Matthew: Kingdom Generosity

Announcements/3 min of quiet

Psalm 15 NIV

A psalm of David. 1 Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? 2 The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; 3 whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; 4 who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; 5 who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.

Pray

Opening Hymn

Deuteronomy 24:14–15 NIV

14 Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. 15 Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

Worship Set

Philippians 2:12–18 NIV

12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. 14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

Prayer Chorus

Prayer

Worship Through the Word:

Kingdom Generosity

Which of the following scenarios do you identify with?

Scenario #1:

As you are busy in your home one Saturday, you notice that several of the trash cans are full. You turn to your son and say, “Son, please check all the trash cans in the house and take any that are full out to the garbage bin.” To which your son says, “How much will you give me for doing so?” You then reply, “Who supplied you dinner last night and breakfast this morning? Who provides you a room and bed to sleep in, clothes to wear, and bikes to ride? You have been paid, now get going!”

Or Scenario #2:

You ask your son to empty the trash cans and he replies, “Sure dad! I would be glad to do so. Is there something else I can do to help you today? You do so much for all of us in the family, I really want to help as well!”

Okay, I suspect scenario 2 is really out of touch with reality. At least in this world! But today, we will see that in the kingdom, we can expect our Heavenly Father to be generous with us and others and we have no right to ever question what He chooses to do.

Today, I am reading from Matthew 20. Please stand if you are able.

Matthew 20:1–16 NIV

1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. 3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ 7 “ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ 8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ 9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ 13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God!

Kingdom Generosity, Matthew 20:1-16

Jesus is coming to the end of His ministry in Judea. After this week in chapter 20, we transition to Jesus ministry in Jerusalem and we will find Him changing is topic more to His upcoming death and resurrection, as well as end time revelations.

For today’s topic however, He is still dealing with the disciples attitudes toward each other and who will get what. The rich young ruler has come and asked Jesus what He must do. Jesus directs him to the Ten Commandments and this young man assures Jesus that he has kept them all. Then Jesus directs him to sell all he owns and come and follow Him. At this point, the young man drops his head and walks away. Commentary reveals he had great wealth and it was more than he was willing to part with.

Now, instead of being heartbroken over this young man’s decision, Peter speaks up. We have given up everything for You. What will we get? Jesus starts by sharing that they will each have a throne from which they will share leadership with Him one day. But then Jesus says something quite disturbing.

“The first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Now consider this statement from the perspective of the disciples who are so concerned with what their reward will be. They were the first to leave everything and follow Jesus. Shouldn’t that mean that they will receive the greatest of the rewards? You can just imagin them rolling all this over in their minds.

Then Jesus tells another parable. It begins like the others.

“The kingdom of heaven is like...”.

Jesus is once again about to describe for us the difference between the skewed attitudes and expectations on earth compared with the righteous ones found in heaven. This parable begins with...

A. Contract Workers, vv 1, 2

Matthew 20:1–2 NIV

1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

Across Judea, there were large estates that required paid workers. Especially around harvest, they would need to bring on extra workers temporarily. Anyone looking for a job would hang out in the market place.

If you are a fan of old westerns, I can equate this to ranchers who needed extra trail hands during times of cattle drives to move their cows to market. They would often go to saloons, make an announcement and then wait for men looking for work to come sign up.

In this case, the landowner goes to the marketplace at 6 a.m. The men waiting are hear early looking to be employed by the one who can offer them the best price. The landowners would draw up a contract and the men chose to go to whoever paid the best.

Once an agreement has been reached, they head out to the vineyards to work.

Some time later, the landowner is in the marketplace and notices...

B. Non-Contract, Willing to Serve Folks, vv 3-7

Matthew 20:3–7 NIV

3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ 7 “ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

The harvest workday ran from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. There is always plenty to get done and as you know, the sooner harvest is completed, the less chance of something happening that can cause damage to a crop. The landowner finds himself back at the market place throughout the day. Initially to hire the men at 6 a.m. Then later at 9 a.m., again at noon, and again at 5 p.m. Each time he notices more men standing or sitting around without work.

Now, you can imagine that these were not the cream of the crop of workers. The best workers were already hired at 6 a.m. However, this landowner understands that these folks all need employment to make a living and he has plenty of work. So, each time he offers them jobs if they go out to his fields.

You can imagine that by the time 5 p.m. comes around, those that are left are those that probably do not look very hearty or have some handicap or infirmity that others feel will hinder them as workers. This becomes evident when at 5 p.m. the landowner asks why they aren’t working and they reply, “Because no one has hired us.” This landowner out of kindness offers these a job and so they respond.

I can imagine that these that were turned down by other employers were probably very grateful for this man’s generous offer of employment. So much so, that they make no inquiry into what he is paying. Whatever he gives is sufficient to them as it is something better than nothing.

Then comes...

C. An Unusual Payday, vv 8-10

Here is where Jesus turns things around in this parable. You see, He always does. They start out with a situation that they can all identify with, but then Jesus adds a twist that is unusual. You can imagine people listening, nodding their heads as they follow His story with understanding. But then He adds something that is out of character. They all cock their heads a little and lean in to hear where He is going with this.

Matthew 20:8–10 NIV

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ 9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius.

Remember where we have come from. Peter inquires of Jesus regarding their rewards since they left everything. Jesus shares some wonderful things, but then says something that is like a caution.

“The first will be last, and the last will be first.” Then Jesus begins weaving this tale of a vineyard owner hiring workers.

One would expect that the workers who came at 6 a.m. would be paid first and allowed to leave. The very fact that they are held until last is apparently so that they see how generous the landowner is with the later workers. But why? Does He not understand that this will offend the first workers?

Jesus is about to make His point to His disciples. He has their full attention by this point. You see...

D. The Kingdom of Heaven Compensates Fairly! vv 11-16

Matthew 20:11–16 NIV

11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ 13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

The first men hired were hired under a contract. They chose to know up front what they would be making. These men were probably the ones always hired. They were strong and smart. They looked presentable and were well able to provide for their families. Since they were the most employable, they were able to name their price and therefore provide for their families.

Where most people saw good strong workers compared with others who were not strong workers, the landowner saw a group of capable men living well compared with others for various reasons that struggled to make a living. Out of a generous heart, He provided for this second group what most were unwilling to provide them; a livable wage.

The first group believed this was unfair, however, it really was non of their business. They had received what they had contracted to work for. They had a good life, much better than these others, so they really had not lost anything. However, the later workers gained a sense of self-worth and the warmth of realizing someone cared about them.

The kingdom of heaven will be full of people who do not compare their reward with others. They recognize that God is a fair and compassionate God. None of us will go away in want.

Conclusion:

So how were the disciples to apply this and how do we apply this parable to our own lives. There are several ways it can be applied. The first thing the disciples needed to learn was...

1. It is about trusting in the fairness of God.

If you really serve God out of love, you also trust Him with Your future. You should not be worrying about what you will or will not get in the future. You can trust that God will provide for all your needs. He loves you. He is generous and He loves to give good gifts. You can trust that He will give far greater than you could ever deserve.

The truth is, none of us deserve anything. We owe God everything! Our life, our salvation. If it were not for God and the work and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we would not have anything.

2. The Disciples had to learn this to be willing to receive the Gentiles.

After Jesus was resurrected, it was not easy for the Jews to receive the Gentiles as another branch of the family of God. The Gentiles were grafted into the Jewish tree as God’s people. This did not go over easily. The disciples had to understand this as they were the ones that would help the others to accept it.

It was this early church of accepting Gentiles that put off some Jews. They could not accept the idea that God had always intended to include the Gentiles. The Jews were a starting point to demonstrate to the world what He wished for all of us.

3. Young believers need to accept those who convert late in life.

I have known people that chose to follow God early in life, be some times threatened by those who convert later and have dynamic testimonies. They sometimes have not had the extreme life issues like those who have lived sinful lives. They sometimes feel like they do not get credit for giving their lives early. This fits this parable very well. This is a wrong attitude. We should not focus on such things but just be very thankful for the salvation of all.

Scripture tells us that all heaven celebrates over a lost sinner being saved. So should we. We can celebrate that we are all part of those stories and the life given early is often mature enough to help nurture the new in the faith.

4. Forgiveness and rejoicing over sinners converted on deathbeds.

Another situation I have heard people struggle with are times when someone lives a sinful life only to be converted as they die. This could be related to my message on the importance of being able to forgive last week.

One case of this I have experienced in my lifetime was Ted Bundy. Ted Bundy was a serial killer of women. He lived a terrible life and did horrible things. While he was on death row, he was visited by James Dobson (I think it was Dobson). In time, he came to confess and said he had received Jesus as his Savior. I have heard more than one Christian say this made them angry. How could he live as he did and still get the same salvation reward that we do? I have heard said on different occasions.

Some say they do not believe he truly meant it and it was just a ploy to try to get a pardon. Well, whether it is true or not true is between him and God. If he truly did, who are we to say it isn’t fair? We are not God. We should be thankful that someone with so much evil in them could be saved as it should give us hope for our unbelieving loved ones. If God can love someone like Ted Bundy, we can have no doubt he loves us.

It comes down to three questions.

Do we love God?

Do we trust God?

Do we believe that God will be fair with us?

If we can answer “yes” to those three questions, we need never be concerned about what our reward or anyone else’s will be. We will have confidence that whatever it is, it will be more than we deserve and will generously supply all we could ever ask for.

Stand with me and let us close with this old classic.

“He Owns the Cattle on a Thousand Hills”

Pray