02-27-22 “Will the roustabout ever find work?”

Scripture    Matthew 20:1-16

 

In the past I have worked as a custodian, a vacuum cleaner salesman, an air conditioner cleaner, a taxi driver, a retail men’s clothing store clerk, a worker then assistant manager in two different tuxedo rental shops, a waiter, a builder of industrial shelving, a professional mime, a youth pastor, a mentor pastor and a number of other odd jobs. Before all those, I knocked on doors to cut grass in the summer and shovel snow in the winter.
 
Twice this winter I had a young teenage boy knocked on our door wanting to shovel our snow to earn money (the first time because he had a friend’s birthday coming up and wanted money to buy them something). The second time he didn’t say why. I didn’t have much cash and didn’t need him to do anything but said if he shoveled my walk (very short) and right in front of the garage I would pay him $5.00. 10-15 mins I paid him the 5 plus 3 for doing a good job.
 
Recently I read a story of how hard it was for people to find work during the depression and for sometime after. A man named Max remembers hanging out with Ben (in his 70’s) every day at the roustabout camps hoping to get hired for the day. Even though they were from different generations, they became friends from their equal need to find work. For work in the oil fields, the boss would call out several names to clean a battery that day, or to put a new line in the south field. Max thought it was a special honor to be chosen for any work and there was also shame at not being chosen.
Roustabout SLIDE The only rung lower on the oil field hierarchy than being a roustabout was the unemployment line. If you couldn’t weld, then you would roughneck, If you couldn’t roughneck, then you’d service wells. If you couldn’t service wells, then you’d roustabout. If you couldn’t roustabout like Max and Ben, then you couldn’t find work at all.
So often, Max and Ben didn’t get hired because they lacked any of the hire level skills needed and Ben’s age didn’t help either. SLIDE off They often felt like they were a lost ball in the tall grass. A day late and a dollar short. One brick short of a load or one fry short of a happy meal. They felt worthless, like they would never get hired.
 

          There is a story in scripture that Jesus shares (a parable) that shows a similar situation with a very interesting outcome and shows how Jesus is ALL IN for us – even as he is about to face the cross. This is the first story Jesus tells at the beginning of his final week, and the last story he tells before entering Jerusalem. That means, the principle Jesus was teaching here was urgent and vital that his followers would understand. Before I share that parable story with you, here is what was written after the story was told…this is the perfect picture showing us that Jesus had jumped off the cliff and was all in – he had not yet hit the water but was on his way down…
Scripture SLIDE Matthew 20:17-19
Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!"  End SLIDE
          Just before Jesus jumped all in for us on this day, he told the following story:
Matt 20:1-16
"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
"About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went.
"He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'
"'Because no one has hired us,' they answered.
"He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'
RETELL the story in my own words
"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'
"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 'These men who were hired last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'
"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'
"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
RETELL this part of story in my own words

 
CONCLUSION
          Remember Max and Ben, one day, about 5:00 a black pick up drove past them as they were the only two left in the roustabout camp – they had no where better to be. Then the truck stopped and backed up and told them to hop in that the boss needed them for some work to do.
          Who is still waiting around at 5:00 to find work? Who notices anyone that late still looking for work and who would hire anyone that late in the day?
 
          I wonder if Jesus was the one driving that pick up truck. Let’s consider two other scriptures that shine light on this one.
 
1)    The thief on the cross.
While Jesus hung on the cross ALL IN there were two roustabouts also hanging on crosses with him, one on either side. The roustabout on Jesus’ left complained that he had once again not been hired and left knowing he would not find work that day.
However, the roustabout to Jesus right decided to hang around just in case. No, he didn’t have high hopes of getting hired, but he knew that he could not work if he left. So, this one stayed right there and even asked Jesus to consider hiring him. What was the harm in asking. Isn’t that amazing, he did exactly what we roustabouts can do, talk directly to Jesus. There is no mediator between God and man except Jesus Christ. Without us realizing it, he is the boss, the one who has work to offer – or in this case the one who has forgiveness and eternal life to offer. At that moment Jesus backed up his pick up and told the thief on the cross to get in, that he had more for him to do and he would be doing it with him that day in paradise. The thief jumped into Christ’s pick up and was now also ALL IN with Jesus!
 

2)    Go in to the highways and byways and compel them to come in.
Luke 14:16-24
Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.' "Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'  "Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'
"The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'  "'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.' "Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'"