Tuesday, December 05, 2006


sharing the parable of hope with everyone who would listen

I would like to share with everyone this story.

A master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out after three hours, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, 'You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will pay you.' So they went.

Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same, recruiting more labourers to do the work that was at his vineyard.

And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.' He was simply amazed that anyone could stand all day idling when there was work to be done and money to be earned at his vineyard!

And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call all the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.'

And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a penny. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a penny. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, 'These last workers worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!'

But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn't you agree with me for a penny? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?'

So the last will be first, and the first, last.







What is my motive for sharing this story? Actually, a pastor from Chicago shared this story with us last sunday. And it had given me hope when i heard it. i had often prayed for a chance to speak of my God to my non-beliving friends and family but have never been good with words. So i sometimes get demoralised when i want to share with others but yet either 1) don't have the chance or b) don't have the guts. You could say i have almost given up on reaching out to my family. But then Pastor Bill shared this story and it really touched me.

The master of the house in the story is actually referring to God, and us as the labourers. He is willing to offer us salvation in the kingdom of heaven, no matter when we turned to Him. Be it at the third, sixth, ninth, or eleventh hour (which we often use to refer to as the last minute), all the labourers in the end were paid the same wages! So it dawned on me that even if my family accepted Christ at the last hours or last minutes of their lives, they would still receive the same wages as promised from God in the beginning of time. -- that we would be reunited in heaven! There was still hope for the non believers!!

Of course there are deeper meanings into this passage from the bible but I'm bad with words and do not want to end up teaching wrongly.

For the non believers, there is hope too. God has not forgotten you, no matter how much you hate Him. He often appears to you when you are furthest away, and when you despise him the most.

The master of the house asks "why do you stand here idle all day?", and the labourers replied "Cos no one has hired us". He was even amazed that there were people standing around doing nothing when there was in fact work to be done! It's the same for our spiritual life. Are we gonna stand here all day and not believe in anything? The master in the end told them to go work in his vineyard and but he made no mention of the amount of wages. Would you go work in the vineyard when asked to, especially when the wages are not announced? Those that went received the same wages in the end. Is that a sudden rush of hope to your head?

I hope this story has touched you the way it has touched me. If there is any questions, feel free to ask me and I shall convey those questions to my pastor who can give you a more precise answer.