Title: Living by Grace / Matthew 20:1~16
Content Living by Grace / Matthew 20:1~16
It feels really good to be chosen. At the beginning of this year, weavers gathered at the church to play yut. The last event was a lucky draw. All the winners liked it. I also used a water soap. It felt good. What everyone liked was that I was chosen. However, after seeing the other alumni for a while and receiving something better than me, I was struggling to manage their facial expressions when I saw the first riders. This is the human mind. Humans want to be treated more special than others.
Jesus speaks of heaven through the parable of the vineyard. Heaven does not go through our efforts, but by grace. Heaven does not have any standards of action. It is God's absolute love. Jesus' parables are many parables of life. The lilies of the field, the birds of the air, the harvest, the wind, the parable of the sowing, etc. These were spoken for people at eye level. From this too, we can see how much Jesus loves people. Today, we are talking about the kingdom of heaven through the parable of the owner and the laborers who own a vineyard.
The owner of the vineyard needed a laborer, so he set a denarius for a day's wages and sent several laborers into the vineyard. The daily wage is one denarius, which is about 60,000 won these days. Those who entered the vineyard were chosen among many job seekers. It feels good to be chosen. If we go to the labor market early in the morning, we can quickly recognize this atmosphere. It is still dark, but daily workers come out to warm the fire. Those who need workers, each take the workers they need.
Those with experience in that field and those who want to do well are selected. The chosen go together with great joy, but the faces of those who remain grow increasingly anxious. If you study today, it will be difficult to make a living tomorrow. It is especially difficult for those who have children. When there is a lot of work, he or she chooses it, but when there is no work, if anyone can give him a job, he is simply grateful.
The owner also went to the job market at 9 in the morning. People were playing. The owner tells them that I will pay for the wages, so you too should go into the vineyard and work. They entered the vineyard with joy. Even at 12 o'clock I gave some jobs to some people hanging out in the market. I did the same at 3pm. Somehow, the owner of the vineyard gave jobs to the laborers who were playing in the market even at 5pm. Until 12 o'clock it makes sense to some extent.
But 3pm doesn't make sense. They only work 3 hours. It is questionable how long they will work, and it is difficult to calculate the wages. But what about 5 PM? Those who have done day labor know this. If you are selected, go to work, wear work clothes, and put on gloves, it is an hour. But somehow, the owner tells them to go in and work. This is the grace that the master bestows on the servants.
At the end of the day, the wages are calculated, and those who come later are paid wages. At 5 pm, I received 60,000 won, at 3 pm, and at 9 am, I received 60,000 won. The laborers who worked early in the morning were expected to receive more. But he only gave him six thousand won. They were upset. People want to be treated more special than others. If that doesn't happen, I'm sorry. get angry “Are you giving a denarius to a guy who only wears gloves and a denarius to me who worked hard all day? Isn’t this too much?” He couldn't stand the fact that he gave the same to himself. I can't stand treating myself and other people together. If others had received about 6,000 won, they would not have resented the owner like this.
All humans live in good taste. So you think you are better than others. It is said that even if they buy clothes, they find out how many were produced and buy them. When someone else is better than me, I get hungry. They don't want to acknowledge others. Each of us is a child purchased with the price of God's blood. Just as fingerprints are different, each of us is different. Let's not be bruised by the relative evaluation. Let's absolutely rate it. Everyone is precious. Let's not look at other people's bread and complain that our own bread is small. God is generous.
It is the master's heart to choose a worker and give him wages. There is the master's love and there is grace. Even though it may seem unworthy to humans, God loves him, heals him, and uses him. This is God's grace. You can't complain about what God is doing, the Lord of life. It's just 'Amen'. The master did not give the workers an hour's wage instead of a day's wage. The owner did not deceive them. Even the workers who worked all day received them as promised. The cause of the dissatisfaction lies in the extreme wages. They could not understand a master who paid the same wages for a day to those who worked only an hour.
Many think that the owners here are unfair. What do you think? Do you think the owner is unfair? If God thinks it is unfair, it is because he thinks that he is not a chosen laborer at sunset, but those who labor all day in the sweltering heat. I consider myself to be a responsible and competent laborer. This is an illusion. Pride. It's a stupid idea. The owner kept his promise. The owner is a generous person. A master is a person who knows grace. They found it difficult to make a living if they didn't have a denarius. So it was given. However, he resents the owner. The owner said, “Take yours and go.” “Know your subject!” This is it.
“We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that it may be known that the exceeding greatness of power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). We need to know ourselves. Who are we? We are all earthenware. Soil. Dust. But people say he's good. I'm sorry. If the earthenware is good, how good is it? It's not the container that matters, it's what you put in it. If you put shit in it, it's shit. If you store precious metals, it becomes a jewelry box. It smells different depending on what you put in the bowl. If you include greed, jealousy, hate, anger, etc., you get a fishy smell. If you put the gospel, prayer, the Word, service, and the life of light and salt, you can smell the fragrance of Christ.
Beloved young people! Let's put the treasure in my earthenware. It doesn't really matter what kind of vessel I am. It matters what you contain. You must carry the treasure. We must contain the treasure of Christ. We must contain the power of God the Holy Spirit. The owner is a good man. The owner did not show favoritism or break promises. Everyone received their wages. Still, I regret not giving more. Giving more is the heart of the owner. It is grace that the master gives more to the unqualified. What the master gave is a gift, not a wage. It's not a reward, it's a blessing.
Although we live in God's grace, we live without grace toward our neighbors. Rather, it is selfish. Tolerant of self and strict with others. We always carry two scales with us. Tolerant to me, I carry a very strict scale with others. If I do it, it's okay, if someone else does it, I'll kill him, if I do it, it's a joke, if someone else does it, it's terrible. This is without grace.
Everyone! Can we live a single day without God's grace? Rice can survive 40 days of starvation. But a child of God cannot live without grace for a day. It is the heart of a father and the love of God to hold a feast for the poor child who has corrupted the family's honor. However, there is an older son who tears his eyes out of the house and complains about it. There is an ugly disobedient who resents his father's generous love. You must repent.
Grace is priceless to the one who receives it, but to the one who gives, all that he has belongs to him. Jesus was punished for our mistakes. This is grace. When Jesus said ‘that he loves me’, he refers to the love of the Lord who gave his all. This is not the cheap stuff that people in the world usually do. holy word. So when I sing hymn 411, I am moved. We are weak, but Jesus' authority is great. The weaker I am, the more Jesus loves me. As long as you live, you are with me, and on the day you leave, you make me a citizen of the kingdom of heaven, so what could be better than this? Let's praise the Lord for the days of our lives now. With your lips, with your body, with your life... … .