Back around 2022, during the COVID-era of lockdowns, I had a nagging feeling that our time was running out. Like a splinter in my mind, it was a sensation I was unable to shake. A feeling that the clock was counting down, and that my time was short. Really short. Perhaps the lockdowns where playing with my head, and perhaps it was because I expected more lockdowns to come. Or perhaps I had tapped into something of a spiritual reality. I am convinced that the return of Christ is imminent.
So then along comes this project about Zac, opening my eyes up to an entirely new paradigm. See, what Zac showed me, was that God can do more with a surrendered person in one year than we can do in our own strength in a lifetime.
There is something remarkable that the Holy Spirit has purposed through Zac. I am convinced his faith still echoes, and still causes palpable ripples, today. As much as this is a project where we tell something of Zac's life, I feel like what God is doing is much bigger, larger, and for the benefit of the Church globally.
One of Jesus' Parables, a famous story about the generosity of God, I think has a hidden meaning. And for me, it was Zac who lifted the lid on its powerful prophetic truth.
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”
Matthew 20: 1–16 ESV
In this parable, Jesus tells how all workers, regardless of their hours in the field, received the same pay. Regardless of whether they'd been labouring the entire shift or just shown up in the last hour, the pay they received was the same. In this story, our focus has always been on the nature of God's generosity, the nature of God's kindness.
But there is more here for us to understand. And thanks to Zac, now I see this in a new light.
See this parable is an enormous contradiction. Every other part of the bible reiterates that all will receive their just deserts, what we do in this life determines our reward. There is not a single place, other than this parable, where the reward or the 'payment' is universal, separated from the deeds.
Paul says:
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
2 Corinthians 5
John records:
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
Revelation 14:13
And Jesus himself says:
"For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
Mark 4:25
So then what to make of this seeming contradiction?
With our time on earth so short, I think now I see the message for us within this parable.
Yes, God is planning to be generous with those who enter his service late in the day, but how this generosity plays out is what we've not understood. It's not about how long you've been serving - it's about how much fruit you bring in. It's no longer about just hanging in there till sundown, it's about amassing a harvest before the final trumpet.
And for those who join the effort late, much grace will be given to them to amass an amazing return for their effort.
The workers that come last will receive the same pay because they bring in a harvest equal in size. Those at the end will amass a harvest equal to those who have been at the coal face for their entire life. Sound impossible? Perhaps we underestimate the power and intention of God to prevail against all odds. Perhaps through them, the last to respond to the call, God will do what is only possible in the supernatural. And perhaps then Zac is a beacon as to what is about to start. Perhaps God is now doing a new thing, and accelerating the work of his servants as the sun dips beneath the horizon for the last time.
18 “Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?"
Isaiah 43:18-19
See Zac, in one year, saw the fire of God burn so brightly in him that there wasn't a moment he wasn't ministering the love of God to somebody. And at his funeral, the crowd that turned out was a testimony to an impact beyond that of anybody who had gone into the city before him.
It's my belief that Zac is a sign of the power and grace of God that will be poured out of those who turn to follow him in these last days.
So enlarge your expectations!
God is glorious!
God is good!
And, here's the most important thing to remember, he is in the mood to win!
Come Lord Jesus, come.
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