09.24.2023 - Unfair Grace

Scripture : Matthew 20:1-16

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.”

Order of Service:

Announcements

Kid’s Time

Opening Worship

Prayer Requests

Prayer Song

Pastoral Prayer

Offering (Doxology and Offering Prayer)

Scripture Reading

Sermon

Closing Song

Benediction

Unfair Grace

Rewards

Last week, our scripture passage taught about the consequences we face when we fail to give grace to one another. However, we are made to do more than live life trying to escape punishment. We are wired to work for rewards as well.

Our family got a dog named when I was in middle school. We named him Homer. He was a beagle/lab mix who was incredibly intelligent and used all his intelligence to get rewards. We took Homer to obedience school as a puppy, and he learned to sit, sit up, stay, shake his paws with you, and roll over for treats.

Homer got slower, and his belly grew from his love of treats over the years, but he never stopped doing those tricks for dog treats or scraps from the table. I remember one afternoon, we set up a tray of meat, cheese, and crackers to snack on while watching Television at home in our living room. Homer came around the corner, caught sight and smell of the salami and cheese, and darted like a slow-motion missile through the air, rolling over as his tongue reached out to grab as much salami and cheese off the tray as he could. I’m sure he thought that was only fair since he technically rolled over before getting his reward. He was pretty pleased with himself—the rest of us... not so much.

Rewards are a powerful motivator in our lives, and sometimes, we, like Homer, try to rig the system to get what we want when we want it. However, it does not work that way with Jesus. In the passage before today’s scripture, Peter questioned what rewards they would receive from following Jesus. They had seen a rich man walk away and heard Jesus say that it was hard for those who had much to be willing to give it up and follow Him.

Matthew 19:27-30 says,

27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Today, we will look at this parable of grace that Jesus shared to teach that God gives His grace generously, not fairly.

Level 1: Seeing God

The Bible is a gift from God that keeps on giving. It has been translated into thousands of languages and many other versions per language. Those who attend church regularly probably hear and read interpretations of each scripture passage in preaching and teaching. And yet, with all of that information, we can still pick up the Bible today and get fresh insight from a familiar passage.

How does that happen? It is not because the scripture changes or because God changes. It is because we change. We do not read the Scripture not for information. We read it for transformation. We want God’s Word to transform us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Three levels of reading can be done with every scripture passage to keep us honest, in tune with the Holy Spirit, and growing in grace. These three levels are 1) Seeing God, 2) Seeing others, and 3) Seeing ourselves in the scripture.

Let’s start with the first level: Seeing God.

Most Bible passages clearly state Who God is and what He is doing. This passage is a parable, so we must look for clues to interpret it. Jesus begins the parable by telling us this is what the kingdom of heaven is like, which is a big clue. We know God is the creator and ruler of heaven from nearly every other scripture about heaven, so I think we can determine that this vineyard owner is supposed to represent God in this passage.

How does Jesus portray God in this parable? He is in charge, he is looking for lots of help in his fields, and he is the one handing out rewards at the end. He is looking for help to work in his fields, but it never tells us how many workers he needs. The vineyard owner doesn’t take applications or call references. Instead, he goes to the marketplace and looks for those doing nothing. When he finds them, he offers them the job but does not tell them what they will earn.

This vineyard owner representing God returns five times that day, probably every few hours, and hires more people who are there doing nothing. I wonder how much help he needed. The way it is written makes me think that this person either had more work than could be accomplished by any number of people or that he was more interested in giving people jobs than needing the work done. Perhaps it was a little of both. I wonder what that means about God.

God’s hiring practices might be a secondary point to this parable. The main point is at the end when Jesus describes how the workers are paid. The vineyard owner calls everyone forward, one at a time, beginning with the last person hired. Each one is paid a day's wage, whether they worked a full day or only one hour. Here again, heaven’s math is not our math, and God’s ways are not our ways. God is generous, not fair.

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Level 2: Seeing Others

Let’s look again at this parable, but this time, read at the level of looking for how God interacts with others. Who are the others in this passage? Those who are standing in the marketplace looking for work. Some got up early in hopes of getting a full day’s work. Others did not show up until later in the day. I wonder if they fought with each other to be first in line to be hired by this vineyard worker or if they hung back and he had to pursue them to get them to work for him. Maybe some of both.

Perhaps the early workers were encouraged by seeing others coming to help them, thinking that many hands make the work lighter. When the last bunch of workers walked in just before sunset, they may have wondered why the boss thought he needed so many helpers. Or maybe some of them looked up from their work and saw the vastness of the vineyard and realized how little they would accomplish in one day.

Again, we don’t know those answers for sure. Jesus takes us right to the end of the day when everyone gets paid. The early birds, the most tired, sweaty, and ready to go home, had to wait at the end of the line to get paid. Since none of them were told their wages, they expected to earn far more than those who only worked the last hour. Instead, they were given the same wage as everyone else, and it didn’t matter how hard they worked. They were upset because while they were given a generous wage for their work, it did not seem fair compared to everyone else around them. The hard workers were upset, and those who came in at the end of the day rejoiced at the generosity, but none would describe the rewards as “fair.”

Do you think they would have worked differently if they knew the reward? Would more of the workers have slept in that day? Maybe some would have come around noon to show they were better than those who waited until the end. We often compare ourselves to others to justify how we serve God. We tell ourselves that if we are better than others, that is good enough. We can stand on top of them to reach up to heaven. But this parable tells us that this is not the way God rewards those who follow and serve Him.

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Level 3: Seeing Ourselves

The last level that we read scriptures in is to see ourselves there. We must start with God first and then look at His relationship with others before we get to ourselves. It might seem that finding ourselves in scripture would be the easiest way to read them, but it is, in fact, the most difficult. Throughout our lives, we can only see ourselves through the eyes of others or in reflections.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:9–12:

9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

As we grow, the way we see God, others, and ourselves changes. In some ways, it grows more accurate; in other ways, it does not. We need God’s help to see ourselves as we truly are.

So, where are you in this parable?

Are you one of the first to look for work, the last to get home, and struggling to understand how God treats those who put in so little work receive the same reward of eternal life as you? Do you struggle with the unfairness of God’s grace?

Or are you one of those who gets distracted by everything else and does not even think about serving God until the last hour of the day, when it is too late to accomplish much of anything? Do you recognize how generous God’s grace is to you, that you receive the same reward as those saints who poured their entire lives out to follow and serve Jesus?

Or perhaps you feel like someone on the outside looking in, one who stood in the market and watched others come and go serving God but never agreed to go yourself. Do you know what you are missing?

I think the work in the field is enormous, far beyond what we can accomplish on our own or within the tribes of people we build around us. But, as this parable shows, I don’t think God worries about getting the work done. He is not looking to build the biggest workforce, either. No, in this parable, God spent more time in the marketplace looking for people than he spent in his own field. I think God is looking to build a family who will share the vineyard with Him, whom He will put to work and provide for no matter their gifts and abilities. He wants to give us all a greater purpose than simply standing around waiting for something to happen.

God sees more in you than you see in yourself. It is His grace that will give you purpose and provide for you. It will not be fair, but it will be generous. He is not looking for a particular set of skills. He is looking for you.

Will you follow and serve Him, knowing that it will change you and you may not recognize yourself on the other side?

Will you allow God to let you see others the way He sees them, as beloved family members rather than competitors for His affections?

Will you love God with all you have and all you are and love others and yourself with the same unfair grace He gives to you?