"The Parable of the Vineyard - "The Grace Perspective"
All I Needed I learned in Sunday School • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction:
Good morning we are in our sermon series in the Parables - entitled,“All I needed, I learned in Sunday School.”
The parables are foundational to Jesus teachings and to our faith…
The parables are short stories that show us -How to live and to be part of His kingdom..
Jesus often used every day stories.. that people could relate too... he talked about farming, , FAMILIES, inheritances…
He spoke on topics that were relevant for the day..
Jesus teaching was radical..
The values of the kingdom are an inversion of values that are in the world… in many ways it is an upside down kingdom… . In the Scripture, we find statements like:
The way to be great is to be the servant of all..
Blessed are the meek for they inherit the earth..
The first will be last and the last will be first...
When we are weak we are strong
Jesus taught a different value system..
We as humans … like to measure everything….
We measure height and length in inches, yards, and meters.
We weigh objects in pounds and ounces.
We we can divide time - from millennia all the way down to nanoseconds (one-billionth of a second).
There is even a scale called The Scoville Scale that can measure the heat in chilies…We can even know the exact temperature of the inferno that's about to rage in our mouth.
When comes to Justice — We want fairness, righteousness and impartiality — We want the scales of Justice be balanced..
The image of our justice system is lady Justice holding the scales in one hand and sword in the other.. the sword implies being able to cut through obstacles to get to the facts of a case. The balance (scales) represent weighing facts and evidence to decide a verdict.
Opps (displace the equilibria):
In Matthew 20, we encounter a parable of the vineyard, — AND in this parable Jesus challenges our thinking when comes to justice and fairness .
The parable is a response to a question that Peter asks in the previous chapter in Matt 19. 27 -
Jesus had the encounter with the rich man…who wasn’t able to let go of his wealth..to become one of his disciples..
and Jesus makes the comment..—
It easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven.
Now, the eye of the needle is just what it means…it meant a sewing needle and a camel, (it is not some gate in the wall of Jerusalem as some have suggested)
It contrasts the tiniest apertures with the largest beast of burden …
When Peter and the disciples heard this they were astonished — in their culture it was believed that Wealth meant God’s favor and blessing
and so Peter and the DISCIPLE were stumped.. if.. a “Rich man” who was blessed...could not be saved — What hope was there for the rest of us?
Jesus said answered Peter — and said “with man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible”
In other words Salvation depends on God alone… it is not based on our own merit, own abilities or goodness… God is able to save all who come to him..
Peter then asks about the rewards of those who given everything --
What about those who have left houses, family, parents for the gospel… Jesus said that they will be rewarded 100 fold…God is a God of Justice and fairness…Romans 2.11 says there no impartiality with God. .. GOD just and is perfect…
Now, Jesus doesn't stop with the rewards of the disciples, but he ADDS ..
30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
Jesus often used Maxims — these short sayings of wisdom, to emphasize a point ..they were often vague .. they required some thought..
You can almost hear the discples thinking -What does that mean?
Jesus was a master communicator.. He knew how to build tension and how to create a set up!
Jesus explains in the parable of the vineyard what it means that.....the first are to be last and the last to be first..…
The parable of the Vineyard in a nutshell is about a Land Owner who hires laborers to work in vineyard..He hires some for a 12 hour shift and then adds other workers through out the day..
At then at end of the day when paying the laborers..the landOwner gives out the same wages - to those who worked the 12 hour shift and to those who worked the 1 hour shift..
This brings up the issue Justice and fairness…
This parable hits a nerve..
....because.. We all have struggled with justice fairness at some point …
How us have found ourselves thinking that life is not fair?
It hits us personally..
When someone else get that promotion...
When our child doesn’t get play during game… or doesn’t get first chair in the Orchestra..
Or When we get some health report that is concerning.. —
When difficult thing happen — we struggle with the goodness of God — How does a loving God allow bad things to happen?
..When this happens we need to remember Gods way are higher than ours.
Isaiah said..
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
T/s What we learn from the parable of the Vineyard is the importance of gaining a perspective of grace.
First - Grace gives us..
1. A New Perspective Of His Mission.
1. A New Perspective Of His Mission.
If there was one topic that can be found on every page of the Bible … It is the topic of Mission!
Mission is at the centeral message of the Bible..
God’s heart is to seek and save those who are not yet a part of his family.
Henry Blackaby..
God’s mission is to glorify His name, to establish His kingdom and to reconcile the world to Himself.
Henry T. Blackaby
The Parable of the vineyard is an invitation to participate in His mission.. It begins with the land Owner who needs Workers in His vineyard.
lets read our text.
1 “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.
2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’
5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.
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?’
7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’
Describe the scenario:
Jesus tells us that a landowner goes out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
Grapes were one of Israel’s most important crops, and Israel was often referred to as the “vine” or “vineyard” of God.
The “Vineyard” represents the activity of the kingdom of God in this world
When Landowner arrives there are laborers waiting to work…
This was a common in the first century.. there were always labors standing in the market place - looking to work .. it was equivalent to going to a Job Centre....
Explain the equilibrium:
The laborers agreed to work for a denarius, a fair wage for a day's work. and the owner immediately sends them into the vineyard to work..
II. Agg - The Problem
The Master is on a mission— ..and there is a sense of urgency..
The reason is that -Grapes must be harvested at the optimal level of ripeness — in order to achieve the desired balance of sugar, acidity, flavor, and compounds.
Missing this window can result in grapes that are overripe or underripe, affecting the quality of the wine.
There is a sense of urgency in the mission...So the Owner goes back to the market place…
Present the problem:
He goes out at 9:00 am where finds that there are others that are needing work.. they standing Idle and doing nothing...
He hires them and sends them into his vineyard... He assures them that he will treat them right.
Then towards the end of the day He did the same thing 3pm and then at 5pm — He is maximizing the day...
As day progresses he desires to get as many laborers in the vineyard as possible..
Notice that at the 5 pm Jesus asks these labors a question..
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?’
Jesus asks….Why are you shill here standing Idle? This is obvious.... and because no one has hired us!
Jesus wants to make the point that— it is never too late to be involved in His mission.
.
There is story of.. .
A guy called Leon Delong who retired and was feeling restless.. and one day...
He heard that one of the offices in a — High rise building were routinely throwing away half-used rolls of toilet paper.
So he began to gather them and deliver them to a local food bank, where they were given to those in need.
He did it for 15 years before calling it quits,..
In that time, Delong gave away more than a million rolls of toilet paper. HE SAID THAT WAS AMAZED. — HOW a small kindness can grow to something special for a lot of people.
Harvest is a wonderful time here in Richvale…and each farmer is out working on a portion of their land… Every harvest I am reminded that there is much bigger harvest in the world. …
WE often think of mission in terms of “World Missions.”
We at Richvale have supported missionaries for many years… who have worked around the globe.. MISSION HAS BEEN OUR WINDOW TO THE WORLD..
But..The truth is that mission is more than financial support… Mission is more than going oversees…Every day we get up — we are confronted with a world that needs JESUS! ..
God’s mission field is “one” field
Christopher Write said..
For our mission is nothing less (or more) than participating with God in this grand story until he brings it to its guaranteed climax.
Christopher J. H. Wright
MISSION JOINING GOD ON HIS MISION!
T/s What we learn from the parable of the Vineyard is the importance of gaining a perspective of grace.
First - Grace gives us..
1. A New Perspective of Mission.
2. A New Perspective of His Justice.
2. A New Perspective of His Justice.
When I was in Seminary we had group project for a class on team building.
We had to WORK within teams and divide the various responsibilities and tasks, that included interviews, a research paper and a presentation.
We had to choose a project manager and each of us would be responsible for a part of the project.. What we realized is that some of the project took more work than other parts…
and at the end of the day not everyone put in the same amount of EFFORT. THE Professor said WE needed to work it out because … we were all getting the same grade..
It didn’t seem fair…and there were some that did more than others.. but, WE what we LEARNED was how to WORK TOGETHER as a team..
III. Whee - The Gospel Message
One of the characteristics of the parables is that there is always something unexpected…a twist in the plot… and we find that there is twist — in that everyone is paid the same wage..
lets read our text.
8 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.’
9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.
10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius.
11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house,
12 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.’
In the evening the manager gathers all of the laborers to give out wages.. and he begins we those who started last.. and ends with those who started first...
Those who started at 5pm received a full days wages.... Can you imagine their faces when they open up their pay stub...
The receive twelve times more what they expected!
As the news of their good fortune spread down through the line, those who were last...got their hopes up..
We are told that they expect that they might get more…
You can see the logic... "If the last workers got one denarius for one hours of work , we should get twelve!"
By the time they reached the front, they had already spent their bonuses in their minds.
Imagine their disappointment to discover that their pay envelopes also contained one denarius.
it hardly seemed fair.
In verse 11 -12 we see them complaining
— those who worked all day began to grumble and complain..… and they griped and protested.. they said ... this is not fair…we spent the better part of the day working in the hot sun —and these only worked for an hour..
How can this be fair?
We can’t help sympathizing with the workers… It is in our human nature to want to balance the scales of justice..
We embrace the merit system..we believe that life is about effort for reward; the one who works, earns; the one who works harder, or longer, deserves more.
Explore the gospel message:
But, Jesus pushes on our sense of justice
—like the early rises we want Justice —
But the master sticks to his guns..and he remind them reminds them of the agreement they had made earlier that morning … they had all agreed to work a full day for one denarius - it was a just wage!
This is when Jesus digs deeper into the issue —and he gets to the heart of the matter — Jesus says..
15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’
Here is the thing!
The problem was not the amount of their wages, but the issue was that of jealousy…
they could not stand someone else getting the same thing and not working as hard as they did..
They made the mistake of making it all about them…
We can do the same thing make life about us ---
For years and years it was believed that the earth was the center of the universe… everything revolved around us.. until Nicolas Capernicus in the middle ages., pointed to the Sun and said behold the center of the universe..
Grace perspective looks up to the Son of God and says it is all about him.. Behold the center of all things..
All things are for him and through him and to Him..
THIS IS ONE OF THOSE AHHA MOMENTS....
The surprise…and twist in the parable is not about the laborers..
. IT IS ABOUT the GENEROSITY OF THE MASTER..
It is about God’s amazing Grace, compassion and generosity...
If you go back through the day -
WITH DIFFERENT LENSES… YOU BEGIN TO SEE THAT IT IS it is the Owner of the vineyard.
Who Rises up Early and heads to the market place... he goes there himself .. He doesnt seen a messenger.. And keeps on going back —
He goes to those who are great need.. Jesus said it didn't come the well he came sick and the broken and the needy..
If those Laborers didn’t get work that day they would literally have no food that evening..
The master - doesn’t give up on them... -- He gives them dignity and invites them into his field…
The Parable is about generosity on a scale that the world has never seen and can't understand..
It is grace of God found in Eph 2.
Where Paul says... That before Christ we were strangers to the covenants of God - having no hope and without hope..
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Ephesians 2:8 (ESV)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
The only precondition of grace is that we open ourselves to receive God gift of grace.. Grace is unmerited favor...
The master explains that all that he has done is just .. And He has extended his grace even to those who came at the last hours of the harvest —
T/s What we learn from the parable of the Vineyard is the importance of gaining a perspective of grace.
First - Grace gives us..
1. A New Perspective of Mission.
2. A New Perspective His Justice.
3. A New Perspective of Our Own Heart.
3. A New Perspective of Our Own Heart.
We all have been treated unfairly at some point.. . What I have found personally is that —when life is not fair.. it brings to surface other attitudes that are not always evident..
This need to be Right..
The need to justify my position —
we need to defend my self..
Jesus deals with deep issues in his parables.. the issue is the heart..
IV. Ahha - The Reversal
13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?
14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you.
15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’
Discuss the reversal:
..The landowner's response to the laborers' complaint.
He reminds them of the agreement they had made....
At the beginning of the day they had agreed on a prescribed wage..
The master had honored his side of the deal.. He had given them a just wage —
V. Yeah - The Resolution
Jesus closes with the words.. That started the whole teaching!
16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”
What does this mean?
Most of us have bought computer software. We are normally offered several options, for example we are offered the Silver, the gold or the way to the platinum package. You can purchase the base package based on your needs.
Now, what Jesus is saying is that when we come to Christ — We all received the platinum package (Eph 2), because he paid the price in full purchase price and we bet all the benefits of Salvation.
In other words, regardless when you come to Christ, the reward remains the same. We all partakers of his generous offer of grace!
— at the beginning God’s salvation plan was made to the Jewish nation.. Romans Paul say that he is not ashamed of the Gospel, because in not the power of God is revealed first to the Jew and also the greek…
Everyone in the NT period has gained more than those who heard the Godpel first …
EACH OF US HAS Come into his Kingdom in the 11th hour—
JUST DIFFERENT POINTS OF THE DAY..
I often think of those who come to Christ towards the end of their lives.
. in that last hour…
My grandpa— was pretty amazing - He was very well known and respected in Zimbabwe.. He was on the board the Tabbaco sale — huge industry at the time.. He also was involved in starting a first Zimbabwean cricket team that internationally.. He was well known and well liked..
He knew about God.. … but it was not until the last moments of his life he received Jesus as his savior…
but it is amazing.. To think that he gets the same rewards… ENTERING THE JOY OF THE MASTER..
Paul said.. It is by grace of God I am who I am.. The parable
of the vineyard challenges our sense of fairness but reveals God's abundant grace.
Call to action:
Call to action:
The fact is that we have all have been impacted by the grace of God.. Whether the common grace or the saving grace..
WE all stand in the place of needing more of God s grace..
We need more grace every day..
Here is the thing!
Grace meets each of us at our point of need.
Jerry Bridges said.. That..
Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.
Jerry Bridges
What is needed is really a New Perspective of grace -
On his mission
On his Justice
We need Heart change towards others..
Let's pray..