St Matthew, Chapter 20, verse: 13a, No Injustice.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard)
Part 18.

The last laborers who were first to be hired felt that they were not treated fairly.  They felt that they deserved more.  They felt that they had worked the whole day and deserved more than what the others received.  They saw the others come into the vineyard.  They saw how little work that completed.  They saw the amount that they received for the work that was completed.  And they believed that they did more work than the others.  This is why they believed that they deserved more.

Yet they agreed to work for a denarius.  They thought that to work for that amount was fair.  They believed that a denarius was a fair wage for a days work, so they agreed to do the work.  Yet when others came and when others did less work and when others received the same amount, they were dissatisfied, they grumbled, they murmured, they were angry.  And when they spoke to the house-holder about this perceived injustice, the house-holder did not agree with their perception.  "But answering one of them, he said, 'Friend, I do thee no injustice."  

Where did it all start?  Where did the concept of injustice begin?  Who brought up the thought?  Who spoke of the idea?  How did it enter the minds of the laborers as they worked in the vineyard?  Was there some outside influence that they did not know about?  Was there some outside idea that came to them as they worked that made them think that they should receive more than they agreed to? 

Here we are today living in the world seeking to be who we are.  What are we?  Who are we?  What do we believe?  Our thoughts and ideas come to us from outside ourselves fed by the electronic media that we live by today.  Who decides what that media will say?  Who decides what that media will do?  Who makes the decisions as to what is sent through that media and what is not sent, what we see and what we do not see, what we perceive and what we do not perceive?  We accept what is given us.  Some is discarded and some is retained.  Some is stored for future use and some is used immediately.  Do we filter?  Do we reject?  Do we block out all that comes in?  Yet the media continues to come and we continue to perceive.

Even when the media is off we continue to perceive.  We continue to think about what is given us as we seek to utilize the functions of our brains to sort through all that is given us.  What was given the laborers?  They did not have the media of today.  They did not have others making decisions and sending out thoughts and ideas and facts, and all kinds of information for them to take in.  Where did their thoughts come from that they would consider themselves done an injustice.  Did it come from the air?  Did it come from space?  Did it come from the netherworld?

We are imperfect beings trying to live in a world not our own.  How do we live, how do we survive, how do we protect ourselves in such an environment.  Christ said:  "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  His saying is contradictory to what we live by today.  We are given to be rich.  Our every being our every desire is influenced by the thought that we want to be rich and not poor.  And yet the riches of this world that we seek do not satisfy, they do not complete, they do not fulfill.  What is there that will complete us?  What is there that will fulfill us?  What is it that our hearts desire that will gives us lasting joy, lasting happiness, lasting peace?  Knock and it shall be opened to you, seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given to you. 

These are the words that come from our heavenly Father through Christ Jesus.  If you seek peace then ask.  If you seek joy then look.  If you want happiness then open the door to your heart and it will come to you who want to know eternal happiness in him who completes all.  Be satisfied.  Be content.  Be knowledgeable in who you are through the spirit that is within you.  All you have to do is look within.  The path has been prepared for you.  All you have to do is walk it. 

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you.  Open the door and let him in.  

St Matthew, Chapter 20, verse: 5, So they went.

Our paragraph topic is: (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard) Part 5.  

What is just?  What is fair?  What is honest?  What is good?  What is right or wrong?  We see and ask these questions on a daily basis.  Christ told his disciples a parable that raised all of these questions.  Why did he do this?  He wanted them to have an understanding that was not openly available to everyone.  Theirs was the understanding of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.  Theirs was the knowledge that was not available to wise men.  Theirs was the vision of the Christ in his full glory.  Theirs was the insight given them by God our Father.

They did not yet posses all that was given to them, but the seeds were planted.  They would witness the coming forth of the fruit.  Christ spoke of a house-holder who needed workers in his vineyard.  He spoke to his disciples in plain terms that they could understand.  And yet underlying those plain term was the fruit that would later blossom into the understanding and insight given to them by the grace of God.  So the house-holder hired workers and agreed to pay them what was just.  "So they went.  And again he went out about the sixth, and about the ninth hour, and did as before."  

The house-holder called his workers, even in the middle of the day.  He saw them standing idle in the market place and he called them to work.  Christ calls his workers.  He calls them at all times of the day.  And he agrees to pay them what is just.  He does this again and again and again.  No matter what the time of day he calls workers to come and work in his vineyard.  Are you a worker?  Are you a weed?  Are you the fruit that needs to be harvested?  How do you fit into the kingdom of heaven?

The door is open to all who want to come.  The requirements are easy.  Anyone can qualify.  The choice is yours to make if you understand the offer.  There is another offer also, the offer of the world.  It is the one we are born into.  It is the one we live with.  It is the one that surrounds us daily.  But one must rise above what is seen.  One must view beyond what is obvious.  One must change the perspective to see what is hidden.  We have a choice.  Some understand that choice early on.  Some find that choice later in life.  And some struggle with that choice only to not understand.  And then there are those who see the choice, know the choice, but cannot make the choice.

Can you make the choice?  Can you choose to be the one?  Can you accept the choice of who you are in Christ?  The world will blind you.  The world will deceive you.  The world will seek to turn you away from your choice.  But the spirit cries out in you.  The spirit burns in you for fulfillment.  The spirit within you knows the truth of who you are.  Can you seek it?  Can you find it?  Can you know the truth of who you are in Christ?  The choice is yours to make.  The thief is out there seeking to steal your choice.  Be careful!  He will not announce himself to you.  He will not knock at your door.  He will come and take you away without your having a choice.  And then you will know.

Christ calls you.  Christ loves you.  Christ gave his life for you that you would have life.  Seek him and know.  Know him and love.  Be with him and be fulfilled.  The spirit cries out for you.  The spirit awaits for you.  The spirit is within you waiting for you to open the door and say: "Come in!"

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you.  Open the door and let him in.

St Matthew, Chapter 20, verse: 4, The Just payment.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard) Part 4.  

The house-holder has need of workers in his vineyard and he goes to the market place and finds workers standing idle.  He tells them to go to work in his vineyard so that they will have something to do to earn their wages and provide for their families.  He had need of work and they had need of someone to hire them to work.  This is the parable that Christ tells his disciples that relates to the kingdom of heaven.  

The laborers were standing idle without any work to do.  The house-holder was looking for laborers to work.  The kingdom of heaven is seeking workers.  The believers on earth are seeking work to do but are standing idle with no one to hire them.  God is seeking workers so Christ tells his disciples that the house-holder told the workers:  "And he said to them, 'Go you also into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is just.' "

So the laborers are sent to work in the vineyard with the promise that they will be paid whatever is just.  What is just for a days labor?  What is just for the work that they will do?  What is just for the skill that is required for the work they are required to do?  We live in a world where we are in the same situation of determining what is just for us.  Is it fair and just that we work honestly and fairly and others do not?  Is it fair and honest that we follow the rules and others cut corners and get by?  Is it honest and fair that we are slighted and passed over for promotions and perks and others get the all benefits?

What is just?  What is fair?  What is right?  And what is wrong?  In this day and time it seems that it does not pay to be honest and to be fair.  It seems that it does not pay to be upright and straightforward.  It seems that we are the ones who get the unfair and unjust treatment.  Can we not stand by and accept this?  Can we not allow this to happen to us?  Are we compelled to  change our position and do what is necessary to advance our own cause?  Are we driven to bring about a change for ourselves?  What is just for us?

We compare what is just to what is before us.  We feel what is unjust by what others are doing.  We see the results of what others are doing and how they are rewarded.  We hurt for what is right and what is wrong, what is just and what is unjust, what we want and what we do not have.  These are our passions.  These are our motivations.  These are the things that tempt us to turn from who we are in Christ.  For God is our Father.  He is right and he is just.  He is patient and he is forgiving.  He is the final judge and we must trust in his wisdom and glorify his justice even when it seems that it is unjust.  The just payment is what we should seek.  The just payment is what we should believe.  The just payment is what we should know because God is our Father and he will provide for us.  He will care for us.  And he will be the ultimate judge of what is just.  Seek not the ways of the world but seek the kingdom of heaven and all else will be provided to you. 

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you.  Open the door and let him in.