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On the sanctuary wall hangs our theme: Set free to live free. But the fact is that no one can appreciate freedom unless they have known slavery – in whatever form that might take. No one can appreciate the incredible gifts they receive every day unless they have experienced want and known times of need. It’s true that we take most of our lives for granted. We don’t think so much of food, clothing, health and most other things as solely gifts from God, but see them as things earned by our hard work and good choices. And we tend to compare what we have with what others have – especially if we don’t think they deserve what they have. And that affects our gratitude. 

An atheist once said: “One thing I envy about you Christians is that you have someone to thank.” The text may seem to be a strange one for today – the parable Jesus told about the employer who paid all his workers the same wage regardless of how long they worked. After all, this is the one story that goes against all our instincts. What’s the point of hard work and long hours in ‘the heat of the day’ if ‘johnny-comelatelies’ receive the same reward as us? The answer that Jesus gives highlights the outrageously generous, totally free and unearned grace of God that all believers in Jesus receive. It is only in receiving grace and living in grace that we understand true freedom. And being Set free to live free is what motivates us to say every day: Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. 

Pastor Robert Voigt