There wasn't a sermon summary last week because I recycled an old one. Sometimes I do that just to save time. As it turned out last week, the Holy Spirit didn't give me the sermon I wanted because sermon I ended up preaching was the right one.
But that was last week. Here's what I said this week:
After Jesus told the rich young ruler that he needed to leave everything behind and follow him (Matt. 19:16-26), Peter was wondering if he was going to have to spend the rest of his life in poverty or what? Jesus reassured him that eternal life in Heaven would be more than worth the hardships here on Earth. Then Jesus stated a fundamental principle of His upside-down kingdom "Many who are first will be last, and the last, first" (Matt. 19:30).
Then Jesus told the story of the day laborers (Matt. 20:1-16). Basically, a land owner hires day laborers to work in his vineyard. He hires some at 6:00, some at 9:00, some at 12:00, some at 3:00, and some at 6:00; but at the end of the day he pays the all the same wage. Of course, the ones who started at 6:00 were ripped that they didn't get more.
There's two main messages in this story as I see it. (1) People in the church who we think of as out front and huge Christians are actually not as important as people who seem to be doing small things. It's actually those small things that are the greatest.
(2) For those who are still standing around waiting for work, God has a place for you to contribute. This is actually a critical component of having a relationship with God. We show love back to God by following the example of Jesus and showing love to others. This is the "work" that God gives us, and He's the best boss on the planet (Matt. 11:28-30).
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