Is life a comedy or a tragedy? Are we the hero or the victim? Or maybe the villain? Is the world descending into chaos and dystopia or are we on a path of ever-increasing prosperity and progress? The stories we tell orient us to our place in the world and our role in the story.
The Bible tells the story of a loving God and a messy people. There is a beginning and an end. Major themes of creation, redemption, and sanctification trace the arc of this grand narrative. And Jesus Christ is the center of it all – the great hero of the story who comes incognito to rescue and redeem his broken creation.
Invocation
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation
“You have made us for Yourself. And our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” (Augustine)
Creator of all things, hear my voice, for you have made it. You who live in heaven, hear my prayer from earth. I am one person in one little town in one corner of your vast creation. Of all the people on the planet, hear me also. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Confession
O God, in the beginning you made us good, even “very good.” I admit the many things in my life that are far from your good intent. I try to change, and then find myself in the same place once again. Lord, you know me. Have mercy. Make me right. Forgive my wickedness. Bring me back to good, as you intended from the beginning. Amen.
Word: Matthew 20:1
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.”
Meditation: A God who Lives for the Benefit of Others by Pastor Nathan Schultz
I have a friend who writes insufferable “productivity,” or “life hack,” books. I don’t mind if he hears this. He knows what I think of his work, and, yet, we are friends. You might be familiar with the genre. A guru of sorts writes on a business or life principle promising to improve your work life, maybe even daily life. His publisher has him on a tight schedule year after year. When the book is set to release, he does podcast interviews ad nauseam. The frequency of his tweets increase assuming someone out there in the ether of the internet is listening.
It hit him at some point in his 30s just how solitary his work was becoming. “What am I giving to the world?” Maybe the books he writes do help someone struggling to make sense of daily life. But he has a nagging question as he ages. Am I building a business or a platform? Can I care for employees? Am I able to create something that creates meaning beyond myself?
There are business owners who think of only themselves and how they can get ahead. They create a solitary world for themselves in which they might find “success”. These bosses toil and climb for their own self-satisfaction. As they scale up, they place manager after manager between them and the workers. After all, running such an enterprise means you have achieved some sense of success. You can’t be bothered with those below you.
Jesus tells us stories to help us better understand the Kingdom of God. In some way, these stories help me make sense of who God is and what he does.
This story starts to tell us what the “kingdom of heaven” is like. Enter the main character, the master. This master shows us who God is, and just how good he might be.
The story starts simply. A master, who surely could have sent the managers below him, who buffer him from dealing with the low wage workers, goes out to hire the workers himself. He finds day laborers in need of work, and the master is happy to hire. He goes to the Home Depot of the first century and picks up workers to head into the fields.
He hires them for his own benefit, but also for their benefit. The men had waited long under the sun, uncertain what the day might bring. But the master’s offer to work brings dignity, just as the lack of work causes us to question our very existence and purpose.
In this simple dynamic God shows himself to us. There is no far off and away gap between us and this God. He does not create or build to justify himself. God is not a solitary being who orchestrates the world from on high, but is somehow most beautifully intertwined with every part of human life. He is a boss who refuses to serve himself, but knows he is the one to love and care for all those below him.
Dear Lord, thank you for revealing yourself to us in your Word, using stories we can understand. Thank you also for being a part of our lives and showing us how to be servant leaders.
Benediction
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Rom. 11:33,36))