WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING AROUND?
Matthew 20:1-16
INTRODUCTION: In this story Christ draws attention to a familiar event in Palestine. The grapes in the vineyard ripened towards the end of September needing to be harvested before the rains came. Often a frantic race against time ensued, for if the harvest were not collected before the rains broke, then it would be ruined. Early in the morning, around 6:00 a.m., a grower called for workers to bring in the harvest and hired those who responded to his call. At 9:00 o’clock he noticed a number of men standing idly in the marketplace and hired them. Needing more workers he went again at 12:00 and 3:00 p.m. hiring additional laborers. At 5:00 p.m. only one hour before the end of the workday, the grower went out and found a number of individuals who were not working for anyone and asked the rebuking question, “Why stand ye here all day idle? They excuse themselves by stating that no man had hired them. They were only deceiving themselves. The reality was that they had chosen to be idle. The word that the landowner used to describe the condition of these men was argos which denotes "inactive, idle, unfruitful, barren, useless". There was great work to be done and they were just standing around. In a similar vein at the ascension of Christ the apostles stood looking into the sky into which the Lord ascended. When two messengers from God appear to them and ask, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?” (Acts 1:11) Now was not the time to stand around. Now was time to get to the great work at hand – to be kingdom builders in a lost world by harvesting souls through the great commission.
I. There is a great work that needs to be done.
A. Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. [19] Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: [20] Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
B. The Christian is called upon to be the partner of God in the work of the conversion of men. – William Barclay (1907-1978)
C. The task is Great - Luke 10:2 “Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest.”
D. It is Urgent - John 4:35 “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then comes harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”
E. The workers are few - Matthew 9:37-38 “Then said he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; [38] Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.”
II. There is a desperate need for laborers in the work.
A. Matthew 9:38 “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.”
B. Consider the fact that the excuse the men in our opening text gave was that no man hired them. They knew there was work that had to be done. They knew that there was urgency to the work. Because of the impending rains. They knew that hiring was taking place. But because no man came up to them and personally gave them a job to do they stood around all day doing nothing.
C. There are Christians who are aware of the great work that needs to be accomplished in the church and in the world. They are aware that men, women, boys and girls are dying without Jesus Christ. They are aware of the need to disciple believers and to build Christ’s kingdom. They are aware of the need for Sunday School teachers, Youth Workers, Children’s Ministry Workers, Soul Winners, Personal Workers, Visitation Workers, Counselors, Pray Warriors, Musicians, Singers, Senior Ministry Workers, Shut-in Ministry Workers, Maintenance Workers, Janitors, Ushers, Greeters, Mentors, Gardeners, Cooks, Painters, Cleaners, Deacons, Ministers, Missionaries, Nursing Home Ministry Workers, and a myriad of other positions and tasks to done in and through the church. But because the pastor or some other leader has not approached them personally and asked them to do a particular task they just stand around idly allowing the work to go undone.
D. Luke 19:13 “And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.”
E. The Christian’s place is on the front line, not on the sideline.
F. Christian service is not optional--it’s a command.
G. God didn’t call you into the vineyard to eat grapes but to get busy and work.
III. Idleness is devastating to the work and the workers
A. To the Idle Individual
1. Opens the individual to temptation
a. An idle person tempts the devil to tempt him. – Old Proverb
b. Spurgeon stated, “Some temptations come to the industrious, but all temptations attack the idle.”
2. Opens the individual to spiritual poverty
a. Proverbs 13:4 “The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.”
b. Proverbs 18:9 “He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.”
c. There is nothing more tragic in this world than a believer who is unemployed in Christ’s service, a Christian whose talents are idly rusting away. It is better to wear out than to rust out.
d. Unamuno, the Spanish philosopher, tells about the Roman aqueduct at Segovia, in his native Spain. It was built in 109 A.D. For eighteen hundred years, it carried cool water from the mountains to the hot and thirsty city. Nearly sixty generations of men drank from its flow. Then came another generation, a recent one, who said, “This aqueduct is so great a marvel that it ought to be preserved for our children, as a museum piece. We shall relieve it of its centuries-long labor.” They did; they laid modern iron pipes. They gave the ancient bricks and mortar a reverent rest. And the aqueduct began to fall apart. The sun beating on the dry mortar caused it to crumble. The bricks and stone sagged and threatened to fall. What ages of service could not destroy idleness disintegrated. – Resource, Sept./Oct., 1992, p. 4
3. Opens him or her to Christ’s rebuke
a. Luke 12:43 “Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he comes shall find so doing.”
b. Calvin did not like to waste a minute of his time. Even on his deathbed, his friends pleaded with him to refrain from his labors. He replied: “What! Would you have the Lord find me idle when he comes?” - “John Calvin,” Christian History, no. 12.
B. To the Church
1. Ephesians 4:11-13 “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; [12] For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: [13] Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:”
2. We are called to build up the church. Idle people do not build up the church; they tear it down.
3. Half-heartedness and mediocrity don’t inspire anybody to do anything. – Adrian Rogers in Leadership, Vol. 10, no. 3
4. Usually idleness results in turmoil.
a. Satan finds mischief for idle hands to do. - Arabian Proverb
b. Satan selects his helpers from the idle; Christ from those who are busy. - Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990).
c. 1 Timothy 5:13 “And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.”
d. 2 Thessalonians 3:11 “For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.”
5. Ecclesiastes 10:18 “By much slothfulness the building decays; and through idleness of the hands the house drops through.”
C. To the Work and the Message
1. If there were as many idle parts in an automobile as members of the Body of Christ, the automobile couldn’t run downhill.
2. The church has been given marching orders and a message to carry to a world speeding toward the storm clouds of judgment. If we do not go judgment will still come. But at what cost?
3. Ezekiel 3:18-20 “When I say unto the wicked, you shall surely die; and you give him not warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand. Yet if you warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered thy soul. Again, When a righteous man does turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.”
IV. There is no excuse for just standing around.
A. See the Need.
1. John 4:35 “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then comes harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”
2. Any worker was welcome, even if he could give only an hour to the work, regardless of one’s ability.
B. Hear the Call
1. “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.”
2. John 20:21 “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”
C. Report for work
1. Isaiah 6:8 “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here [am] I; send me.”
2. You are a tool in the hands of God. He demands your service, not your rest. Yet, how fortunate you are that he lets you take part in his work. - Ulrich Zwingli, in "Zwingli: Father of the Swiss Reformation," Christian History, no. 4.
Conclusion: This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Now Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody, when Nobody did what Anybody could have done and Everybody should have done! There is an important job to be done for Christ will you help us do it?
