Who’s on First
Matthew 19:28-20:16
Matthew 19:28-20:16
28 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.
30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
CHAPTER 20
1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard.
2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 "About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.
4 He told them, ’You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’
5 So they went. "He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.
6 About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ’Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 "’Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. "He said to them, ’You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 "When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ’Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
9 "The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius.
10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius.
11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.
12 ’These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ’and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 "But he answered one of them, ’Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius?
14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you.
15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 "So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
(NIV)
.
Who’s Really on First?
First of all, realize that there are
No perks
for being First!
Matthew 19:30
30 But many who are first will be last,
and many who are last will be first.
Do you remember what happened at Circuit City the day after Thanksgiving? There was a mad rush of people who wanted to be first to get cheap computer. Yet they wound up being last because the police ran them off. Their wait, some of them overnight in the cold, only left them out in the cold because they had to be first. Being there first does not always mean you’ll be first.
While Matthew, Mark, and Luke all include this saying of Jesus that the “first shall be last and the last shall be first”, only Matthew gives us the story Jesus told. It is a story of unfairness from one perspective and absolute justice from another.
It is a matter of Perspective!
God’s Perspective:
God is Just!
What did the master agree to pay the daylaborers he hired at the beginning of the day? A denarius. Did he pay them the agreed upon pay? Yes. What about those hired later in the day. He said he would pay them what was right. When the end of the day came and it was time to pay the workers, all got the same pay. How can that be fair?
God is JUST. He always works things from the perspective of JUSTICE, not from the perspective of FAIRNESS.
Be glad God is just! He does not make every person look alike, talk alike, think alike. If God had created us fairly, we would simply look like robots formed by mass production.
Be glad God treats us with justice and not fairness. If he treated us with fairness, then everyone would have to have the same experiences, the same problems, the same victories and the same defeats as everyone else. Justice says that although we are similar, we are not all the same. You have gone through some situations that I hope others never have to go through.
A battleship was sailing through the darkness of a foggy night. Suddenly a lookout on the bridge reported, "Light, bearing on the starboard bow." The captain inquired as to whether or not it was steady or moving astern.
"Steady, captain" came back the answer.
The captain growled to the signalman, "Signal that ship: We are on a collision course, advise you to change your course 20 degrees"
A moment later a response came: "Advise for you to change your course 20 degrees."
The captain became furious. He spat out, "Send, ’Change your course 20 degrees. I’m a battleship.’"
Came back the signal, "I’m a lighthouse!"
Who’s on First? Who would you rather have in charge of the payoff at the end of your days?
2 Timothy 2:19
19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."
Our Perspective:
It is not about who you are,
but about whose you are!
Never lose that perspective! Sad to say but the “twelve tribes of Isreal” did. They thought they had it made because of who their “daddy” was. Jesus said:
John 8:39, 44
"Abraham is our father," they answered.
"If you were Abraham’s children," said Jesus, "then you would do the things Abraham did. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire.”
Do you know to whom you belong? Have you allowed that relationship to whither and die or is it fresh and alive? Jesus reminds us here in this parable that
It is a matter of
Priority
God’s Priority:
1) His Plans…
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV)
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the school’s students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all that attended.
After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question. "Everything God does is done with perfection. Yet, my son Shay cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.
Where is God’s plan reflected in my son?" The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. "I believe," the father answered, "that when God brings a child like Shay into the world, an opportunity to realize the Divine Plan presents itself and it comes in the way people treat that child."
Then, he told the following story:
Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball Shay asked, "Do you think they will let me play?" Shay’s father knew that the boys would not want him on their team. But the father understood that if his son were allowed to play it would give him much-needed sense of belonging. Shay’s father approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said, "We are losing by six runs, and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning."
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. At the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the outfield. Although no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay’s team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base. Shay was scheduled to be the next at-bat. Would the team actually let Shay bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least be able to make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have ended the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman. Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first, run to first" Never in his life had Shay ever made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, "run to second, run to second!" By the time Shay was rounding first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman for a tag. But the right fielder understood what the pitcher’s intentions had been, so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman’s head. Shay ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home.
As Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "run to third!" As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams were screaming, "Shay Run home!" Shay ran home, stepped on home plate and was cheered as the hero for hitting a "grand slam" and winning the game for his team. "That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of the Divine Plan into this world."
and
2) His ¬People!
1 Peter 2:9-10
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Our priority:
Keeping Him first
in our lives!
