February 28, 2000

Dear Friends,

Someone was "leaning" on the doorbell. "I’m coming. I’m coming." I rushed to the front door to see what was happening. When I opened it, there stood my son, Michael, and the little girl from next door. They were struggling over a rake.

"Michael won’t let me help!" cried the indignant little girl.

"Excuse me?" I replied, baffled.

"She thinks you’ll give her a cookie if she helps," groused my son.

That’s when I noticed: My front yard was full of children all raking and sweeping and mowing and picking up trash. Needless to say, I was dumbfounded.

"Michael," I said, shaking my head, "Let her have the rake."

As I closed the door, I wondered what was going on? Then, [aha!] it came to me. A few weeks before, my son and his best friend cleaned the yard. They did such a good job that I baked them cookies. The word must have gotten around. That’s why the yard was so full of busy children. Cookies! I knew I’d better get busy. I had work to do.

The cookies were ready by the time the children completed the yard. When I took a plate of fresh, hot-from-the-oven cookies to the front door, grubby little, dirty little hands swooped down upon them quicker than I could say "go, wash your hands." However, one little boy just stood at the end of the driveway watching as the cookies begin to "disappear."

"Hello, what’s your name? Did you help?" I called to him. "Don’t you want a cookie?"

"He just got here," protested the children. "He didn’t help." The little boy hung his head.

"That’s all right you can have a cookie, too." Smiling, he ran to the door to join the others. And, before I could get his hands washed, he was smacking his lips.

*****

Jesus said "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard (Matthew 20:1)." Then, in the third, the ninth and the eleventh hour he hired other workers. At the end of the day the landowner paid each worker equally. Those who were hired early in the day complained. We worked all day long. Why did you give these men the same pay you gave us? They only worked an hour. To which the landowner replied:

I want to give the man hired last the same as I gave to you. "

(Matthew 20:13-15 NIV, in part)

In the kingdom of heaven "the last will be first and the first will be last (Matthew 20:16)." It doesn’t matter when we begin our work in the Master’s vineyard, or how much we do, each of us will receive an equal and just reward. Hallelujah!

In the Master’s Love,