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Yes, Scott McConnell is going to preach for us today.

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And as he comes up, he did ask me to read from Matthew chapter 20.

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And I said yes, and then I realized it was verses 1 through 16.

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So I'm going to read this story.

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It is called The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.

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For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire

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workers in his vineyard.

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He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

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About nine in the morning, he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing

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nothing.

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He told them, you also go and work in the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.

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And so they went.

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He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing.

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About five in the afternoon, he went out and found still others standing around.

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And he asked them, why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?

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Because no one has hired us, they answered.

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He said to them, you also go and work in my vineyard.

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When evening came and the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, call the workers and

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pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going to the first.

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The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and received a denarius.

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So when those who came who were hired first, they expected to receive more.

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But each one of them also received a denarius.

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When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.

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These who were hired last worked only one hour, they said.

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And you have made them equal to us, have borne the burden of the work in the heat of the

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day.

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But he answered one of them, am I not being unfair to you, friend?

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Didn't you agree to work for a denarius?

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Take your pay and go.

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I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you.

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Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money?

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Or are you envious because I am generous?

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So the last will be first and the first will be last.

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Thank you very much, Alex.

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Good morning.

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Good morning.

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Let me roll into the blinding light.

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And get myself set up here.

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I like that.

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My name is Scott McConnell.

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I have been coming here to the house for about two years.

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Here in about a month.

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A little bit about me.

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I had a spinal cord injury about eight years ago.

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So I tend to stay tilted back in my chair because that helps me with my blood pressure

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so I don't pass out in front of you because that would be rather dramatic.

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And I also take quite a few drinks of my water.

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And staying warm is pretty tricky for me because my blood pressure stays low.

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So I always stay very bundled up.

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So this is me.

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This morning I'm looking forward to sharing with you about that passage that Alex shared.

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And we're in a series right now about a goodness culture.

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How do we be a healthy church?

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How do we be a church that promotes humility and goodness through what we do and keep from

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falling into some of the traps that are easy to do in the church?

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And this morning the emphasis is service.

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That we are all called to serve and that those who have been serving the longest, who have

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served the most, do not have a higher status than those who serve differently or those

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who have been serving less time.

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Now the passage that we shared I love and I want you to work with me some as we recreate

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that in a creative way.

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The story was about a farmer, a farmer who grew grapes.

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There was work that needed done on his grape farm and instead of having a regular staff,

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he went into town whenever he needed that work done and he hired folks at the market.

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It was for a 12 hour day.

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A day's work was worth about, we'll estimate $200.

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About $16.67 for a 12 hour day per hour.

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It was a fair wage, not especially a high wage, but not unfair either.

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Now when he showed up there at 6 a.m. there was already a crew there.

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This was a crew that showed up early and were proud to be there early and ready.

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They had their work boots on, they already had their pruners sharpened for the day.

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They were ready to go and work getting the grapes ready, preparing them, repairing the

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trellises, doing all the work that needed done.

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So they went and they started working and the farmer went back into town.

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But the farmer did something strange.

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He got more people to help.

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It didn't seem to be because they weren't able to get the work done.

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It seemed like this farmer wanted more people to come and participate in the work that he

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was doing.

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He didn't want anyone left out.

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But imagine for a moment this 6 a.m. crew, when you've been working already, they've

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already broken a sweat and the farmer's coming back with more workers.

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Now if you've ever been at work and had someone show up late, it's annoying.

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And if you're doing hard physical labor, it's even more annoying because you've already

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broken a sweat, you've already gotten into a rhythm, and now there are more folks.

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Now when the farmer went back into town, they probably didn't expect to see him a while,

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but they saw him returning at noon.

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There's no way.

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There were more workers.

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The work day was halfway over by now.

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But as they went, as he came back, they saw that there were more workers.

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The 6 a.m. crew was especially frustrated now.

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They'd sweat through the morning and it was just starting to get hot.

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They'd already finished their lunch, and now there were more workers coming in.

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The farmer went back into town.

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They may have thought, good riddance.

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This guy just keeps showing up with more people.

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It's frustrating.

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He can go back to town.

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They saw him coming back at 3 o'clock.

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He had more workers with him.

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He'd gone back to the market and found more people who hadn't been chosen for work.

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Now I think there was a mix of folks in this crew.

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How many people standing around in the market still thought they were going to be hired

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for the day?

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I don't think they were expecting to be hired.

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And also I wonder if there were some people there that day that never intended to be hired

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in the first place.

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They could have gone home and they could have helped around the house.

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They could have gone and helped a friend since they weren't hired for the day.

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But they were still standing there.

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And I think a few reasons for that could have been some of them may have been disabled.

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They may have been passed over a couple times now.

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Some of them might not have had the right gear.

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And some of them were just there hanging out.

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I would call this the flip-flop-and-croc crew.

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They were not wearing work boots in the market at 3 in the afternoon.

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Now in my house growing up, if you left the house in flip-flops, you were already in trouble.

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Because if you stubbed your toe or you stepped on something, there wasn't going to be any

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mercy.

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You shouldn't have been wearing flip-flops.

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So as they flopped along, the 6 a.m. crew looked up and thought, are you serious?

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There's only three hours left in the workday.

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They're going to be in our way.

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They're literally tripping over themselves.

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And yet they came.

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And the farmer expected them to be integrated in and help.

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5 o'clock.

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There's one hour left in a 12-hour day.

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Now I wondered to myself, why did these workers even go out with him anyways?

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They weren't expecting to be hired at 5 o'clock.

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I even think some of the crew might have been coming out at this point for the evening life

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of the market.

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They may have been wearing some cologne.

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They may have had their new shoes on with no creases in them.

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They did not show up to go work in the vineyard.

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Now in my spec, I did some research and commentaries and things.

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I didn't just, I try not to just make stuff up, Pastor Greg.

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I try to have some context.

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But I think it's reasonable to think that the reason that they kept going out is because

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this farmer was a landowner and these people were at the status of laborers, even if they

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weren't laboring that day, they were expected to go with the farmer and work.

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It was an invitation, but at the same time it was an invitation that really shouldn't

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be refused.

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So after the flip-flop crew came the shoe crew who were walking like ducks to make sure

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they didn't mess up their good shoes and were probably wearing nice clothes by now.

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The 6 a.m. crew was not pleased.

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Now it came time to be paid at 6 a.m.

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Who do you think should be paid first?

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The ones who hadn't seen their family all day, who'd been sweating, who were ready

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to go home?

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No.

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The farmer specifically gave instructions for the people who were hired last to be paid

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first.

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Strange choice.

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And so the 5 o'clock crew came up.

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Now they had not agreed to any wage.

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You have no negotiating power when you're hired with an hour left in the work day.

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The only crew that had been promised a wage was the 6 a.m. crew.

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Remember the $200.

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Not especially generous, but fair for the work being done.

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The 5 o'clock crew walked up and received a full day's wages.

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$200.

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They were running in their shoes not to crease them, back to the market with a full pocket

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of cash.

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Next came the 3 p.m. crew, flopping along in their flip flops.

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Some of their flip flops had broken by now, so they were carrying them in their hands.

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And they received $200, a full day's wage.

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They went back to the market elated.

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Now the 12 o'clock crew, even though they were a 12 o'clock crew, were starting to feel

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entitled by now.

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A six hour work day sounded pretty weak, until you just saw someone get paid for one hour

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of work, $200.

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Can't complain, right?

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You can't argue.

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So then the 9 a.m. crew, they'd been there most of the day.

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They'd been there during the hot hours, same pay.

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6 a.m. crew.

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The first one went up, and you know they were looking in the line, waiting to see what would

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happen.

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It would be absurd for this farmer to reward the people who'd been out there the longest,

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who showed up with their work boots and their pruners, just $200.

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And that's what he did.

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So now I want to read for you Matthew 20 verse 16, their words.

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These who were hired last worked only one hour, they said, and you have made them equal

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to us, who have borne the burden of the work in the heat of the day.

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You made them equal to us, who've done most of the work.

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Now the farmer's response is a harsh one.

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Didn't you agree to work for that wage?

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Can't I do what I want with my money?

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Is me being generous going to cause you to sin in your own heart?

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And then Jesus said these words, the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.

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It was a lesson for his disciples.

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He wasn't telling this to a random crowd.

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He was telling this to his disciples.

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And we as a church, if we have accepted being part of this church in Christ, are his disciples.

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His message is to us.

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Now it's easy to judge the 6 a.m. crew, since many of us have heard the story before, we

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knew how it ended, and our thoughts might be, they were wrong.

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They should have been grateful.

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They should have been happy for others, instead of grumbling toward them.

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We've all been in a position where we were trying to elbow our way into a group, maybe

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at work, maybe somewhere else, where we felt like we had to earn our way in.

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Where we felt that because we came in after some others, we were expected to work a little

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harder.

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And yet I also find that sometimes I'm that person that expects other people to work their

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way in.

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I wouldn't say it that way, would I?

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I wouldn't look at other people and say, I'm sorry, but I've been here longer.

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I've worked harder.

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What I do is more important.

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But as I was reflecting, I thought of a story.

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I started working at a community center in the inner city that was part of a Christian

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ministry.

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And part of the reason I was so excited to be a part of it was because of how close-knit

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the staff were.

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We all took less money than we probably could have made somewhere else.

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We lived in the neighborhood.

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Tashiana got to see people arrested out the front window.

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My car was stolen out front.

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These different things.

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But those were like badges of honor.

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That we were really doing it.

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We were really in it.

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Everybody did everything.

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And that was one of my favorite parts was that when I showed up that day, I didn't

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know if I'd be watching kids on a playground.

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I didn't know if I'd be helping on load for a food pantry or going to pray with someone

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who was sick.

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Everybody helped with everything.

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But the main reason, my main job was to work with kids.

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And so I always made sure I had shoes on that I was ready to run in.

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Ready to play soccer.

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Ready to have fun.

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They were usually grass stained.

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They usually weren't the prettiest.

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And a lot of times at the end of the day, I would be sweating from playing with the

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kids.

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From running around.

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In the pick up line, there'd be drops of sweat falling on the sign out sheet for the

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parents.

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And again, even though it was maybe not the most professional look, I was proud of it.

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Intermission.

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Flash the lights please.

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It's time for us to resume.

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But as the ministry grew, as the budget increased, we started to hire new staff.

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And these staff were not what I would call program staff.

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They weren't there to work with the kids.

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They weren't there to help with families in need.

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Some of them were fundraisers.

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Some of them had a human resources background.

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Some of them were accountants.

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They didn't go to our local church that we all went to.

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They went to churches out in the suburbs.

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Mecca churches.

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They didn't drive the same cars that we did.

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They drove a little bit nicer cars because they came from a business background.

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They wore professional clothes.

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There were no grass stains on their shoes.

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They didn't go home sweating at night from running around with the kids.

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And so I looked at them with resentment.

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I looked at our organization with resentment.

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I felt like we were selling out.

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We were letting people in who looked a certain way.

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And as the organization changed, they were part of the new, more professional look.

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And I didn't feel like they'd really earned their way in.

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They weren't usually asked to leave their offices to go and help unload a truck or some

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of those things.

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Now as you can probably imagine, and forgive me, this was over 10 years ago.

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I was rather immature.

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But my perspective was very flawed.

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We couldn't continue to run the programs that we did without fundraising and grant

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writing.

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As our program grew, just asking local churches for donations wasn't going to fund what

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we were trying to do.

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Accountants were needed to balance a multimillion dollar budget.

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Volunteers weren't able to manage that.

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And human resources were required for us to have the hired help that we need and have

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a safe workplace.

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You see, I had fallen into the trap.

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I had fallen into this 6 a.m. crew trap.

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People that worked like me, people that worked harder than them, people that wore clothes

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that showed that I was really in it, people who didn't know what it was like before they

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came along.

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And again, I think if we look closely, we might recognize that at times we fall into

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that trap too.

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We don't plan it that way.

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We don't mean for it to be.

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But even in ministry, even in church, even in Christian groups, it's possible to do.

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Now, I want us to go back and look at that passage for a moment, the farmer.

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The farmer's response to you, you have made them equal to me.

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The farmer was a relentlessly generous farmer.

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He continued to give and share his generosity even when it seemed not to make sense.

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But it wasn't nonsensical.

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It was because he wanted everyone possible to be a part of his work, everyone who would

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heed the call, even those who had not been chosen first, even those who did not seem

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qualified, even those who did not look like laborers usually did.

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He continued to go back to the market and invite.

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Now, I'd also like to point out that he approached them.

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These workers weren't already waiting in the market area hoping somebody picked them at

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three o'clock.

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He went and found them.

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Our father, the farmer, is relentless in finding people to join his work, even people who do

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not appear qualified or maybe even seem overqualified to us for what they're seeking.

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They may come in later, but the father still seeks them.

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Now, I want you to imagine something for a moment.

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What if the 6 a.m. crew was in the market the next day and they'd caught the vision

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that productivity wasn't the most important thing to that farmer?

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And what if they went back to the market with him to find more, to find more workers and

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recruit them, sharing with them that they'd found the most generous farmer there was and

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that he would include them in his work and that he would pay them more than fairly?

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That would be a beautiful vision.

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That would be capturing the vision of the farmer, what he wanted his farm to look like,

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what he wanted his kingdom, his work to look like.

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What if I had understood that vision when I was working at the community center?

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What if instead of looking out my office window and seeing that their cars didn't look like

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mine, I met them at their cars and greeted them and told them how excited I was that

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they were going to be a part of the work that we were doing.

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That rather than judging how long they'd been there or whether they were there to work

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with the kids or not or if they were dressed better than I was, that God had a place for

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them there.

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Instead of being embarrassed of my own home, which of course no one was projecting on me,

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I felt that myself, what if I'd been willing to invite them into my home and into my neighborhood

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instead of not liking that they were different than I was and had different things?

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That would have been a gospel perspective.

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The Father wants to set us free from our pride.

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The Father wants to set us free from our desire to have others earn their way to what we think

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is fair.

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The Father wants to give us through the Spirit the compassion that we need to share his work

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with those around us.

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Now, some of you are in the 6 a.m. crew.

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Some of you have been here for a long time and I praise God for that.

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We also want to remember that God is calling all workers and rewarding all equally.

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I don't say that in judgment at all.

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I've been welcomed.

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Pastor Greg has given me the opportunity to share and two years is a pretty short time,

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isn't it?

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In the big scale of things, but it's a message that Jesus shares with his disciples.

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So it's a message that we need to hear as well.

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Now even the, I'm guessing the 9 o'clock crew, the 12 o'clock crew, the 3 o'clock

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crew, all the group that they came in with is who they spent most of their time with.

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Do you think the 3 o'clock crew ran up to someone on the 6 a.m. crew that was pouring

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out sweat and introduced themselves?

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Probably not.

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And you think the 6 a.m. crew may have at times looked at folks on the 3 p.m. crew and

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thought they're not ready yet.

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They haven't quite earned their way in yet or the work that they're doing doesn't measure

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up to the work that I've done.

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We want to be careful and remember that we serve a relentlessly generous Father.

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We continue to go to the market and invite others in and when we see folks coming in

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the doors, we run out to their car and greet them with excitement.

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Letting them know that not only are they welcome, welcome is on, all our welcome is on the sign

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of just about every church you see, but that they're welcome into full membership as a

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part of the body who receives the reward, the celebration of what God is doing in that

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house and is given the reward of the Holy Spirit in full participation in that place,

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whatever that means.

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Amen.

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Let us pray.

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Father I thank you so much for your son who is so good at telling us stories that she'll

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still change and shape our hearts.

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Two thousand years later, I pray that you would forgive us.

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When we like the 6 a.m. crew or whatever crew it might be, wherever it might be, look around

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to those around us and feel that we've worked harder or we've earned our spot.

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I pray that those God who feel like they're part of the five o'clock crew who are coming

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in late or joining in with those who have been at it for a while, that you would help

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them to see that they're every bit as welcome and every bit as a part of what you're doing

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as those who came first, that you want to reward them as fully as all the others.

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Help us to be faithful in the work that you've called us to do and help us to be relentlessly

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generous as we do it.

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In Jesus name I pray.

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Amen.