6 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him
while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
1 The LORD is my h light and my i salvation; j whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold 1 of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When evildoers assail me to k eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. 3
l Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet 2 I will be confident. 4
m One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may n dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon o the beauty of the LORD and to inquire 3 in his temple. 5 For he will p hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will q lift me high upon a rock. 6 And now my r head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of s joy; t I will sing and make melody to the LORD. 7
u Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! 8 You have said, v Seek 4 my face. My heart says to you, Your face, LORD, do I seek. 5
9
w Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, x O God of my salvation!
The Advance of the Gospel 12 I want you to know, brothers,5 that what has happened to me has really xserved to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard6 and yto all the rest that zmy imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold ato speak the word7 without fear.
19 for I know that fthrough your prayers and gthe help of hthe Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope ithat I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full jcourage now as always Christ kwill be honored in my body, lwhether by life or by death. 21 For to me mto live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 nI am hard pressed between the two. My desire is oto depart and pbe with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 qConvinced of this, rI know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your sprogress and tjoy in the faith, 26 so that in me uyou may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
27 Only vlet your manner of life be wworthy8 of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you xthat you are standing firm in one spirit, with yone mind zstriving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is aa clear sign to them of their destruction, but bof your salvation, and that from God. 29 For cit has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also bsuffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same dconflict that eyou saw I had and now hear that I still have.
Laborers in the Vineyard
20 For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius1 a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you. 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And gabout the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, Why do you stand here idle all day? 7 They said to him, Because no one has hired us. He said to them, You go into the vineyard too. 8 And hwhen evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his iforeman, Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first. 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and jthe scorching heat. 13 But he replied to one of them, kFriend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take lwhat belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 mAm I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or ndo you begrudge my generosity?2 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.
But thats not fair! Lets say this line together, but this time I want you to emphasis it with the loudest, deepest, and greatest utterance of whine you have. Perhaps open up and let your inner child come forth Or maybe here these words of unfairness!
Its not fair that my brother or sister gets to go out with their friends while I have sit at home and do my homework. Its not fair that I have worked years more than my coworker and yet they get the promotion. Its not fair that some churches grow while it seems our very life in this congregation is at risk. Its not fair that life was too short and my spouse is no longer with me. How could you Lord smile on my enemies and show them grace? These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and jthe scorching heat.
This kind of logic revealed in the Gospel today makes no sense to our American ears. We cry out with the words Injustice has spoken! How could the master of the house pay them equally? The last shall be first and first shall be last? Hasnt the good Lord ever heard of labor unions? How could grace be given to those who showed up late and work only for such a short time? We could cry out foul or thats unfair yet Jesus calls us into a new life, a new way of thinking and being. This is Gods new economy whereby all labors in the Gospel field are given the same reward salvation in Christ alone.
Well, life, as you know, isnt fair! That little truism is perhaps no more evidenced than when people who are devout and faithful to Christ suffer, while those who worship false gods or not god at all, prosper. In the ancient world, Christians were martyred while self- indulgent Caesars rejoiced and delighted in their deaths. In the modern world the situation is scarcely different. Christians in Mosul are forced to flee their homeland or die, while crazed fanatics pillage their land and property in the name of their god.
The unfairness of life is written in the annals of history time again. The godly sometimes suffer, while the ungodly prosper. When that happens, the temptation arises for Christians to wonder why God lets such things happen. Or, to put it another way, the temptation arises to question Gods will and ways.
This parable speaks to us when we face the temptation to question the fairness of God. God is good! Which is to say, no matter how unfair things in the world seem to be, God is generous and good to us even though we dont deserve His generosity and goodness. The contrast between God and us couldnt be clearer. Our eye is bad. We arent always able to discern the things of God. We arent always able to see good when evil seems to abound. But, we can, by Gods grace, believe that God is, in all things, for us!
This beloved is life in Gods economy. The same Gospel is applied to the debt of sin brought forth in the lives of all men. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The very same good news is relevant and within the grasp of every sinner whether that person is knee deep in a life contrary to the will of God or be one who has lived a good upright life fulfilling the demands of the Law. This upside down logic pulls the rug out from under our prideful feet causing us to rethink how we approach evangelism and what truly is fair.
APPLICATION 1. Face it, life is not fair and life lived in following Jesus certainly will have its unfair moments! a. 12 I want you to know, brothers,5 that what has happened to me has really xserved to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard6 and yto all the rest that zmy imprisonment is for Christ b. The decision to leave the ELCA c. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen. d. The charges against Luther were unfair. Why would discovering the riches of Gods grace bring such unfair realities to Luther? He challenged the very being of the church a revolt would certainly come. For he was not ashamed of the Gospel! 2. The same Savior died for the one who barely lifts a finger to the one who has broken their back for the church. a. The message here goes beyond just who works harder, who does more, who gives more. But rather it sheds light on the realities of Gods abundant grace. b. We are all in this together, we need each other, we need to rally the troops, call the labors together and proclaim the harvest is great and the labors are few. c. Together let us proclaim and live the words of Psalm 27 as a church: yet 2 I will be confident. 4
m One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may n dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon o the beauty of the LORD and to inquire 3 in his temple. 3. Suffer together for the sake of the Gospel that is the good news that Jesus died once and for ALL bringing salvation from sin. a. 29 For cit has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also bsuffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same dconflict that eyou saw I had and now hear that I still have. b. 6 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. c. but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) d. To the one who was here in 1965 and helped begin this congregation to the ones yet to join this fellowship of believers God declares that the harvest is great and labors are few. As He said unto Peter, Come! Follow me. I know you feel tired, I know you have worked hard, but I need you. Jesus declares to you today the message of salvation is necessary for the masses to hear yet today. The world needs to hear the Word and receive the promises of the sacraments. e. We give thee but thine own, Whate'er the gift may be: All that we have is thine alone, A trust, O Lord, from thee f. All that we have is a trust from God. This beloved is Gods economy. God pays the same to us all For God so loved the world that he gave us his only begotten Son that who believe in Him would not die but have everlasting life. g. Jesus should cry FOUL. Jesus should cry UNFAIR. But rather he looks with love on you and me and declares, Verily you will be with me in PARADISE!