It brought back memories of times when I wasn’t picked. I wasn’t picked to be in the gifted class. I wasn’t picked to be on the “A” All-Star basketball teams. I can remember fighting over unfair teams on the playground. There were a lot of tears shed, a lot of angry words said, and a lot of self-victimization. The enemy had a field day.

After Jesus comes on the scene and pronounces the arrival of a new Kingdom, a new economy, he describes that it works like this, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

When you really think about it there are tremendous advantages to being the last one picked. Expectations are low. Little successes are celebrated as milestones. Mistakes are expected. It doesn’t mean we lower our expectations or strive for mediocrity. Instead we have the opportunity to learn from those picked before us. It just means that the yoke is easy, and when the yoke is easy, then work is fun, and when work is fun I believe we are our most productive. I wonder if Romamtiezer and the boys enjoyed their work more than the others?

What about you? Recall any “last one picked” stories? How might Jesus redeem them?