Q18. Laborers in the Vineyard

[Pastor Ralph]

Q18. (Matthew 20:1-16) What does the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard teach us about God's generosity? About grace? What in our heart rises up to demand recognition and fairness when we feel we are overlooked and taken for granted? How much of this is a godly sense of fairness and how much is pride?

[Bianca]

God is a generous and fair God. It may offend others when he chooses to do this or that for another and they haven't done as much as someone else has done within the kingdom but that's how wonderful of God he is. Just like with salvation we didn't deserve but God did it anyway out of his Great love for us. 

 

I believe it's our fallen nature. Because human beings in general like to be recognized for their good deeds. When we see others get things that we feel we put a lot of effort in to earn might feel like they didn't deserve it but we did because of everything we done. We need to do things with a heart of love and faith and know that God hasn't forgotten our works of love. We have to avoid feeling this way because it can turn into pride which God hates a prideful behavior. 

 

[Katy]

Q18. This parable teaches us that God’s generosity knows no bounds. Those who are Christian’s know this to be true, because we have experienced God’s bottomless generosity towards us. 
All God’s generosity is full of grace because we are sinners and don’t deserve anything but punishment from God but because of his love, grace and generosity He came to earth and died on the cross, He who had no sin, so that our sins would be forgiven. In this parable The Landowner (God) shows both grace and generosity to the men who did not work a full day. He gave them a full day’s wages.

If we feel we are being overlooked or taken for granted we often feel annoyed, insulted, unfairness and our pride is hurt. These feelings are generally negative and ungodly! Our reaction should be “ Well I am working for my Lord and Saviour, He knows what I have done ,and that is all that matters “!

[Robomom3]

Q18. (Matthew 20:1-16)

What does the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard teach us about God's generosity? About grace?

This is not my quote... but it sums things up pretty well... "The system of law is easy to figure out; you get what you deserve.  The system of grace is foreign to us.  God deals with us according to who He is, not according to who we are." 

I love how this parable speaks of a "12 hour day" or "12 hours of light" just as Jesus said, "Are there not 12 hours of daylight?  Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world's light.  It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light." John 11:9-10".  Jesus was using the analogy of 12 hours to say He had an allotted time to fulfill His purpose and until that purpose was fulfilled, His Father would protect Him... we also have an allotted time to fulfill our purpose...I believe this parable is speaking to our allotted time on this earth.  Whether we are saved as a child and remain faithful our entire lives, or if we find Jesus at the end of our lifetime... we receive the same generous grace... we receive Jesus as our complete and full covering... we receive complete forgiveness of our sins... we are fully redeemed and become full heirs to His Kingdom. Because it is not our work which saves us... it is His Grace that saves us. We will have nothing to boast about when we stand in His Presence because ANYTHING Good that came out of our lives was done by Jesus working through us, not of our own will or effort.  None of us deserves the "pay" at the end of our allotted time... it is the compassion and love of our Heavenly Father who has decided to reward us for what only His Son could do.

What in our heart rises up to demand recognition and fairness when we feel we are overlooked and taken for granted?

PRIDE!  Oh how I hate this ugly nasty weed that sneaks in when we least expect it!!! It is like a chameleon... just when I think it's finally lost its power over my life... it pops up in a whole new form and fashion.  My continuous prayer is that God humble my heart... as long as it hurts to find myself humbled, I know pride is still alive in my heart.  Because it is my pride that feels the hurt... I will know I have FINALLY reached a truly humble heart when I choose to be humbled without thinking twice about how I look in the eyes of others.

How much of this is a godly sense of fairness and how much is pride?

It is 100% pride.  Anytime we feel God owes us anything... we have stepped out of our servant role and tried on His Crown of Glory.

[t-c]

Q18. (Matthew 20:1-16) What does the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard teach us about God's generosity? About grace? What in our heart rises up to demand recognition and fairness when we feel we are overlooked and taken for granted? How much of this is a godly sense of fairness and how much is pride?

That His generosity like His grace knows no bounds as far as we would think of it. This parable illustrates that it doesn’t matter when we came to faith in Jesus Christ; as a young child or like the thief on cross who came to faith in the last moments of his life. We are all on the same footing as children of God. We didn’t earn it in any way, shape or form. 

I also thought  that the difference in the hours that the workers worked could also refer to the nation of Israel, the Samaritans and the gentiles. The nation of Israel being the worker who came early in the morning, the Samaritans who came at midday and finally the gentiles that came at the 11th hour. Though they came at different times, their faith in Jesus Christ makes them all the same in Gods eyes.

Pride

I think that it’s all pride when we cry, “unfair,” because it all goes back to us and our rights. It becomes all about me. We are not concerned about the other person, we are only concerned about our rights. I think the whole idea of fairness seems to be very worldly and is taught very early on in childhood. As a parent I noticed that fairness is not necessarily the best policy. 

[RD35]

What does the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard teach us about God's generosity? About grace? What in our heart rises up to demand recognition and fairness when we feel we are overlooked and taken for granted? How much of this is a godly sense of fairness and how much is pride?

Jesus is teaching that God, represented by the landowner, operates on the basis of generosity, not fairness. This is grace -- unearned and undeserved -- even though that offends people who demand absolute fairness, a fair wage for a day's work. This is a parable of outrageous grace.

If we demand fairness from God, then we are lost, since "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). It doesn't matter that some are better than others. Fairness demands absolute justice and justice requires that sin must be punished.

This parable teaches that God is generous. He doesn't give us salvation based on what we deserve, but out of his own generosity. Praise God!

[Zanele Tlhakanelo]

The Parable teaches us that our God is just and cares about all His people. He gives people what they ask from Him and even those who do not deserve His favor, He is liberal to all.

His grace is immeasurable because He gives it to all of us. He is the gracious, kind, merciful and compassionate God who will leave His Throne and seek for the lost even in the last hour like the vineyard owner who went out to the market place to still look for laborers.

Jealousy, envy, anger, bitterness and all malice rise up when we feel overlooked and we always want the best for us forgetting that God loves His people no matter who they are. He is generous in giving us gifts and wisdom that is why the book of James 1:5 says "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously without finding fault..."

Fairness is when God gives us His love and the wonderful gift of salvation without us working for that. Pride is when we think that others are not deserving of His love, mercy and grace but the faithful God we serve is not a respecter of man.

[Niyonka16]

Q18. Laborers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16)

What does the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard teach us about God's generosity?

ANSWER: Those who are converted late in life earn equal rewards along with those converted early, and also that people who convert early in life need not feel jealous of those later converts.

What does the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard teach us about grace?

ANSWER: The point of the parable is that God saves by grace, not by our worthiness

What in our heart rises up to demand recognition and fairness when we feel we are overlooked and taken for granted?

ANSWER: We experience anger and contempt. Also when we feel like we've been treated unfairly, we go into fight-or-flight mode, with its resulting sense of anxiety.

How much of this is a godly sense of fairness and how much is pride?

ANSWER: None of it is a godly sense of fairness. Most, if not all, is pride.

[Debra Grant]

Q18. (Matthew 20:1-16) What does the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard teach us about God's generosity? About grace? What in our heart rises up to demand recognition and fairness when we feel we are overlooked and taken for granted? How much of this is a godly sense of fairness and how much is pride?

1. God is generous. He doesn't give us salvation based on what we deserve, but out of his generosity. God looks at us all as equal. The first shall be last and the last shall be first.

2. God gives us what we don't deserve or worked for. His grace is sufficient.

3. We feel as if we should have more than others because we worked for it and not be equal. We have an evil eye which is envy, jealousy. and no compassion for others. We all have sinned and came short of the glory of God. He knows what we all need and don't need.

4. It is not any godly since at all. It shows pride, such as, not mining our owe situation and wanting God to do as we feel he should do. God is in control of everything. Our feelings should be positive regardless of what God does or allows. Our relationship with God is one on one and not involving what others do or how God treats them. 

 

[GeraldG]

This parable of the laborers in the vineyard teaches that God doesn't look at fairness the way people do; but rather God is generous giving everyone the same treatment no matter where they stand. 

God's grace shows that even though we may be unprofitable, He still loves us, though we are undeserving He still saves us. 

A lot of time envy and jealousy rises up in our hearts when we feel like we have been overlooked, and others receive the blessings. 

More pride than a godly sense of fairness, for we can be very selfish and self-centered. We need to repent and be more godly in our situations. 

 

[hanks]

Q18. (Matthew 20:1-16)

What does the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard teach us about God's generosity? About grace? What in our heart rises up to demand recognition and fairness when we feel we are overlooked and taken for granted? How much of this is a godly sense of fairness and how much is pride?

God is sovereign and in His loving-kindness whatever He decides to do or give will always be perfectly right, just, and fair. We see this in His generosity when it comes to the grace we are blessed with. This parable is about salvation, and we seem to forget what we really deserve is eternal punishment. We also notice in this parable that it is never too late to repent and put our trust in our Lord Jesus. This is not about fairness which demands justice, but about God’s generosity and grace for which we should be most grateful. Instead, it displays our sinfulness – greed, and envy.

[Elizabeth Kuruvilla]

God's Generosity: This parable illustrates that God is exceedingly generous in His dealings with humanity. In the parable, workers who were hired at different times of the day all receive the same wage, regardless of the hours they worked. This demonstrates God's willingness to bestow His blessings and grace abundantly, even to those who come to Him later in life.

Grace: The parable highlights the concept of grace, where God's rewards are not based on merit or human effort alone. Instead, God freely gives His blessings and salvation to all who come to Him, regardless of their past or how "deserving" they may appear in human terms.

If it is not merited, it is a Gift , to be recieved with Thanks.

Those who worked the whole day agreed on the pay and hence the payment was not unfair to them , the other workers who came in late  trusted in the Goodness of the Landowner and recieved an Unfairly Good , opulent salary because they did not lean on their own understanding to negotiate their salary but rather trusted the landowners Goodness.
 
As Sinners who fall short , we deserve nothing, not even life itself , much less our family / friends or carrier.

This knowing will make us Grateful , all the more so when our Saviour took our place that we might take His place.

The workers problem came because they took their eyes of the Landowner and put it on fellow workers and compared themselves with the other workers.

Pride is the quality of having an excessively high opinion of oneself or one's own importance.

As believers our boast is to be in Christ alone , for in and of ourselves there is nothing good in us.

Grateful and humble hearts that are quick to hear is what is needed.

Even the First Temptation stemmed from Focussing on Apparent Lack and disregarding Obvious Abundance....same old same old today.

[Krissi]

God's generous gift of salvation is available to us no matter how close to our deaths we may be -- though it's best not to put if off until the end, as we never know when that end will occur.

My father, age 95, is on hospice now -- he has been an atheist all his life. Adamantly so, in fact. If he accepts the Lord in this late hour, he will be in the kingdom just as I am, even though I accepted the Lord at at much younger age and have struggled all my life to retain and grow my faith. In a sense, this isn't "fair," but it's the way God has ordered his kingdom and the afterlife. So, I have been praying for many years that my father accepts Jesus ... "just say "YES" dear daddy!!"

I don't think my feeling of unfairness is caused by pride, but rather by the memory of how difficult the Christian life has been (at least for me) and how much I've struggled and suffered as a Christian. To see someone slip his nose under the tent at the last moment, never suffering or concerning himself with the things of God, does seem unfair -- I admit this. I know, however, that those of us who know Christ have not deserved or merited His love at any age. It's grace that opens the gate to heaven. Pure grace. 

 

[Irmela]

Q18. (Matthew 20:1-16)

What does the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard teach us about God's generosity?  About grace?

What in our heart rises up to demand recognition and fairness when we feel we are overlooked and taken for granted?

Being recognized and shown fairness to, by whom, is the question.  Taken for granted by whom.  If it is a human element, then it very likely does happen.  Bitterness can rise up, jealousy and of course feeling of rejection, self esteem is touched, pain for being overlooked.  Man is unfair.

"Payment" for each one working  in the vineyard,  is because of grace and grace alone.  We all deserve damnation because of our sins.  It is grace and grace alone that we are given the opportunity to work in the vineyard, be it for the full day or just for part of the day.  Lord help me to be faithful to do what You have called me to do in this season of my life.  

Lord, I pray too for Krissi's father. I pray for his eyes to be opened, also other loved ones known to us, may they see their need to turn to You, in Jesus Name.  Thank You Lord.

How much of this is a godly sense of fairness and how much is pride?

I love that term outrageous grace .  That sure explains what this parable portrays. That is my God!!!!    He is generous in allowing and trusting us to work in His vineyard, in the first place.  For us, we need to be faithful to make use of the opportunity we have been given, to do this work.  

 

[Menberu Adane]

The ultimate plan of God is forgiving all humankind of their sin which He paid the price through Jesus on the cross. Thus, this plan is not about the literal wage of laborers, but it is the wage for our sin, which all of us need whether we get it first or in the last splits of seconds. That is the grace of God not our work. As the laborers had nothing to do until they were given the job in the vineyard,  we had nothing good until Jesus made us good before God, that we all got it at different hours in the day of grace. As in Psalm 16, we have no goodness except that he made us good. Because we work hard more time and collect more wage does not make us fair, for we are also responsible, expected to be fair, in what we do with that we collected. Thus, grace is necessary for all of us who worked few ours and many hours to ultimately justify ourselves among all workers in the Kingdom of God.

We can demand fairness and recognition but must not be in utter selfishness and jealousy but with humble spirit and honesty. Likewise, we can ask God whenever we feel we need to ask yet we ought to understand that He gives us the right gift at the right time that enables us to shine in His Kingdom.

 

[haar]

A18.

The parable of the Laborers has made me add another definition of God’s grace to my library courtesy to Pastor Ralph’s notes.

For a long while I have usually thank God for His EXTRAVAGANT GRACE to me. This is because I consider my life and all He has done for me was not merited but rather, just because of His EXTRAVAGANT GRACE. Another tern I have now learnt is called His OUTRAGEOUS GRACE (quoting Pastor Ralph concluding notes on this part of the study!)   

Thank You Lord Jesus, thank You Lord God Almighty for your Extravagant/ Outrageous Grace for me and mankind.
 

[Lisa Wolf]

Q18. (Matthew 20:1-16) What does the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard teach us about God's generosity? About grace? What in our heart rises up to demand recognition and fairness when we feel we are overlooked and taken for granted? How much of this is a godly sense of fairness and how much is pride? 

I struggled with this parable for a long while in my walk with Jesus.  "That's not fair!!!" I cried to God, but He--in His patience--gently taught me about His generosity. 

My 88-year-old father accepted Jesus in His last week of life. 

OH, HOW I REJOICE that the 'pay' is the same for those who entered the vineyard at the end of the day.  Thank you, Lord!

And Amen to my Brother, Haar, "Thank You Lord Jesus, thank You Lord God Almighty for your Extravagant/ Outrageous Grace for me and mankind."
 

[Irmela]

Lisa, thank you for sharing about your own father's salvation.  What an encouragement.   God is so faithful.  There are not adjectives descriptive enough to describe our God.

[Sister Evelyn]

Q18 Matthew 20:1-16)

God rewards us based upon the opportunities that He has given us. And, all blessings are from God's generosity, not by our own doing.

When we feel in our heart that rises up to demand recognition is a sense of Pride. Listen to the wording. "Demand." Life in not fair we take the good with the bad, but if we stand Firm in the Word, even if we are overlooked and taken for granted, believe me God sees all that. Once we give it God He will take care of everything. He doesn't overlook us nor ever take us not our situation for granted.

This is a godly sense of fairness and how much is pride? 

"Pride." is what will do it. 

[Violette]

On 4/22/2023 at 2:19 AM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q18. (Matthew 20:1-16) What does the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard teach us about God's generosity? About grace? What in our heart rises up to demand recognition and fairness when we feel we are overlooked and taken for granted? How much of this is a godly sense of fairness and how much is pride?

God represents the Vineyard owner and employs people during the day and is generous as he pays each worker the same. Doesn't matter when they started.

It shows that it is by grace we have been saved not by works. Sometimes we feel in ourselves that we should be recognised more and be treated more fairly because of what we do. God does not take us for granted. It is our pride that gets in the way. God treats everyone the same as it is by grace we are saved. 

[Janzie]

On 4/21/2023 at 9:19 PM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q18. (Matthew 20:1-16) What does the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard teach us about God's generosity? About grace? What in our heart rises up to demand recognition and fairness when we feel we are overlooked and taken for granted? How much of this is a godly sense of fairness and how much is pride?

When God hired each one He didn't go by fairness because He hired people different times of the day and even some that worked an hour. It  was His generosity in paying the same wages to the 8 hr. worker as the 1 hr. worker. He was gracious in His giving.

God is so generous in what He has done for us. I didn't deserve His wonderful Salvation, I didn't even know it was available until I realized I couldn't do life by myself and cried out to Him and He honored my cry when I told Him my life was a mess and I gave and committed my life, my husband's and my children's life to Him.  He honored my commitment by His wonderful grace. Nothing I did to deserve it.

Mostly, we want recognition for what we have done and if we don't get it, we don't think it is fare.  That is pride.

 

[Zibuyile]

Q.18 Parable teaches us that God is  generous in His doing   and does not work in fairness or whether you deserve

About grace - His face is unearned and undeserving

Anger can rise up when we feel overlooked 

This is more of a pride issue in that we more concerned  about ourselves  and what we will get rather that knowing  that God's  grace is all we need  which we are not required to do anything  to receive

[George L]

Q18. (Matthew 20:1-16) What does the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard teach us about God's generosity? God is generous beyond earthly comparitive understanding or reward based on levelnof service.

About grace? Grace is receiving a gift far beyond anything you might diserve.

What in our heart rises up to demand recognition and fairness when we feel we are overlooked and taken for granted? Judgmental residuals in our heart that somehow our ‘siner time’ was less abhoreht to God than anothers.

How much of this is a godly sense of fairness and how much is pride? We all have great trouble coming to grips the requirement that we become rightly fit into the body of Christ. A generic motor, a amateur racing engine, a blueprinted exceptional professional engine is each an engine. But each step a better fit to be exceptional in performance. God knew us before and in the womb and gifted us especially forvour time in this eternity. We must accept that proper service is to be blueprinted to maturity (kjv perfected) in what God intended us to do for Him in His kingdom.  Rewards are according to our real needs, not our desires to pile up to self. So to the workers in the vinyard in the judgement of the master.

[blezed]

Q18. (Matthew 20:1-16) What does the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard teach us about God's generosity? About grace? What in our heart rises up to demand recognition and fairness when we feel we are overlooked and taken for granted? How much of this is a godly sense of fairness and how much is pride?

The parable teaches that God's generosity is not based on fairness but his love for humanity.  He does not give us salvation based on what we deserve but his generosity.  

His grace is sufficient.  We could never earn it for man will fall short every time.

So much injustice in the world today we demand recognition and fairness when we feel we are overlooked and taken for granted.  It is something that happens far too often.  We need to put our trust in God, we all have sinned and if he would be fair to give us what we deserve we would be in bad shape.  He knows what we need and will supply. 

 

 

[Old Jerry]

The Parable of the laborers in the Vineyard teaches us that God is very generous and especially to me. He has had to forgive me for many things. His grace has protected me. I think that anything that I have been overlooked and taken for granted is largely due to my pride.