Welcome back to all of our listeners! I’m BJ Sipe, and you’re listening to the Set Your Mind Above podcast – where everyday ordinary events teach us extraordinary eternal truths. I’m so glad that you’ve tuned in today, I am excited to share my life and my faith with you, and I sure hope that you’ll do the same with me along the way.
I woke up this morning a little later than I was hoping to. My original plan was to get up around 5:30 and get to work at 6 so that I had plenty of time to pack before heading back up to the Louisville area to catch my flight early tomorrow morning. Instead, I woke up this morning and when I rolled over the clock said 7:15. I was bummed for a few reasons: first, my work time was definitely cut short and I was going to have to do some improvising today. Second, I was already 20 minutes late to check in for my flight. Tomorrow morning early I will be flying out of Louisville via Southwest airlines back to Oregon to visit with my ailing grandmother. For those of you that have flown on Southwest, you know that you are to check in for your flight the day before you travel. But rather than having different assigned seats, Southwest has open seating. So in order to get a good seat that you would like, such as towards the front or a window or aisle seat, you’ve got to check in early. Usually, I set an alarm and as soon as that 24 hour mark is reached, I immediately check in for my flight in a matter of seconds to ensure I get one of those A group boarding passes and get me a window seat. However, since I overslept, I recognized that probably wasn’t going to happen. I went to check in around 7:30 and, luckily, I still got an early B group boarding position, so I should still be able to snag a window seat towards the back of the plane. That’s not always happened when I’ve traveled though. I remember several times when I have traveled that I was running late for this reason or another and almost missed my flight or my connection entirely. As such, there have been numerous occasions that I was legitimately the very last person on the plane. I remember one time that I was still walking down the hallway when I heard the door lock behind me back into the terminal. And while I did not get the seat I wanted in those times as I got stuck in the middle somewhere, here is the reality: it doesn’t matter whether you’re the first person on the plane or the last person on the plane, all that matters is you made the flight. Think about it for a second, aside from where you sit on the plane, there are no advantages given to the first passengers over the very last passengers. Everyone still leaves from the same place at the same time on the same plane and arrives at the same destination together. Never once have I ever been told as the last one to board, “I’m sorry sir, because you were so late you can only go halfway.” I’ve course I’m being ridiculous, but I think everyone understands the point. Your position in boarding ultimately doesn’t make a difference by the end of the day, only that you really did get on board.
In the same way, I believe there is a very important lesson to learn about our salvation. It is very easy sometimes for people to compare themselves to one another, or to think because someone has been a Christian longer & has done more good works that they will have a “greater reward” in heaven. However, it does not matter when you started serving Christ, the only thing that matters in the end is that you got on board. I want us to read a parable of Jesus that is recorded in Matthew 20:1-16. “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the workers on one denarius, he sent them into his vineyard for the day. When he went out about nine in the morning, he saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He said to them, ‘You also go into my vineyard, and I’ll give you whatever is right.’ So off they went. About noon and about three, he went out again and did the same thing. Then about five he went and found others standing around and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?’ “ ‘Because no one hired us,’ they said to him. “ ‘You also go into my vineyard,’ he told them. When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and give them their pay, starting with the last and ending with the first.’ “When those who were hired about five came, they each received one denarius. So when the first ones came, they assumed they would get more, but they also received a denarius each. When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner: ‘These last men put in one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day’s work and the burning heat.’ “He replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius? Take what’s yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what is mine? Are you jealous because I’m generous?’ “So the last will be first, and the first last.” While Jesus in this parable I believe is drawing a conclusion regarding the way the Jews thought of themselves verses the Gentiles, I believe there are other applications we can make to ourselves as well. To begin with, this parable teaches us very clearly that salvation is not based upon our work. Those who have served Christ their whole life are not “more deserving” of salvation than the brand new Christian who obeyed the gospel just last week after living a life full of sin. None of us earn salvation nor could we ever earn it, it is a gift of God from Christ Jesus. What every single one of us truly deserve is death because of our sin, no one is better than another because there are none who are righteous. Since our salvation is not based on merit through our works, then the amount of good works we have had opportunity to do have no bearing on our reward. As a matter of fact, the very same promises and hope that a 80 year old Christian has are the same as an 8 minute old Christian. It doesn’t matter whether you were the first to get into Christ or the last one in, all that matters is that you’re in Jesus. There is not condemnation for those who are in Christ, and every single one of us have the same hope of heaven as another. Secondly, we must recognize that while this is true, you’ve still got to get on board. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” While the world teaches us that there are many ways to heaven, Jesus stated that he is the only way. This statement was not made without authority, as the resurrection of Jesus from the dead demonstrates beyond any doubt that this promise is true. If we want to reach heaven, it will not be because we were “good enough”, nor can we get to heaven if we follow other men or movements. There is only one plane to the Father, so to speak, and his name is Jesus Christ. It is only Jesus that can make us righteous and forgive us of our sin. It is only Jesus that can give us hope for the life to come. It is only Jesus that is qualified to be offered as a sacrifice for us. And it is only Jesus that has the authority to extend to you salvation as the Author of Life. So, it doesn’t matter if you’re 15 or 95, my message to you is the same: just get in Jesus, and his grace will take you home.
Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Tune in, Tuesday-Fridays, as a new podcast episode will be uploaded each day. Also, be sure to follow the Facebook page for the Set Your Mind Above podcast for future announcements and video sessions. As you have the opportunity, share these thoughts with your friends and family, and share with me what important lessons you are learning from every day, ordinary events. Until next time know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.