There’s a truism to the marketing slogan, “Texas: It’s like a whole other country.” Texas once was a whole other country. (And there’s even rumblings around today about Texas reinstating her independence.) To those who aren’t familiar with Texas, beware: When we say, “Don’t MESS with Texas,” we mean it.
So what is it that makes Texas Texas? Texas isn’t a mythical notion. Texas is a real place with defined borders. But it’s not the geographic region on the map that makes Texas Texas. The thing that makes Texas Texas is the people – the culture and the spirit. So it follows, then, that if you want to know what Texas is like, don’t study a map; talk to a Texan.
Ever think about the Kingdom of Heaven like it’s the city, state or country next door? If you don’t, you should. After all, we as Christians are going to wind up there. Why not take the opportunity to get a glimpse into what the Kingdom of Heaven is like before we get there?
Heaven is a real place – just like Texas. Heaven has a known populace – just like Texas. Heaven has defined borders and boundaries – just like Texas. And Heaven has a culture and spirit all its own – just like Texas. And, like Texas, if you want to find out what Heaven is like, talk to a local.
It just so happens that Matthew is rife with stories from a local – in the form of parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 13, in particular, contains the parables of the weeds, mustard seed, yeast, hidden treasure, pearl of great price, and fishing net. They’re all good, but the ones I want to focus on are these:
- the parable of the wicked servant in Matthew 18,
- the parable of the vineyard workers in Matthew 20,
- the parable of the marriage supper in Matthew 22, and
- the parables of the ten virgins and the talents in Matthew 25.
The Wicked Servant
In this parable, the Kingdom of Heaven is compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. One of them owes an unfathomable amount of money, but after throwing himself on the mercy of the court is forgiven by the king. The same guy then happens across a friend who owes him a small amount of money – and has him thrown into prison until the inconsequential debt is paid. When the king finds out what this schmuck has done, he has the already-forgiven servant sent to the torture chambers until the debt is paid.
The parallel is clearly drawn by Christ in verse 35: This is how the Father will treat each one of you if you don’t forgive your brother from your heart.
Bottom line: God get’s really ticked when you don’t reflect His grace and mercy to the world.
And an observation for the hard-core once-saved-always-saved eternal security crowd. The schmuck was saved, right? The king forgave him completely. Certainly looks like salvation to me. But the schmuck winds up having his salvation revoked because of his post-salvation actions. Hmmmmm.
The Vineyard Workers
In this parable, the Kingdom of Heaven is compared to a vineyard owner. He goes out in the morning an hires day laborers to work in the vineyard. He goes out a couple of more times throughout the day and hires some more workers for the rest of the day. An hour before they shut down for the day, he goes out and hires some more workers for the rest of the day.
When it comes time to settle up, the vineyard owner begins with the guys he hired last, paying them more than the typical hourly wage for the amount of time they worked. When the guys hired at the beginning of the day see this, they start getting excited thinking that the vineyard owner will pay them more than they negotiated at the beginning of the day. When he doesn’t, they complain.
At first glance, their complaint seems to resonate. “Hey! Here I worked all day long, and you go and hire this lazy slob an hour ago – and you’re paying him as much as you’re paying me? You unjust SOB, you!”
But there are a couple of problems with that analysis. First, there’s an assumption that the workers hired an hour before closing time are lazy. Second, there’s an assertion that the vineyard owner, the proxy for God, is unjust. Both are incorrect.
We know the workers hired last were not lazy because God does not reward laziness. The alternative explanation is that they had already worked a full day’s labor elsewhere and were out looking for more work. They were, in fact, industrious, extremely hard working individuals who were trying to eek out an existence any way they could find. God is compassionate and incredibly generous to those who are earnest in their seeking of Him, and that is paralleled in this parable. The vineyard owner’s generosity is not an injustice toward the workers hired at the beginning of the day; rather, it is grace and mercy toward those hired at the end of the day. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the workers hired first.
Before continuing, some thoughts. Why didn’t the vineyard owner hire all the guys at the beginning of the day? I tend to think he hired all that were there and were willing to work. Later, he went back, and there were guys on the street corner that weren’t there earlier. Some might think they showed up to the street corner late because they were lazy. But I think they actually showed up early – and had already been hired by someone else for part of the day when the vineyard owner went looking for the first batch of workers. See, I don’t think the second, third, etc. batches of hirelings were lazy, I think they were hard workers who were honestly looking for good work anywhere they could find it – and were willing to take whatever came along. The vineyard owner, then, isn’t rewarding lazy folks who didn’t put in a full day’s work, he’s being generous towards extremely hard working folks who were willing to work two or three jobs – to do whatever it took to survive. Since God doesn’t reward slothfulness, that’s the only explanation I can think of that lines up with God’s character.
Bottom line: Base your expectations on your relationship with God, not someone else’s.
The Marriage Supper
In this parable, a king prepares a wedding banquet for his son. He sends out servants to escort the invited guests to the banquet. Nobody comes. The king dispatches a second round of escorts, and still nobody comes. Some even kill the kings servants. The king immediately sends out an army and obliterates the murderous individuals – and their cities.
Bottom line #1: God still gets really ticked when you mistreat one of his kids and/or servants.
The king, finding himself in a dilemma where his son is expecting a wedding banquet but there are no guests, tells his servants to go out into the street and invite anyone who will come. Obviously, there are now going to be people at the banquet who don’t have the expected garb and couth for such an occasion. To address this issue, the king instructs his servants to give the guests a quick etiquette lesson and proper attire.
After everyone’s seated, the king does a final walk-through inspection and finds a guest who’s still wearing his ragged street clothes. The king asks the man why he’s not wearing the proper attire – giving the guy an opportunity to address and correct the situation. The guy is speechless; the king is decisive. The king gives the order to have this guy bound hand and foot and thrown outside into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Bottom line #2: Just because the borders are open doesn’t mean you’re here on your own terms.
The Ten Virgins
In this parable, the bride and her attendants go out to meet the groom. Half of them didn't bother to think beyond the excitement of the moment, and the other half engaged their brains. Those "fuddie-duddies" who weren't twitterpated beyond logic recognized that the journey - while short - might last longer than the oil in their lamps, so they grabbed an extra flask of oil. The groom is delayed, and all of the lamps run out of oil. When the groom shows up, those without oil ask to borrow some from those who have "extra," but are told to go buy more themselves. They go; the groom arrives; those with oil join him, and those without are shut out from the festivities.
The historical context of a first-century Jewish wedding is important here - because this is what the people hearing this would have understood. D.A. Carson in the Expositor’s Bible Commentary describes the setting this way: “Normally the bridegroom with some close friends left his home to go to the bride’s home, where there were various ceremonies, followed by a procession through the streets – after nightfall – to his home. The ten virgins may be bridesmaids who have been assisting the bride; and they expect to meet the groom as he comes from the bride’s house…Everyone in the procession was expected to carry his or her own torch. Those without a torch would be assumed to be party crashers or even brigands. The festivities, which might last several days, would formally get under way at the groom’s house.” The torch was either a lamp with a small oil tank and wick or a stick with a rag soaked in oil on the end of it which would require occasional re-soaking to maintain the flame.
Why would those greedy bridesmaids with all of that extra oil not share it with those in need? Because they weren't greedy, and they didn't have extra. They were thoughtful, and they were prepared.
What kind of a picture of Heaven does that paint for you? Does it sound anything like what you hear preached from the pulpits of the modern day Christian churches?
Heaven is a real place, with a real culture and real spirit all its own. But that culture and spirit - what it's like to live there - isn't a big mystery. Christ told us pretty clearly what life is like in Heaven. And just like my journey to Texas, I looking forward to settling down in Heaven one of these days. Come join me - I think you'll like it there.
No comments:
Post a Comment