By Guest Columnist Spencer Sullivan, Pastor, Pelahatchie Baptist
This may seem a bit odd coming from a Southern Baptist pastor, but I love visiting wineries and vineyards. To be clear, I haven’t been to very many. But, our family formerly lived on the island of Cyprus for 7 years and though it is a small country, it is home to several vineyards, which produce local wines. Just a couple of months ago, we were in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina for a wedding, and we were able to visit a vineyard there as well. The vineyards I’ve had the pleasure of visiting are beautiful places. There are rows and rows of grape vines growing across terraced hills as far as you can see. It’s a breathtaking sight. But, as I take in the beauty of all that I see, I begin to consider the manpower and hard work that is behind it all. It must take loads of hardworking people to build and nurture these vineyards which produce the beautiful grape vines.
One day, Jesus told a story and a vineyard happened to be the setting. I encourage you to take a few moments to read it. You can find it at the beginning of Matthew 20. In this story, the owner of the vineyard went into town to hire workers 5 different times over the course of a day. In our time living in the Middle East, I can remember each city having a specific location where day laborers would gather and wait, tools in hand, ready to be hired for a job. This was obviously a common scene in Jesus’ day as well. The owner first went out early in the morning. For the first group he hired, he agreed with each worker for a denarius for the day’s work. A denarius was the daily wage for a soldier. A day laborer never would have expected this much, which communicates that the owner was quite generous. Each of the subsequent 4 times he went out to hire workers, he told them: “You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.” At the end of the day, he instructed his foreman to deliver the wages to each worker, starting with those that were hired on last. Each were given a denarius, which of course, was the original amount agreed upon with the first group of workers. Therefore, when the first workers saw the amount, they got really excited. Of course, you know what they were thinking: if those guys got a denarius, how much are we going to get? Yet, when the foreman paid out all the wages, they all got the same amount: 1 denarius. Clearly, this frustrated those who had been hired first. Why? Because they didn’t think the owner had been “fair”. They had worked for far longer, but got the same amount as those that worked less. Let’s be honest. How would you have responded? My guess is we all would have been a bit salty. We’re conditioned to think a certain way about what’s fair and what’s not. But listen again to the owner’s response: “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?”
In Jesus’ story, the owner of the vineyard is God. The vineyard is the Kingdom of God. The workers are believers. And finally, the denarius is the gift of eternal life. There is a lot that we could take away from this story, including how we determine what is “fair” and “unfair”. But, if we really want God to be “fair”, then we would all eternally burn. Instead, consider this. God, out of His immeasurable generosity, gives the same abundant grace to everyone who follows Jesus. Some come to faith early in life and serve Him for a lifetime. Others turn to Him in their final moments, perhaps even after a life of rebellion. However, His grace is the same for all. This is a beautiful truth. The question is, have you believed and received His grace and the gift of eternal life? Don’t wait and take the chance on tomorrow. Receive His abundant grace and know the joy of the Lord today!
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