SOAP Notes

November 25, 2008
Matthew 20-22

S: Matthew 20:1-16

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place; and to those he said, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' And so they went. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day long?' They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.' When evening came, 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.' When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius. When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, 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.' 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? Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 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? So the last shall be first, and the first last."

O: A parable explaining the absolute nature of salvation and showing that we are not to envy those who seem to have attained it more cheaply.

A: I recall a night in college, sitting and conversing with a group of peers in a Bible study-type group. We were discussing heaven and degrees of reward. There was talk of jewels in the crown and mansions in heaven and such, and I took umbrage. Why wasn’t salvation enough? In that group and in many others I’ve been in, there’s the ongoing search for the icing on the cake of Christianity. Much, I suspect, is geared toward trying to puff oneself up over our Christian peers. A thought of “sure we’re both saved, but mine’s better because…” Or, perhaps a matter of fulfilling the human need to find justification and reward to make sense of greater sacrifice. Or whatever.

But this parable as I read it confirms my suspicion that salvation is absolute and the same for everyone. And, at least to me, it highlights the danger of expecting anything more (and missing the fact that there can be nothing greater). There is no pride in salvation; it isn’t earned and can’t be improved-upon or adorned. To worry about trying to put icing on the cake is to miss the substance of it and to risk losing the reward in our jealousy.

P: Lord, help me not to take pride in my salvation and help me not to compare my walk with that of another. Simply help me to accept Your gift and to treasure it, and let my life and my actions reflect what You have done for me. Amen.