Delaware City press. (Delaware City, Del.) 1913-19??, 1913-11-14
Will ENDURE LONG
Parable Of the Savior Cannot Die
Out From the Minds
of Men.

which went out early in the morning
to hire laborers into his vineyard"
etc.-Matt. 2O:1-15.
The occasion of this parable we find
in the previous chapter where the rich
man came to Christ, the young man
who had desire for spiritual things,
but who thought more Of his material
possessions and ut last went away
sorrowful. The disciples, and especial
ly Peter, had been bordering the Incl
dent. The young man had refused the
service of Christ and chung TO his
riches; they on the contrary had for
saken what little they possessed and
thrown in their lot with the Master.
What would be their reward? So at
last Peter asks the question, Behold
we have forsaken all and followed
Thee, what shall we have therefore?"
The answer of Christ is that all those
who have made sacrifices for his sake
shall receive in the present world an
hundredfold and in addition, life ever
lasting.
But the spirit of Peters question
also requires an answer. 1t was the
spirit of elf-consciousness, of self
complacency and bargaining. So Jesus
tells him that many that are last shall
be first, and the first last, meaning
that not the mere fact of having made
sacrifice for the kingdom insures
! the great reward, but the spirit in
which the sacrifice is made, and then
Jesus tells the parable.
This nora blo daoIc with unrlr and
wages. The social science of today
probably does not take into considera-
ton what this parable has to say, or
| possibly looks upon it as foolishness,
and yet its teaching will stand when
much of the so-called social science;
and tine-spun theories of the age have
passed into the limbo of forgotten
things.
'rhe kingdom of heaven is like unto
man who goes to hire laborers into
his vineyard" Let us pause right
there. It is fine thing when you feel
discouraged at conditions, and feel as
if in this work-a-day world the king
dom Of God were an ethereal and UNI
real quantity-it is fine thing then to
recall how many things Jesus says the
kingdom of heaven is like. Gather
those likenesses together and you find
that the kingdom touches eyour life
and work, no matter what your occu-
patton may be. Why, it seems like an
invitation from God to join his forces
when you find that his kingdom is in
the midst of your life, and SO it is. The
kingdom of heaven is like a man who
goes to hire laborers! That very first
sentence overthrows some of our pre-
conceptions We probably had an idea
I,.that the kingdonn nf heayen. was like
the Garden of Eden where there tfzf
be no labor to speakiof, and whel :
old question of wages would nevd
brought up. 1t may be rather star
} to some of us to find that the king
means work and wages, labor andsFS
ward, industry and faithfulness. If we
J learn that lesson from the parable we
} have learnt great deal. 1t is the COS
pei of work. Some one says that there
/ is no gospel of work, that it is stern
law of necessity from which man is
continually striving to escape. No, II
is a gospel. God has made work a
means of grace. The idle man is thu
farthest from the kingdom, and the
S hardest to save.
= Jesus represents God as hiring la
S borers for his vineyard. To the Chris
q tian every honest calling is a sacred
o calling since 1t is an integral part Of
t the necessary work of the kingdom Of
r God. We often hear the ministry
n spoken of as the sacred calling, bu
e that deserves the title only when 1t i;
g striving to infuse sacredness into
s. every life, and into the so.called secu
6 lar calling of every life.
IS The world is filled with differen
IT kinds of work. There is for example
@ the work of the homemaker, concerned
d with the preparation of food, the car
ing for house and clothing, and al
ie those innumerable activities whicl
a. Solomon loved to linger upon when h
lie described the good fortune of tina
ID home whose presiding angel is goo
in woman Is not that work of the king
le dom of God? And perhaps that elias
N has more reason to go on strike tina
to those who work in our mines and ia,
:, tories. There is the necessary wor
er of all those who labor in wood, an
y iron, and stone; Of those who tram
d. form the ores into tools and machiI
cry; of those who transform the RAJ
materials into textures of cotton an
wool and silk There is the work {
'e- those who open the furrow, and SO
sr, the seed and reap the harvest, Ca
w we say to any of these, we have L
Ill need of you? Are they not all nece
an sary factors in Gods wise economy?
of
i'd, Three Great Problems.