting, and God starts changing us from the inside out, and then everything around us begins to change. 00:35:05.920 --> 00:35:10.719 And if you've never done that today, it could be the greatest day of your life. 00:35:11.039 --> 00:35:12.480 So let's uh pray. 00:35:12.800 --> 00:35:22.719 Father, we thank you for being such a great God uh and for loving us and adopting us as our own kids and being so kind and generous and blessing uh each of us. 00:35:22.960 --> 00:35:31.199 And Jesus, we thank you so much for for uh telling these stories and and then saving them uh to teach us. 00:35:31.760 --> 00:35:34.400 We thank you for being our Savior and our friend. 00:35:34.639 --> 00:35:39.199 And God, there's so many of us here this morning, and we all have different things going on in our lives. 00:35:39.360 --> 00:35:45.119 I just ask you to bless each of us this week uh with whatever it is we need from you. 00:35:45.199 --> 00:35:47.760 And we thank you and we trust you in Jesus' great name. 00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:48.400 Amen.