the generosity of grace

Matthew 20:1-16
For Sunday, September 18, 2011

Imagine  you've been unemployed, and finally through Manpower you get a chance to do a day's labor landscaping for a small business owner for $100.  You work from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm under a 90 degree hot sun only to find out at the end of the day that another guy who waltzed in only an hour before also got $100. "What's the deal?!  You mean I could have sat around for 11 hours, waltzed in here at 5:00 pm, and still picked up $100?  That's not fair!" you say.

You are now in a teachable moment.  The kingdom of heaven is like this small business owner.   "Well, if that's the case, then I guess the kingdom of heaven is an idiot!"  

That's one way of looking at it. . . but here is another.  You earned your money, yes, but why did you even have the chance?  Because there was a small business owner who gave you the opportunity, not because you were entitled, but because he was generous.  

No one enters the kingdom of heaven because they are entitled.  The only reason any of us ever have our sins forgiven is because our Heavenly Father is generous.  

Have you been blessed materially?  If so, why is that?  Because you've worked hard, or because your Heavenly Father has been generous with you?  You know the answer, and it's going to change the way you live.  You are going to stop working merely to pad your bank account and feed your ego and you are going to start asking yourself, "How can I be as generous with others as God has been generous with me?"  This is the generosity of grace.