Title Let's Wait with Hope (Matthew 20:1~16)
Contents
Everyone who came to our Sinchon Church! Welcome. I love you ♡(…) I hope you all have a good relationship with Sinchon Church and have an encounter with God. A vineyard farm owner comes to the labor market and hires workers. The owner of the vineyard promised to pay 1 denarius a day and sent a worker to the vineyard at the first hour. At the 3rd o'clock, the 6th o'clock, and even at 11 o'clock an hour before sunset, he went out and sent the laborers to the vineyard. But strangely, I called the last person and gave me 1 denarius.(…) The person who arrived on time also received 1 denarius. Then they complain and complain. It is a stomach ache for the late arrivals to receive the same.(…) What we are interested in is why we give preference to latecomers rather than those who work in the morning.
Why is the vineyard owner friendly to the late comer?
Because I am a person who waits with hope.(…) Most people went home disappointed. However, there was a person who did not give up hope and waited until the sun went down until 11 o'clock. That's what caught the eye of the vineyard owner. A person who waits for the sun to go down is a sincere person, a hard worker. Those who have waited until the end are so precious. God blesses those who do not despair until the very end.
These words make those who wait realize the truth.
(…) It is not the amount of service that is important to God, but the person who serves. Before God, all servants are treated with value. This parable makes us realize that all that God gives is grace.(…) God gives us because of his goodness and kindness. What God gives is a gift, not a wage, and it is God's grace, not a reward.
spirit of waiting with hope
Today's text instructs us, "The value of labor is determined by the spirit of labor." Those who come early work for pay. But the person who comes in late is the one who can be thankful “if he can do his job.” The wages of those who arrive late are entirely up to the owner's decision. Therefore, there is gratitude and there is emotion. Our concern lies in the joy of working, the joy of serving God, and the rewarding of serving our neighbors.(…) In the kingdom of heaven, the poor can become great. Because he is not interested in pay, but in the joy of working and serving. Those who hope for a reward will lose it, and those who forget it will find reward and joy. This is the blessing of those who wait with hope. Amen.