Humans are just highly organized dirt. Every dusty place we touch could be seen as holy ground. Moses was curious enough to notice the bush that burned. The I AM came to be with him.
Matthew 20:1-10; Exodus 2:23-3:11; John 10:11-15

Speaker: Doug Janssen, Zane Turk
Date: 2026-07-12
Time: Sun 11:00 am
Sermon #13168

 

Zane Turk –

That was a great song, wasn’t it? The dancing section is in the back. For the last song, the dancing section is back there! What a hope we have, right? What a hope we have in Christ. The fear of death is not snaring us anymore, right? It was at one point but when we met Christ, we have hope. We have hope.

 

Mrs. Chumsland was my teacher in high school, and I remember one class she said to us, she had a little booklet, a Dr. Stevens booklet in her hand, and she taught us that simple faith beats sophisticated darkness. And I was just a high schooler. What does that mean? I had no idea what that means. But as I started to get it, it meant a lot to me, having teachers like Mrs. Chumsland. 

 

I remember seeing Roger just walking back and forth from his apartment. I used to live at the apartments, and I would see him in his building walk across the street. Sweet guy, quiet guy but very sweet. It’s amazing how we are connected to people in the Body of Christ, right? 

 

Bill Ensor, just this tall giant of a man but he’s very sweet and tender hearted and kind. We’re connected. We’re a family in the Body of Christ. It’s amazing. 

 

We also have some visitors from Bangalore, India this morning. Good to see you Washington and Johnsie and Rachel. Is that Rachel back there? Great to have you guys. Would you just raise your hand so everyone can see you? They’re visiting for a couple days from Bangalore, India. 

 

So, I just have a simple message from Matthew 20 this morning. Matthew 20, a parable that Jesus teaches the disciples. There’s just a couple, simple principles or lessons that I was just kind of receiving in my heart as I was reading this passage. So, let’s just pray for this message. (Prayer).

 

So, the parable in Matthew 20:1-16 is a parable that Jesus tells the disciples after an encounter that they have with the young, rich ruler. This young, rich ruler approaches Jesus and he says, What good deed must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus names the commandments. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not kill. You shall not steal. You shall not covet. You shall not bear false witness. And the young, rich man says all these I have done. What do I still lack? 

 

And Jesus says, Go and sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. And this young, rich ruler, it says that he was very sad and he goes away because he had great possessions. 

 

And then Jesus is talking to the disciples and he says how difficult is it for a rich man or a rich person to enter into heaven? And Jesus says it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a wealthy person to enter in to heaven. 

 

Well, who can be saved if that’s how difficult it is? Jesus says with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Amen. Amen. With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. 

 

Do you have something in your life that’s impossible this morning? A bill that needs to be paid. A prodigal that needs to come home. A family member that needs saved. It’s impossible. But with God, it’s possible. Amen. Amen. 

 

I don’t really believe that when I read it sometimes. But I need God to work it into me. I need you to say it to me. I need to hear it from the pulpit. I need someone to encourage me. With God, all things are possible. And slowly but slowly, I’ll start to believe God. 

 

And then in vs. 27 of chapter 19, Peter says well, if the rich man couldn’t leave his wealth to follow you, well, all the 12 of us, we have left everything to follow you. What will we receive? And Jesus says in the new world, you will sit on 12 thrones and you will judge the 12 tribes of Israel. Vs. 29. Jesus is saying that if you leave everything, your reward will be very great. 

 

But then he says something rather interesting in vs. 30 of Matthew 19. “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” So, here’s the setup, the buildup, the context for the parable that Jesus is going to then tell. 

 

And I think most of us, we might know this parable, but I’ll just go, I’ll just go kind of through it a little bit and maybe in layman’s terms and today’s vernacular, just so we can kind of get an idea of the spirit of this parable. 

 

Jesus says that there was a master of a house, and he had a vineyard. Let’s just say there was an owner of a house that wanted to build a fence. He goes out to the marketplace, and he hires five guys and he says I need help to build this fence. 

 

So, at 6 a.m., they come to his house and they start digging the holes for the posts. They’re out there with a shovel. They’re digging out the holes. And then the master of the house, the owner, he goes out again. He goes in the 3rd hour, at 9 a.m. He looks at his watch and says, It’s coffee break. We take coffee breaks at my workplace. 9:30 sharp. We don’t miss it. We’re never missing a coffee break. Someone has to go. Go start making the coffees and then we tell each other, stop working. Go make the coffee.

 

The owner of the house, it’s coffee break, the third hour of the day. He goes and he gets five more workers, right? And they’re digging the holes. They’re digging the holes. The 9 a.m. coffee break goes by. Then it’s lunch time. It’s 12. He goes and gets more workers. And then at 3 p.m., it’s the afternoon coffee break. He goes and gets more workers. 

 

And they’re working throughout the whole day. So, each interval of three hours, there’s more workers coming. And then at the 11th hour, right when it’s time to clean up, the heat of the day is passing. The sun is falling behind the trees. The shade is coming down. The heat of the day is over. 

 

Then there’s this last group of workers at the 11th hour. They come and they’re like, you know, they’re just sweeping up at the end of the day. They didn’t do much work. But the master of the house says in Matthew 20:9-10. 

 

So, there’s the context for the parable. The guys that came at the last hour of the day that were sweeping up all the debris in the shade, received the same amount of money, payment, as the guys who bore the burden of the day, the scorching heat, the sweat on their brow. They did the brunt of the work. They received the same amount of money.

 

Now, this parable is not addressing, it’s not addressing rewards in heaven in the sense that everybody will be treated the same. That’s not what it’s saying. Because the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3 that the laborer will be rewarded according to his work. He will receive wages according to his work.

 

The parable is not saying that we all receive the same treatment in heaven. The parable is also not teaching about rewards. 1 Corinthians 3 teaches about rewards in heaven at the bema seat. This parable is teaching about the attitude in which we serve God. It’s teaching about the attitude and our motivation in service. It’s not how long we serve God, but the quality in which we labor in his vineyard. It’s the attitude in which we labor in his vineyard.

 

And with the few minutes that I have remaining, I just want to make a couple quick points if you guys are with me. We all good? Okay. That’s the context. It makes the principles more powerful in my heart when I understand the context.

 

So, in Matthew 20:1, we’re going to go back over and we’ll have a couple principles and then I’ll close. Matthew 20:1, Jesus Christ is the master of the house. Jesus Christ is looking for laborers. The harvest is plentiful in the world but the laborers are few. Jesus is going into the world looking for people to labor in the harvest in his vineyard.

 

And it says that Jesus went out early in the morning. Now, what does that mean? That means that life, our life can be like this 12-hour day. He went out early in the morning to young people. People who are in high school. Jesus is looking for laborers in his vineyard. People who are in university. Jesus is looking for laborers in the harvest. The harvest is plentiful. The laborers are few. 

 

There are people that are lost and they are dying in the world and they are like sheep without a shepherd. And Jesus wants to save souls. Jesus wants to use you to labor in his vineyard. Early in the morning. Early in your life when you have the dawn of life, your whole life ahead of you and decisions you can make, follow Christ. Let Jesus decide. Maybe you don’t have a plan for your life, but God says I know the plans that I have for you. God has a plan for your life. Jesus is looking for laborers in the vineyard. 

 

Maybe you are in the 11th hour of your life. Maybe it’s later in your life and you haven’t followed Christ. You can still follow Christ. You can still redeem the time. And you can still receive a reward for laboring in the vineyard of the world, laboring in the harvest and reaping the souls, reaping salvation. Sowing, planting, and watering the seed of the Gospel.

Jesus is in the world looking for laborers. He’s looking for laborers in the universities of the western world, in the fields of Southeast, Asia, in the mountains of Nepal, in the seashore of the Philippines. Jesus is looking for laborers. He’s looking for them. 

 

And the labor is that we would be winning souls. We would be winning souls. That’s the labor. Jesus says, Do you not yet say there are four months and then comes the harvest? But I say to you, Look up. Lift up your eyes. The fields are already white for harvest. Jesus is looking for laborers to win souls, because he who wins souls is wise. 

 

What is the nature of our labor? The nature of our labor is not that we are striving. Not that we are, not that we are working our way to please God, but that we are working out of a willing heart. Exodus 35, God commands the Israelites whoever has a willing heart, let him bring his money for the contribution to the tabernacle. If you have a willing heart, come and give God your willing heart. Not out of obligation, not out of duty, but out of gratitude. A heart that is willing. A heart that is grateful for our salvation. A heart that is constrained by love. This is the nature of our laboring in the vineyard. 

 

There’s much more about that because Jesus is addressing what Peter says. See, we have left everything and followed you. How easy do we begin to point our finger at the one who is giving us our wages. The men who were hired in the first hour, they thought because they were there longer, they would receive more. 

 

They were mistaken because it’s not about the duration of our service. It’s about serving by faith. Serving with a willing heart. Serving out of gratitude and humility. Being at the feet of Jesus and being grateful that we are saved and serving him because of what he has done for us. That is the nature of our laboring. 

 

And the third point is, What is the source of our motivation? The source of our motivation is the fellowship that we have with God in the indwelling Holy Spirit. That’s our source. We’re fellowshipping with God on a daily basis. We have a relationship with Christ that is one of gratitude, love, fellowship, where he shares his heart with us and we get to know him as he is. 

 

The source of our motivation is this fellowship in Romans 8:9-11. We have the indwelling Spirit. That means so much to us this morning, that the Spirit indwells us. He lives inside of us. He reveals the secrets of the heart of God to us. He makes us strong in spirit. He moves us in our spirit. He teaches us in our spirit. He strengthens us in our spirit. 

 

It goes beyond emotional response. It goes beyond feelings. It goes beyond thoughts, and it goes into our spirit where we are connected to God. There’s so much there. There’s so much there. But it’s a deep fellowship with God that is the source of our motivation. 

 

The last point is that we learn from this story that our labor is not in vain. Is that right? Our labor is not in vain. All the sacrifice that we could make is not in vain. It might seem like we lost something, but really we gain everything. Because it says in Hebrews 11, Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater wealth than all the treasures of Egypt. 

 

It may seem like Moses gave up a lot. But when he walked down from Mt. Sinai and his face was shining, he had the greatest blessing that anyone could ever have in heaven and on earth. And that was communion with God, a fellowship with God, seeing the glory of God. He was in the middle of a desert. He didn’t have the onions, the leeks, the cucumbers that the Israelites were longing for. 

 

But he had shining face, a fellowship with God. No insecurity when he was walking down the mountain, because he had something that you could never pay for. And I just think that that’s just the beginning of unpacking that parable. That’s just the beginning. So, I hope that blessed you. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

*****

Doug Janssen –

Okay. Good morning. Good morning. Let’s stay standing just for a couple minutes if you are able, and we’re going to read some verses together. Then we’ll pray. Special thanks to Zane and Harold. Thanks so much for that. Also, thanks to my daughters who are keeping us alive these last few weeks while my wife is travelling. So, okay. Let’s look at Exodus 2:23. We’re going to read through to Exodus 3:5 if you can stand that long. Okay. Exodus 2:23 – Exodus 3:5. Horeb is a really dry desert place. Take a seat. 

 

Just before we pray, if you ever had a teacher like Bev Chumsland, you are not the same after you have met them. And thank God for servants like that throughout history, but I still have homework assignments with purple handwriting from her just encouraging notes and I love her so much. 

 

When you pray for churches and there are so many different kinds of churches, and wherever Christ’s name is being preached today, we’re so thankful for that. Aren’t we so thankful for that? When you pray for churches, you pray for your neighborhood. You pray for your nation and the health of your nation. And so, let’s pray for that right now. (Prayer)

 

This is a powerful passage, and I think it could be really familiar to us. We have read this story maybe many times. But I would like to just look at it again together. And I’m going to start again reading from vs. 6. 

 

This is holy ground in the picture here. You have dirt. I don’t know about you, I have kids. My son is always dirty. There’s a character in the Peanuts cartoons. You know the Peanuts cartoons? Just like dirt everywhere and he never can get clean. So, when I had a boy, I realized how accurate that caricature was. 

 

But dirt is like very common. Actually, humans are organized dirt. You’re amazing but you’re also just organized dirt. Highly organized dirt. We know that from Psalm 103. He remembers our frame and he knows that we’re dust. 

 

But it’s very easy for a human being to look at something that God has sanctified and just to treat it as common. We read that in the book of Acts as Peter is kind of, sort of being religious about food and God says be careful. What I have sanctified, don’t call it common. And it’s pretty easy to look in the mirror and say, yeah. I’m not even organized dust. I’m just dust and I’m common. If I disappear, no one would care. That’s the accusation from the enemy, isn’t it? I just fade into the wind. 

 

But don’t call something that is holy, common. And let’s look at the life of Moses here. And thank you Zane for saying he came down from the mountain. He had met God. What a beautiful picture. 

 

Vs. 6. Welcome to the club, Moses. That’s not – we’re going to see at the end of the Bible, Revelation 15, this is a fascinating thing. You have saints in heaven and you should look at this sometime, Revelation 15:3. I’m not going to read it to you, but they sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb. Isn’t that interesting. 

 

Here you have a timid guy in the desert tending someone else’s flock, resigned to live as a stranger, so much so that he names his first son – imagine you see your first son and you say welcome to the world. 

 

And your wife says what are we going to name him? I’m exiled as a stranger in a strange land. And she’s like how are we going to pronounce that? And so, he calls his son that. I’m exiled. This is sort of his identity at that point in his life, and right after that, God meets him and in an interesting way. 

 

Vs. 7-8. Let’s just pause there for a second. I don’t know what you’re going through. You don’t know what I’m going through maybe, but he has heard your cry and he has come down to deliver. It’s not a formula. We don’t see – I don’t think that every believer that has come to Christ is like there’s the bush. It’s burning. And that’s the method.

 

It’s not the method. It’s so unique how God meets people. But he has come down to deliver. He heard his people’s cry. He remembered the covenant he had with them. He looked on them. He knew what was going on. He’s not blind to what’s happening. Amen.

 

By the way, if you have an addiction inn your life and it’s like you’re on repeat with something stupid that’s hurting you, he has heard your cry. I mean we could just say that. And something beautiful about when God brought his people into the Promised Land, he said to them and I love this picture. He said if I drive everybody out first, then the land is going to get taken over by wild animals. It’s not going to be tilled and farmable. I’m going to drive them out by little and little. 

 

And maybe we’re not very patient. I’m not super patient. But God has in my own life and I know in your life, you look back and you say that’s interesting. He has driven things out little by little. I can lean on him. He’s reliable in the little by little. Maybe I’m like healed little by little. I look at the brazen serpent and then I little by little the sores go away. Amen. 

 

Let’s look at vs. 5 again. Sorry, vs. 3. You ever miss something super important? I heard an interview with a very famous investor. And they say what was your worst investment? He said I don’t want to talk about that because there’s lots of bad investments but I do want to say that there are things that I didn’t invest in that I wish I had. I’m not an investor, but I understand the principle of missing something valuable. 

 

Imagine if Moses had said, yeah, it’s a dry place. Like bushes might catch on fire. It’s not a big deal and I move on. That would be logical. And a lot of people, myself especially, have walked by God’s burning bushes in their lives and it’s just like it’s nothing. 

 

But something in Moses’ heart was still spiritually curious. Isn’t that beautiful? Spiritually curious. I just, I’m like a nerd. It’s pretty obvious. The ocean is a mystery to humanity. Do you know that? The ocean. The earth is a little dirtball going around the sun. The ocean is so under investigated. The moon has been investigated more than the bottom of the ocean. Did you know that?

 

Somebody say, just guess a percentage that we have as human beings with our eyes or cameras seen the ocean floor? Anyone have a guess of a percent? Lower. Lower than 1%. So, let’s just say less than 1%. I think it may be a thousandth of a percent that we actually like have seen. And then measured with instruments, less than 30%.

 

So, every year, 2000 plus species, new species that have ever never known before are found in the ocean. Isn’t that nuts? That’s crazy. And there could be hundreds of thousands of undiscovered species in the ocean. 

 

And then like my son went to the beach this summer. He had never been to the beach before. And he came and he just said, Wow! He was just so taken back by the enormity of the ocean. You ever been shocked by the ocean? It’s just huge. 

 

Spiritual curiosity. You know, that’s just the ocean. The ocean is just a bunch of water and fish and things that can kill you! That’s the ocean. But think about the character and nature of God. I mean are his ways passed finding out? 

 

Paul loved to talk about this and we see that in his writings. In Ephesians 2:7, in the ages to come he will show us his exceeding riches of his grace. Isn’t that beautiful. We’re not going to get bored in heaven. It’s like, somebody asked me, would I lose a Ping-Pong game in heaven? I said, I don’t think that you would care. It’s a student asking me would I get bored in heaven? I said we’re going to be learning about the riches of God’s grace forever. Isn’t that beautiful? 

 

Paul writes about the unsearchable riches of Christ in Ephesians 3:8. His ways are passed finding out, Romans 11. Unsearchable judgments. I mean God is – you just keep picking away and you realize O, Lord. Who am I that you would speak to me? And Moses is maybe in this place in his life. He comes in contact with the holy God on holy ground and there’s like an instant feeling of I don’t belong. I am unclean in the midst of a people of unclean lips. What am I going to do? 

 

Let’s look at the Scripture again. Vs. 10. Does anybody remember what Moses’ name means? Drawn out. It means pulled out. Maybe that wasn’t his Egyptian name but that’s the name he adopted. Drawn out. He was almost going to die and then drawn out. And then he’s in the backside of the desert and there’s a really understandable feeling that now the mission is over. I kind of tried to do stuff in my own strength. I killed an Egyptian. And now it’s over. I made all my decisions. I’m now in the desert. 

 

And God comes back and reminds him. Hey, Drawn Out, are you ready to draw something out for me? And he’s going to go into face a king, which is a new pharaoh. And it’s going to be really kind of crazy to go back home in a sense and then to face a king and to say something fairly simple. Hey, I need these millions of people out. Like for free. 

 

And God knows that Pharaoh is going to resist him, and he is completely backing Moses but he’s also backing his promises. God’s promises have not faded just because his people messed up here or there. He will draw out.

 

Genesis 48:21 is a promise from Israel to Joseph in a land of, a foreign land for them. He says God will be with you and he will bring you again to the land of your fathers. That’s Jacob. That’s Israel talking to Joseph. Where did he get that from? God says it in Genesis 31 to Jacob. Return and I’ll be with you. Return, and I’ll be with you. 

 

What an encouragement that is. Come on. God with you. What’s the name of Christ that means “God with you?” Immanuel. God with us. Imagine God, the high and holy God, the high and lofty one that inhabitants eternity, in a Toyota Corolla with you? Or something. You’re driving on 695. It’s incredible if you think of it like that. Immanuel, God with us.

 

Exodus 3:12, Not if you have brought forth the people out of Egypt but when you have brought those people out, you will serve God on this mountain. What is Moses’ response in vs. 11? Imagine if God said to him, well, let’s explain. And goes back through the histories of Moses’ failings and foibles and flaws. Can you imagine that? What a terrible chapter that would be to read. He doesn’t address it in the Scripture here. He just goes right to, I will be with you. 

 

And then in vs. 13. Moses is not maybe getting it. Ever been in that club? Like you didn’t get it. You don’t get it. And Moses is there. He’s before the Lord. His shoes are off. He’s listening to a really crazy plan. And it must be a very special moment. 

 

Vs. 13. It’s a scary thing. Okay. Fine. I’ll go. But even to my own people, not even talking about going to Pharaoh, but even to my own people what am I going to say to them? And what does God answer. Vs. 14. You’re not like backed by some sort of religious system. You’re not backed by like a multi-level marketing version of God. You are backed by the I Am who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

 

And Jesus said before Abraham was, I AM. What an encounter. I mean he’s meeting with Christ, pre-incarnate Christ here, and it’s very clear that the intent of God in that moment is not just to deliver some plan of attack, but it’s to immediately reconnect Moses with the character and nature of God.

 

Any sort of like falling off the rails that any of us have done, and that happens a lot, right? Anybody fall off the rails this week? I have. My wife’s gone. This is crazy. When I fall off the rails, it’s not a system that will ever get to my heart. It is the character and nature of God. When I, I mean what a reboot. 

 

When who I think I am meets all of who he is. What’s beautiful is that it’s not like God said you faded into nothing. You don’t mean anything. I’m the only one that matters. It’s like he takes dust and he elevates it to something that’s not common. He doesn’t eliminate Moses and just do the whole thing himself. He invites him in.

 

What an incredible thing to be invited into the work of God. It’s just unbelievable. Couple minutes left, okay. The burning bush. When you think about the burning bush, one way to look at this is that Moses is standing there and it’s a wonder to him. It’s something that catches his attention. 

 

Do you know that God’s people were in Egypt for a long time? And they were not consumed. And they should have really. They could have been completely decimated and consumed but multiplied. The bush was not consumed. God was with them. 

 

And it’s kind of crazy but when Moses goes and talks to his people, what is their response? Anybody remember what they said to him? It’s like, you know, like, no. You know, it’s not like welcomed. What a bummer that he’s not welcomed but God is with him. God is with him. And why were they like that?

 

It says in Exodus 6:9, they hearkened not to Moses for the anguish of spirit for cruel bondage. There may be a neighbor some of you talk to and he’s really salty about things of faith or God. And what you don’t know is there’s this same thing behind the scenes. Anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. And yet, God still is going back to his people to honor his covenant because he loves them. 

 

You are greatly loved and don’t believe anything else, okay? You are greatly loved. Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord your God in the midst of you is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice over you with joy and he will rest in his love. He will joy over you with singing.” 

 

Let’s close and think about Christ. What we know of Christ and how we think about Christ will change how we operate in this world. John 10 and this would be such an encouraging thing for you to read at some point today or this week. 

 

Just think about the Good Shepherd. John 10:11 it says I am the Good Shepherd and the Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep. This is who I am and this is what I do. I am the Good Shepherd, vs. 14. Moses, I know you. Well, you know, I know all of you. I don’t just know the polished version of you. I know you. I’m a Good Shepherd. 

 

Vs. 15. A sobering thing is to read the New Testament as people encounter Christ and like we heard from P. Pete Westera recently, when the people met Christ, they were like a mirror to them. Anybody remember that? That was a good – there are people that just say, no. And they did not understand and they did not value and they treated Christ, the Lord of all eternity and their Creator as common. And I know we have all done that. 

 

But Lord, this summer, renew us. Help us to think about who you are, Lord. You are the Good Shepherd. You are not common, and we are sanctified by your blood. Thank God for how he calls people, and how he is faithful to his promises. Amen. Amen. All right. Let’s pray. (Prayer).

****

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