Unemployment. In the world’s economy it’s one of the biggest problems going. Literally millions of people are struggling to find jobs right now. Yet in the middle of it all, there’s a place where the unemployment rate is zero. There’s an Employer so eager to find workers that He’s published an ad that reads something like this: “Labourers wanted. No experience required. Willing workers will be paid more than they earn. Employee satisfaction is guaranteed and the benefits are eternal. All applicants will be hired.”
Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? But that’s the offer Jesus has made to everyone in the kingdom of God. It’s an opportunity so great you’d think every believer on the planet would immediately jump at it. Most Christians, however, don’t even know the offer is on the table. They have no idea God has a specific job for them and that He will pay them well to do it. They’re out there scratching around in the world’s economy, taking whatever job they can find and trying to make a living. All the while, their extravagantly rich heavenly Father has a position for them in His operation. He has an assignment that was tailor-made for them before the foundation of the world; and He has the resources to compensate them richly…because in His kingdom, there’s no such thing as an economic crunch. “Yes, I know that, Brother Copeland!” someone might say. “Heaven’s economy is doing well! I’m looking forward to going there someday so I can enjoy it.” What are you waiting on? Why not start enjoying it today? You can do that, you know. The New Testament says that as born-again believers, we’ve already entered God’s kingdom. According to Colossians 1:12-13, “God has made us…partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light…has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” Hath is past tense, not future tense! Sure, God’s kingdom includes heaven. But it’s also on earth. That’s why Jesus said in Matthew 28:18, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (New King James Version). Right now, you and I are in the earth-part of the kingdom. And if we’ll learn how that kingdom operates we can enjoy its privileges, become its ambassadors and expand its influence every day of our lives.
One passage that tells us a lot about how God’s kingdom functions is the parable of the vineyard owner in Matthew 20:1-7. There, Jesus says:
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and said unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man has hired us. He said unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
What jumps out at me right away about this part of the parable is how eager the vineyard owner is to hire workers. He doesn’t just put out a “Help Wanted” sign and go on about his business. He starts early in the morning looking for labourers, and he stays with it all day long. Apparently, hiring people is a major priority for him. From morning until evening, his focus is putting people to work. That would be unusual, under any circumstances. But it’s especially odd when you consider that he’s still hiring people when there’s only an hour left in the workday. This vineyard didn’t have a night shift, so the guys who went to work at the 11th hour weren’t going to be there long enough to even get their clothes dirty! Obviously, this man has more on his mind than getting a job done and making a profit. Something else is going on here. We start finding out what it is when we read what happens next:
So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard said unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee (Matthew 20:8-14).
To understand what’s going on in this situation, it’s important to notice that the owner referred to the labourers as “Friend.” The word is capitalized, indicating a covenant relationship. So, all these guys had a covenant. But not all of them operated in it the same way. The first group, the ones who worked all day, demanded a contract. They wouldn’t go into the vineyard without one. You might say they were union workers. They weren’t going to do anything unless they were guaranteed a certain wage. Those who were hired later in the day, however, had a different arrangement. They went to work by faith. They didn’t know what they were going to get. They didn’t ask any questions and they certainly didn’t demand any contract. They’d been standing around all day without a job. They just wanted to work! When the owner of the vineyard showed up, they must have thought, Here’s a guy who wants to hire me at 4 p.m. knowing I’ll get off at 5! What kind of deal is this? I don’t know how much he’s going to pay me but even if all he does is buy my supper, I’ll be better off than I am now. So they jumped at the chance, headed for the vineyard, and trusted the grace of the landowner. It turned out to be a smart decision, too, because they didn’t just get paid for the hour they worked, they got paid for the entire day. Of course, that angered the contract guys. They thought the whole system was about toiling for a living. They’d been sweating to earn their pay, working selfishly just to meet their own needs. The way they saw it, the crew that worked a fraction of the day should have received only a fraction of the wages. But here’s where they went wrong: They failed to understand their employer’s heart. He wasn’t just interested in getting the work done in his vineyard; he was looking for people to bless! He was looking for people who would come to work for him in faith and obedience so he could pay them far more than they earned. This man was interested in dispensing grace—pure grace. God is the same way! He’s said to us virtually the same thing the vineyard owner said to the late-hour workers: “Go to work for Me and I’ll take care of you. You won’t even have to worry about your needs. I’ll see to them. If you’ll do whatever I tell you to do, whether it’s sweeping streets, running a corporation or pastoring a church, I’ll make sure you’re well taken care of. I’ll do for you what’s right.” In other words, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). This is the secret to being extremely blessed in the kingdom of God: Adopt the attitude of the non-contract guys. Find out what God wants you to do and go after it with all your heart, trusting His grace and saying, “My Father is going to take care of me. He wants me in the vineyard and I’m going. I don’t care if it’s sun up or sun down. I’m going to do what He tells me to do and go where He leads me to go because that’s where I’m supposed to be!” When we start operating with that mindset and in that kind of faith and obedience, we become the happiest, wealthiest workers anyone has ever seen. We find what I like to call our laughing place. We start living in THE BLESSING of God’s kingdom right here on planet Earth.
“But Brother Copeland, what if God sends me somewhere I don’t want to go? What if He assigns me to some low-paying job out in Timbuktu?” If He does, then Timbuktu will turn out to be the grandest place on earth for you. And if you’re working there on assignment for God, He’ll pay you a whole lot more than you’re worth. He’ll pay you like you’re an equal owner in His kingdom because you are. Jesus confirmed it in Luke 12:32. He said, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Think about that! As a believer and a joint heir with Christ, you don’t just live in the kingdom of God, you own it. This is a family operation. To get an idea of what that means in practical terms, imagine this: A multi billionaire in the oil industry has two sons working with him. He calls one of them into his office one day and says, “Mike, we have a problem at one of our pipelines in South America. One of our foremen isn’t treating people right. He’s causing trouble. I want you to go down there and work as a welder, so you can keep an eye on him. Find out what the problem is so we can correct it.” Let me ask you something. Does that boy have to live on a pipe fitter’s salary just because he’s going to be doing a pipe fitter’s job? Is he going to wail and say, “Daddy, don’t send me down there! I won’t be able to afford a decent place to live. The economy there is terrible. The maximum wage is $10 an hour.” No, he wouldn’t say any such thing. He knows his income isn’t going to change just because he goes to work in South America for a while. He’s still co-owner of a multi billion-dollar empire. He’s heard his father say again and again, “Son, you call me every day and tell me what you need. Whatever it is, I’ll see that you get it.” The boy doesn’t have a thing to worry about, and he knows it. Why should he be upset about spending a few months in the jungle? He’s not going there to suffer; he’s going on a mission, on an adventure in service to his father. He’ll be taking his authority and his prosperity with him. He’ll have the time of his life, fixing the problem down there and seeing everyone involved get blessed. That’s what it’s like to work on assignment for God. That’s what it’s like to be in the middle of His perfect will. No matter where it takes you, or what it involves, it’s the greatest adventure you could ever have—and it comes with all bills paid. I learnt that in 1967, the day I went to register for classes at Oral Roberts University as a 30-year- old student. I was the oldest freshman on campus and it was the first day in my adult life that I was in the perfect will of God. Oh, what a day that was! It was January. A bone-chilling Oklahoma wind was whipping, and I’d gotten there early, before the admissions office opened. As I hid in the stairwell to get warm, I got so thrilled that I started shouting and praising God. I was absolutely overjoyed to be where I was supposed to be, in the middle of God’s plan for my life, doing what God had called me to do. Standing out there shivering, I had no idea how I was going to cover the cost of my tuition. But when I got inside, I found out it was already paid.
Those were good days, but they were just the beginning. In the 40-plus years that have passed since then, I have had the time of my life working for Jesus. He’s kept me busy, for sure. But He’s also blessed me beyond anything I could have once imagined; and He’s let me have a whole bunch of fun in the process. Most believers don’t know this about God, but He’s highly in favour of having fun. He once told me if it hadn’t been for sin, He would have never had a serious thought. The Bible makes it plain that He’s a dancing God; He’s a music God. He’s a let’s-have-a- party God. I was thinking about that fact not long ago when I was out joy riding on my motorcycle. I remembered a time when Gloria and I, and a few of our preaching buddies were biking together and we rode into a town in Wyoming only to find the streets blocked off for some kind of celebration. We just parked the bikes and joined in. People were singing karaoke on the back of a flat bed truck, and Jesse Duplantis jumped up there, grabbed the mic and started singing. If you know Jesse, you can imagine, he was dancing and jumping all over the place. A guy standing there listening looked over at me bug-eyed and said, “Man, that guy is good, isn’t he?” “Yeah, he is,” I said. He shook his head in amazement and added, “You know, someone’s liable to discover him!” I couldn’t help but laugh. “I think he’s already been discovered,” I said. Jesus discovered Jesse a long time ago, just like He discovered you and me and every other born-again believer. He tapped us on the shoulder and said, “Hey, I’ve got a job for you in the kingdom. You want to go to work for Me?” We said yes…and we’ve never regretted it. There’s no better job on earth than working in the kingdom of God.
– Article by Kenneth Copeland, April 2011 BVOV