[Faith-talk] FW: [thefamilyoffaith] Larry Ollison - Complaining Will Get You Nowhere

[Eric Calhoun]

Original Message: 
From: "TONY_at_FloridaHealth" <FloridaHealth21 at verizon.net>
To: <thefamilyoffaith at yahoogroups.com>, <CcHhEeSsTtEeRr at yahoogroups.com>,
<INTERCESSORS-ALLNATIONS at yahoogroups.com>, "Donna Mae"
<btlg1370 at gmail.com>, <walkwithchrist at tampabay.rr.com>,
<rhansen at reachone.com>
Subject: [thefamilyoffaith] Larry Ollison - Complaining Will Get You
Nowhere
Date: 
Thu, 25 Mar 2010 08:31:53 -0400



Complaining Will Get You Nowhere 

by Dr. Larry Ollison 

(Matthew 20:1-11) provides us with an excellent example of people who
assumed they will receive something other than what they were told. It
says, 

"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 with the
laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them to his vineyard. And he went
out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace.
And he said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right,
I will give you.' So they went. Again he went out about the sixth and the
ninth hour and did likewise. And about the eleventh 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 no one hired us.' He said to
them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right, 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 came that were hired about the eleventh
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."

Notice that those who were hired early in the morning agreed with the
landowner to work for one denarius a day. But when the landowner hired more
laborers that afternoon, they wrongly assumed they would receive more money
than the newcomers. When they weren't paid any more for working longer
hours, they were angry and complained to the landowner.

Notice verse 12 says they complained, "saying...." Complaining always
involves saying something. Do you remember what the Word says about the
Hebrew children when they wandered in the wilderness? Whenever they felt
the least amount of discomfort, they grumbled and complained. And when God
heard their words, He was angry with them. See: (Exodus 16)

It may come as a shock to you, but God hears everything you say. There is
nothing hidden from Him. You may successfully hide something from your
husband, your wife, or your children. Perhaps you have even hidden
something from the law, but nothing is hidden from God. (Hebrews 4:13)
says, "And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are
naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." 

Picking up (Matthew 20:11) it says, "And when they had received it, they
complained against the landowner, saying, 'These last men have only worked
an hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the
heat of the day.'"

Notice that each man was hired to work a different number of hours, but
all were paid the same. As a result, the laborers who worked all day
complained even though they received exactly what they had agreed upon
prior to working. A spirit of division and contention built among the
workers.

The real problem arose when the laborers who were hired early in the day
compared themselves to the others. If those who were hired late in the day
had received a lesser wage, then they would not have had a reason to
complain. But when they realized everyone received the same wage,
regardless of the number of hours worked, they grumbled and complained. The
equal treatment they were given made them angry. Let's continue with this
parable, starting at verse 13: "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 you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?
Or is your eye evil because I'm good?'"

In New Testament times, the phrase "evil eye" was a colloquialism, or
idiom, of the day. In that day, when someone said you had an evil eye, they
meant you were tight or stingy. Therefore, Jesus was speaking about the
greed and stinginess of the workers who complained. What Jesus said carried
this implication: "Are you angry because I'm generous?" Then He concluded
with this astounding statement: "The last will be first, and the first
last. For many are called, but few chosen."

The real offense that arose among the laborers was caused by comparing
themselves to one another. They complained to the landowner, but it got
them nowhere.