The Giving Pledge
Written by John Fontanella
Sunday, 12 September 2010 09:00
Secular Philanthropy
Back when I was in Seminary in Boston, I had just finished watching the Cardinals in the World Series. I was flipping the channels and I started watching dateline NBC, and there was a show on that caught my attention, now it was late and I needed to go to bed, but some topics just grab you. The show was on “giving” and it was a 2 hour show devoted entirely to who is giving in this country.
It turns out, that the two groups giving the most to charity are… the poor and the very rich. This has been the trend for many years now but a big big movement is a foot. Thanks to people like Ted Turner, who pledged 1 billion dollars to the UN a few years ago. After his monumental pledge he challenged other wealthy people to do like wise... people like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates have been ponying up mega bucks to be on the Forbes top 10 list of biggest givers.
What a more beneficial list for them to be competing over rather than the usual who has the biggest house or the fastest car or the granddaddy of them all the Forbes Richest 40. What a great change it is to see, the same people who were competing to be higher on the list of wealthiest people are now competing to be higher on the list of generous people.
The sad part is that this is a secular movement... If you Google it or check on Wikipedia, the articles are listed under secular philanthropy. If you go to giving pledge.org you will find a list of billionaire’s who have pledged to give away half of their fortunes if not more. I want you to listen to an excerpt from Ted Turner’s letter to pledge.org about why he is giving so much.
Giving Back
Giving back was instilled in me by my father at a young age. In addition to being active with Rotary and other civic organizations, my dad was also philanthropic with his own small resources. Not only did he make contributions to causes that he cared about, he also supported the tuition of two African-American students at his alma mater, Milsaps College in the late 1950s. It made a big impression on me to see someone as hard-charging as my father take the time to quietly help out two young people like this.
Sometime during the 1970s, before I made a significant amount of money, I attended a seminar on philanthropy. At dinner I was seated next to a man who was quite a bit older than I and we began discussing charitable foundations. He told me about his family’s foundation and the good things they were doing around the world. I filed this away in my mind and told myself that if I were ever wealthy enough to have a foundation, I’d be sure to make it a family foundation so that my children would be involved and understand the importance of giving back.
Now I hear a bunch of stuff about civic organizations and foundations and seminars, but I didn’t hear one mention of God, and as I skimmed over people like mayor Bloomberg and Paul Allen, it seemed to be much the same.
Challenging question: Why aren’t Christians lining up to join this trend of philanthropy?
I think that we should. And I think we should based on a very simple theological statement. If Christ is Generous and Christ is in us, then we cant help but be generous. Jesus talks about this very concept in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. It’s a little talked about parable to be honest with you in the book of Matthew there are two other parables dealing with vineyards and we don’t usually make it to this one. Also, we need to do a some tidying up to understand it better, you know do a little "Martha Stewarting."
First the title of the parable needs a little Martha. If you were reading the title of this parable “the parable of the vineyard workers,” you would naturally assume that the vineyard workers are the main character and the main character in the Bible is always God right? Isn’t the answer on Sunday morning always Jesus? But as we read through it, Notice that God is actually represented by the Master or the landowner. You know maybe it’s a little deal and I’m making it big, but I really do think it says something about us when we go around naming parables after our character and not God’s character. As I read this parable keep the two sides in mind.
But before we even get to the parable of the vineyard worker we have to know why this parable is being told… A parable is a story that answers a question in way so that we can apply one conclusion to multiple questions in other words the lessons found in parables are always relevant. The occasion for this parable starts in Chapter 19 v 1 Jesus moves on from Galilee into Judea, and it starts with a series of questions and answers. ya know honestly the only questions that you would think people would ask if they were around Jesus, Kingdom of Heaven …“Hey look am I in or Out?”
- Matthew 19:1-12 I’m gonna paraphrase a little here, Jesus says hey look if you know you’re going to screw it up don’t get married, divorce is bad don’t do it and some people have sacrificed the pleasure of getting married because the might not make it into “the kingdom of heaven”
- **Next in Verse 14 Jesus says “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
- **Then the story of the rich young man who asks, “what do I still lack?” Jesus answers, “if you ant to be perfect, go, sell you possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.”
- ** then the famous it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter he kingdom of God.”
(24) Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
(25) When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?"
(26) Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
(27) Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?" (28) Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (29) And everyone who has left houses or family or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. (30) But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
Now my parents both have their P.H.D.’s in Physics and every now and then around the dinner table they start talking about force and motion and quarks and no its kinetic energy and you just kind of smile and nod? Well I think Jesus gets the sense that that is what is going on here. He starts talking about thrones and tribes and the disciples just start smiling and nodding. Maybe some of you while I was reading that were just smiling and nodding right?
SO think about it this way divorced guy comes up to Jesus and says hey am I in or out, then a rich man comes up, am I in our out,? Then Peter Jumps in and is like ok Jesus these guys are all in. We have been in since the very beginning; we are going to get some thing super awesome right? So as we read this parable keep two things in mind, Jesus is responding to Peter’s and make no mistake about it Peter’s question is about position. He’s thinking much like we do, if I’m following you longer do I get more? Is there more?
And Jesus Finally says enough is enough lets talk about heaven...
Matthew 20
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
(1) "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. (2) He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
(3) "About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. (4) He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' (5) So they went.
"He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. (6) About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'
(7) " 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered. "He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'
(8) "When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'
(9) "The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. (10) So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. (11) When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. (12) 'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'
(13) "But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? (14) Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. (15) Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'
(16) "So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
Big Picture Point #1 We don’t consume Jesus, Jesus consumes our life.
When Peter asks Jesus about his reward notice that Jesus doesn’t just come out with a list of stuff he can choose from. You know like credit card points or something. No Jesus goes straight into, ok you guys are workers. In other words, look Peter, look John Fontanella, Christianity is not as much about what we “get” as it is about what we get to do. You see Jesus goes around rounding up all the people he can find who are not working and gives them work to do, another way of saying “not having any work to do” back then and even now is, yea I don’t have any purpose. See check out verse 6 and 7
(6) About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'
7" 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered. "He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'
Before they meet Jesus, they weren’t doing anything worth doing, and we should pay attention to that, life outside of Christ has no purpose. See we gotta be real careful as a consumer society to remember Jesus says that he is the bread, Jesus didn’t say I am here to give you a big stack of bread that you can eat whenever, Jesus isn’t something that we just consume He’s the one that consumes us. So when Peter says hey Jesus lets talk about what we are gonna get, you have to understand that this is in fact a self centered request.
Jesus is King ... Peter’s position in the Kingdom
Jesus shifts and is like umm lets talk about what your purpose is. You see we don’t consume Jesus, Jesus consumes us.
Let me show you what consuming Jesus looks like.
In college I had a good friend name tyler who just caught fire for God. I mean he was evangelized to one week and then was going door to door in the dorms knocking to find our if they knew Jesus. One day after attending a worship service we were walking out and Tyler was like John I don’t think I’m going to come anymore. I was like dude!?! He responded that he wasn’t getting anything out of it. I knew right there that Tyler was in for some issues because like when we re-name a parable to focus on us, instead of God if we are sitting around saying what am I getting out of this we’ve already missed the point. Its not about us consuming Jesus, its about Jesus consuming us.
Big Picture Point #2: The last will be first and the first will be last. (I think Jesus is serious!?!)
Do you know who the last are? Have you seen them? If you are in middle school or high school, maybe they sit at the table across from you… maybe they are in your gym class, maybe you feel like its you? If you are and adult you seen people standing around the U-Haul in Herndon and the 7-11 in Oakton and the homeless center in Reston or the foodbank in Loudoun. They have no work to do, and if they have no work to do they have nothing of value to bring home. Each time that the landowner goes out he finds people that are going to earn less and less because the hours are ticking by. Third hour, sixth hour, ninth hour, eleventh hour less less less...
Ok so John we all want to know who is last right now, but in this parable who is first and who is last?
The “first” people to be called to work in the vineyard are the Israelites. There is a very subtle distinction that happens in the first line that I think gives it away. The first ones to work agree to a contract to work for a days wage. Know the history here, Israel, prior to our savior’s walking on the earth, dying on the cross, and being resurrected from the dead… Had established a contract with God saying we will be your people, we will obey your commands and you will be our God and if we are faithful in this, we will inherit the promise land. The exact same language as those recruited in the morning, notice they are the only group that agrees to their wages before hand. In verse 2 “He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his yard. Everyone else just allowed the landowner to pay them what is right… And what happened in verse 11 is exactly the same thing that happened in the history of Israel, they complained and grumbled.
So follow along the time-line with me if Israel is the group of people hired in the morning and so that would make the Augustine’s time about 400 AD hired next and then maybe Wycliffe and then the reformation in 1517 next and guess what in the context of history we are the last. If Christ comes back tomorrow we are really last. Kind of puts a different feel to the parable knowing that we were the ones that almost didn’t come home with anything.
I think it is very important for us to recognize this historical use of this parable because its humbling
Its humbling to realize that we have possibly been hired in the last possible moment.
As with all parables there is a huge implication for us today. Jesus tells the parable in this way so that it will not only apply to the context of history, but to the context of Gateway. Some people at Gateway have been Christians as long as they can remember, they grew up in church and still go to church. They are the ones that have been harvesting in the fields for a long time. Then there are some of us who came to know Christ later in life. These are the workers who were called later on in the day.
The warning of the parable is to the long timers is not to become to prideful in how long you have been working Jesus says be careful because its great when the last become first, it a bummer when the first become last. It’s a warning against pride. How do I avoid this pride? We gotta become meek… remember that word from the beatitudes… I never really got that vocabulary, but understand it like this, go around acting, behaving, and interacting with other people like you are last even if you are first. I’ll say that again, in order to avoid being prideful act like you are last.
C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity says that, “[Pride is the Great sin.] Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others.
This parable has something for you even if you are still thinking about becoming a Christian and haven’t made a decision yet. Let this parable encourage you, that God is going to grant you the kingdom of Heaven, even though you might have put in less time in the vineyard. But, don’t be fooled into thinking oh I’ll wait a little while longer. The master only made a certain number of trips out to find workers and we don’t know when the last time he’s hiring will be.
I feel like I’m supposed to make a joke about the economy and hiring and jobless rates but I don’t have one. But let me say this, don’t waste your life holding out for more. Don’t miss out on community because you are not sure you like the person sitting across from you. Don’t miss out on worshiping God because you’re not the best singer. Don’t let an opportunity to serve in the vineyard or anywhere else go by because you know deep down inside you are looking for purpose. You’re standing around waiting for something of value to do and its right here. God is offering you a job in the vineyard, he’s offering you a purpose.
God says the first will be last and the last will be first, that’s encouraging and its scary. Be careful those of you who have been a Christian for a long time, those who were hired early in the morning are prone to grumbling. It should be scary when the first become last.
But what about the last becoming first? Have you seen that? I have.
Every time
- A prisoner (Last) is ministered too, and told there is still purpose for your life, God can still use you.
The last become first. - A Homeless Person (Last) is fed or cared for and they are loved on and they are really served.
The last become first - And when Orphans (Last) are adopted into a loving home.
The last become first.
And that is exciting
Big Picture #3: If Jesus is in us, and Jesus is generous, then we must be generous.
In the Ancient Near East and more specifically Judea where this is taking place. There was a law in place that stated that if you were going to hire day laborers, my language not theirs. That you must pay them at the end of the day and pay them all that they had earned that day. The reason being that from time to time there were famines and shady landowners and the government, check this out all you political types, the government stepped in and said ok, new law, families are so poor that if dad doesn’t get paid quickly, the family might starve. So at the end of each work day landowners you must pay them immediately.
The standard days pay is a denarius. Here is a picture of a denarius. Interestingly enough it is still a currency in Jordan. You wouldn’t want to be paid one days pay for a denarius though because it is only worth about a dollar forty.
Verse 3-9 Jesus/the landowner goes out several times and runs into a bunch of guys. Guys that haven’t found work. Guys that are going home to their families that night empty handed.
Jesus offers them work and notice that he doesn’t tell them what they are getting. Instead of allowing that or coming home with a fraction of a days wages. He ensures that the family will be taken care of. Had they gone home with less than a days wage again there was a chance that their family would have starved.
Hey don’t miss the outrageous generosity displayed by the landowner. Don’t miss the fact the concept that paying all of the workers the same amount is a really bad business idea. If it’s a really bad business idea we gotta think that its more than a business plan it’s a life plan. Our God is a God who would offer the most perfect gift of all to anyone who takes up the cross and follows Jesus. That kind of profound generosity, don’t let that go by you, in fact if you wanted to build your whole life on that I think you’d lead a pretty good life.
In fact if you are in a small group, I want you to talk about this with each other. How do I live my life in response to God’s generosity? Let’s start talking about it with each other. Do you support Every Orphan’s Hope awesome, do you have a compassion child? Great, you went to Guatemala this summer, tell me about it.
Jesus died on the cross for as a payment for our sin so that we can go to heaven. He asks us in verse 15, don’t I have a right to do what I choose with what is mine? If you think about it, Jesus offering you salvation at the price of following is the most generous offer anyone could ever receive ever. It’s better than buy one get one free at walmart its even better than when harris teeter runs those buy two get three free. Yet somehow we seem to get generous wrong. Remember what I said the massive giving movement was called… Secular Philanthropy.
Interviews with six demographers who closely track poverty trends found wide consensus that 2009 figures are likely to show a significant rate increase to the range of 14.7 percent to 15 percent. Should those estimates hold true, some 45 million people in this country, or more than 1 in 7, were poor last year.
The funny thing about the Ted Turner interview that I watched and if you have ever heard him interviewed you know that there is absolutely no filter between his head and his mouth… Is that he confessed what is in our hearts… and spoke to why we get generosity wrong. When talking about the initial one billion dollars that Ted Turner gave away, the interviewer asked him straight up. Ted one billion is great, but you have 7 billion more, why not give away more? Ted answered, “I need it.” Ted didn’t under stand the difference between a want and a need and neither do we and neither did the workers that thought they deserved more. They looked around at what everyone else was getting and they said hey I deserve that plus more.
I want you to watch this video and see if you understand what I am getting at and what Jesus was getting at by telling this parable.