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When I was a child, I learned in an interesting way the connections between your physical health and your emotional health. I had this weird way of getting sick whenever I was misbehaving. And my mom connected the dots between the two. And she's like, you know, whenever you're, like, just naughty and you're moody and just being a brat and, you know, not getting along with your siblings, you always, it seems like you just get so, like, churning with rage and angst that you get like, you make yourself sick. And I didn't believe her. And then, you know, like three times in a row, it was like, exactly correlated. Like me just being a punk and then getting literally, specifically a stomach bug. Now everybody hates throwing up, but as a child, like, there was to me, the absolute worst thing that could happen. And so it actually, like, got to be a thing enough where I remember in fifth grade, her specifically, like, she wouldn't have to threaten spanking. She wouldn't have to threaten any discipline. All she'd have to do is be like, you're gonna make yourself sick. And that was enough to sober me right up, you know, whether I couldn't be sure whether she was right about the connections. But I didn't want to vomit and so wasn't willing to find out. So it would, like, you know, snap me out of it. This isn't parenting advice. I'm not approving condoning. I'm just reporting the news here, right? But then as I got older, I read in the Bible that maybe she was onto something. Because Proverbs 17:22 says, A merry heart or cheerful disposition does good medicine. Does good like medicine. But look at this. A broken spirit dries the bones. There is a connection between how we feel and how we feel. Title of this message is, this is why you feel miserable. This is why you feel miserable. Today we kick off a brand new season in the life of our church. This is the kingdom. This is the kingdom. Over 100 times in the New Testament, the phrase the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven are used. And by the way, they're used interchangeably. Okay? So they're so synonymous, one with another. In fact, in the parable of the prodigal son, in the same story, in the same telling of the story, the same phrase is used from one breath to the next. So the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. 100 different times, 90 of them occur in the Gospels. And it always refers to the realm where God's will is done. That's our working definition, the kingdom of God. The Kingdom of heaven. It's the realm of where God's will is done. And of course, when we talk about God's kingdom, we are talking about everything he created, right? The earth is the Lord's and its fullness thereof. So the Most High rules in what he made. And yet out of all of creation, he's given only to us the opportunity to choose whether we obey Him. And if you read Genesis 3, you find out real quick what we did with that choice. It was to make our own hearts and lives a space where his will was not done. And, and he voluntarily laid down that right so there could be love. There had to be the choice, the freedom to do what is not his will. And welcome to the world that we live in now. Look what we did with it, right? Look what we did with our chance to rule his perfect world that he made. We spoiled it. It's broken. No one would argue the point that the world is not at its peak state. The world is not all of humanity. There's not full flourishing going on. There's so much that's broken. There's so much the Bible would use the language of cursed, okay? And when the Bible talks about God's kingdom, God's reign, it doesn't just talk about physical creation or our hearts in which we do bow the knee to him, okay? Because we can choose repentance. We can choose to turn from our own way and turn back to His. And our hearts then become a part of his kingdom. Our hearts once again are linked back up to his sovereign rule and his sovereign reign. But the Bible also talks about a future state. When it refers to his kingdom, it often refers to something in the future, a kingdom that not that not just is a kingdom that is coming. And this tension exists all throughout the ministry of Jesus. In fact, Matthew 12 says, Surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. You see that the kingdom of God has come. In fact, Jesus's first sermon is the same as John the Baptist's first sermon, Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand, right? And so the kingdom of God simultaneously has come upon you. But then look at Matthew 6:10. We're taught to pray, may your kingdom what come. May your kingdom come. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And then, of course, the end of the Lord's Prayer, the doxology, the worship at the end is what? Yours is the kingdom. So right there in the prayerist attention, yours is the kingdom, but may it come, right? We're praying for what already is Theologians refer to this distinction as the already but not yet, that Jesus is the once but future king, the once and future king. He's the ancient of days. He always has been king, and yet he is the king who is coming. He's the king who's whose reign will come. He will come riding in on the clouds. He will. He will cause everyone's knee to bow, everyone's tongue to confess. Everyone one day will acknowledge his reign, whether on the way to a crisis, eternity, or on their way to their participation in it. His kingdom will be all. And in all, this is what is coming for the world as we know it. So his kingdom is but is coming. It's the already, but it's the not yet. It's. It's been referred to this way. It's been inaugurated, but not consummated. To think about the relationship we have with Jesus to the the bride waiting for her groom, the Bible would say that we are, I guess you could say in our cultural vernacular, we're engaged but not hitched. All right, so this is the space between where we have the Holy Spirit as the promise. We have the Holy Spirit as the iou. We have the Holy Spirit as the don't worry, I'm coming back. I will return. Okay, so what is the most important thing to remember about his kingdom? We're going to be talking about this throughout the whole rest of the end of the year, all the way to Christmas. It's going to be so exciting as we get to celebrate the King, right? Who's coming? Who came, who's coming? What's the most important thing to remember? His kingdom's upside down. It's an upside down kingdom. So it's not worldly, it's not earthly, it's not what we're used to. Our whole frame of reference has to be flipped right side up, you might say, to understand his paradigm. That's why Jesus would say, you've heard it said. But I tell you, I know this is how it is on X or on Instagram, but this is how I roll. That's what he often had to do, because even his own disciples who were closest to him were confused by him and baffled by everything he did. And if we're thinking worldly, wisdom wise, we will be confused and miss out on what Jesus does as well. Well, so we have to think different. Why? He's a different kind of king, and ours is a different kind of kingdom. And in Matthew 21, Jesus is going to show us that failure to think like he thinks to See, how he sees will only make you miserable. This, he's going to say, is why you feel miserable. And we can boil it down to these four words. Why will you feel miserable in his kingdom if you don't think like he thinks? Here we go. He. Here's the four words. I was here first. This is how our world operates. I was here first. Does not your blood boil at the notion of someone who was behind you getting ahead of you? We hate that perfect strangers will band together to agree. That's not fair. Right? Stand in line with people you don't know. You might not even like any of them, but you'll just all be like, no, no, no, no, no. Right? That person back there. Cutter, right? You have grown people acting like third graders. Cutter. And yet it rises up me all the time, man. There are many things I love about America, but one of my favorite things is the mostly democratic way. We have agreed in this country to get off of airplanes, right? We have mostly agreed on a very democratic way to get off here. Now, there are exceptions and rules are meant to be broken. We need to all agree if it's a tight connection and they've come in late, if you're at your destination, sit your butt down. Right? We all need to agree because our day's all coming for all of us. And we hope on that day people who are making their home in Denver will just stay seated in Denver. 5. The plane train's gonna wait for you, right? You can just chill five minutes because someone's got to get on to Omaha, okay? Can we all agree on that? All right? Now if that ain't the case, if you're at the back, you stay seated until the person in the row in front of you has gotten up and had the chance to. Don't be a sneaker. Don't be that guy. We mostly, in this country, I've discovered, get off planes that way. Now, this last summer, my family and I went to South America. And I can report back to you many wonderful things about South America. But I do not enjoy how South Americans get off of airplanes. It is every man for himself. It is. I was at the last row, but I am shoving past you. And the self righteous parts of me flared up. I had to keep saying to myself, you're here on a mission trip. You're here on a mission trip. You're here on a mission. And you know what I responded back to myself? You know what I said? Not till we leave the airport. Not till we leave the airport. Not till we sinful confessions are now out there. All right, I. Someone say it with me. Was here first. It makes our blood boil to have someone from behind us get ahead of us. Jesus will address this in Matthew chapter 20. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now, when he had agreed, someone underlined the word agreed with the laborers. You can say it out loud, you can underline it, whatever. Just notice it. I'm going to draw attention to it later. For a denarius a day. Okay, A denarius a day. He sent them into his vineyard. What was the agreed upon rate? A denarius for a day. Did they agree on it? And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace and said to them, you also go into the vineyard and. And whatever is right, I'll give you. So they went again. He went out about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did likewise. And about the 11th hour, he went out and found others standing idle and said to them, why have you been standing here idle all day? They said to him, because nobody hired us. He said to them, you also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right, I will give you, you will receive. So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first. And when those who were hired about the 11th hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more, and they likewise received each a denarius. And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, these last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and suffered the heat of the day. But he answered one of them and said, friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me? For a denarius, take what is yours and go your way. 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 my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good? Or one translation. Does it make you angry to see me? Be generous. So the last, he says, will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen. I will never forget the day my dad taught me the difference between grace, mercy, and justice. I was in third grade. This is before I got pukey, when I was bad. But I still got bad. And I did something I knew full well was wrong. My siblings, two of them were involved. And my mom said the words nobody wants to hear, wait till your father gets home. And it was, like, so bad that she wasn't going to deal with it. We had to, like, sit with this, like, fear, you know. My dad gets home, she told him what we had done. He asked us to line up in the living room. And I was just sure it was my last day on earth, you know, this is it. And it was an infraction that had been clearly specified what the consequence would be of that specific infraction. And so my dad sat us all down and said, if you got this discipline that I gave you that I told you would be yours if you did what you have done. That is what the Bible says is justice, because justice is you getting what you deserve. And we were clear. To receive justice, to receive this consequence, to receive this discipline, that would be a what we didn't want. And it would be, we were guilty. We couldn't say a word about it. We had done what we knew we shouldn't do, and this would be what we deserved. This would be justice. Now seared into my little brain for my whole life is a clarity of, I actually don't want justice deep down. But then he said, but if I didn't discipline you. And he said, spoiler alert, I'm not going to discipline you tonight. I want this to be something that sits with you that you remember. He said, if I don't discipline you, me not disciplining you tonight, that's called mercy. The Bible talks about God's mercy. Mercy is where you don't get what you do deserve. He said, but I want you all to get in the car. And I thought, oh, no, it's much worse than I thought. He's going to kill us all. I looked for a shovel. I didn't see one. This seemed like a trick. I knew it. The whole mercy, justice swap. Now he's going to murder us. And he drove us to Baskin Robbins. And before we got out of the car, he said, you don't deserve ice cream cones, but you're getting one tonight. That was a really big deal. It wasn't like every day's ice cream, you know, it was like. It was like a blue moon that we would get ice cream. As kids, my parents made us eat real healthy, and it just was not a common thing. We did most of our meals at home, you know, and so our eyes lit up like, what on earth? And he pointed us to scripture after scripture that talks about God's grace. He said, I want you to understand that grace is where you get what you don't deserve. So let's go get ice cream, because I want you to remember what God's grace is. I was 30 some years ago, but I've never forgot the difference between justice, mercy, grace. And we all feel really moved by that. And we all love the thought of that. And every single one of us, our hearts are swimming with this beautiful theme. Grace is great. We're like, who's in favor of grace? Yay. Three cheers for grace. And I'm good with grace when I'm the one getting what I don't deserve. But what about when you get something you don't deserve and you deserve it less than me, and I get what I don't deserve, but it's not as good as what you got that you didn't deserve. Because that is what this story is trying to tease out. This is not, by the way, a parable. If you're in HR or in leadership, you're like, this is a great new policy. We are rolling it out. The end of bonuses as we know it, right? Jesus would use stories like this so we could feel the kingdom of God rise from our stomach to our Adam's apple. And he knew that every one of us would become the little litigators that we all are when we feel like our sense of justice has been tampered with. That's not fair. Someone behind me is getting ahead of me. And we say we want grace. We say we love grace, but what we really mean is we want grace for us and justice for everybody else, especially our enemies, but even occasionally, strangers, we don't know. And that's why when you get pulled over, you're like, lord, grace, grace, grace, grace, grace. And when you see someone pulled over, you're thinking, it's about time they're cleaning up these streets. And you give that little smug look as you drive by, like, maybe you should have tried harder. Because you and I are all little Pharisees in the making, every one of us. That's why we hate them so much when we read them out in the Bible, because they remind us of us. The teaching tells us that in the kingdom of God, the pay is the same for everybody who calls on the name of Jesus. The pay is the same. We all get the same Lord. We all get the same faith. We all get the same baptism. We all get the same Savior. We all get the same spirit. We all get the same church. We all get the same call. We all have been called to a Holy life to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. And that's great until we see someone beside us who deserves it less than us. And then it's like, hmm, we're looking in, we're in search somewhere for a gated community we can find, right? And yet Jesus said, in his kingdom, the prostitutes and the tax collectors enter into the head table ahead of the religious people. And whether the true understanding of grace fills you with joy or jealousy, it tells you everything about what's going on inside your heart. The context for this parable is helpful and poignant because the division of chapters between 19 and 20 is extremely unfortunate in this case, because if you look back, even just one verse, what you're going to notice is the sandwich repetition of the first will be last theme. And that's the last verse of chapter 19, right? So this whole idea of the first will be last. Then Jesus pivots and goes, well, let me tell you what the kingdom of heaven's like. And then how does he end his parable? Hey, just so you know, the kingdom of heaven is different. The first I know in this world, it's the first get to be first and the last, you know, screw them, right? And yet he's like, no, no, the first will be last and the last. But do you realize if the first are last and the last become first, what does that mean? That means everybody gets the same thing. Everybody gets the same thing. The prize is the same. And so what he's saying is, if you're in the kingdom at all, you get Jesus. If you're in the kingdom at all, you get the Holy Ghost. If you're in the kingdom at all, you get God's Word. If you're in the kingdom at all, what do you get? What's your prize? Well, let's see, you thief on the cross, you did nothing good, didn't even get baptized. Why, he was otherwise constrained, right? Spent the last hours of entire life cussing at God, had a change of heart in the last moment. It's always too early to give up on someone. It's always too early. This man had seconds to live. Called on Jesus. Guess what he got the door price the entire cake. Remember the walk of the cake? He got the cake, got his seat, the last one, he said. And he got to be the first one in because he was there when Jesus had descended and ascended. Crazy. And what about someone who, like Simeon in the Christmas story, was told, you will not die till you hold Jesus in your arms. And this man's old man lives his holy, righteous life, serving God every day, sacrificial living every day. And guess what he got for his price? Jesus. Jesus. Whether you have been saved five minutes or you have been saved 50 years, you have a part of honor in the kingdom as a son or daughter of the king. He is just as excited that you're in the kingdom as if you lived every single day of your life. And what that does in the heart, the long term believer, whether it exposes you as the elder brother who won't go in and dance or not, shows whether you truly understand grace or if you think your part in the kingdom is actually justice. Does my generosity upset you? Does God's generosity upset you? Again, like I said, it never does when he's doling it out to me. But what about when he doles it out to those who have hurt me? What about when he doles his generosity out onto those who hate me? Or what if he doles it out just simply to those who are less, in my mind, deserving of it than me? Again, the context for this parable in which he sandwiches it with this notion that in the kingdom of God, it's not like in this world. Peter had asked a really important question. You know what Peter's question was? What are we going to get out of this? For following you. And when he said we, he didn't mean you and me, he meant we, like us three, Peter, James and John, right? His little crew. He meant we, you know, he probably would even if push came to shove, extended onto the whole apostolic crew. What are we going to get out of this? He actually said it this way, Lord, we've left everything to follow you. Look how much we've done. And I know you're saving blind Bartimaeus in 10 minutes, and that's great for him. And that's cool that you could call Zacchaeus down from a tree, that wee little man, you know, that's cool that you'll forgive. But, but if you're free, if you're giving them salvation, what are we going to get? Because he thought the first will be first. He's, he's literally like the apostle number three. Do you realize how many billions of people have followed after him and followed Jesus? And he's like, what are we going to. We're the early adopters. What are we going to get if they get salvation? Imagine what we're going to get now. The rich young ruler had literally just left, who Jesus called to understand the unique calling on his life was to leave it all. And yet the calling on all of our lives is to view it all as God's. The unique call on the rich young ruler's life, which was not on Zacchaeus life, which had been on anybody else's life that we read about thus far, was to leave it all, because Jesus wanted him to see the barrier his wealth was to him, entering the kingdom of God at all. And when the man said, I can't because my possessions are too great, I can't follow you, and he walked away sorrowfully with all his possessions, but with no salvation, Jesus mused, oh, man, it's so hard for those who have great things to enter in the Kingdom of God because their heart's going to be divided. And this flew in the face of Jewish thinking, which was, if you're blessed, prospering financially, it means God really loves you. And if you're suffering, God must really hate you. And the disciples were like, that's crazy. Remember, upside down? And so they said, well, how can anybody get saved then? Because the whole goal of our whole nation has been to prosper. And Jesus says, with men, it's impossible. But here's the good news. With God, all things are possible. Peter's thinking, well, he didn't do it, but we did. He forfeited the chance, but we didn't, so what are we going to get? Where's your blessing for us? And Jesus said, let me tell you a story. Someone once said that you can't get to true transformation just simply by concepts. It takes images. It takes mental models. It takes pictures. Jesus, who made man, knows this about us. And so he, more than anybody, would tell stories, would use images, would. Would give us pictures, like I said, so we could feel the kingdom of God inside of our stomach and with a lump in our throat. And he said, there was a guy who needed people to work for him. So he pulled up to the Home Depot on a Saturday, banged the side of the truck and said, who wants to get in? And some guys came and said, how much will you give us? And he said, 100 bucks for the day. And they got in having haggled. You can argue whether they haggled well or poorly, but denarius was a day's agreed upon sum for the average day laborer. And these guys said, maybe. They said, I don't know, maybe start at 75. And they ended at 100. Right? But we could just say 100 bucks, right? 100 bucks. Get in. You work for the day. It's 6:00am first hour. They thought about it, okay, $100 you get us for the day, but we walk away with $100. They were high fiving each other because the line was long that day. High fiving each other for the chance to work for 12 hours and walk away with $100. So they jumped in, they were taken to the vineyard. They were told what to do. And the text says that at 9am, at 12pm and at 3pm because it was urgent to get the harvest off the crop, to get the harvest off the. Off the vine because it would perish and go bad. So time is not. If you ever been in Napa during harvest, people are freaking out, working all through the night, lights on everywhere. So he is, he's like, we got, we. No, no, no. Okay. Stuff's gonna spoil. We're losing money here. Send someone back to the market, start rounding people up. Just get people right? And then this is so crazy. So these new people at 9am and 12pm, at 3pm, the text says, hey, you wanna work? Yeah, I'll take care of you. I'll take care of you. Okay, you'll take care. They don't know what that means. They didn't need clarification. They didn't ask for specification. What are we going to get? Was never a question they asked. He was just quick to tell them, I'll take care of you. So they trusted. Not in their contract, they trusted in the character of the one who called them. And so they went. Not for an agreement, but because of a person. I'll do what's right. You can count on me. They said, we're good. 5pm the day end. The work day ended at 6pm, 12th hour of 6pm at 5 o', clock, which it's like already, like winding down time, you know, Right. In most, most, most places, like people like, oh, we'll leave at 6, all right. Well, you know, it's like a, you know, it's like four o'. Clock. Where does everybody go? Well, you know, we needed to like, get a start on quitting, you know, get a start on leaving. It's the spirit of five o'. Clock. Especially on like the last workday of the week. It's like, does anybody work here? So five o' clock is not the time to be bringing people in. And what are you going to get at 5 o'? Clock? The people who were not hireable, you know what I'm saying? Like, real talk, if they had what it took, they would have been rounded up in the 3 o' clock group, the noon group, the 9am but the ones who are really strong. No one walks like Esther. No one talks like Estelle. They were at the 6am Crew. Okay, bright eyed, bushy tailed thermos of coffee ready to go. These people. Dur, dur, dur, dur, dur. Where are we going? Just. You'll pick grapes. Come with me. Okay. You know. And off they went. At quitting time, when the whistle sounds, everyone's rounded up. And from the end to the beginning, the 5pm people get handed a hundred dollar bill. What are the 6am people thinking we're gonna get? $1,000. What's right for us? Anybody with me that? Conservatively, 1200. Technically. We'll just call it a rough thousand or round thousand. A thou would be good. They've already spent $1,000. They're broke now because they've already blown $1,000 in their minds, mentally. They spent a thousand. They've already gone on a trip. It's already gone. There's no more. They're actually in debt. They spent thirteen hundred dollars. They're mentally. And how am I going to pay that bill? They've already blown a raise they didn't even get. The Bible's not relatable. This is not something that happens today. It's just something that happened way back when. Somehow I got paid more but owe more, have less. This is crazy. It makes no sense. The Bible says money will make itself wings and just fly away. Where does it go when it flies to whatever you love the most? It flies to whatever you love the most. That's the easiest way to track what you actually love. Jesus said, where the treasure goes, the heart actually flows. It's where your heart actually is. And what is Jesus trying to do with the reaction of the 6am Crew? He's trying to show that we actually deep down hate the thought that the kingdom of God is not about grades. It's about grace. The kingdom of God does not function based on gpa. It functions based on God's kindness and God's goodness and God's character. And he's warning in the moment, Peter, but also by extension, you and me. What happens when we choose control, complaining and comparison? Control. These are the problems. I see. This is why you're so miserable. It's control, it's complaining, it's comparison. I just see it. The moment the men are asked to come work, what do they say? What's it going to be? They want to agree. And there's something within us that wants to approach God that way. We say, I need to understand how you're going to use me. I need to understand how it's all going to go. I need to understand what you're going to do for me. I'm not angry at Peter because he asked the question. I'm feeling seen in my own life that I want control. I want to understand. I want to know before I do this, are you going to do that? And where are you going to be? And how's it all going to flow and how's it all going to go? But I so often want the agreement. And where God wants us to be is where the noon and the nine and the three and the five people were. Whatever is right. Not my will. Yours be done. I don't need an agreement. I got a savior. I got a shepherd. I got a guide to the end. I don't need to know. I just need to know who to follow. Not my will. Whatever's right. You're gonna. I don't. You don't even. Whatever. Whatever you want to do. The answer is yes. That's where we need to be. The answer is yes. What's the question? I don't need control. I got your word. I got you. God gives his best to those who let him write the contract. What's the result of wanting it all in writing? We need to know from God exactly how it's. You know, all the things it leads to. Getting what you asked for but discovering it wasn't what you needed because he gave them exactly what was agreed upon and it made themselves. It made them sick. And it will make you sick. We either get to trust a deal that we can make or we can trust a dealer. Trust the Creator. And if we feel miserable, it's because we shifted from grace and are looking at our performance, track record, our place in line, and thus disappointed with. With what he's doing in the moment. Complaining. We have borne the burden and we have suffered in this heat all day. 12 hours earlier we got a job. We got a job. Can you believe we got picked? Everybody else didn't. All them other suckers didn't. As the truck's rolling down the road, they're like, see ya. Wouldn't wanna be ya. Early bird gets the worm. Next time try hard. Right? Right. And 12 hours later, they get exactly what they asked to receive. You made us suffer in your heat all day. Complaining always causes you to forfeit the peace and the pleasure of the promises of God. How did the nation of Israel not enter into the promised land? Complaining in the desert. Complaining about what exactly? What they had asked to receive. They got what they asked for, but discovered it wasn't what they wanted. Complaining I was here first, I do more, I deserve better. Complaining is just gratitude in reverse. And gratitude unlocks God's blessing and makes your life surrounded by an atmosphere that draws the miraculous. Gratitude makes you feel better. Gratitude makes you live longer. And the reverse of that is what you get when there's an unthankful spirit complaining in your heart. Rottenness to the bones comparison. It truly is the thief of joy. They said you paid them what we were supposed to get. And he's like, uh huh. You see whose name's on the farm, bro? Can I not do what I want with what is mine? Your problem isn't that I didn't give you what I said I'd give to you. Your problems that I gave to them what they didn't actually even ask me for. So maybe you could stop looking at what I'm doing with someone else and just look at me. Because they were happy until they looked around. The Bible says that our cups are overflowing. But you know what? You'll never notice it's overflowing as long as you're staring at your neighbor's mug. You just look at what God gave you, what God's done to you, and you start being thankful for what he's doing in your life or your ministry or your world, instead of just consumed with how, how much less they deserve the move of God. Do you know how long I've been following him? He never did that through me, how long I've been here. Now they get the things, they get the honor, they get the applause comparison. It will only accelerate your trip to misery at the end of the day. Their biggest complaint though is you made them our equal. You made them our equal. And they don't deserve to be what we're getting. You made them our equal. I should be first. I was here. What does that sound like? I, I, I. The devil said, I will elevate my throne above your throne. God's first. The devil said, I was here first. I should be first. And he whispers in all of our hearts, you should be first. You should be getting that, that should be yours. That car, that promotion, that blessing of God, that should be yours. And we comfort ourselves. Well, I'm only seeking justice. I honestly don't care about the blessing. It's out of principle. No, it's not. It's out of worse sinful and little tiny Pharisees. What do we do? How do we short circuit the misery. Number one, this is quick. We're done here. We're praying. We're just. We're in the water now. This is going to be a powerful, powerful season in the life of our church. Amen. All right. Powerful. Number one, don't graduate. Don't graduate. What am I saying? I'm saying stay a freshman forever in God's family. The moment you see yourself as a senior, the moment you see yourself moving on up, the moment you start to see yourself as a six o' clock saint, suffering the heat, bearing the burden, all these little hooligans come in saved as the last minute. Now they're popping off on TikTok. You know, it's like, what are you. What is the matter with you? You grew up. You stopped being a lost boy. Now you're Captain Hook. You gotta stay silly, you gotta stay small. No matter how long you've been walking with Jesus. Refuse to move on from grace to entitlement. I've paid my dues, you know, I was told that first year of this church, talked to a guy, he'd been coming for a while, wanted, you know, get involved, tell me about what the church needs. I said, man, we need someone to serve. You know, guest services, welcoming people. That's what we need. Well, I was sort of thinking board member. I was like, well, tell me more about that. He said, well, I've been part of three churches, been on two deacon boards. About time, you know, I said, what we really need is a guest services person. And, you know, I got a great, great, great board. I really feel good about that. I would love someone to just hand out, worship God, invite people. He said, son, I paid my dues. I have paid my dues. And I thought, yuck. And I just am thinking about Jesus, who says that if we're too small to serve, too big to serve, we become too small to lead. And the qualification of greatness in God's kingdom has always been the servant's heart. And of course, it's easy to pile on that attitude because the ugliness inside of our own hearts always looks filthier when I see it on someone else, right? And so the bigger question is, how do I flush out what I feel in my heart when someone coming along newer than me, doing less than I deem myself to have done, gets used in a significant way, way. And. And how does that make me feel? What does that do to my eye? He said, your eye has grown dark. Your eye has grown bad because of what I'm doing. That's Good. If something makes me feel that jealous flush, it's because I now see myself as a 6 o' clock Christian. I've paid my dues. My. No, no, no, no. Listen to me. Listen to me. Listen to me. I was a 5pm hire who didn't deserve the job. I am a 5pm hire. He didn't have to pick me, he didn't have to save me, he didn't have to choose me, but he did. And I want to be thankful. And this will overcome any misery you're feeling in your heart that makes you jealous and makes you envious. I'm a 5pm Christian. I barely got in. How could it be that God would save me, the chief of sinners? Paul said you have to combat the tendency to become old and cynical and jaded and a big deal by. As Paul got old, the more he heaped on how unworthy he was because I think he was trying to combat against what comes into all of our hearts. And that is, I deserve better because I was here first. Number two. Don't stand still. Don't stand still. I noticed there are three movements to this story or four movements to the story where the vineyard owner goes to the market, the vineyard owner goes to the town, the vineyard owner goes to the Home Depot, and every movement is to take what is idle and to give it movement to make what's idle start moving. Why are you standing here? Why are you standing here? Well, we got a job to do. Come on. Night is coming. There's grapes. We've got to get off the vine. Come on, there's work to do. Come on. The fields are ripe. Come on, we gotta. Come on. Night is coming. Night is coming. Night is coming. Night is coming. Night is coming. Come on, we gotta. We can't be idle. We can't be standing still. So. So. So Are you a part of the kingdom of God by just standing there? If you're not serving, you're not serving. If you're not helping, you're not helping. If you're not on a team, you're not on a team. If you're not giving, you're not giving. God says, why are you standing around? Come on. Come on, let's work. There's a spot for you. Come on. It's not about those who were here early. It's about everybody who's a part of it. Come on, you're here now. Come on now. You're here now. Come on now. Here's a jersey. Come on, here's a spot. Come on, let's do it. Come on, we got a world to reach. Come on, we got a generation to call out. Come on, we got work to do. Come on. We want to see people stranded in sin, find life and live. This is the kingdom, a rowdy room of five o' clock Christians who are just grateful to have a spot. I'm not. Well, well, he. He got more playing minutes than I did. Even though he Stop it. Heaven help us to just be thankful we got called to just be grateful that he picked us. And don't stand still because it's easy to disengage once. Well, just let them do it. Oh, they're the ones who are highly favored. They walk on right. It's easy to disengage and just be there. Like the quiet quitting. A lot of people have quit the trip. A lot of people quiet quit on the church and are just there in body but not in heart. They're in body but not in resource. They're in body, but not in prayer. They're in body, but not in engagement. They're in body, but you know, just come and go, right? But I say go all in. I say let's do it. Let's do this thing together. Don't stand still. Don't wait for something great. Just do what's necessary. Don't wait for something great. Just do what's necessary. Read the Rest of John20 this week on your own. Find out how Jesus pivots from this to talking about the cross. Hey, guess What? Newsflash, Matthew 20. They're almost to Jerusalem. Hey guys, just FYI, when we get there, I'm going to get arrested, get crucified and die. And you know what their response is? Can we have a right hand seat and a left hand seat in your kingdom? How do you say Como cd? Say? You didn't get the parable. I told you a minute. Tell me you weren't paying attention without telling me you weren't paying attention. And so Jesus reiterates Matthew 20:27 who whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, what did he do? He came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Number three. Don't get over it. Don't get over it. Don't get over it. Don't get over what? You didn't see it? Verse 13 the vineyard owner called the 6am Christians friends, friend, friend. He didn't just bring them to his vineyard to work. This is astoundingly out of keeping with the cultural norms of the day, he brought them into relationship with him. He calls you his friend. Oh, what, The Creator of the world, the the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. You want to stay 5pm everywhere, all the time? Just remind yourself, pinch yourself, I'm the friend of God. God is my friend. Unless you think like how good you are because of how much you love God. He says, you only love me because I loved you. Friend. The solution to your prideful I did this. I did this. Is this here's on the screen. It's him saying, I was here first. I was here first. I was here first. And when he says I was here first to you and you look up and see what he did to bring you into relationship with him. Oh, whether you've been a Christian for five minutes or you've been a Christian for 50 years, you're just never gonna stop being blown away that you are his friend. And new Christians coming in, you're not. Your response isn't, well, you better do something better in my life than he does in their because you'll see, he already did. What do you mean? Put that back up on the screen. Those four words, I was here first. If Jesus is the treasure, follow me. If Jesus is the treasure, not what he does through you, not what he does for you, not what he gives to you, if Jesus the friendship with Jesus is the treasure, he's the fairest among 10,000, then if you've been a Christian longer than someone else, you shouldn't be looking for a reward. You already got it. You. If you've been Christian for five years, you've had five years of friendship with him. And may we go all the way to our deathbed realizing every minute saved was a minute with Jesus, you'll say to yourself, wow, I'm just thankful I was here first. I got more time with him. Him whom my soul loves, who my soul delights in. Don't get over that. Don't let that ever become blah. To you. Bleh. To you. Meh. To you. Let it blow your shoes off. Let it blow your hair back. The one who walked on water walks into your bedroom each morning to just say I love you. When you sit down to have your quiet time, he's there in his glory, in his power. He's there. He's coming again. But he's king in your heart. Your apartment, your car, the life even that you don't want to live today, it's a life he's going to show up to Meet you in. Don't get over it. I think Peter thought back on this day. Oh, don't you? When Jesus was gone. Oh, you know, you don't know what you got till it's gone. Don't you think Jesus, Peter was like kicking himself, thinking back to, what am I going to get from following you? He had him, we have him. And if that's true, lastly, we're done here. Don't go alone. How can you know that you treasure him? You want others to see what you treasure? Didn't I Jenny, get all you kids and you. Didn't I keep everybody outside this morning? Because the sunrise, I wanted them to see it because it was going. I wanted them to see it. When you really know how beautiful Jesus is, you tell other people about him. So tell other people about him. There's heaps we don't know about the kingdom of God and how it bifurcates between Israel and the church. Timeline, chronology. There's heaps we don't know about the kingdom of God. But this we know there's room for more. But this we know there's more seats at the table. I wrote it this way. His job is the end of the world. Your job is the end of your block. Well, when is the end coming? You can just, like, argue about it and, like, post angrily on Facebook about how dark the world is. Or you could light a candle and invite someone into hope. Invite a candle, invite someone into life. Invite a candle, light a candle and invite someone into. The disciples were told you will receive power when the Spirit comes upon you to be witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. And you know the context for that was them arguing with Jesus, about to ascend, about when he's coming back. Will you at this time restore the kingdom? And he goes. There's a lot you don't. No. Here's what you do need to know. It's five o' clock somewhere. It's five. It's five o'. Clock. It's five o' clock in Kalispell, it's five o' clock in Great Falls, it's five o' clock in Portland and in Polson and in Wyvern, it's five o'. Clock. In Oregon, it's five. Come on, let's reach the world. Come on, it's five. There's more room. We're five o'. Clock. Saying, saying to the world, there's room for you too. Come on, stand up to your feet. Every location. If you're in on this, come on, just raise up your hand, say, I'm in on this. I'm in on this vision of a kingdom of servanthood and grace. I'm in on this. God help me to be a five o' clock Christian looking out for others. We repent God. We turn from our idols. We turn to you. Hands down. If you need to give your life to Jesus, this is your moment. Now is your time. If you've never trusted him, it's five o' clock right here, right now. There's room for you in the vineyard. There's room for you in relationship. There's room for you. Turn from your sin, turn to him in faith. Just put your hands up right now. If you're calling on Jesus, put your hands up. If you're turned from sin, turn. If you don't want to go to hell, you want to go to heaven, you want Jesus to save you, just put a hand up. Put a hand up. Every location. God sees you. God sees you. God bless you. Right there. Anybody else? God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. Come on. Where are four of those? Coming in, Coming in. Hey, Levi and Jenny Lusko. And we want to thank you for watching this message from God's Word.
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B
What an amazing message also.
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A
Thank you.
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B
And we're so glad that you are here joining us today. We love you so much and it's just the joy of our lives to get to go into God's word and to love him with you.
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A
That's right. We're in such an exciting season. This is the kingdom. And between now and the end of the year, we're all praying at Fresh Life and those of us online about how we can participate in expanding his kingdom through a year end offering which you can Give now at FreshLife Church. Give us or at any point between now and the end of the year.
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B
And make sure you hit the this is the kingdom drop down that's right thingy.
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A
Yeah. Just a chance for us all to see what God's doing in the world grow and to touch more people and to extend and expand the reaches of the borders of God's love to more people who need it. That's right. So be praying about it. And truly from us, it is such an honor to get to bring God's word to you and just thankful for so many of you who give, who pray and who believe in what God is doing right here at Fresh Life.
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B
We love you.