I was at church today unexpectedly. No priest to consecrate the elements so we used the reserved sacrament. No priest to deliver the sermon so a Warden gave the sermon. The landowner and the labourers. It never ceases to amaze what God can bring out of His word when we least expect it. Whenever I had reflected on this parable on earlier occasions I had always focussed I think on the payment of the workers, or more especially, the 'unfairness' of the workers who had worked all day. But, the most wonderful word that occurs in this passage is 'generous'. God is a generous God and treats all of us generously. Not because of the level of our work or because of our status but because it is his nature to be generous with us..
Reigning With Christ by F J Huegel (1963) is a book of only 88 pages yet it is filled with crucial truths of the Christian faith organised around the theme of the enthroned believer . It's fair to say that the theme he concisely addresses in this small book is much neglected today. For the press of technological life with its bustle and speed is such that we can forget that present life, so ' real' to us, is temporary (2 Cor 4.18) and as in the first century, 'the form [Greek, "schema"] of the world is passing away' (1Cor 7.31). It's easy to read this work and though it has 20 chapters, they are short and pithy. However, reading it requires a meditative attitude so as to allow the Spirit to work on our hearts.
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