Just For the Joy in Giving
Don't I have the right to do what I want
with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
Mt 20:16 “So the last will be
first, and the first will be last.” Matthew
20: 15-16
Do you remember the time when you saw something in a store or a kiosk
in some out the way place while on vacation?
You saw it and in a flash you knew it would be the PERFECT gift for
someone close to you. What's better was the surprise of finding it in a
place you didn't expect. Remember how you waited for the opportunity to
give the gift--maybe at Christmas or a birthday and how you could
hardly wait to see the expression on their face? And then when you gave
them the gift, the explosion of joy you all got from it?
If you have never had that kind of fun, buy a gift for someone and give
it to them totally unexpected. It will be as much fun for you as for
the person who receives it. I think this is at the bottom of what the
Bible means in "it is more blessed to give than receive." Because
giving, when it comes from joy is one of the great pleasures in life.
Jesus says that the day of judgment will also be a day of surprises.
Many who were thought to be "firsts" will be "lasts"
and many thought to be "lasts" will be "firsts"
And God seems to find great pleasure in taking people who were last and
making them first.
It is also a warning against spiritual pride of those who think they
have made great sacrifices and therefore ought to reap greater rewards
than others and who in subtle ways look down on others. There is peril
of great judgment, or at least of finding the tables turned in
surprising ways.
But it is also a parable in which God's nature shows through in the way
he loves to lift the poor and humble--the "lasts"-- to surprise them
with joy, to quote C.S. Lewis.
A landowner goes out at several times in the day to hire workers.
We know from the first that the day's wages are a denarius.
According to Barclay that is a good wage for a day-- the landowner pays
union rates. He is not a miser.
He hires at least three groups at various times including one group
right before the end of the day--mid or late afternoon.
The end of the day comes and all come to receive their pay. Those hired
last are paid first--a denarius.
When those who were hired first come and are also paid a denarius, they
grumble.
As a parent you have heard this complaint-- "Hey! That's not fair."
He got a bigger piece than I did!
Of course those who worked hard all day thought that by rights they
should receive more.
And who would argue?
We all know how fairness is supposed to work, and this guy is just not
playing by the rules--not in the least.
Sometimes it works that way in our life of faith too.
We think that maybe because we have been a faithful believer since we
were young and have carried our service for the Lord faithfully that we
ought to have more obvious benefits to show for it.
Or at least those who have not, should never seem to come out ahead or
even equal with us.
Right is right and fair is fair.
We are not told why some are hired early and some not.
Maybe they just did not get to the market on time.
Maybe those hired late were not obviously physically as fit.
Have you ever been the kid picked last for the soccer team and felt the
sense of humiliation while all the more athletic kids were chosen first?
Then you can maybe understand the sense of relief for these fellows
when they finally got to earn a bit for the day.
Or have you ever been in a situation in which you felt you were never
going to measure up in God's eyes. Maybe you felt that a foolish choice
you made when you were younger, or not so younger was going to scar
your record with God forever, and felt the sense of humiliation
watching those who went about so self confident that they had never
blotted their copy book?
Or just felt second rate because you had not learned about God and the
life God wanted to give you and just lived the regular pagan life for
years, but now feel like you are way behind everyone else.
Who knows why those fellows were still standing around by mid afternoon.
But the landowner shows up and says, "what are you guys doing here?"
"No one hired us", they say.
Well jump into the back of the truck the landowner says and heads back
out to where the work is about to wrap up for the day.
They maybe think to themselves, "thank heaven, at least I don't have to
go home totally empty handed. Maybe there will be milk for the baby
after all."
We can imagine them jumping out of the back of the pickup and grabbing
up some tools and setting to work furiously and gratefully.
For that matter, we can imagine that those hired at the beginning of
the day felt a great sense of relief at being hired early.
They knew their days wages were secure.
There is a lot peace of mind knowing that.
Just having the security you have a decent paying job and are able to
look forward to your daily bread without worry.
I think of us in that regard, and I am sure you do too.
In the richer part of the world we enjoy the benefits of knowing we do
not have to fear catastrophic health crisis that will impoverish and
devastate us.
We go to sleep in our homes modest or lavish with a roof over our head
and a furnace keeping us warm.
I could go on.
And we do our jobs with a relatively high sense of security and peace..
I think Jesus words to us are not to take our privilege for granted
thinking its no more than our due.
This is a real temptation for us. But even simple rituals can help to
remind us.
Taking stock at the end of the day and remembering to say thank you for
your blessing.
Offering thanks throughout the day for blessings that we might
otherwise take for granted.
And remembering those who have less in so many ways.
Remembering the poor of our world.
Remembering the poor in spirit in our communities. Those who may seem
rich in possessions, but cold in heart.
Pray for them that they will meet the master before the day is over.
And remember the master.
Whether you have served him long or briefly, the greatest treasure in
life is to know him.
And I think I know who this farmer is.
I have thought about it a long time and there is something in one of
Jesus other parables that makes a lot of sense.
You won't find this in any commentary. Calvin or Luther never came up
with this, or did any of the scholars of today, but I am going to let
you in on something special. I know who he is.
Jesus told another parable about a hired man out plowing in a field.
As he is going along plowing, his plow hits something and he stops to
check it out.
WOW! It's buried treasure.
He reburies it and borrows every dime he's got to buy the farm.
Now he is a rich rich landowner himself.
But every now and then that man remembers the absolute joy of the day
he found his treasure.
And every now and then he does something absolutely surprisingly
generous for someone not expecting it.
A son who comes homes from a far country expecting a dressing down-- a
laborer hired at the end of the day.
And he surprises them with a magnanimity that goes way beyond the
expected.
You want to know why he does it?
I am going to let you in on the secret.
He does it just for the sheer joy of it.
In fact in doing it, he recaptures in their faces, a piece of the joy
he found that day he was out plowing.
And Jesus could tell the story with authority because he knew The
Father.
He knew the nature of God and God's kingdom where there is more joy
over one sinner who repents than over 99 who need no repenting.
And so through this little story you have a window into the heart of
God.
Don't become self important. It is all by God's mercy.
If you have experienced a lifetime of mercy, be glad, be very glad.
But understand the heart of God who loves to surprise us with his love
and grace.
A young woman writes of her time in a Christian College:
In the
spring of 2002, I
left work early so I could have some uninterrupted study time before my
final
exam in the Youth Ministry class at Hannibal-LaGrange College in Missouri. When I
got to class, everybody was doing their last-minute
studying. The teacher came in and said he would review with us before
the test.
Most of his review came right from the study guide, but there were some
things
he was reviewing that I had never heard. When questioned about it, he
said they
were in the book and we were responsible for everything in the book. We
couldn't argue with that.
Finally
it was time to
take the test. "Leave them face down on the desk until everyone has
one,
and I'll tell you to start," our professor, Dr. Tom Hufty, instructed.
When we
turned them
over, to my astonishment every answer on the test was filled in. My
name was
even written on the exam in red ink. The bottom of the last page said:
"This is the end of the exam. All the answers on your test are correct.
You will receive an A on the final exam. The reason you passed
the test
is because the creator of the test took it for you. All the work you
did in
preparation for this test did not help you get the A. You have
just
experienced…grace."
Dr. Hufty
then went
around the room and asked each student individually, "What is your
grade?
Do you deserve the grade you are receiving? How much did all your
studying for
this exam help you achieve your final grade?"
Then he
said, "Some
things you learn from lectures, some things you learn from research,
but some
things you can only learn from experience. You've just experienced
grace. One
hundred years from now, if you know Jesus Christ as your personal
Savior, your
name will be written down in a book, and you will have had nothing to
do with
writing it there. That will be the ultimate grace experience." 1.
Amen
Preached Sept. 21, 2008
Dr. Harold McNabb
West Shore Presbyterian
Church
Victoria, British Columbia
Notes
1. Denise Banderman, Hannibal, Missouri
Online Resources Consulted
http://www.preachingtoday.com/
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