INTRODUCTION:

A certain minister was at a large conference with hundreds of people in attendance. During the first session he noticed a man sleeping on the front row. At first it didn't bother him. But when he saw this same gentleman at the second, third and fourth sessions sleeping in the very same seat on the front row, he began to get a little frustrated. This preacher wondered, " is this man trying tell me that I'm boring? Why doesn't he just tell me? Does he have to be so rude about it?"

By the end of the conference, the preacher had become quite irritated by this elderly man. He knew that he had seen his kind before. This preacher thought that this older man was essentially making a spectacle and proclaiming that the preacher is a bore.

Finally, on the last day of the conference this elderly man and his wife approached the preacher. The preacher braced himself for a battle. Yet he did not get a battle. Rather the woman came to him and said, " Thank you so much for your ministry. My husband and I are great supporters of you. In fact, my husband loves you so much that even though he is on chemotherapy, he still insisted on being here today. I hope his sleeping didn't bother you."

The preacher, Chuck Swindoll later told how the Lord used this incident for his spiritual growth. Man does not see as God sees. Samuel learned this over three thousand years ago. And Chuck Swindoll learned this lesson a few years ago.

One of the things that we hear children saying so often is: "Its not fair!" When they are playing, and one gets a certain toy longer than the other – its not fair. When the one child in the family gets a new top and the other doesn’t – its not fair. When the one goes on a school excursion and the other doesn’t – its not fair.

But hold on – does it only happen with children? Envoy Fourie runs our Family Care Centre – and I bet that in that centre he would have heard the residents saying: "That one seems to get preferential treatment – its not fair". Am I right?

What about work situations. This one gets promotion and he has only worked here for 3 years, and I have worked for 10. Its not fair!

But it goes further! In the church, the same three little words are used – its not fair. Its not fair that this one gets more attention than that person. The officer visits Peter more than Paul. Sally works much harder than Sarah, and does not get any recognition. Its not fair.

Peter said to Jesus one day: "We have left everything to follow you. What will there be for us?" (Matthew 19:27). A little bit later, the mother of James and John came to Jesus and said: "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom" (Matthew 20:21) Both these requests from Peter and from the mother of James and John were something like – "Look here, Jesus, lets be fair here. These three disciples have given up a lot for you – what reward are you going to give them?"

When I have driven down Voortrekker Street near the Builders Warehouse, I have been amazed at the amount of people who are standing on the street corner waiting to get a job. Some will stand with a paint brush in his hand, others will have a spirit level, others will have all the tools for plastering, another will have implements for gardening – and they are all there, waiting for someone to offer them a job. I have stopped there on occasions when I have needed someone to do tiling, or plastering, or painting – and they all rush to be the chosen one to do the job. I have a choice to make – which one do I employ? I have to admit, it is often on appearance that I make my choice. Some will have references, some offer you the world for a pittance… What I would do is negotiate a wage that I am willing to pay them, and they come and do the job. I guess that it is pretty unfair that some get chosen for work, and others not. I wonder if they ever say to each other – it’s not fair?

In Matthew 20 we read about a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire some men to work in his vineyard. I am told that the working hours in those says were from 6am to 6pm – a full 12 hours on the job. And to be sure, the work was tough! The landowner agreed on the wages for the day – one denarius – a reasonable wage – and they started working.

As we read the story further, we see that this man went again every 3 hours and recruited more workers – and he went right up on until 5 o’clock in the afternoon – with one hour’s working time left – and he employed further workers. Maybe he was keen to get the job finished, and realised that without additional workers, the job would not get done. But that was his prerogative as the employer, and not an uncommon practice in Palestine. The grape harvest ripened towards the end of September, and then close on its heels came the rains. If the harvest was not gathered in before the rains broke, then it was ruined, and so to get the harvest in was a frantic race against time. Any worker was welcome, even if he could only give an hour to the work.

But everything came apart at the seams when the time of payment came. The workers who had worked for one hour were paid the same as the workers who had worked 12 hours. Every worker received the same wage – irrespective of how long or how hard he had worked. The muttering and complaining would have been intense. "Why! This is not fair!" If they were in South Africa, they would have started toy-toying, or they would have arranged a sit-in, with the unions making certain demands. They would not have taken it sitting down.

Matthew 20 starts off by saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner…"God is that landowner, and he does not look at things like man looks at things. God has no favorites, but treats everyone equally. There are three things I want us to notice about God, and one thing I want us to be warned about.

1. The comfort of God:

I believe that God makes it his business to seek out men and women who are "standing in the market-place, standing on the street corner as it were" needing to be employed in His service. He sees our condition – we are lost in sin, unable to do anything about our condition in our own strength, and desperately needing "employment " to be able to satisfy our needs and the needs of our dependents. He comes not once, not twice, but in fact he comes even at the 11^th hour to offer us comfort, hope, employment, satisfaction. His invitation always stands: "Come unto me all you who are tired of carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me. For my yoke is easy and my burden light." The invitation is given as well that we are to "cast all your worries upon Him, for he cares for you". He is here tonight, seeking for those who are still standing outside, waiting to be employed in his service.

2. The Compassion of God:

These men who stood in the market place waiting to be employed came from the lower strata of society. They were not slaves or servants who would have had their needs met through the family to which they belonged. These people had to fend for themselves, and if they got no pay, it often meant that the family got no food to eat that night. We see in the picture of the landowner, a God who was willing to help and pay every man enough so that none of the families would need to go hungry. The hired workers who had worked for 12 hours in the baking hot sun were angry because they thought that they should have been paid more than the guys who had worked for an hour in the cool of the day. This was despite the fact that they had willingly agreed to work for one denarius. Humanly speaking, looking through our eyes, they were probably in their rights to be angry and disappointed. But what a compassionate employer that was – and what a compassionate God we serve. Even if we come into his service late in life, and are not like those who have served him for years and years – everyone is worth the full amount to Him.

3. The grace of God:

Grace has been described as the undeserved favour of God. Those men who worked any less than the full 12 hours did not deserve to be paid the full days wages. Yet, each man was paid the same.

When Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, he did not ask the question: "What does each man deserve?" He gave his life for the whosoever. He paid the same amount for each and every person – the sacrifice of his life. Irrespective of who comes to God to be able to serve in His kingdom – each one receives the undeserved favour of God – forgiveness, abundant life, eternal life.

I said that there was one thing that we have to be warned about. There is a notion that:

1. Long time church members stand a better chance:

This could not be further from the truth. William Barclay points out that there are people who think that, because they have been members of a church for a long time, the church practically belongs to them, and they can dictate its policy. Such people resent new members coming in who might change the way things have been done for the last 100 years. We as long time Christians need to be aware that we do not chase new converts away when God Himself has recruited them. God wants all his followers to work together, to accept one another, to help one another – and he will treat each and every one of us with the same respect and love.

CONCLUSION: