In light of the
last night study I was reflecting on the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
found in Mathew 20. In this parable Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is
like a landowner that went out and hired workers for his vineyard. Some he hired
early in the day, telling them that he would pay them the usual daily wage. He
went back at various times of the day and found more workers waiting to be
hired. Each time he hired those that were there, telling them that he would pay
them what was right. We are not told why some had not found work or if they had
shown up at the marketplace late or any other details. At the end of the day
came to pay the workers. He began with the ones most recently hired and he paid
them the usual daily wage. That excited the ones who had been there all day.
They thought that surely if he paid the late ones that much he obviously would
pay them even more for all their hard work. Their excitement was short lived. In
fact, they were pretty upset when they got the same pay working all day as what
people got who only worked an hour. When the landowner heard them grumbling, he
tried to explain that he wasn’t unfair at all. He gave them what they had agreed
upon, but it was his money and he could be generous if that is what he chose to
do. What the landowner did know about is grace. The workers that came at the end
of the day didn’t get what they deserved they got grace .
Of course in the parable the landowner is God; the workers are us. First of all, the parable says that grace is to be received, not deserved. For all of us who are people of faith, we know that we do not deserve God’s grace. Nothing that we can do will put us in a position of deserving God’s grace. All we can do is receive the gift that God offers to us.
David Seamands, who spent in India as missionary along with siblings for many decades, ends his book Healing Grace with this story. For more than six hundred years the Hapsburgs exercised political power in Europe. When Emperor Franz-Josef I of Austria died in 1916, his was the last of the extravagant imperial funerals. A processional of dignitaries and elegantly dressed court personages escorted the casket, which was draped in the black and gold imperial colors. To the accompaniment of a military band’s somber dirges and by the light of torches, the somber group descended the stairs of the Capuchin Monastery in Vienna. At the bottom was a great iron door leading to the Hapsburg family crypt. Behind the door was the Cardinal-Archbishop of Vienna.
The officer in charge followed the prescribed ceremony, established centuries before. “Open!” he cried. “Who goes there?” responded the Cardinal. “We bear the remains of his Imperial and Apostolic Majesty, Franz-Josef I, by the grace of God Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Defender of the faith…” the officer continued to list the Emperor’s thirty-seven titles.
“We know him not,” replied the Cardinal. “Who goes there?” The officer spoke again, this time using a much abbreviated and less ostentatious title reserved for times of expediency. “We know him not,” the Cardinal said again. “Who goes there?” The officer tried a third time, stripping the emperor of all but the humblest of titles: “We bear the body of Franz-Josef, our brother, a sinner like us all!” At that the doors swung open, and Franz-Josef was admitted.
No matter who we are, what titles we have, or how much we have, none of it can open the way to God’s grace. Grace is given freely, what is left for us is to openly receive that grace.
Of course in the parable the landowner is God; the workers are us. First of all, the parable says that grace is to be received, not deserved. For all of us who are people of faith, we know that we do not deserve God’s grace. Nothing that we can do will put us in a position of deserving God’s grace. All we can do is receive the gift that God offers to us.
David Seamands, who spent in India as missionary along with siblings for many decades, ends his book Healing Grace with this story. For more than six hundred years the Hapsburgs exercised political power in Europe. When Emperor Franz-Josef I of Austria died in 1916, his was the last of the extravagant imperial funerals. A processional of dignitaries and elegantly dressed court personages escorted the casket, which was draped in the black and gold imperial colors. To the accompaniment of a military band’s somber dirges and by the light of torches, the somber group descended the stairs of the Capuchin Monastery in Vienna. At the bottom was a great iron door leading to the Hapsburg family crypt. Behind the door was the Cardinal-Archbishop of Vienna.
The officer in charge followed the prescribed ceremony, established centuries before. “Open!” he cried. “Who goes there?” responded the Cardinal. “We bear the remains of his Imperial and Apostolic Majesty, Franz-Josef I, by the grace of God Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Defender of the faith…” the officer continued to list the Emperor’s thirty-seven titles.
“We know him not,” replied the Cardinal. “Who goes there?” The officer spoke again, this time using a much abbreviated and less ostentatious title reserved for times of expediency. “We know him not,” the Cardinal said again. “Who goes there?” The officer tried a third time, stripping the emperor of all but the humblest of titles: “We bear the body of Franz-Josef, our brother, a sinner like us all!” At that the doors swung open, and Franz-Josef was admitted.
No matter who we are, what titles we have, or how much we have, none of it can open the way to God’s grace. Grace is given freely, what is left for us is to openly receive that grace.
In
Christ,
Brown
Saturday October 6,
2012
5:30 PM October
Festival with Food, Fellowship, Testimonies, and Hymn Sing
at
Wesley UMC,
1000 Day
Hollow Road, Endicott.
Sunday October 7,
2012
Family Breakfast at
7:00 AM
Speaker: Dr. Gary
Smith, Ph D, from Binghamton University
Location:
Union
Center United Methodist Church. 128 Maple Drive Endicott
Annual Praise and Prayer Conference
Friday- Sunday October 12-14,
2012
- Opening worship: Friday 7 PM at Union Center United Methodist Church, 128 Maple Drive, Endicott
- Saturday 10 am - 1 PM We will gather in the sanctuary of the Union Center United Methodist Church for a concert of prayer.
- Prayer teams will be available to pray. We will anointing with oil and will pray for emotional, physical, and spiritual healing. We will be praying for deliverance and restoration.
- 6 PM First United Methodist Church, 53 McKinley Ave., Endicott. We will gather for a NEW YORK PIZZA Party
- 6:30 PM praise and worship. There will be time for prayer. There will be anointing with oil. We will be praying for miracles of healing, deliverance, salvation, restoration. We will also be serving Communion at the Altar.
- Sunday, October 14, 2012, Morning worship will be at 9:30 AM at Wesley United Methodist Church, 1000 Day Hollow Road
- 8:30 and 11:00 Worship services will be held at the Union Center United Methodist Church; 9:50 - Sunday School Hour
- 12:30 PM Prayer Banquet with international foods
Leaders for the prayer conference
are:
Kelly Johnson from Memphis, TN,
Andy and Sunita Groth, Rob
Krech, Meredith Watson, and Amanda (all from Washington,
DC).
The leaders and members of the
Binghamton House of prayer will be joining for this conference Event. Laureen
Naik will be leading in worship music. Come expecting a miracle.
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