Good Morning Friends,
Two very different parables ask essentially the same question: What kind of kingdom are we seeking, and what kind of heart will we bring into it?
In Judges 9, Jotham tells the strange story of trees looking for a king. The olive tree, fig tree, and vine refuse the throne, each valuing the good fruit it already produces. Finally, the trees turn to the bramble, which offers them its “shade,” though a thornbush can hardly shelter anyone.
In Matthew 20, Jesus tells another unsettling story. Laborers enter the vineyard at different hours, yet at the end of the day the landowner generously gives each of them the daily wage. Those who worked longest are not cheated. They receive exactly what was promised. Yet they grumble because someone else received generosity. One parable warns us about bad leadership. The other warns us about bad followership. And Psalm 23 quietly provides the answer to both: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” So perhaps the question I have asked before: Who will feed the sheep, and will they ever be satisfied?
Scripture Summaries:
Judges 9:6–15
Jotham portrays Israel’s search for a king through trees looking for someone to rule over them. The fruitful trees hesitate to abandon their God-given purposes, while the bramble eagerly accepts power and promises shelter it cannot provide.
Matthew 20:1–16
Jesus describes a landowner who repeatedly goes into the marketplace seeking workers for his vineyard. At day’s end, even those hired last receive his generous provision. Those who worked longest resent his generosity, and the landowner asks the piercing question: Are you envious because I am generous?
Psalm 23:1
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
Message
The parable of the trees raises an uncomfortable question about leadership: What happens when people who can bear good fruit refuse to serve?
Eventually someone else will lead.
And sometimes that leader will be a bramble promising shade it cannot possibly provide.
Biblical leadership, therefore, is not fundamentally about obtaining authority. It is about accepting responsibility. God does not call us primarily to occupy positions but to bear fruit.
Jesus takes the lesson deeper in the vineyard.
The workers who arrived early did what they had been asked to do. They worked through the heat of the day. Their problem was not their labor. Their problem was comparison. Everything was fine until they saw what somebody else received. And that remains one of the greatest spiritual dangers for those who serve God. We can begin serving out of gratitude and gradually begin keeping score. I worked longer. I sacrificed more. I showed up when others didn’t. Why did they receive the recognition? Why did God bless them?
Without realizing it, service becomes comparison, comparison becomes envy, and envy becomes entitlement. The workers had forgotten something fundamental: the vineyard belonged to the landowner. So did the wages. So did the work. So did the invitation to enter the vineyard in the first place. That changes how we think about Christian service. We do not serve God in order to persuade Him to be generous toward us. We serve because He has already been generous. Grace means that none of us stands before God presenting an invoice. From “What Do I Deserve?” to “What Have I Been Given?” Psalm 23 gives us the spiritual posture Jesus is describing: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” David does not say, “The Lord is my shepherd, therefore I have more pasture than the sheep beside me.” He simply trusts the Shepherd. That may be the answer to envy. Instead of constantly asking, “Why did they receive that?”, we learn to ask, “How has the Shepherd cared for me?” Envy looks sideways. Faith looks upward. Entitlement counts what others have received. Gratitude remembers what God has provided.
Leadership in God’s KingdomThis also gives us a beautiful definition of Christian leadership. The bramble says, in effect, “Come under me.” Jesus says, “Follow me.” The workers say, “What will I receive?” Jesus says, “Feed my sheep.” Kingdom leadership therefore asks a different question.
Not: How important am I?
But: Who needs to be fed?
Not: Who noticed what I did?
But: Did someone encounter God’s grace through me?
Not: Why did someone else receive more?
But: What has God placed in my hands to give away?
That is how we navigate the tension between service and entitlement. We remember that we are simultaneously shepherds and sheep.We have people God calls us to serve, encourage, teach, protect, and feed. But we also remain sheep ourselves. And sheep cannot ultimately feed one another. Only the Shepherd can provide the green pasture and still water for which the human heart truly longs.
And So, the antidote to entitlement is not serving less, but serving from gratitude rather than comparison. Perhaps the spiritual discipline we need is surprisingly simple: Stop keeping score. Serve because Christ served you. Lead because someone needs guidance. Give because God has given to you. Celebrate when grace reaches someone who arrived later than you did. Rejoice when someone else receives the opportunity you hoped would be yours. And when envy whispers, “But what about me?”, return to Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
There is enough grace. Enough mercy. Enough purpose. Enough love. Enough pasture. Because the Shepherd Himself is enough.The Kingdom does not need leaders who promise shade they cannot provide. It needs men and women willing to point beyond themselves toward Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd.
Maybe that is what it means to feed His sheep. We do not become their source. We lead them to the Source. And there, beside the still waters and in the green pastures of God’s grace, hungry sheep finally begin to discover what the kingdoms of this world can never provide: contentment.
Pray Good Shepherd, You teach us to serve without keeping score. Pray that when You call us to lead, You give us courage to answer. Pray that when You call us to labor, You give us willing hearts. Pray that when others are blessed, You teach us to rejoice. Pray that when envy rises within us, You replace comparison with gratitude. Pray that You keep us from seeking the empty shade of the bramble or the fleeting rewards of recognition. Pray You remind us that the vineyard is Yours, the sheep are Yours, the work is Yours, and even the strength with which we serve is Your gift. Pray You give us daily bread for today, grace enough to share, and hearts satisfied in You. Pray then You send us out to feed Your sheep, not so they will depend upon us, but so that through our service they might discover Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, in whom we shall not want.
Amen.
Blessings,
John Lawson
