But It's Not Fair!

This past Sunday, my pastor started his sermon by reading us the parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16). I'm very familiar with the story, but a funny thing happened this time around. As we were reading, I thought of it in a totally different way--a way that's very applicable to my state of mind of late. And then the pastor gave the same application in his sermon that I was thinking!


To refresh your memory, the parable is about a man who starts in the morning employing workers for his field. They agree on a day's wages and everyone is happy. But then in the afternoon, he employs some more folks and at the end of the day, pays them the same as the poor slobs who've been slaving away all day. So the first workers, who started out happy and thinking how generous their master was, degenerated into grumbling and complaining and feeling sorry for themselves. The master pointed out that they had been happy until they compared themselves to others. That he had given them a good deal, and that they shouldn't complain just because he wanted to be generous to the late-comers.


Of course, Jesus applies this to the Kingdom of Heaven. He demonstrates that all of us reach the Kingdom through his generosity, and that if someone accepts his gift at the end of their lives or late in the day, they'll attain it just the same as those who have been serving Him their whole lives.


That's the way I've always thought of that parable. The sermons I've heard about it took that approach.

But last Sunday, as I read, I thought about my grumbling and complaining about my so-called writing career. After writing and trying to publish for over 30 years, I have a hard time hearing about others who manage it almost immediately. (Lately I'm even jealous of people who have ONLY been at it for 10 or 15 years!)


I admit it, my attitude is lousy. I don't necessarily get jealous of people with nicer cars or houses or better-paying jobs. But show me a newbie writer with a publishing contract and I go into instant whining mode.


Even worse, some of those newbie folks write a lot better than I do! Talk about adding insult to injury. Why is it taking me so long to accomplish what they've picked up with hardly any work at all? (Add whimper here.)


Picture my surprise when the pastor made the same application to this story, pointing out our tendency to look at others' lives and rewards and engage in a pity party, rather than being grateful for God's generosity.

The parable doesn't explain why some folks have to work longer than others for the same reward. It just focuses on how generous the master was to EVERYONE that he employed, without exception.

My pastor urged us to make a fresh start in 2010. I'm game. Do I have any company out there? (Although come to think of it, most of you previously-unpublished writers who have been reading my blog over the months now have publishing contracts. But I love you anyway. You just might want to invest in earplugs to dampen the sound of the whining.)

Waiting for Good Things

Last week in our church bulletin, I saw a mention of Advent as a season of waiting. I started thinking of how long people waited for the Messiah, whose presence we now take for granted. But there were long, dark days, and years, and centuries, when people had to begin to wonder if God had forgotten them. I started to write a blog post on that topic, and then started thinking it sounded vaguely familiar. Sure enough, I wrote something similar awhile back. So in the spirit of recycling and going green and destressing and all that, I decided to share that one with you again:

Do you ever feel that Christmas comes rushing at you like a locomotive--even worse, a locomotive you didn't expect?

How does that happen? One minute, it's October and I'm snickering at the Christmas stuff in stores, because it's still AGES away. And it seems like a few days later, I'm rushing around in a panic because I can't possibly get everything done before the big day.

It wasn't always that way, though. I remember when I was a child, Christmas seemed to take forever to arrive. Even in December, even as we sat at school making construction paper ornaments, the days seemed endless. Three more weeks? That was practically a lifetime, especially when I was waiting for a new Barbie doll and a stack of Nancy Drew books.

Twice in the past week, my church has equated the Advent season with waiting. Tom Anderson, one of our pastors, wrote a beautiful article in our church newsletter, the Pipeline. He said,"Advent is a time of waiting in a culture that has grown impatient, it is a time of hoping ina dark, dangerous place where despair seems too often just around the corner, a time of preparation in a 'fast food, microwave' driven world. It is a time to stop, to watch, to wonder, but most of all, a time to wait.

"We wait for the birth of God into the world, for what the prophet Isaiah longed for, when from exile he cried, 'O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence.' We wait for nothing more and nothing less than God in the season of Advent, knowing that above and beyond all of our needs, none is more radical, moreprofound, and more essential than this One..."

Our bulletin/worship program last Sunday featured an excerpt from The Worship Sourcebook, (Calvin Institute for Worship): "The season of Advent, a season of waiting, is designed to cultivate our awareness of God's actions--past, present, and future. In Advent we hear the prophecies of the Messiah's coming as addressed to us--people who wait for the second coming. In Advent we heighten our anticipation for the ultimate fulfillment of all Old Testmanent promises, when the wolf will lie down with the lamb, death will be swallowed up, and every tear will be wiped away."

This reminds me I need to slow down, to enjoy that sweet season of anticipation. To remember the "reason for the Season." To acknowledge the beauty of waiting on God.

To Wait or To Act

If you used to read my other blog, you know I've thought and read a lot about waiting. Waiting for something you want. Waiting to fulfill your dreams. Waiting upon the Lord. Especially in today's fast-paced world, it's a hard thing to do. Even figuring out how to do it can be difficult, which seems a bit odd. After all, waiting means doing nothing, right? Just...waiting.

Well, sometimes. Sometimes not.

Yesterday's sermon at my church really hit home on this topic. Our assistant pastor, Eric, preached from I Samuel 13 and 14. Saul, the king of Israel, is leading a battle against the Philistines and has been told to wait for the prophet Samuel to come and offer a sacrifice before taking any action. So in this case, waiting means just that--do nothing.

But Samuel doesn't show up. Saul fidgets, he worries. They're squeezed on either side and outnumbered by the enemy, and his troops are deserting. He wonders what he should do. Finally, he decides that he has to do something. He's the king of Israel. He can't just sit there. So he offers the sacrifice, himself.

It's a big mistake. Samuel does show up, and tells him that because of his disobedience, God will not establish his dynasty, but will allow Saul's throne to pass to someone else.

In the meantime, Saul's son, Jonathan, has also been chafing at doing nothing, but his attitude is different. “'Let’s go across to the outpost of those pagans,' Jonathan said to his armor bearer. 'Perhaps the Lord will help us, for nothing can hinder the Lord. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!'”

Jonathan doesn't so much want to take control. He wants to see what the Lord wants to do. He's willing to take a few steps and see if the Lord tells him to stop or go further. Once they're close to the Philistines, he tells the men who have gone with him that he's going to call out to the enemy soldiers. If the soldiers goad them to come up and fight, he will know that God wants them to proceed and will give them the victory. If not, he'll know he's acting in his own power and should stop.

The Philistines challenge him to come up, they proceed, and God gives them a victory in an amazing way--something they could not have done themselves.

I needed to hear this message right about now. I know I'm feeling weak and discouraged because I'm trying to take control. The voices all around me tell me to act, plan, work, accomplish. I'm floundering around in my own strength, and I've got the stress and jangled nerves to show for it, but not much else.

As Pastor Eric said, sometimes God wants us to just rest. Sometimes he wants us to put ourselves in position, so he can use us if he wants to.

My thought is that he wants us to take just a few steps, rest, and ask again.