Christ Church Daily Devotion Feb 22 2024

In this Daily Devotion, the parable of the workers in the vineyard is discussed. The landowner hires workers throughout the day and pays them all the same amount, regardless of how long they worked. This may seem unfair, but it teaches us about the generosity of the kingdom of God. We are all equal recipients of God's grace and should show the same generosity to others. The lesson is to understand and appreciate grace. The personal worship option is to thank God for his generosity and strive to be generous to others. Welcome to Christ Church's Daily Devotion for February 22nd, 2024. Today we will be reading from Matthew chapter 20 verses 1 through 16. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, Do you go also and work in my vineyard? And I will pay you whatever is right. So they went. He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 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? Because no one hired us, they answered. He said to them, You also go and work in my vineyard. 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. The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were first hired, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. And when they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. Those, 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. But he answered one of them, I am not being unfair to you, friend, didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous? So the last will be first and the first will be last. I can remember thinking that my brother got a bigger cookie with more chocolate chips in it than I did. I would yell out, that isn't fair. Well the scripture today is a parable, a story that Jesus told using familiar things, telling about an unfair wage in the fields. Why on earth would he give workers the same wages when some worked hard all day and some worked only an hour? The laborers who worked all day protested. It surely was not fair, but that is not the point. The kingdom of God is not fair. Thank goodness it is much more than fair. The kingdom of God is extravagantly generous. Jesus taught of generosity and the Bible gives many examples of promises of grace. We all get more than we deserve. At the end of the day, Jesus says that each one gets treated the same. The lesson we need to learn is the meaning of grace. We all became, become members of God's family simply by his love, an undeserved favor. None of us is more deserving than the other. We should try to look at each other as God looks at us. Your personal worship option today is, generous God, thank you for who you are and for what you do for us. Help us to be grateful for your generosity to us and help us show the same generosity to others. We need to see each other as equal recipients of your grace. Help us serve together. Amen.