The Workers in the Vineyard

Scripture:

Matthew 20:1-15

Quick Summary:

Jesus tells this story: A man hired workers through out the day; some, first thing in the morning, some just an hour before work was done. Then he paid them all a full day’s wages. The first men were upset because they thought that wasn’t fair, but the man pointed out they were given a fair wage for their work. 

The Point:

Jesus says the point is that the last will be first and the first will be last. Jesus gives us all plenty, and doesn’t want us to compare and compete for God’s love with each other.

Questions for Family Time:

1.Tell me the story you heard today.

        a. (see above)

2.  Why were the men hired first upset?

        a. Because the guys who only worked for an hour were given the same amount of pay.

3. That does seem unfair. Why is it fair?

        a. That was a fair wage for a day’s work AND the men agreed to work for it. He wasn’t being stingy with the first men hired, he was being generous to the last men hired.

4. How did you practice being generous?

     a. Last week we helped people who have worked hard for God’s kingdom through the church. This week we are helping babies who haven’t even been to our church. We are going to be generous and help them just as we helped members last week.

Deeper:

I am going to start by admitting that of Jesus’ parables, this one is one of the hardest for me to practice. Mostly because I would fall in the category of the workers hired in the morning. I have been serving others through the church really my whole life. I began to follow a call into pastoral ministry when I was in Jr. High and have never run from serving God and others. That call has led me into some hardships. 

One of those times was when I was in seminary. I had to take a part-time pay church with no benefits while my kids were in daycare. We had to move to a tiny town where it was hard for my husband to find consistent work. We had to rely on government assistance to help us care for our kids. At the same time, I was going to seminary with a lot of people going into ministry as a second career. They had experienced financial security. I heard people in the church talk about how amazing those people were because they had sacrificed that big paycheck to go into ministry. And it was hard to not go to God and question whether this was fair, like the workers in our story. 

God gave me an answer like the man in the story. He reminded me that I knew what I was getting into by following his call. He reminded me that he would be more than generous to me because of my faithfulness. He also reminded me that I would do better to not compare my life with others. 

Maybe, like me, you have been working for God for a long time. You see people just starting to work for God and how God blesses them. And it is hard to not feel jaded. But it is in those moments that we need to remember that God is generous. He gives us all enough. We should not confuse his generosity with unfairness. And we would do well to love others with generosity no matter how long they have been working. 

It seems fitting that last week in our project we served those who have been working for God a long time: some of the oldest members of our congregation. And that this week we will be serving babies in families that aren’t even regulars at our services. This week we will be making baby blankets for the local crisis pregnancy center. Because, like Jesus, we can be generous to both, love both, and serve both.  

Personal Reflection:

How has God been generous to you? How has he rewarded you for your work for his kingdom?

The Sheep and the Goats

Scripture:

Matthew 25:31-46

Quick Summary:

Jesus separates people into two groups like a farmer separates sheep and goats. He welcomes into heaven those who: fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, invited in strangers, clothed the needy, visited the sick and imprisoned.

The Point:

Jesus says when we help others, it is as if we were helping Jesus himself.

Questions for Family Time:

1.Tell me the story you heard today.

        a. (see above)

2.  Who does Jesus call sheep?

        a. the people who help others.  

3.How did you help others like Jesus said to?

        a. We fed the hungry, (and visited) the elderly    

4. How does our church do these things?

a. Feed the hungry and  give drink to the thirsty - help at the food pantry, Feed my Sheep

       c. invite the stranger- welcome people into our church; Heart House shelters the homeless, YES home provides housing for teens

       d. clothe the needy- help at the food pantry, make blankets for babies

       e. visit the sick and imprisoned- visit those in the hospital; Bible Study at the jail

4. How can you help others?

     a. Come up with some creative ways you can do each one of these: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, invite in strangers, clothe the needy, visit the sick and imprisoned.

Deeper:

          This is one of those stories Jesus tells that is pretty foundational for how we understand who we are and what our responsibilities are as followers of Jesus. This passage says that if we are to call ourselves Christians, our lives are to be filled with acts of compassion. Jesus’ disciples are to treat every person they meet as if that person was Jesus himself.  We are to help those in need, whatever that need is.

  

I think Jesus was intentional to make a list of needs that we can easily look past. It is easy to avoid people struggling with these needs. It is easy to say that it is someone else’s responsibility. But Jesus says his followers go out seeking these people, stuck in their home because of their health, or even tucked away in jail out of the view of the community. He tells us to find ignored people, people struggling with the daily necessities of life, and to help them. He tells us that we are to be proactive with our compassion.

          Jesus is such a strange king because rather than bowing at his feet, or demanding our praise, he instead says he is The Poor. The God of the Universe says he is the person who can’t afford their next meal. He is the child who walks miles each morning to find clean drinking water. He is the kid who grows too fast for his parents’ income to manage. He is the refugee running for their lives with only what they can carry. He is the sick patient. He is the inmate. How we treat the poor is how we treat Jesus. If we choose to demonize them and blame them for their struggles, we do it to Jesus. If we choose to come alongside them, empower them and treat them as wholly human, we do it to Jesus. When we love them like neighbors, we love Jesus.

          It’s easy to lose sight of these people in our busy lives, to say we have too much on our plate already. I get it. But, it’s important for us to teach our children compassion now. It’s important for us to notice Jesus in our midst, dressed in rags instead of robes. So I want to encourage you to start seeing the invisible people in the world. Let us teach our children that we have a responsibility not just to help those closest to us, but to all humankind.

Personal Reflection:

Answer #4 for yourself and your family. When have you specifically done each one? How can you show compassion in a new way in the next month?

The Good Samaritan

Scripture:

Luke 10:30-35

Quick Summary:

Jesus told a story about a man beaten by the side of the road. Two honorable men pass him by, but then a third man stopped to help. The third man was a Samaritan, which Jews didn’t like. Even though he came from the wrong family and community, he still stopped and helped the hurt man.

The Point:

No matter who is hurt or even what they think of us, Jesus wants us to help them.

Questions for Family Time:

1.Tell me the story you heard today.

        a. (see above)

2.  Who would be hard to stop and help for you? Why

            a. (this is a personal answer. The why should by along the line of “we don’t get a long.”)  

3.Who would you be surprised if they helped you?

        a. (similar answer to above)    

4. What does it mean to “love your neighbor”

       a. To help people when you see they need help, even if they are not people you like.

Deeper:

We throw around the term “Good Samaritan” a lot. It has become short hand in the news for a stranger helping a stranger. But Jesus did not call the Samaritan a stranger. He called him a Samaritan. He also didn’t call him good. For the first hearers of this story, Samaritans were neither strangers nor good.

Samaritans were Jews who had intermarried and chosen to worship God on holy places that were not considered holy to those in Jerusalem. They were living reminders of the sin that Jews felt had caused their national downfall in the Old Testament. Also, in times of national crises, they were unreliable allies. Good Jews often chose to cross the Jordan River into Gentile territory and then cross it again to avoid Samaria. That’s right. The pagans Gentiles with NO belief in God were better to travel by than the Samaritans.

That means our society’s “Good Samaritans” were not like what the readers imagined this Samaritan to be like at all. They would be the ones our society looks down upon. They are the people we expect just by the label we have given them to be unreliable.

And yet, Jesus takes this “Samaritan” and makes him the one who fulfills God’s law. It is this Samaritan who chooses to stop rather than the most respected men of the community. Which makes this parable hard for us to swallow.

First of all, because it makes us confront the fact that even when we try to treat everyone equal, we have biases about people that our society has labeled. It makes us call the person we would rather protect our children from the hero of the story.

Second, it makes us redefine our neighbor. Dearborn County residents are very good at dividing by honor. There are desirable neighborhoods and undesirable neighborhoods. We place ourselves among people like us, just like the Jews did, and avoid neighborhoods that have reputations like Samaria. Like the man who asked Jesus who his neighbor is, we find it easy to love people in our geographical neighborhood because, for the most part, they are like us. But then Jesus comes and says, your neighbor is the person in need, not the person next door. Jesus tells us we aren’t allowed to ignore the needs of others just because it isn’t happening outside of our front door. He says we are to love people in other neighborhoods.

Third, if we are really being asked to love our neighbor like the Samaritan, it means we have to be willing to help those who look down their noses at us. It means we have to love the naysayers and snobs who have torn us down and told us we are not worthy. When our hearts are cheering, “they finally got what they deserved!” Jesus bids us to show them kindness and help them get back up.

It would be easier if the Good Samaritan was just about a nice stranger. Loving your neighbor like Jesus calls us to is much harder. Not complicated. Just Hard. Thankfully, God is there to help us do the hard things he calls us to do.

           

Personal Reflection:

Who are the Samaritans that you avoid? Who are the people who treat you like a Samaritan? How is God calling you to love those neighbors?

The Parable of Mustard Seeds and Yeast

Scripture:

Matthew 13:31-35

Quick Summary:

The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that is planted and then grows to a large plant. It is also like yeast that is small when added, but then works through the whole dough and makes it large.

The Point:

God can take our little work, and make a big transformation.

Questions for Family Time:

1.What is the kingdom of heaven like?

        a. mustard seed.

2.  How?

            a. When you plant a mustard seed it so tiny, but then with time it grows all by itself into a really big plant.  

3.What is the kingdom of heaven like?

        a. yeast.    

4. How?

       a. Yeast is also small, but it is worked into the other ingredients and then over time it makes the whole bread rise.

5. How are those attributes like the kingdom of heaven?

a. We may do something that seems small for God’s kingdom, but God can take it and do something big, something transformative. All he needs is a little time.

Deeper:

The problems of our world today are vast and enormous. So big, that one person cannot make much of a dent in them. Violence, Suffering, Poverty.

          

But Jesus encourages us that actually we can make a difference. No matter how small we are, God can take the little we offer and do something transformative with it. There is a popular story of a man picking up starfish off a beach completely covered with them. He is asked why he bothers when he cannot save most of their lives. He picks one up and says, “True, but I can save this one’s life.” This story reminds us that even little things can have a big impact on another person.

          

But Jesus stretches this concept even further with his parable. He says that God can take a small act and when we leave it alone, He makes it into something greater. Even when we have walked away from the garden, or left the bread on the counter, God is doing something with it that we cannot. Something more than what we can do. God does not stop when we stop. He keeps on working. He keeps on healing the brokenness.

          

This is why when we invite someone to Junior group and they don’t come, we haven’t failed. It’s why when we put on community activity and no one new comes to church that next week we haven’t failed. It’s why when we try to start a transformative program in our community we may not see results for months or years. Sometimes our work for God’s kingdom takes time.

          

In 2014, my kids experienced their first group of learning God’s word with others. That first year, 12 kids gathered in the church basement. Faithful adults worked hard to share God’s love with these kids. In 2017, that group had expanded through invitation and excitement of those 12 kids to a record number of 49 kids. Through this program 10 people, ages spanning from infant to 60s, began attending church regularly and joined the church.

         

In 2013, a small country church started raising funds for megachurch pastors in Sierra Leone to get seminary degrees so that they could begin a seminary in Sierra Leone. In 2018, those men graduated with the help of Indiana Conference and other local churches.

          

We often feel too small to do something truly powerful in the world. We often feel like a failure when we see the same 12 kids for a year. In those moments, it is always good to remember that we serve a living God and long after we have given up or finished our job, he is at work growing something much bigger than we could have imagined.

           

Personal Reflection:

When have you seen God transform your small deed into something big?

Samuel the Boy

Scripture:

1 Samuel 3:1-21

Quick Summary:

Right at bedtime, God called out to Samuel, but Samuel thought it was the priest Eli. After three times, Eli finally realized it was God who was calling Samuel. The next time God called, Samuel said, “Here I am, Lord!” God wanted Samuel to do something very hard. God wanted him to tell Eli that his family would no longer be priests because they didn’t follow God. Samuel did it, and he kept telling people hard things for God for the rest of his life.

The Point:

God calls us, even when we are young.

Questions for Family Time:

1.     Who was the person you learned about? What made him special?

        a. Samuel was really young, but God called him.

2.  Did Samuel recognize God’s voice?

            a. No! God had to call him 4 times before he knew it was God.  

3.     What was Samuel called to do?

        a. He was called to tell the priest Eli hard things.    

4.     What is God calling you to do?

Deeper:

            Samuel is the last of our series of Judges. He is not actually recognized as a judge, though he falls in that time period. He is considered a prophet. In the Old Testament, prophets are people who take God’s word to the people. Priests are people who take people’s words to God. In the New Testament, first Jesus and now the Holy Spirit act as both prophet and priest. Through Jesus, we have full communication with God. We can be prophetic by speaking God’s truth into the world. We are also part of the priesthood of all believers, which means any of us can act as priests for each other by praying and helping them see God’s presence.

            Samuel has an amazing call story. God called him and he didn’t recognize God’s voice. It wasn’t until Eli told him, that he realized it was God talking to him. I think many of us have this experience. We may feel God calling us to do something…in our neighborhood, for someone else, or even change jobs. How do we know if that is really God or just a whim we are having?  It is something most of us struggle with as we sort out what God wants us to do.  It even happens to us who are called to be pastors.

            Just like with Samuel, most of us need someone like Eli who helps us discern God’s call. In the UMC, laity and clergy must confirm someone’s call to pastoral ministry throughout their candidacy process, which last from their call all the way through their education and three years of full time pastoral leadership. Pastors review their work and theology and then finally agree with God that this person is called and gifted to serve as a pastor.

            While not all calls are such a long process, every day God calls people in the church for specific jobs to bring his kingdom to earth. Whether it is a specific day job, or a job within the church, God calls all of us to use our abilities, personalities, knowledge, and passions to bring his glory. This week, our project leader is a member of our church that God called. She never thought she would end up in jail, but God called her to lead a bible study there. The church helped her follow that call by recognizing how she would be good at leading, and helping her with supplies.

            God is calling all of us. I hope we have the courage to follow those calls. Just as important, I hope God is using us in each other’s lives to confirm those calls.  

           

Personal Reflection:

What is God calling you to? Who else’s call can you confirm?

Hannah the Troubled

Scripture:

1 Samuel 1

Quick Summary:

Hannah couldn’t have a son. She went to the temple and cried and prayed so hard, the priest thought she was drunk. God heard her prayer and she had a son! Just as she told God she would, she gave him back to God at the temple. Then she sang God’s praises. Her son would be the last of the judges, Samuel.

The Point:

It is important for us to pray from our heart, even if others think we look silly.

Questions for Family Time:

1.     Who was the person you learned about? What made her special?

        a. Hannah prayed so hard, the priest thought she was drunk.

2.     What did she pray for?

        a. to have a son.  

3. What happened?

        a.   She had a son named Samuel.  

3.     What did she do next?

       a. She gave him to God and he grew up in the temple. Then she sang God’s praises.

Deeper:

            Hannah is a very important woman in the Old Testament. She is considered a model for a faithful woman by New Testament writers. Mary’s song found after she discovers her miraculous pregnancy is considered to be modeled after Hannah’s song for her miraculous pregnancy.  After Jesus birth, a woman very similar to Hannah, named Anna meets Jesus in the temple. Anna was widowed young and chooses to not remarry. That means she will never bear a child. We discover her as a woman of prayer in the temple, like Hannah.

            As important as she is to New Testament writers, Hannah should be an important model for our faith as well. She had nothing but faith. In her worship, she poured out a broken heart so earnestly, the priest told her she should be embarrassed of herself. She comes to the Lord with her anguish and grief.

            Despite the priests’ disgust, God hears her cries and blesses her. She keeps her vows made to God. Can you imagine? She had waited so long and tried so hard to have that baby, and she gives him back to God. We know she never stops loving her child. We discover as he grows us, she brings him a new robe every year. Her faithfulness is in stark contrast to the priest’s own sons who seem to be forgotten.

            Hannah teaches us so much about worship. Worship is not just joy, thanksgiving, and praise. It isn’t just saying how great God is. It isn’t just celebrating. True worship is when we come to God honestly. When, with raw disappointment, we pray and plead. True worship is not looking like everyone else on Sunday morning. It is not being silently reverent or singing loud. It is not standing or sitting at the right times. Rather, it is being who we are in our brokenness and our joy regardless of who else is in the room. It is meeting God and talking to him about the state of our hearts. It is giving up pretenses and forgetting about what others think to speak with God.

            Hannah’s story is about redemption. Her prayer that was ridiculed found its way to God’s heart. And when God blessed her, she came to God singing his praises.

           

Personal Reflection:

How do you pray? Have you ever been embarrassed when praying in front of others?

Prayers to Practice:

ACTS:

1.      Adoration – “God you are…”

2.      Confession “God I am not…”

3.      Thankgiving “God thank you for…”

4.      Supplication “God, please help…with…”

5-Finger Prayer

1.      Thumb: Pray for those who are closest to us

2.      Pointer: Pray for those who point to God

3.      Middle: Pray for Government leaders

4.      Ring: Pray for the weakest (sick, grieving)

5.      Pinky: Pray for self

Breath prayer:

            (breathe in) Jesus Son of God

            (breath out)Have mercy on me, a sinner

Samson the Strong

Scripture:

Judges 13 & 16

Quick Summary:

Samson had everything going for him. God promised his mom that he would begin to defeat the Philistines for Israel before he was even born. He came from a great family, he was strong and popular. But Samson chose to date a girl who was friends with the Philistines. She talked Samson into telling her the secret of his strength. Then while he slept, she helped the Philistines cut off his hair, and the spirit of God left him. He was imprisoned and tortured. He was brought out for entertainment. He grabbed the pillars and when the building collapsed he killed over 3,000 Philistines, dying with them.

The Point:

Samson wasted his potential by allowing himself to be influenced by the enemy. Like Samson, we chose who we allow to influence us.

Questions for Family Time:

1.     Who was the judge? What made him special?

        a. Samson was strong and promised to begin defeating the Philistines.

2.     What did Samson do wrong?

        a. He chose to hang out with people who didn’t want what was best for him, like Delilah.

3. What did Delilah do?

        a.   Delilah got Samson to tell her the secret to his strength (his hair) and then told the Samson’s enemies the secret for money.   

3.     Who influences you?

        a.      (Our project should have them thinking about influences in their life.  

Deeper:

            Every time I hear the story of Samson, I imagine that scene in Star Wars when Darth Vader joins the dark side. His teacher, Obiwan Kenobi, yells at him, “You were the Chosen One! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them…bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness.”

          Samson was kind of the Darth Vader of the Judges. He had everything going for him. Promised to greatness before his birth, his parents did everything right. He is the only judge we read about who is not described or known chiefly for their faults. Instead, he is known for his strength, for the spirit of God that rested on him. He is perfect.

          But just like Darth Vader, he disappoints us. He chooses to ignore the influence of his parents and his Israelite community, and instead chooses to associate with the enemy. Delilah wasn’t his first girl outside of Israel, but she would be his last. She would “wear him down” until finally he gave his secrets to her…and to his enemies.

          Samson would suffer the consequences of his choices. Imprisoned. Tortured. Displayed. Only in his death would he fulfill the promise from his birth. I guess he has that in common with Darth Vader too.

          Our kids will be talking about who we allow to influence us this week. I encourage my kids to be friends to all kinds of kids from all kinds of backgrounds. With some of those friendships, I remind them that they are the ones who should be influencing. They should be leading the group to do what is right.

          As a parent, though, I look at Samson a little differently. Samson reminds me that even though I may do everything right, my kid is going to grow up to make their own decisions. A parent can do everything right, and their child may still fall short of what we hoped for them. That actually brings me a lot of peace. We have been entrusted with these lives, and it can be overwhelming. Samson’s story reminds me that I do not hold their fate. God reminds me that while I can try to make them perfect, that may not be what God really wants. And it may not be what I want, not really. God reminds me that the imperfect, the humble, the incomplete are often his choice for leaders. God reminds me that he holds them even when they fall short. He reminds me that he can use them even if I give them to him broken.

         

Personal Reflection:

How have you tried to make your kid perfect? How has God stopped you? How has God shown you how amazing your imperfect kid is?