Sep202026
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Why would anyone hire a worker for one hour? The reason is my brother. He is an artist. He painted the inside of the church and made it look like stone. Architects are fooled. After a long day, he was too tired to finish. He would leave all the tools in a big pile, throw the paintbrushes in the slop sink, and walk away. So, for every job he ever did, I would join him for the last hour. I would put away the tools, clean the brushes, sweep up the sawdust.

Do you think that the guys working in the field all day in the sun are going to put away the tools, fix the flat tire on the wheelbarrow, secure the harvest food from animals, and shut the barn door? It makes a lot of sense to me that the guy in the parable hired fresh legs to sprint to the finish line. A marathon runner at the Olympics does not ask, “How come he gets a medal; he only ran 100 yards.” Yes, it makes sense to hire someone for one hour. The most important hour is the last hour because that is when you finish the job.

 One of my heroes in the Bible is Joseph of Arimathea. Why?  He arrives on the scene at the last hour of Jesus’ life. He does a lot in that one hour. He had to secure permission from Pilate, which meant government bureaucracy. Then he had to provide burial cloths and ointment, and secure a tomb. Then, he had to take Jesus down from the cross, starting with the nails in His hands. This is a very emotional job because these are the same hands that grasped a dead girl’s hand before she came back to life. The hands that touched the leper and cured him; the hands that broke the loaves and fed thousands; the hands that made mud that cured a blind man.  Lastly, he buried Jesus. This was a very important job because, to have an empty tomb on Resurrection Day, you need to fill the tomb.

Jesus told us, “To be perfect as My Heavenly Father is perfect.” Jesus used the word not in the sense we understand “perfect.” To be perfect means to finish the job. My wise-guy father asked me after my first marathon, “So did you win?” “No, I retorted.  “I didn’t win; I finished.” We face many hardships, difficulties, and challenges. Just remember, the most important hour is the last hour because that is when we finish the job. 

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