My Daily Pause

The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard – 1637 – Rembrandt (1606–1669)

Did you ever notice the order the vineyard master paid his laborers? I know you have read it, but did you really notice how he did it? (Matthew 20:8) When we read about the laborers in the vineyard, (Matthew 20:1-16) we see the early arrivers make a firm deal with the master. The people that came later leave it up to the master to pay them what he would.

What did the master have in mind when he paid the latecomers first – right in plain sight of the early arrivers?

The chapter 20 break gets in the way of the flow of the conversation here, but the group is still in a discussion about rewards from chapter 19. The disciples still had a lot to learn about the grace of God and just what it was they were laboring for.

If you felt a little pang of unfairness when you read the text, you are probably not alone. Our earthly lives teach us that we are supposed to get a day’s pay for a day’s work, but Jesus is warning us here that following him requires a new way of thinking. The old way of thinking creates the kind of Christian that…

• Has been going to church all their life and is somehow more spiritual
• Has been a member of a congregation since its beginning and has more authority than the new members
• Gets angry when one clearly qualified becomes an elder or deacon when they haven’t “been around as long”

Jesus shed light on the contrasts of a bitter and petty laborer and one that put his trust in the master. We should use that same light to examine ourselves. Jesus’ goal for his church is that it operate as a smooth unit, one member just as important as the next. We are all trying to get to heaven, and we all need to be available to help others get there too.

What will you do this year to help a newcomer fit in?

Christ and the Rich Young Ruler – 1889 – Heinrich Hofmann (1824–1911)

If the Bible doesn’t mention money more than any other subject, it certainly addresses it more than most other things that affect our spirituality:

• You cannot serve God and money (Matthew 6:24)
• She gave out of her poverty (Mark 12:41-44)
• Be content with your pay (Luke 3:14)
• Count the cost (Luke 14:28)
• Your money perish with you! (Acts 8:20)
• The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10)

… and lots more!

The rich young man found out that his money was going to block his access to eternal life. (Matthew 19:16-30) Notice that Jesus never said that having the money is what going to keep him out of the kingdom of God. What made entry impossible for the young man was his attachment to the wealth.

Prioritizing money is not just a problem for those that have gained excessive financial wealth. (I’ll leave it to you to define that.) It can be just as much of a hindrance for those of us with modest means and even those without enough. There is plenty that can be said about How to Get Rich and How to Get Enough, but Jesus made it pretty simple: you can’t be with God if he is not your priority! (Matthew 19:25-26)

What are some ways you can improve your money handling that glorifies God?

Parable of the Wicked Servant – ca. 1620 – Domenico Fetti (1588–1623)

I love how beautifully The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant sums up how important mercy and being merciful is in our relationship with God. (Matthew 18:21-35)

The sum owed by the servant was several times more than the annual revenue of most of governments at the time, so hopefully the listener was shocked into realizing how hopeless his own case is and how forgiving God is.

If you haven’t already, read the passage and look at how this parable is a parallel to our own salvation:

• We are all servants of God
• The unredeemed servants have a debt that cannot be repaid
• Unredeemed servants fool themselves into thinking they have plenty of time to repay the debt
• God’s grace is given to his servants without any merit on their part
• A servant’s failure to act in the same way towards others will cause him to fall
• God’s mercy is 100% revocable if we do not become – and remain – merciful and godly people

Having forgiveness for others might be tough for us sometimes, but we know that Christ went through a pretty tough time for our own redemption.

What was the last situation where you needed to be more merciful to someone?

Temptation of Christ – 16th Century – Simon Bening (circa 1483/1484–1561)

Temptations are a part of life.

The Bible uses the word “temptations” either as “lures to sin” or “trials and tribulations”. For now I want to concentrate on the things that lure us into sinning.

Jesus taught us how to deal with temptation in short fashion:

“If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away…” – Matthew 18:8

When Jesus addressed our temptations to sin in Matthew 18:7-9, he didn’t leave a lot to the imagination, and he didn’t leave a lot of wiggle room to make excuses. For Jesus to use such a strong metaphor for dealing with the temptations in our lives, he meant for us to get drastic. He meant for us to remove the things that tempt us most in our lives – and remove them in a way that can’t be undone!

Let’s think just a minute on the major sources of temptations:

• Our workplaces
• Our family
• Our friends
• Our hobbies
• Our habits

It is relatively easy to talk about giving up a hobby or changing a habit but …

What about changing who you call your best friend?

What about quitting your job?

What about cutting off a close relative?

These sources of temptations are the ones that we usually give each other leeway on when they are causing us trouble. But …

Should I really suggest that you find another job because it is keeping you out of church too much?

What Jesus says in Matthew 18:7-9 makes me think so.

I understand that we will never have complete control over the environment we live in, but we can certainly remove a large number of opportunities to sin. Sometimes only one or two changes is all we need to remove most of the temptation from our daily routine.

Personal challenge: What can you change in your life to remove a recurring temptation that you face?

Woe unto You, Scribes and Pharisees – between 1886 and 1894 – James Tissot (1836–1902)

The idea of “leaven” is used in both good and bad ways in the New Testament, but it is most often used like it is in Matthew 16:5-12 where Jesus discusses the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

The two groups had formed a powerful and loud opposition to Jesus. Despite his miracles, teachings and the fulfilled, they were failing to recognize (or at least acknowledge) that Christ could possibly be the Messiah. They were making sure they kept doubt and denials fresh in the people’s minds. They attempted to discredit him by saying things like:

• Elijah had not come
• His signs were of the devil
• He sinned against Jewish traditions
• He violated the Sabbath
• He ate with sinners
• He was a glutton and drunk

This campaign against Jesus is a lot like what is still going on. People have placed themselves above following Christ’s simple gospel and are working overtime to get the masses to accept sin. They even approach it as if there is some moral imperative to be tolerant of even sinful behavior.

The points we can make from this event are a lot like what I posted in the No Longer Silent article – We have to be aware of those that are undermining the gospel. Just like the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, the leaven of the liberal and sinful world will slowly consume “the whole lump”. We cannot remain silent or fail to take action when we see it in action.

Here is how we defend Christ against this so called leaven entering into the attitudes of Christians:

• Know why certain behaviors are sinful
• Know how to properly reference the Bible context that make an action sinful
• Know the tricks they use to wrest the Scriptures’ meaning

What are some current issues for which you need to be better informed? (Both in scripture and the dissenting viewpoints)