"THE LORD'S LOYAL LABORERS"
Written and preached by David P. Nolte

MATTHEW 20:1-16

1. ALL OF THE MEN WERE CALLED TO WORK:
1. The text says that the man called laborers to work in his field.
2. Throughout the Bible we see God calling people to work. For instance, He called:
1. Moses to do a certain work.
2. The judges to do a particular task.
3. The prophets for a specific function.
4. The apostles to labor in His field, the church.
3. I believe the man calling these workers represents God so let's notice:
1. All are called by God's initiative:
1. The passage says that the householder went and called them.
2. They did not ask for work, fill in application.
3. They were all idle, doing nothing, yet he called them.
4. So with our call: we did not so desire to serve we applied.
2. All are called for God's purpose:
1. Moses to lead the people from Egypt.
2. The judges to deliver Israel.
3. The prophets to warn, correct and instruct.
4. The apostles to preach the gospel.
3. So we are called for his purpose:
1. On the earthly plane to bear one another's burdens and to serve one another in love.
2. On the heavenly plane to help people know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
4. A woman was approached by a transient who asked her for a meal. She said, "I'll gladly feed you if you saw that fire wood over here." The man looked at it and said, "Lady, you saw me see that wood, but you ain't gonna see me saw that wood." She called him to work, and he wanted to shirk.

So all the men were called to work.

2. ALL OF THE MEN RESPONDED TO THE CALL:
1. The text says, "So they went!" Off to the fields and into the work.
2. People in the Bible responded to God's call, too.
1. Some were hesitant like Moses who thought he couldn't speak and Jeremiah who considered himself too young.
2. Some were outright rebellious and resistant like Jonah who fled in a ship to get out of going to Nineveh.
3. Some were ready and eager like the fishermen who left their nets to follow and like Paul who said, "I am eager to preach the gospel."
3. But today, here and now, what about you and me? How do we respond?
1. Do we procrastinate? "I'll do it later!"
2. Do we pass the buck" "Ask someone else!"
3. Do we allow the flesh to dictate? "I'm just too tired!"
4. Do we make other excuses? "I'm too busy, too old, too inexperienced, too this, too that, and too the other thing!"
5. Do we recognize that one way or the other we respond to God's call? It is either, "Forget it!" or it's "Yes, Lord!"
6. Like Superman do we say, "Up, up and away!"? Is it in gear and going forward? Are we willing? Read? Able?
4. Let me tell you just once more about a young man I heard pray. He was mentally slow but spiritually quick. In his prayer he said, "Lord, I'm just your servant reporting for duty!" Now, I've heard thousands of prayers. But that is one of the 4 or 5 I remember! Like him, let your response to God's call be, "I'm reporting for duty!"

The man called, the men responded and

3. ALL OF THE MEN WERE RECOMPENSED:
1. The text says that those who were hired first and those who were hired last each received a denarius. That was a days wage then. All received a day's wage though not all had worked a full day.
2. Those hired early complained about it - but you can bet those hired late rejoiced. And after all, the landowner was right, they had agreed, it was his money, and he could do what he wanted to do with it. He could have given the same amount to anyone who happened to pass by and who did no work if he desired.
3. There are three thing to consider as we apply this to our situation:
1. God is impartial: He is no respecter of persons; one is not more valuable than another! The world values one above another, not God!
2. We who are called later in time have the same salvation as those first called. The Apostles are no more saved than we are if we remain faithful to Jesus Christ.
3. Those who respond to the gospel in late life are as saved as those who respond in their young years. I have baptized several people in their 90's. For 90 years they were lost but then were saved. I'll never forget Echo Russell baptized at 90 years of age. For the next 5 years she said, "Oh, I wish I had done this years ago." But she has all eternity to enjoy the fruit of her response anyhow. This is not a licence or cause to delay in coming to Christ, but it is assurance that if you are along in years, you can still come.
4. A family got a few bushels of apples and were going to put them up in the freezer. They sat around the table and set to work. Mom and Dad did a lot of work. The teen age boy did quite a bit of work. His teenage sister did about the same. But the youngest boy, a boy of about 7, didn't do much. He ate about as much as he put up. He started a couple of apple core fights. He cut a finger. But when the family was done, they went to Baskin and Robbins for ice cream. Nobody complained that the youngest got the same as the oldest. At the end of the day, God wants all His children to enjoy the complete fullness of His salvation. And, by the way, no true child of God wants it any other way either.

When it comes to working for the Lord, Teddy Roosevelt is right, "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumphs of achievement; and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither defeat nor victory." We are called to be the Lord's Loyal Laborers. We are that - or we are one of the Legion of Lax and Lazy Loafers - and we sure don't want to be that, do we? We are called to work and serve and then in the end to share the glory. Let's all be "ready to go, ready to stay, ready our place to fill; ready for service, lowly or great, ready to do His will." Make that choice today. Our song both calls you to work for Christ and invites you to do that.

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