The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Matthew 20:1-15, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

2 “And when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.

3 “And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place;

4 and to those he said, ‘You too go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went.

5 “Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing.

6 “And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing; and he said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’

7 “They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into the vineyard.’

8 “And when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’

9 “And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius.

10 “And when those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; and they also received each one a denarius.

11 “And when they received it, they grumbled at the landowner,

12 saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’

13 “But he answered and said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius?

14 ‘Take what is yours and go your way, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.

15 ‘Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’”

I know I’ve given you a longer-than-usual passage. The substance demands it.

All of us have at some time been envious of others. We argue in our minds that

“we were here first” or “we’ve been here longer” or “we’ve done better work” –the list goes on. There are numerous applications of this parable, but the overriding point is that the one who is paying for labor is fundamentally in charge.

I’ve been by-passed for situations for which I reckoned I was more worthy than the fellows who were chosen. Was I treated unfairly? At the moment, I thought so; but in the long run, I was wrong. How does that figure? For one, it was not my business to determine what the other person needed and whether I could do the job. For another, the LORD is always in charge! Had He determined that someone else was better suited for the situation, who was I to challenge Him or His “fairness”?

Nothing I could use to argue for my being better than another could prevail. I am HIS servant. He is my LORD! He always does what is right! I’ve had to learn to trust Him implicitly! And in my years of doing His work, He has never failed to supply my needs. May you learn this early; it will protect you from the bitterness that selfishness produces.

We love you; Jesus loves you more,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”