Preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco
October 25, 1998
Story Based on Matthew 20:1-16—The Laborers in the Vineyard
By Gary Carter (See attached.)
Grateful Heart
You may never have heard this parable told this way before. But it is a strange story, isn’t it? The landowner in this parable found in Matthew 20 represents God and shows us an understanding on the nature of who God is. The landowner is unpredictable and generous to a fault. He will do what he will with his favor and with his money because he wishes to do so.
The parable speaks about those who worked the entire twelve hours during the day under scorching heat grumbled about the landowner’s generosity. They didn’t really have anything to complain about since they got exactly what they contracted for. Which of the laborers do you identify with? Those who worked the entire day—12 hours, those who worked 9 hours, 6, 3, or only one hour. We tend to identify with the laborers who worked 12 hours because we see ourselves in similar situations. We think that it is unfair when we see ourselves more deserving!
It’s almost like standing in a long line at the supermarket only to have another register open and the person right behind you gets to go to the new line. It’s not fair! The point here is not on the laborers but on the landowner.
Regardless of whether we are deserving or not, God chooses to be generous. God is so generous that he gave his Son Jesus Christ to die so that we may live. It is God’s love and grace that we are forgiven and promised life in heaven. Our part is to accept it and be grateful. We can’t do anything else. Not by our money or our good works or anything that we can do or say do we have one ounce of claim upon God. It’s all grace! And it’s God’s work of grace in us that we have a grateful heart and makes us gracious.
That is why Joseph in our parable gave away a loaf of bread and half his cheese on the way home. The landowner was gracious to Joseph therefore Joseph’s heart was grateful and he became generous and gracious to others.
One Heart & Soul
Before the Acts passage we read for this morning, we see that Peter and John were defending themselves in the faith to rulers, elders, scribes, and the high priests in Jerusalem. They were being questioned about the man they healed. The religious leaders couldn’t deny the fact that the man was really cured so they instructed Peter and John to keep quiet about it. But let’s listen to what Peter and John said in response:
“Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God,
you must judge; for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and
heard.
Peter and John refused to keep silent about Jesus Christ and the salvation that comes only from him.
There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven
given among mortals by which we must be saved.
All those who heard Peter and John were amazed over how boldly they testified to their faith. Refusing to keep silent and speaking out so boldly, even as uneducated and ordinary men, Peter and John stopped the opposition by making them speechless. While Peter and John stopped the religious leaders from silencing them, by their boldness, they motivated people to believe and to give.
The passage is so clear in saying that it was the apostle’s powerful testimony to the resurrection of Jesus Christ that the whole group of people who were there believed in one heart and soul! They were so “together” that “no one claimed private ownership of any possessions.” They made available resources, laid them at the apostles’ feet and there was not a needy person among them. This was an amazing situation too!
In our first story of the laborers in the vineyard, we see that because of the generosity of the landowner namely God, we have a grateful heart and become generous with others. Because of God’s grace, we are grateful.
In our second story, we understand that it was the “powerful boldness” of the apostles that moved the people to become of one heart and soul. By God working in the lives of others, we are moved to claim the welfare of the community to be more important than our individual needs. With one heart and soul, we become generous with others.
Tithing is like Getting Milk
You have seen the ads on TV and all over town. Nothing is better with Oreo cookies than milk. Got milk? How about the woman who ran out of milk for her many cats. That’s great for Halloween. Tithing is like getting milk. The most important reason for tithing is to give to God regularly and consistently. Regular giving outweighs the amount we give or the percentage of our income that we give. Tithing helps us to give to the Lord regularly, like drinking milk everyday.
In Deuteronomy 14:23, we read,
In the presence of the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose as
a dwelling place for his name, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, your
wine, and your oil, as well as the firstlings of your herd and flock,
so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.
The Living Bible translates this verse:
The purpose of the tithe is to teach you always to put God first in your lives.
Tithing according to Deuteronomy 14, is for three purposes;
1. Celebrate the goodness of God.
When we tithe we give with a grateful heart. The Lord your God has blessed you. We want to give generously because God first gave to us.
2. Support Our Place of Worship.
The priestly Levite tribe has nothing to give so tithing is to support our places of worship. When we tithe, we are better able to maintain the programs and ministries of our church by paying our bills regularly and on time.
3. Do Ministries.
There are widows, orphans, and aliens according to Deuteronomy that tithing will be used for. When we give regularly, ministries of caring, education, witnessing, and missions can happen.
What is Tithing?
There is nothing mysterious about tithing. In the Bible, it is giving to God one-tenth of what you earned. Tithing on your gross income or on your net after state and federal taxes is up to you. Either is fine depending on your ability. For some people, tithing only 10% is insufficient. Their grateful hearts and one heart and soul motivate them to give proportionately because they are able. Again, the most important aspect of tithing is to give to God regularly because of your grateful heart and your faith in the spirit of one heart and soul in our church.
Joy and I are tithing right now based on my gross income. I shared this not to boast but in humility and the joy of blessings that we have received from your generosity, we are able to do this now. For us, when I get paid, one of my first checks is to the church. We are grateful to be in ministry with you. Your love for Christ speaks boldly that for 118 years, you have been faithful to the Lord in the Spirit of one heart and soul. I know that we give because we have a grateful heart. We’ve been blessed by your spirit of fellowship and Christian service.
Last week, I was at Lea and Nelson’s home for a meeting. Nelson baked another coffee cake for the evening because he learned that by the time I got over to the YMCA last Sunday for class, all the cake was gone. Not a trace to be found. Only aluminum foil. So Nelson brings out the coffee cake, still warm, cut into 16 very equal pieces. I say, all for me! As we were passing the delicious cake around, Nelson comes over and carefully saves one of the16 pieces for Jaime. That’s tithing!
We present all that we have been given since we brought nothing into this world, to God. Nelson brought out the entire cake, all 16 pieces to share with us. But all along, he had in his mind, to save one piece for his lovely daughter.
When we receive resources, tithing means that we are already thinking about giving that one-tenth or that one piece of cake to the one we love. Christ first loved us and we have a grateful heart. We are moved by the testimonies of faith so much that we are of one heart and soul; acting on the behalf of the entire community over our own personal needs.
“Some Americans tithe more to their MasterCard than to the Master.” We can all learn to tithe regularly and gratefully because Christ first loved us. We tithe generously because we affirm the boldness in ministry at First Chinese Baptist Church because we are in the Spirit of one heart and soul.
Let us pray:
Dear loving and gracious God, we are grateful for the blessings of living Christian lives. Out of your love for us, we have no other response but to give from a grateful heart. Thank you for the apostles and the saints in our midst whose testimony of faith have moved us to be one in the Body of Christ. And all the people of God say, Amen.