Parables -
Workers in the Vineyard
Matthew 20:1-16
———————————————
The 1997 graduating class of Witts Springs, Arkansas, had a valedictorian and a salutatorian. Unlike other graduating classes, the two top graduates were the only graduates.
Witts Springs, population 100, also produces few athletes from a student body of 41 in grades 7-12. But they manage to produce athletes that take team play to a new level.
In a basketball game with rival Leslie, Witts Springs trailed by over 30 points with just two minutes to go. The fans began to chant, "Put in Scotty." "Scot-TEE! Scot-TEE! Scot-TEE!" Coach Nash obliged and inserted senior guard Scotty Harmon. Harmon has cerebral palsy.
Harmon received a pass, alone and unguarded on the perimeter, and flung the ball toward the hoop. He missed. His teammates scrambled for the rebound and gave Scotty a second chance. He missed again, which started another fight for the ball.
"The kids know when Scotty's in there, their game is over," Coach Nash said. "They're doing it for him now. The atmosphere changes. If they're worn out, they'll break their necks to get that rebound. Our kids will go above everybody to get the ball to Scotty."
On his fourth try, Harmon sunk a three pointer. Fans on both sides of the gym cheered wildly. The scoreboard said Leslie 89, Witts Springs 58, but everybody left a winner, especially Scotty's teammates.
Opening Questions to Get Us Thinking:
Define grace. Why does grace appear illogical to our culture?
Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard — Matthew 20:1-16
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Research Questions to help us “dig deeper” to find the treasure.
1. What is the main focus of this parable?
2. Agree/Disagree: Some sins require more of God’s grace for forgiveness than others.
3. To what points of merit do Christians sometimes refer to prove that they deserve God’s grace more than others?
4. If the workers who came late received just as much as those who came early, what are the advantages of becoming a Christian early in life? Notice The Differences
2. What positive steps can help us overcome destructive resentment of others whom God accepts into his kingdom?
3. Agree/Disagree: People should wait until just before they die to become Christians so that they won’t have to work hard or give up so much, or be so careful not to sin for so long.
Reflective Questions to helps us live it today.
1. It seems that the biggest obstacle that a Jewish follower of Christ had to overcome was accepting the grace of God. Do you agree it is a relevant thought for followers of Christ today?
2. Are you more likely to accept God’s grace in your own life than you are in the life of others?
3. If salvation is by free grace, what’s to prevent someone from taking advantage of God and being saved even when he doesn't deserve it?
4. Why did God, as owner of the vineyard, search the marketplace for the lost, while God, as father in the prodigal, wait at home for the lost son to return?
5. Man’s work is a response to God’s grace and not the basis of it. How do you bring the truth of this statement into your own life? Ephesians 2.
6. Why do people who fully accept the grace of God seem so much more relaxed and happy than those who struggle with this biblical concept?
7. If you were having a one-on-one conversation with the apostle Paul about God’s grace, what do you think you would hear him say to you?
8. If you were a student in an art class and the teacher ask you to paint a picture of the grace of God, What would it look like? What colors would you use?
No comments:
Post a Comment