Proper 20A (Pentecost 17 2023)

Text: “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 20:15-16).

From the very start, this parable lays out the generosity of God. The very worst that He could be accused of was treating that first group of workers fairly. His initial response really is right on: “Friend, I’m doing you no wrong” (Matthew 20:13). I haven’t cheated you in any way; I haven’t held back anything from what you’re owed; I’m giving you everything I promised you. What harm have I done to you by giving others more than they have earned? Why do you begrudge my generosity?

That’s not a bad picture of God to live with, is it? The worst you can say about Him is that He’s overly generous at times? That’s a night and day difference from the many false gods that people have dreamed up through the centuries. With those false gods, everything is completely reversed. If you can please them in some way then, perhaps, they will give you what you ask for. But whatever you offer had better make it worth what you’re asking for. And, even then, the false god may still decide not to give you everything you’ve asked for. I doubt that you could find any of the ancient myths where the word ‘generosity’ applies.

Not so with the Triune God. The only problem presented here is jealousy when some get what is fair and others receive far more. God’s generosity, alone, would have people running to Him if they had any grasp that this is who He is.

In fact, this parable doesn’t tell even half of the story, does it? In this story, the workers have, in fact, earned wages from Him. They have done something worth being rewarded. But that did not apply to you and me, at least not according to our nature. The wages you have earned from God is death. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).

What four letter word that starts with ‘f’ do we not use in the church? ‘Fair’. Because death is what would be ‘fair’ from your Master. That would be a fair wage for you and me on account of our sinful nature, let alone the sins you, yourself, have committed since.

To get the full story here in this parable, we would need to add one more worker. He didn’t begin in the early morning, He began His work before the creation of the world. He, alone, has labored faithfully from the very beginning of the day and “borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat” (Matthew 20:12). He, alone, was able to bear the full burden of your sin. He, alone, was able to endure the scorching heat of the fires of hell. And no part of that labor was left undone until He was finally able to declare, “It is finished” (John 19:30).

He does not begrudge the Father’s generosity toward you even a little bit. He has accepted your wages— the death that you deserved— and given you His wages in exchange: the well earned reward for His perfect life, death, and resurrection. The full wages of a faithful servant who has worked the entire day are given to you. He, the very first among God’s laborers, has made Himself last so that you might be first.

And the Father does not delay in paying His servants their wages. In baptism, He has given you His Holy Spirit as “a guarantee of [your] inheritance until you acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:14). He’s not waiting until the end to see if you really earn it or not. It is yours through the completed work of Jesus Christ.

As I said, all of that is left out of the parable here. It leaves all of that out because the parable isn’t intended for unbelievers. It’s told for you. For you who have been given the Holy Spirit as a deposit on what He will give you on the Last Day. Jesus told this parable to ask: Why do you still insist on trying to make yourself first? Even now, with all that He has already given you and all that is waiting for you on the Last Day, you still go through life keeping track of what God ‘owes’ you. Inevitably, you judge what God ‘owes’ you by comparing yourself to what others have or have not done. That comparison does not always put you first in line, but it does get you toward the front, at least. You’ve done more than they have here within the church; you’ve given more than they have. Perhaps you feel like you’ve “done enough.” Perhaps you even feel like you’ve “given your fair share.”

Your Lord warns you: “The last will be first, and the first last” (Matthew 20:16).

Let’s be honest, we would need to add another group of workers to represent many of us. This group may start working at the beginning of the day, but they need to be done early in order to get to softball practice; they need to leave early to get their kids to a soccer game; they can’t work at all because they’re off camping. When He comes, ready to present you with all that He has promised, will He find you working faithfully in His vineyard or will you be off drinking beer at deer camp?

Do you doubt His willingness to reward His workers? Do you doubt His ability? What is it that allows you to push this service so far down your list of priorities? Is this really how you honor the One who made Himself last in order to make you first?

I appeal to you, brothers, to live a life worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:27). “[Stand] firm in one spirit, with one mind [strive] side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27).

Now, a word of caution needs to be added. In the past, passages like this parable have led people to invent work for themselves. An ordinary life of marriage and children and work and the like, that just would not earn very much from God. So they invented vows of poverty and celibacy and obedience, thinking that those must certainly earn far greater merit in God’s eyes. But that is not how you live a life that is worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Self-imposed poverty does not earn extra merit before God. Rather, see to the needs of the poor and keep yourself from the love of money (James 1:27; Hebrews 13:5). “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:20).

Self-imposed celibacy is not a life that is worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. See that marriage is honored by all and the marriage bed is kept undefiled (Hebrews 13:4). Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. If you are unmarried, then make the best use of your opportunity to devote yourself to the things of the Lord (1 Corinthians 7:32-34).

A vow of obedience earns no greater merit before God. If you would honor the One who made Himself last in order to make you first, then remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith (Hebrews 13:7). Leaders, “whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26-28).

And yes, there is a time for rest. As Solomon wrote, “15 I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 8:15). “This is God’s gift to man” (Ecclesiastes 3:13). “34 “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and [the day of the Lord] come upon you suddenly like a trap” (Luke 21:34).

The fact is that, for God’s people, living, itself, means fruitful labor. “21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell” (Philippians 1:21-22).

In fact, even your suffering is not without its reward. You just heard St. Paul assure the believers at Philippi, “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me[— his persecution, his arrest, his imprisonment, etc.—] has really served to advance the gospel” (Philippians 1:12). By faith, he is living a life worthy of the gospel, even in his suffering.

And notice what he writes later on: “To remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account” (Philippians 1:24). He willingly endures suffering so that the believers in Philippi will be strengthened in their faith. If that’s not a life that honors the one who put Himself last to put Paul first, I don’t know what is.

All of the affliction in this life is preparing for you an eternal weight of glory that no suffering in this world can compare to (2 Corinthians 4:17).

“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 20:15-16).

Don’t be bashful. Come and receive your reward. Come and enjoy the riches of your Master’s goodness. Your Heavenly Father would absolutely entice you to come to Him on account of His generosity. That generosity, for example, will not allow Him to reward those who come at the 6th hour, or the 9thhour, or the 11th hour, any less richly than He rewards those who have labored since the beginning of the day.

Do not be bashful. He does not care a bit for what is ‘fair’. “All that I have is yours,” your Father says to you (Luke 15:31). You would be more than satisfied with the wages of a servant in His household, but He insists on bestowing on you the inheritance of a son. He does not want to give you what is ‘fair’. He wants to give you everything.

Do not be bashful about coming because there is nothing bashful about His giving. What master in the history of “master-ing” has ever said to his servant, “You’ve been working in the field, come and relax while I prepare dinner and serve you”? Your master does (Luke 17:7-8). Your Master leads you to green pastures— places of peace and rest. He prepares a table before you right here, in the presence of your enemies, anointing your head with oil, and filling your cup until it overflows (Psalm 23). The feast that He has laid for you on that table is not “servant’s food.” It is a feast of rich food, full of marrow, of aged wine, well refined (Isaiah 25:6-7).

Do not be bashful, but trust the generosity of the Giver. He is most certainly allowed to do as He chooses with what is His. And He chooses to give all of it to you in Jesus Christ.