Who Is Keeping Score?

Theme: Time Management

Introduction to Theme:

Benjamin Franklin said, “Do you love life? Then do not squander time, for

that’s the stuff that life is made of.”

The world we live in knows the importance of Time Management but where they miss the mark is on what they prioritize - which usually is some of following financial success, fame and power. The Bible also speaks about Time Management but God through His Word prioritizes things differently than our world. His big three in regards to Time Management are faith in Him, fellowship with Him and others and sharing your story with others.

God want us to use our precious time wisely and not foolishly and we use it wisely by investing it in eternal things rather than temporal things. The goal of time management according to Jesus and His parables is to use your time wisely and not waste it on the wrong thing. We need to be focused on the Kingdom of Heaven/The Kingdom of God. We need to build on its foundation the rock which is Jesus.

So what is effective time management according to Jesus? Paul answers that question for us in Colossians 3: 23-24: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Series: Short Stories – Giant Ideas – Jesus Parables!

Introduction to series:

A Bible Parable is, "a short, simple story designed to communicate a spiritual truth or a religious principle, or it could communicate a moral lesson; it’s also a figure of speech in which truth is illustrated by a comparison or example drawn from everyday experiences" (Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Nelson Pub., 1995, p.943).

Jesus’ Parables illustrate spiritual truths and teach principles of eternal life in the here and now. His Spiritual truths and life principles are for the most part invisible and abstract, so He used parables to give them a graphic presence to the ones listening to them, but the key to a parable is applying it to the hearer's life. (Adapted from Nelson's, p.943).

Jesus' Parables also intentionally hide truth from the Hypocrites - the religious teachers of the day. He used the teaching method of parables to hide certain teachings from the hypocrites so as to keep them in check and from going completely off on Him before His time (see Luke 8:9-10 NIV).

The Hebrew and Aramaic word for parable also means "a riddle." I don’t know about you but when I decide to figure something’s meaning out I have a tendency to remember it more- how about you? Jesus spoke like this to see who really was hungry for the truth if they did not understand then Jesus would explain later the meaning of the Parable.

Sermon 2: Who is Keeping Score?

Matthew 20:1-16: The workers in the Vineyard

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. 2He 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. 4He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5So they went. “He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6About 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. 10So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11When 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? 14Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15Don’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.”