“A certain man”, said Jesus, “had two sons; and he came to the first and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not; but afterward he repented and went. And he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go sir; but he went not. Whither of them twain did the will of the Father?”
It is not difficult in this parable to perceive the great lesson that Jesus is endeavouring to convey, nor to catch the note of warning directed not so much to the person who passes by His invitation as to those who have said, “I go sir”.
So much of the teaching of Jesus had to do with work to be done, an aspect which so often brought Him into conflict with those who “say and do not”. “Not every one that saith unto Me Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom, but he that doeth the will of My Father.” The test of sincerity is not in words, but in deeds; it is not in saying, but in doing. Jesus did not declare, “What say ye more than others”, but, “What do ye more than others”. Full of meaning to us are His words: ‘If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”
In the mercy of God each one of us has answered the invitation of Jesus, “Go work in my vineyard”, and in effect we have said, by the covenant we made at our baptism, “I go Sir”. But have we? Perhaps it is good at times that we stop and survey our position as individuals and consider whether we are workmen worthy of our hire.
The words of Jesus “Go ye into all the world and preach”, are so familiar to us that most of us do not consider them seriously. We think of them as being applicable to the twelve, to Paul, and to those of the first century, but ignore their command to us in this day and generation. And yet those words establish a principle in God’s dealings with men. From the beginning, He has always made the first move in reconciliation. God sent His prophets to Israel; He sent His only begotten Son into the world; He sent Paul to the Gentiles; and now, through these words of Jesus, He sends us to call others, that they too may find hope and peace in Him.
It is for this very reason that we have been called. This is why we have been enlightened by the Word of Truth. For this reason ecclesias have been established, that they may become lightstands from which the true gospel can shine forth. But, of necessity, the light can only shine through individuals whose lives have become dedicated to the service of Christ.
But, unfortunately, through force of circumstances many of us find ourselves very passive members of an ecclesia some hundreds strong. As such we can lead a fairly comfortable ecclesial life and come to feel that this is fulfilling our obligation to Christ; but in the light of His teaching this could hardly be so, nor is it in keeping with the example of the Apostles, who were able to say, “Lo we have left all and followed Thee”. True, indeed, our ecclesial life brings us many spiritual blessings, and we are continually thankful to our Father in heaven for those who labour in this field.
But those blessings we thus receive are not an end in themselves. We receive them for the purpose that they may flow through us unto others, for the salvation of men and women. In the command, “Go work today in My vineyard”, comes the challenge to every true believer, a challenge to put to use our faith, our know ledge, our talents, for the Owner of the vineyard; a challenge also which is twofold. It calls for work to be done and to be done today! “Herein”, said Jesus, “is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples indeed.”
In this great work of seeking to save nothing can replace personal ministry, which of necessity will involve individual sacrifice. This principle is amply demonstrated in the three conversions described in chapters 8, 9, and 10, of the Acts. In ch. 8. 26 the angel said to Phillip, “Arise and go toward the south”. In ch. 9. 11, the Lord said to Ananias, “Arise and go into the street called Straight”. In ch. 10. 20, the Spirit said to Peter, “Arise and go with them,nothing doubting”. In each case, by direct command of the Lord, the preacher is told to take the initiative—”Arise and go .. .”.
This principle still stands. Lecture halls and ecclesial witness are still required. The lightstand must still be in evidence in a world of gross darkness, but only as a centre from which the healing rays of the true gospel can penetrate further and further afield. The first move is still as it was in the days of old, when God reaches out to call the individual to Himself, by the hand of the preacher whom He sends.
We, therefore, must also arise and go. We must not wait with folded hands for what the Lord will do. Each one of us is a messenger with a message, individually commissioned by the Lord to work in His vineyard, regardless of where that may be or how it is to be done.
The Lord can still use weak things to confound the mighty, that the glory may be His. He has ordained that it shall be so; because none can approach so near to weak human beings as their own fellow-men, who can meet them at their own level and speak to them of the glorious message of salvation without filling them with fear, and who can understand their difficulties, being human themselves.
These two factors will always keep us humble: firstly, the realisation that, through no righteousness of our own, we have become links in the chain that connects God with fallen man; and, secondly, the thought that it is our weakness and not our strength that qualifies us for this work among men.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One