The "Injustice" of Salvation

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 4

Psalm 4 ESV

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer! O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him. Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord. There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!” You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Scripture Reading: Psalm 20:1-4

Psalm 20:1–4 ESV

May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion! May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans!

Sermon

Good morning Church! I was Glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the Lord!

Well this Sunday we are continuing our journey through Matthew. Matthew 20 verses 1-16 and what is known as the parable of the laborers and the vineyard.

As I prepare sermons, the hardest part for me is always usually the very first sort of attention grabbing, usually find an example or some funny story that will talk about or be tangential to or set the stage for whatever you are going to talk about. Well today we are going to be talking about how things are not always fair as we would call them fair. And that means for me that I had a whole host of things that I could open with. For it seems like each and every day we see things that we would call unfair, for we live in an unfair world. Why do i get a ticket and they don’t why do i have to do this and they don’t. Even for me just yesterday, well Friday and yesterday I hired an independent contractor to clean my back yard. I do recommend them if you have work to do, the company of Hayden and his friend., But for me it turns out I paid hem a whole lot of money and yet i still end up doing a whole lot of work, and am not the next day really sore and really sunburned. it doesn't seem fair, I could complain but I don[‘t think that would get me very far.

Just looking around us the world seems to always be complaining about different injustice railing against the general “unfairness” of the world. But today, though we are talking about unfairness I don’t really want to touch those things, the idea that the world is not fair or that life is not fair. Because in reality what we need to look at this morning is much deeper. Sometimes we may look around and feel like even salvation itself, this most fundamental thought behind us that motivates us and moves us, sometimes we look at salvation and may think: that's not fair.

It is interesting to me, and this is why Love spending a lot of time in each book, you really learn to feel the heart and flow of the author,m and so now week 61 in the book of Matthew I feel like we are staring to get there with him. We are starting to understand his vibe and the way he likes to teach things. Last week he presented salvation as “impossible”. WE focused on and looked at what I said was the important thought uniting his entire passage: Matthew 19:26 “But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”” We are saved, though it is impossible to work at it and do it, we are still saved. but in that I want us to look at today weather or not that is “fair” or really what might be fair or unfair about it.

With that thought lets read our passage for this morning.

Matthew 20:1–16 ESV

“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. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 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.’ 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.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 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.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”

These are the words of the Lord for us this morning, lets open with a word of prayer

Dear Lord we thank you for today, for your grace and mercy and kindness towards us. We especially thank you today for the calling that you have placed on our lives. That you would see fit to call us out of darkness and into your marvelous light. That you would see fit to save us, redeem us, and use us. We pray that you would be with us this morning, may we hear your words clearly and we do pray that your spirit would dwell within us that he would bring illumination and understanding to what you have said to us, we thank you for your son for it is in his name that we pray, the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN

Well much like last we I wanted us to focus really on one point. I truly feel like in this parable as well there is one main thought that we need to get across. This parable is a bit longer than most. i mean we we spent our time in that parables discourse and saw a few one or two verse long parables and this one sits a a lengthily 16 verses. There is a lot of detail that is given, We have the first our the third hour the ninth hour and the eleventh hour the fair wages for a day which was, sort of by definition the denarius. So we have these things, but what do they all come together to paint us a picture of?

Well i think it is very interesting that though this is a parable about laboring and a parable about working, it is truly a parable about the free Gift of God which is Salvation. and truly that Salvation is by GRACE ALONE

Salvation is by GRACE ALONE

In the Latin, if we were sort of looking a the pillars of the reformation we would say that salvation is sola gratia, salvation by grace alone.

Ultimately Jesus is talking about, he tells us in verse 1 the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. this is about entering into the kingdom of heaven being God’s people. And throughout the day this master goes out and he calls people into his kingdom. Early morning he is calling laborers into his vineyard as we go to the third hour he is in the marketplace and he is still calling people into his vineyard. going out again in the sixth the ninth and the 11th going our constantly this land owner this master of the house is calling people into his kingdom.

So this is ultimately a picture of what it means to be called and saved by god. We are called into this kingdom. but note in this parable as it is in our lives, this is by the grace of the master of the house alone.

We don’t read anywhere about the worthiness of these workers. WE don’t read anywhere about how good they were, how much they deserved to work inn this vineyard. In fact if we wanted to we could make arguments about how many of the workers that are called don’t deserve it at all. he finds this workers standing about idly at the 11th hour. he asks them: why have you just been standing here all day? their answer: Well no one wanted to hire us the follow up question might be: well why does no one want to hire you? If you are good workers why are you still just standing here in the marketplace? By the time you get this far in the day it is clear that these are the workers that NO ONE else wanted. and the master still calls them. it is his own generosity, verse 15. it is his own decision to have them come work for him. it is all about the heart of and the grace of the master of the house.

we have seen this multiple times in Matthew, the idea of god calling and saving those he wants to. as Jesus is going around doing the will of the father he is bringing in the disciples who are in some ways the people that no one else would want to call, we looked at that a bit these fishermen, these describe elsewhere, uneducated common men. these tax collectors, these traitors and rebels that no one else would love., these zealots who kinda seem to cause trouble these men who well, sometimes get it, sometimes don’t. It is these who are called by grace alone. it is the child, not the rich young ruler, it is the outcast and the centurion and the woman who has bee cast out and the demon possessed that see his power on display. and this all by grace alone.

we get caught up a lot of times in a lot of different way in wrestling through and working our “what do i have to do to deserve and earn” and you cannot. it is by grace alone. it is through the generosity of the father calling us into his kingdom. it is the grace and mercy of our Lord, our God and our king to save us. ultimately this parable is about the gracious generosity of this master that he would call these laborer in. but then once we understand that salvation is by grace alone, we can then move FORWARD

THEREFORE

OK salvation is by grace alone therefore what does that mean for us?

And this is where what I see as the heart of this parable work itself out practically. This parable about the master calling workers into his vineyard, but the DRAMA in this parable centers on the reaction of the workers.

The whole first half the master is going out and calling people and going out and calling people, and going out and calling people. by the end it feels like half the town is working in his vineyard. who knows how many he ultimately called. here they are picking grapes, crushing them making wine, he calls these laborer then verse 8 literally halfway though even comes, the day of work is over and now the drama starts.

OK call em back, everyone has worked bring them in, start with the people we called in the 11th hour go all they way back to the people who have been here all day and pay them what they need to be paid. OK. the first workers come the ones who have only been here an hour, heres your denarius. They are probably joyous OK Awesome my family can eat and they are on their merry way. Next workers come the 9th hour workers they have been here what three hours heres your denarius, OK go along your now. And you can already see and feel where the tension is going to be growing WAIT. One hour, three hours… same amount. but most likely the 9th hour guys were just happy to get something so off they go same thing, sith hour guys now they have been here for 5 hours longer. they might have rolled their eyes, really, you are going to pay us the same thing, but along they Go, i am hungry and i need to feed myself and my family. so off they go. and eventually we get back to this first group. the ones working all day. though they knew the deal they made,. we read about it in verse one: Matthew 20:2 “After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.” SO going into this they said that's fair, that's great, that is what They want. but as they see this happening as they witness this INJUSTICE of these guys coming in and only working one hour getting the same payment as us who worked all day they rise up against this injustice., how dare he do that. what is wrong with this guy!

And it is here we begin to see the lessons, here is where the teaching of Jesus comes in. I have for us three lessons that I would like us to see, and IO would like to use the words, if i can, directly from this passages. So since salvation is by grace alone. DO NOT GRUMBLE.

we are NOT to GRUMBLE

Matthew 20:11 ESV

And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house,

Its not god enough. this isn’t what I wanted this isn’t fair this isn’t right. Why are you doing this? This is messed up. but you said, but we thought. they are grumbling and grumbling. but it is not their place to grumble. Just if we look again lets see verse 2. they agreed on this price. Going into it they said “yes a denarius is a fair price”.and it truly was. it was the most fair price possible. WE count money in dollars and cents but the very definition of a denarius as a way to calculate money was, and the esv footnotes will tell you this , a fair price for a days wages for a laborer. This was the most fair payment they could receive. you work a day you get a denarius. that is just how it goes. but here they are grumbling. So while We can sort of understand why, it it not their place to grumble. And in truth, if anyone stands in a position of unfairness, it is the 11th hour workers, they got MORE than is fair.

But I want us to think about this idea of grumbling as regards our salvation. Because we often grumble too. GK Chesterton has a famous quote. He said: The Christian life has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” We are called into glorious salvation. we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone according to the scriptures alone for God’s glory alone. but we are never promised it will be easy. in fact if we remember back to the second discourse in Matthew the missions discourse we are really promised if anything that it will be hard. there will be challenges. WE live in a world that is not fair. Where pain and sorrow seem to grow and multiply. God has offered us eternal life in Christ Jesu our Lord. and yet we still grumble to God.

This life's not good enough the calling you have given me is not good enough the gifts you have given me are not good enough. But think about this. we have been given the gift of salvation and eternal life in Christ jesus. Where is the room for grumbling?

Ultimately, and here is the heart behind everything I would like to say today. Yes, you are right, salvation is completely unfair and form one point of view “unjust” but NEVER in the way that we want to feel like it is. For the father, we could label it as unfair. it cost him his son and he gets a bunch of grumbling people in return. For Jesus, for the son we could see how this could be labelled as unfair. He was the only sinless perfect man to ever lived, yet it pleased god to crush him. the chastisement that brought us peace was placed upon him. though he did no wrong he bore the wrath that our sins deserved. That is not FAIR. But yet we come to him and grumble. heres the heart and it is in some way just that easy: don’t do that.

this isn't what I wanted. this call to holiness and righteous living, this call to sacrifice and love others more than myself. loving God with my heart soul mind and strength, it is too hard and I don’;t want to do it. Well stop grumbling. And the second point: DO NOT BEGRUDGE

We are not to BEGRUDGE

Matthew 20:15 (ESV)

Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?

Note here if we are talking about salvation and us being God’s people. this hits harder. We are his people, as his can he not do with us what he wants? But then he asks this question:

Or do you begrudge my generosity?’

If salvation is by grace alone, God is going to call those who he will call when he want to call them how he wants to call them, then we should not begrudge God that. And I see this playing our really two ways if I am being honest sort of pastorally speaking.

The first is a sort of begrudging: WHY THEM? Why in the world would God save THEM. we begrudge God’s grace when he gives it to people that we might not want to give it too. People we don’t love obviously the way that God lives them. and so we begrudge God in his grace.

One of the tests, I mentioned this on Thursday at grace group. but one of the tests that I sort of Run for myself, because I have in my heart the ability and probably the predisposition the be very Pharisaical, but one of the tests that I run on my own heart is to ask: do i feel like my sins are better than someone else’? because I know that as soon as I start down that road I am in a bad place! WHEW! I am glad I struggle with JUST anger and sometimes a few other things, but man am i glad i am not like them they are really bad! How could God save them?!? I mean, i get how could could save me, For i am pretty awesome, but how in the world could god save THEME? so we begrudge him. but the other way I see us begrudging God in his grace, and I will be honest, this one is more difficult, if the first one is WHY THEM, the second one is why NOT them?

Why didn’t god save this person or that person. In The missions committee we are reading through a book called “A vision for mission” and this question is the heart of the first chapter that we read. Why does it take God so long to go and send missionaries to people. Why didn't God send a missionary to my father or my grandfather? Why did it take so long? But often we can make this thought even more personal. It is a parent, a grandparent a loved one a spouse or a child, someone we love and care for: Why doesn't God save them? The hard answer is that God is the sovereign King of heaven, he saves by grace alone and is he not allowed to do what he chooses with what belongs to him? and do not all things belong to him.

In truth, this was for me one of the hardest passages in all of scripture to wrestle with but the heart of Romans chapter 9.

ROMANS 9: vessels created for destruction?

What if? Because salvation is by grace alone, it is according to God’s sovereign calling, his sovereign electing and sealing of HIS people. It is not for us to grumble and not for us to begrudge. So then what are we to do? what is the proper response to salvation by grace alone? It is to WORK

we are to WORK

The sort of unifying thought behind this parable is this: these workers are called into the vineyard to WORK. in the first half there is this sort of interesting dichotomy. You have people standing idly OR going into the vineyard to work. Matthew 20:3 “And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,” in the sixth and 9th hours he goes out and finds them then in the 11th hour verse 6: Matthew 20:6 “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?’”

He sends these me to go work. Go to the vineyard and WORK. we are saved by grace, we are called into the vineyard NOW get to work. This is the beauty of understanding truly salvation by grace alone. note that they do not work to earn their wages. WE know that because they are not paid according to their work. The person who came in the 11th and the person who came in the first get paid the same. be cause ultimately in God’s economy you are not paid according to your labor but you are paid according to his grace and mercy. Salvation and eternal life are the payment, and you get it for free. SO THEN WORK. it is worth it.

those who worked all day they got a fair payment,. those who came at the end, they got a fair one too, so get to work. Get to the task that God has set before you. he has called you into his kingdom to labor in his vineyard. Most particularly I would argue this idea of laboring in the vineyard is referencing specifically preaching the gospel. For this is the picture of this ALL THE TIME. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. WE are sent out to go reap the harvest of souls. So get to work. Preach the gospel in season and out of season. be always ready to give an account for the reasons for the hope that is within you. Preach Chrsit crucified risen and reigning. Get to work. Labor.

God has graciously called us. saved us. If we hear that call, repent and believe that Jesus Chrsit is Lord you will be saved. So THEN get to work. Lets Pray.