Kelley: ‘God will provide what you need’

SHERWOOD – Charles Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, told pastors in the midst of trouble to remember that “God will provide what you need for the day.”

KelleySpeaking Monday, Jan. 23, at the Arkansas Baptist State Convention Evangelism and Church Growth Conference, Kelley encouraged pastors from Matthew 19 and 20 where Jesus’ spoke to His disciples about the rich young ruler, and about the landowner and his treatment of his workers. 

“Many who are first will be last … many who are last shall be first. This is one of the most controversial stories Jesus ever told,” said Kelley.

Men got paid same wage – one day’s wage – even those who only worked one hour, which was the same as the ones that worked all day. The landowner said, “After all, it’s my money and I can do with it what I want.” 

Kelley said the passage is not a story about workers and wages. “It’s about God and His character and why He does what he does.” 

God is just like the landowner in this story. This whole story hinges on verses 6 and 7, said Kelley. “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?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’” (Matt. 20:6-7 NASB).

Kelley said the landowner went out and found workers who couldn’t find work all day – telling them to go to work in his field.

“The landowner wasn’t worried about picking grapes, he was worried about meeting the needs of the people in that community,” said Kelley. “He was worried about providing for the needs of those men and their families.”

He added, “God will make any sacrifice to meet our needs. The landowner was willing to make any sacrifice necessary.” 

Kelley added that it is important to note that everyone who went to the field that day got paid, and no one who didn’t go the field got paid.

“It didn’t matter how many grapes they picked. God does not count how many grapes we pick, (but) He does notice our obedience,” said Kelley. “The field is a place of blessing. We receive God’s blessings as we obey him. It didn’t matter how little or how much they accomplished. It is important that we do what God wants us to do. He wants our obedience.” 

Kelley joked that he would close by sharing something “very deep and very profound” that could only come from a seminary president. 

“Here it is,” he said. “When everybody gets paid the same thing, it doesn’t matter where you stand in line.”

“God will take care of you. This is what every disciple of Jesus knows. When you open your eyes in the morning, and your feet hit the floor … the granite of grace is under your feet.”