Fair, Generous, & Gracious

Hard Work

What’s the hardest you’ve ever worked in your life? The most taxing job you’ve ever done?

Physically draining, mentally to the limits of your ability, maybe emotional work fixing a relationship.

I’ve had several taxing classes in my undergrad and at seminary. Studying for a final, writing a big research paper, pulling an all-nighter finishing the project.

They’d take me to the limits of my mental capacity. Wipe me out physically. And emotionally, I’d worry about the grade I was earning. GPA matters to get you into grad school. Once you’re in grad school, it only takes a 2.0 GPA to graduate with the Masters Degree. So, the pressure was on.

All that said, the hardest I have ever worked, that took me to limits I didn’t know existed at the time, was in the summer of 1980. I was in college. And I got a summer job baling hay and tagging calves.

I didn’t go home to Wichita that summer. I stayed in Sherman, TX, just north of Dallas. It was where my college is. And the ranch I worked on was outside Durant, OK. The rancher, the owner went to my church, Sherman Bible Church, and hired me and one other guy to work the ranch that summer.

That summer was the hottest on record in N. TX and S. OK up to that point. It was a brutally hot summer.

I’d get up before the sun. Drive to the ranch, about 45 minutes away. I go straight to the pasture where the herd of cattle was. My first task of the day was to catch and tag the calves that had been born since I was there the day before. Or, in the case of Monday morning, the last time I’d been there to tag the calves was Friday morning.

Well, one time a calf had been born Friday afternoon. It’s now Monday morning. That calf had all day Saturday and all day Sunday to gain strength. And, its hooves don’t harden right away. So when I would catch the calf the same day it was born, its soft hooves didn’t hurt so bad when it kicked like crazy to get away.

This time, the calf was stronger, more coordinated, and its hooves were hard and sharp. On that Monday morning, I missed him. He got away. Once he was spooked, there was no getting ahold of him.

Tuesday morning, I snuck behind him, grabbed a hind leg, threw him down, and sat on him.

The job was to tag the calf. Record the momma, there was only 1 bull in the pasture, it was a registered Black Angus herd, so the lineage was important to record. Then, I’d take a sharp, metal, pointed tool and run it thru its ear and pull a tag w/ a number thru the soft tissue and record the number of the calf.

Needless to say, the calf was not too agreeable to the whole process. And that little guy kicked the fire out of me. Bruised my legs good. But I won. I got him tagged.

After the tasks of tagging the new calves was done, I’d head to the pasture where we were baling hay. So from mid-morning until sundown dark we picked up the bales in the pasture, stacked them on the trailer, once the trailer was full, we’d take them to the hay barn, unload the trailer and stack them in the barn. Then, we head back out to load the trailer again. Rinse and repeat.

I learned a few things that summer. How to stack hay bales well above my head. One pair of jeans would last maybe a month. Grab the bale by the wire, pull it up on your thigh, use your big leg muscles to hoist up 10’ or higher to stack it. I’m not a tall guy so I had a good distance to throw it to get it stacked solidly so it wouldn’t fall down.

I wore out the thighs of the jeans every few weeks. Wore them thin down to the frayed threads.

I got paid for each calf I tagged and each bale I stacked. Me and one other guy stacking bales while the rancher, the owner drove the tractor picking up the bales off the ground.

I learned something else that summer. Hay barns can spontaneously combust. The hay dust in the roasting oven of a hay barn can catch fire w/out a spark. It happened occasionally.

The guy I worked w/ that summer was a smoker. We’d stack the bales in the barn and he would take a break and light up a cigarette. When the rancher saw him do that once, he lit him up. All we needed was a hot ash to blow into the barn and blow the entire structure to smithereens.

I worked harder than I’ve ever worked in my life. Not before, not since. Sun up to sundown. I’d go home reeking of sweat, freshly mowed grass, and fresh cow patties. The ground was covered and the calves let loose out of fear when I was tagging them..

But, I also got paid well. I made more that summer than any other summer job I had, and more than I made in a summer of church ministry even after I graduated and got started on my career.

I worked hard, but wasn’t about to complain at all because I got paid well. The money helped buy books and meals during that next year in college. It would have been my junior year.

The rancher was more than generous w/ us. He knew he was helping out a poor college kid. He was a elder in the church. I was as active as I could be while I was in college. So he saw his role in hiring and paying me as his ministry. Paid per calf and bale, but more than any of the other ranchers paid their hands around the area.

I knew that. I appreciated it very much.

When you know you’re going to get paid every Friday. And you’re going to get paid more than the going rate, even if the work is exhausting, what’s to complain about?

He was more than fair w/ me. He was gracious and generous b/c he knew what he was doing was more than just hiring a ranch hand for the summer. It was a ministry that helped me out more than just a paycheck at the end of every week.

Jesus told a parable right after teaching the rich, young ruler that his heart was not engaged w/ God. He loved his stuff more than God. He was pleased w/ himself and his perceived commitment to God. Once exposed, he was broken b/c he could not do what Jesus assigned him to do to be saved.

The parable addressed a question that Peter posed right after the ruler left saddened b/c he realized he wasn’t all-in.

Matthew 19:27 NIV

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

Peter and the discs were all in. They had done exactly what Jesus challenged the ruler to do. The ruler chose not to. The discs had done it and were all in. They had left their families and careers to follow Jesus and serve in His work. What reward could they expect?

Jesus’ point: rewards. God controls how much he rewards everyone for choosing to be all in w/ Him. He alone will settle all accounts.

What Jesus wants us to know is that God will reward us regardless how hard and how long we work. Our job is simply to believe in and please our landowner.

God pays fairly, generously, and graciously for the work that’s done in faith, by grace, making and maturing more disciples who qualify for their own place in heaven.

This parable is in Matthew 20 where Jesus wants us to understand that God will reward us generously and graciously when we arrive in heaven.

Day-Laborers

Matthew 20:1–7 NIV

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 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?’ “ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

Simple story. Easy for the discs to understand. There were vineyards all around the region and hiring day-labor was a common way to get the work done.

The landowner owned the vineyard in the story. He needed people to work in his vineyard. So, he went to where the candidates gathered hoping someone would hire them for the day.

He arrived at first light and got the pick of who appeared to be the strongest, most capable of putting in a hard day’s work up to sunset. This group all looked the part. Strong. Fit.

He organized the group and they all agreed to work that day for 1 denarius. That was typical pay for a days labor in the field. A normal wage for a day’s work.

We don’t know why he went back. Maybe he was doing his normal shopping for the day and noticed more men waiting to be hired. Maybe there was more work to be done than he realized. Whatever, he was back in the marketplace where the hopefuls gathered. It was around 9 am.

Rather than come to a specific agreement about how much he would pay them, his commitment that they did agree to was to be paid whatever was right. They trusted the landowner to do what was right and they went to work in the vineyard with the group that had been hired earlier in the day.

The owner went back at noon, 3 in the afternoon, and 5 in the evening; and each time hired a group of men hoping they’d be chosen to work that day.

By 5 pm, there was only 1 hour left in the day to work. The sun would set and they would shut down the operation for the night.

Implied in the story is the workers who did not get hired earlier in the day were less desirable workers. They were not lazy, trying to avoid work. They’d been there all day waiting, hoping someone would hire them. But their appearance did not inspire the landowners who were hoping to get a lot done using the men who sought work for the day.

The longer the men went w/out getting hired indicated there were reasons why they did not get hired until later.

The undesirables, maybe they were lame, small frame, weaker than the others.

Asthma. Allergies. Weak limbs. Little stamina. They had the want-to. But the follow thru was lacking.

At the end of the day the landowner called them all in to receive their pay. And this is where the trouble started. Some had expectations that the landowner did not meet. It frustrated and angered the first group he hired that had been out there the longest. They questioned his fairness.

Fair? Yes and No

Matthew 20:8–13 NIV

“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.’ “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘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.’ “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius?

At the end of the day he called them all in to get paid. He paid each and every man the same amount, 1 denarius. It didn’t matter to him if the payee was hired at sunrise or close to sun set. Those that worked all day and those that worked a half-day, and those who worked for 1 hour all got paid the same amount at the same time.

It was the amount the first group agreed to. The others trusted him to right by them. Apparently, only the first group had an issue w/ their pay.

They were hired first. They were the most obviously qualified and capable for a day’s hard work. The worked the longest and did the most but got paid the same as everybody else. So, they complained.

Not Fair! The perceived injustice perpetrated upon them was too much for them to remain silent.

You can almost hear the conversations among this group as the second, third, fourth, and fifth groups all arrived and started to work next to the first group.

He better consider how much longer we worked and how much more we got done.

We are obviously the better looking, better equipped, and better positioned so we ought to get better-pay than the rest.

Look at the lamos that came in last. Are you kidding me.

It all seemed so unfair to them.

Then the landowner reminded them of the deal they had. They had all agreed to it. It was not forced on them. Therefore, it was not unfair. He was not being unjust. He held up his side of the agreement just as they held up their side.

What he was, was generous and gracious w/ the groups hired later in the day. If he was unfair w/ anyone it was these who worked a shorter day and accomplished less. He was not fair w/ them. If anything, he overpaid them, not underpaid the first group.

Why had the later groups been standing, waiting, hoping for so long while the first group had been at work hours earlier? Their reply was, “No hired us.”

They were not lazy. It was not for lack of trying to get hired. They were there early and waited a long time. They had been rejected by all the other employers. They represented the undesirables in society.

And when the landowner made those who were less desirable, had come to the field last, equal to ‘us’ who had been there all day, obviously more desirable, he offended the first group of hirees.

It was a mild rebuke. He softened it by calling out the one of the first group, Friend. He leaned on the relationship he had w/ him as he reminded him that he had agreed to work for the day for 1 denarius. That deal held true regardless of how much he paid anybody else and how much they worked for it.

He was perfectly just for holding up his end of the agreement. If anything, they were upset b/c he was so generous and gracious to the rest. They did not deserve what they got. They got more than deserved.

The landowner then took the time to explain and defend his decisions. Once he was done, the complainers didn’t have a leg to stand on. They took their pay and went their way.

Fair, Generous, Gracious

Matthew 20:14–15 (NIV)

Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

It was his money. He had every right to do whatever he wanted to do w/ his money.

He called them out. “Are you envious b/c I am so generous?”

The workers’ responsibility was to do the work to please the landowner. The landowner’s responsibility was to pay the workers their agreed upon wage.

His position was twofold:

B/C the landowner kept the original agreement he had been perfectly fair with the first group. No unjust treatment at all. So, take your pay and be satisfied.

It was his desire from the beginning to treat all the men from every group the same. He had the right to be generous w/ them. His generosity did not mean he was unjust to the first group.

The last ones did not deserve what they got. The landowner treated them with grace and treated all equally. All these men were equals even though some appeared more capable and special than the others and had been called on to do the work much earlier than the rest.

Then, Jesus added this at the end. “So the last will be first and first will be last.”

What’s that about. What’s Jesus really saying here in this parable?

Last, First

Matthew 20:16 NIV

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

This parable is a fine-tuning and a reminder of a parable he had told them months earlier. The parable of the Prodigal Son.

You probably remember the story. A father had 2 sons. The younger one was totally disrespectful to his father. Wished he was dead and told him so. That way he could have his share of the inheritance sooner rather than later.

The father relented and gave his younger son his share. That had to break his father’s heart. He could do w/out the money. But he had also to do w/out any relationship and time w/ his son.

The young son left home and soon after had blown thru all his money. He was flat broke. He took a job slopping pigs. A humiliating position for a Jew.

One day he came to his senses. He remembered his father paid his servants better than what he was getting paid to feed the pigs. So he humbled himself, headed for home, and was prepared to own his mistake and apologize sincerely to his father.

His dad saw him coming, ran to him. He put his nice, expensive cloak on him. Over his nasty smelly pig slopping clothes. And the dad put his signet ring on his finger. That’s the ring the father would use to sign contracts. Drop of wax and press his brand, symbol, or initials into the wax before it hardened.

Slaves didn’t get a signet ring. Sons did. And typically, only the eldest son.

The older son came home from working the flocks and fields that day. He saw what was going on and resented all of it. He complained to his father that it wasn’t fair how he was treating his irresponsible younger brother.

His father tried to explain to him he was afraid he’s never see his younger son ever again. He was as good as dead. Now, he’s alive and back.

The older son had never left. But, the truth was, in his heart, he resented his father as much has his younger brother had. For years, long before his brother split w/ his share, the older brother wished his father was dead so he could have control of his wealth. He just never told his dad and never left home. But in his heart he was just as disrespectful.

In both of these parables, the complainers, those who believed they had a special position in the story, better than the rest, they all represented the Jewish community.

The late-comers, undesirables, outcasts represented those who came late to the banquet, the Gentiles, the church members.

The early arrivals bel’d they deserved more. The late arrivals knew they did not deserve what they got.

Those of us who arrived last will get our reward first. And those who arrived first, thinking they deserved more will get their reward last, if at all.

The OT saints, believers, agreed to get a position in the kingdom for their faith. They were God’s first chosen. Promised to Abraham. Delivered thru Isaac and Jacob. Saved by Joseph. Redeemed by Moses. Delivered into the PL by Joshua. Accompanied by many who did not believe but benefitted from their position in the nation.

Peter’s question in Matthew 19:27

Matthew 19:27 NIV

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

Jesus’ answer in Matthew 20 and this parable.

God is sovereign and He has the right to whatever He wants to do w/ His stuff. He may not reward anyone according to their length of service or even the amount of work performed compared to anybody else. But he will reward by doing whatever is right by the ppl doing it. It’s up to his own judgment.

The implication is a full reward awaits all of us no matter how late we arrive to the party.

In the NT Jesus made it a habit to choose those who appeared undesirable for His work group. Those least likely to be chosen by anyone. Outcasts. Losers. Mary Magdalene, a former prostitute. Matthew, a tax collector and hated by everyone. Peter and the uneducated fishermen. You and me.

What of us? What will there be for us? It would be fair to expect less than what God would reward many of his OT saints.

But, Jesus is saying her, we are all equals in God’s eyes and we can expect to be rewarded in the same amount as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, and the rest.

Our responsibility is to work faithfully for Jesus w/out being concerned about what we might get in the end. Work to please the landowner. Trust He will be more than fair w/ us; generous and gracious.

Those who hold prominent positions in this life, who appear to be more deserving, will get severely demoted on payday if they lack the faith to survive into the next life.

And those who have faith, but have little else going for them, can expect a handsome paycheck on payday in heaven.

The work to get pay from Jesus is not near as hard as baling hay. In fact, no work is necessary. Only faith. But, if you have faith, if you do believe, then Jesus will want you to behave like it.

That’s why we ask all of us to work together to help lead those around us closer to Christ. Our work is to please our landowner w/out any concern about how he might reward us for it.

Then, we will get rewarded. Thank Jesus He won’t be fair w/ how much we get from Him. We will get much more than we deserve b/c He is generous and gracious w/ us.

Applications

Faith

Faith alone gets us rewarded. Nothing else we can do to get more or less from Jesus on payday.

Don’t try to do more. Just grow in your own faith and in the grace that God used to save you.

Work

There is work to be done. That’s why we’re still here. If there wasn’t anything for us to do, the moment we came to faith, Jesus would deliver us to heaven. But He leaves us here with the instructions to make disciples. We all have a role to play in leading ppl to Jesus and then leading them closer.

The work won’t save you. The work won’t earn you a better payday in heaven. We do it simply to please Jesus b/c we love Him.

Find a place to get to work in Jesus’ vineyard cultivating the fruit of making and maturing disciples.

Equals

We are all equals in God’s eyes. Prejudice has no place in the life of a believer. First we must recognize ourselves as the losers and outcasts Jesus loves to choose for His work.

Then, we must never judge a person by what we see. We cannot see the heart and what may be going on inside. Accept everyone equally. Treat everyone in accordance w/ Greatest Commandment #2. Love them at least as much as you love yourself.

Do you need to re-evaluate how you evaluate the ppl you see and meet?

Peter and the discs were all in. They had left their families and careers to follow Jesus. They bel’d in Him and served Him wherever He wanted them to serve. What reward could they expect?

Jesus’ point: rewards. God controls how much he rewards everyone for choosing to be all in w/ Him. He alone will settle all accounts.

What Jesus wants us to know is that God will reward us regardless how hard and how long we work. Our job is simply to believe in and please our landowner.

God pays fairly, generously, and graciously for the work that’s done in faith, by grace, making and maturing more disciples who qualify for their own place in heaven.