The Controversial Reversal

Introduction

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We live in a culture shaped by achievement.

Often slowly, without realizing it, we begin to see our own lives through the lens of achievement.

And that lens shapes how we think about fairness.

When it comes to status and reward, we want life to be fair.

But as your parent may have reminded you, “Life’s not fair.”

One of the things I hear a lot of people complaining about today is housing. Not because of personal decisions by the younger generation, but because the cost of housing has almost tripled in the last three decades, younger people are unable to buy a home. So, people cry foul, that’s not fair! And they look to people like the government to fix it.

But maybe it’s not about fairness, maybe it’s just that life is not as much in our control as we like it to be.

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When it comes to our status and achievement, we like things to be fair. We believe the output should match our input. We keep running logs of our own achievements and compare them to others. We believe our success and reward should match up with how much we have worked. And when we detect the slightest bit of unfairness, we grow frustrated, discontent, and have a growing sense that all our achievement is pointless.

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Jesus addresses this innate need for fairness. He explores our hearts and illustrates how generous God is. Its sorrowful when God’s generosity can turn our hearts sour with jealousy. But Jesus’s answer is sweet to those who have ears to hear, sweet enough to undo our bitterness.

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Matt. 19:27-20:16

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You Can’t Calculate the Reward (19:27-30), and You Can’t Control the Reward (20:1-16)

You Can’t Calculate The Reward

Matthew 19:27–30 ESV

27 Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit 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 children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

Revelation

Peter recognizes that they have done the very thing that the rich young man refused to do. Now he wants to know what they will have. It seems Peter did not learn the “no haggling for heaven” lesson and is ready use his own sacrifice to see what he will get. He assumes that forsaking is the bargaining chip, maybe not for salvation itself, but at least for a reward.

Instead of an outright and immediate rebuke, Jesus assures them that the reward is great. He says, in the “new world”— in v. 28. The new world is literally the “again Genesis.” That is, the new Genesis. Matthew calls his book the book of Genesis of Jesus Christ —the same world featured prominently throughout Genesis is what Matthew uses. The New Genesis is the new beginning, the new garden of Eden. The new creation, the new heavens and earth.

And what will happen in this new Genesis? They will rule with him. This of course, was God’s design in the original Genesis: that mankind would rule creation with him.

Look carefully again at v. 28 because there is a lot packed in there. Matthew 19:28 “28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

We’ve already made note of the special phrase, New Genesis. Notice what Jesus calls himself—the “Son of Man.” This combined with “throne” and “thrones” and “judging” takes us to Daniel 7.

Remember that in Daniel’s vision he see 4 beasts wreaking havoc on the saints and the world. These beasts represent various human kingdoms. Then, God—called the ancient of days—destroys the beasts. Afterwards, he grants all authority to the Son of Man who approaches him.

But notice that the Son of Man does not share this authority alone. Daniel 7:21–22 “21 As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.”

Jesus interprets that his own apostles, as he puts it in v. 28 “You who have followed me” (excluding by this wording Judas), they will sit on thrones in judgement-ruling even over the 12 tribes.

The very nation that God established in order to procure a seed to crush the head of the serpent, has produced that seed—Jesus was born into the world. But that nation, Israel; that kingdom—the 12 tribes, the theocracy that turned into a monarchy will be judged by the apostles. You could almost hear an eavesdropping pharisee respond to this idea, “We have the law, we have Moses, we have the land promise, we have the temple. . .and your measly group of followers will judge us? That’s not fair!”

Then Jesus expands the end-time promise to not just his apostles, but to every single one of his followers in v. 29.

There is also a reward promised for all those willing to forsake for Christ’s name’s sake. “Will receive a hundred fold” is an immense return on investment, intended as an exaggeration, not a calculation.

Peter was intent on calculating. He wants to put a number to the reward, like he put the number seven to forgiveness. But Jesus’s answer “hundredfold” is a way to say it’s not a calculation.

Then Jesus gives the phrase that becomes the heart of the passage and frames the following parable. Matthew 19:30 “30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

There is no way to calculate the reward, nor is there any way to guarantee what reward is recieved.

*The reward is truly immense, but not dependent on man’s achievement as Peter assumes. Nor, is it in man’s control.

The Gospel of Matthew 4. Rewards (19:27–30)

Those who have borne the greatest weight of loyal service for the kingdom of heaven cannot assume that their reward will be greater than that of others (20:1–15). In the kingdom of heaven nobody earns their status, even by spectacular renunciation. They may rightly expect a reward, but not necessarily the reward of preeminence

And this is exactly what the next parable will go on to teach as we will see.

There’s no haggling for heaven, nor is there any bargaining for the reward.

The reward is real, but pursuing the reward more than the rewarder is the danger that results from Peter’s presumption.

Relevance

During the summer after my Junior year of high school I spent far too many hours playing one particular video game. This game was called Call of Duty. It was a war game set in modern times. There was an appeal to me in the thrill of the game, being immersed in a war environment without real consequences of war. There was a thrill of feeling empowered. But what got me most of all was just being able to unlock more and more achievements. I was hooked in being able to get the next upgrade, unlock the next rank.

This is how games work. They dangle a small success in front of you, you achieve it, get a dopamine hit, and then go for more. This is how almost every addictive thing works. You post something on social media, you get the likes, you get the achievement and post more. You scroll on the media, watch the video, get the dopamine hit, then go for more.

I saw an article about how companies seek to gamify everything. There are apps that gamify language learning. Apps that gamify investing. Anytime companies have loyalty or rewards apps where you earn points, its a way to gamify their system to keep you buying. When I was teaching, I made review games on things like Kahoot which gamified the learning experience.

I’m not trying to argue right or wrong about this, it’s just an observation of where we are in our culture. Certainly it has consequences that are yet to be seen. Nevertheless this can grow in us to see everything through the lens of achievement, everything including our experience with God.

We like the feeling of achievement, we like feeling in control. Which comes first? Achievment or control? Perhaps we like to achieve because it makes us feel like we are in control, or the other way around. But whatever the drive is, let’s call it an attitude of achievement for simplicity.

We know what we’ve been told to do to get spiritual achievements. We attend church, we read our Bibles, we pray. We base our status with God on our sense of spiritual achievement.

Or maybe you’re right here. You prayed this morning and felt nothing, no sense of achievement. You read your Bible yesterday and felt nothing. You don’t have that sense of achievement but you do have a sense of guilt rising. Maybe it’s been weeks of trying to perform spiritual discipline after discipline but you feel nothing. You’ve gotten to the point of desperation, feeling as though your in a spiritual desert with no oasis.

Then you come to church and you hear that spiritual person next to you. You ask them how they are and they say they are just blessed. Then they tell you how great their prayer life is and guilt begins to rise in you even more. Guilt mixed with a little bit of jealousy and perhaps some bitterness. Then you feel guilt for even feeling jealous.

Maybe you start questioning like Peter, “Lord, I prayed, I fasted, I read my Bible. . . why am I not like that? Why have I not achieved?” Maybe, you begin to think, you’re just a defective Christian.

And here is where the enemy wants you. The enemy wants you to have the achievement attitude, then wants to make you feel like a failure, because failures give up.

But, Jesus says, “Matthew 19:30 “30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Why does Jesus say this?

Because it is true that Peter and the disciples have left everything to follow Christ. It is also true that they will have a heavenly reward. But it is not true that their sacrifice corresponds to their reward. Eternal life and heavenly rewards are not some spiritual achievement we can unlock with our piety. Instead of becoming focused on how much we can achieve, we instead become content with what God has granted us, trust in what he will grant us, and be thankful for his goodness. We cannot manufacture more of God’s goodness in our lives. There’s never a time God is going to look down at our spiritual achievements and give us a blessing raise because he is so pleased. Likewise, there is never a time he will look at our lack of achievement and be done with us.

“That God is rich in mercy means that your regions of deepest shame and regret are not hotels through which divine mercy passes but homes in which divine mercy abides. It means the things about you that make you cringe most, make him hug hardest. It means his mercy is not calculating and cautious, like ours. It is unrestrained, flood-like, sweeping, magnanimous. It means our haunting shame is not a problem for him, but the very thing he loves most to work with. It means our sins do not cause his love to take a hit. Our sins cause his love to surge forward all the more. It means on that day when we stand before him, quietly, unhurriedly, we will weep with relief, shocked at how impoverished a view of his mercy-rich heart we had. ” Dane Ortland Gentle and Lowly

Bridge

Jesus further pieces out the problem of our attitude of achievement and gives us a better replacement in the following parable.

You Can’t Control the Reward

Matthew 20:1–16 ESV

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.’ 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.’ 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?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”

Revelation

The master in this story is clearly representative of God. He hires early in the morning in v. 2 and gives a specific amount for an agreement. Then he goes again at 9am, noon, and 3pm. At 9, he promises whatever is right.

Then he goes out at 5PM. These laborers become a focus point to the parable. He asks them at the end of v. 6, “Why do you stand out here idle all day?” and in v. 7 they give an answer, “because no one hired us.” This shows the unfortunate status of the day laborer. They would go to the marketplace, stand around and hope they would be hired for work. But, there was no guarantee they would get hired for a job. And even worse, no work means no food for the family that day. These day laborers were in the market all day to be hired—a sign of their desperation. They were in the marketplace all day—until the very last hour—hoping to be hired. And sense they were not hired, they were most likely undesirable—perhaps older, or infirmed.

Then it comes time for the payment. Those who had only been working for a short time get paid first. They receive a denarius. Then eventually it gets to the last group—the ones who have been working there all day long. They believe they will get more. But they get the payment, exactly what was agreed upon. And so, like we would too, they immediately cry out, “That’s not fair,” in v. 12. Matthew 20:12 “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.’”

But the master rebukes them gently. Is it really “not fair” as they presume? No. They got what they agreed upon. It was what they worked for and what they got.

Notice what the mast says in v. 15 Matthew 20:15 “15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’”

The master in the parable points out two things that is true about God in order to invoke in us the proper attitude. The first statement, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me: reminds us of God’s sovereignty. The achievement mindset says that “I’m in control,” But the attitude that Jesus invokes in this parable is that God is in control, not me.

In the second half the literal question is, “Is your eye evil because I am good?” God’s goodness was seen in Jesus statement to the rich young man. And here it is again, giving above and beyond to those that no one thinks deserves it. Because God does not give anything based on deserving, and that’s the point. God is not granting based on what is earned. Grace earned is not grace.

Then Jesus says the same phrase again, Matthew 20:16 “16 So the last will be first, and the first last.””

What does this mean?

The Gospel of Matthew 4. Rewards (19:27–30)

In the kingdom of heaven nobody earns their status, even by spectacular renunciation

It’s not achievement, our own control, our effort that earns a place in heaven. No, it’s because God is in control and God is generous. We have to trade our sense of fairness for faith. Our trying to get ahead for trust. Our attitude of achievement for an attitude of amen.

Relevance

Do you know that old joke that St. Peter was giving some newcomer to heaven a tour. He pointed over there to show some Methodists, then he pointed out some Pentecostals, then he pointed out some Presbyterians. Then the person getting the tour noticed a door and asked, “What’s in there?” In reply, Peter said, “Oh, don’t go in there! It’s the Baptists, they think they’re the only ones in heaven!”

We all have people that we think don’t deserve a seat at the table. We know what we have done we have achieved. And we no those that are so far from that that they could not touch us. And yet, as much as we might like to bar some people from heaven, we are not in control. God is. God is in control, and God is good and generous. The achievement attitude breeds jealousy and bitterness. We have to relinquish that and embrace the attitude of amen.

Amen is an old world that is pronounces the same way in almost every language. It is a Hebrew word, but even the Greeks would say it. It was one of Jesus’s most repeated words. Jesus has the common saying, “Truly truly,” or in older translations, “verily verily I say unto thee. . .” that word for truly or verily is “amen.”

I remember when the person in who said a prayer, I think it was for a national day of prayer in the nation’s capital, but I could be wrong, he ended his prayer with “Amen and Awomen” you remember that? Well the root of “amen” has nothing to do with gender.

Justin Martyr, an early Christian defending the faith to pagans in the second century actually discusses the use of this word at the end of prayers. He gives the Greek translation, which in the English would be something like “so be it” or “this is so.” That is why when Jesus says it, it is rendered as “truly,” an easy one-word way to express “this is so.”

This is what we say at the end of a prayer to express contentment with whatever God brings to pass. Amen.

Bridge

So what is something practical we can do with this passage?

Conclusion

Summary

The end-times reward is real, but fixing our eye on the reward instead of the rewarder can breed an achievement mentality. This acheivement mentality fleshes itself out when we see people we believe to be undeserving recieving the same reward we have. That’s when were tempted to cry, “unfair!” But at the heart of that “Unfair!” is the quiet assumption that we are control over our heavenly reward, and not God. That’s not faith in God, it’s using him. So we have to trade that old wrong attitude out. We don’t need an attitude of achievement, we need an attitude of amen. God is in control, not me. Amen. God is good. Amen. God gives far beyond what any of us deserve, amen.

Tell

This week, every time you pray, add a short and simple phrase to your amen. Say, aloud after your amen, “Lord, I trust you,” or “God, you are good.” Or “Everything I have is more than I deserve.”

Show

What will our church look like if we exchange the attitude of achievement for the attitude of amen?

So many churches are spiritual Olympics. Who prays the most? Who gives the most? Who serves the most? Everyone is looking for the gold medal.

But we can transform the culture of our church. We can make our church a haven where people are not pretending to be spiritually impressive, but feel free to be spiritually needy.

We can become the place where the one struggling is not trampled, the one who is weak is not shamed, the wanderer is not shunned, the latecomer is not scorned, but welcomed.

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Imagine Jesus on that cross. He is suffering beyond comparison. His flesh is split all over his body. Nails are driven through his hands and feet bearing the weight of his body. He cries out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

Then there you are at the foot of the cross. You shake your head and say, “It’s just not enough. It’s not enough, I have to do something more!”

The heart of the achievement attitude is a denial of God. It’s also a denial that the cross was enough. When I say, “I must do more so I can get ahead,” I’m implicitly saying, “I don’t trust that Jesus’s sacrifice was enough.”

But we have to trade that out. When we see others we perceive as spiritually ahead, or other we believe to be underserving, we have to trade out the attitude of achievement for and attitude of amen. And insist not matter what, “Jesus you are enough. Your sacrifice is enough. You are in control. You are good. I trust you.”

Challenge

So, again, every time you pray this week. Every time you utter the word, “Amen,” add a simple phrase you can remember. If this is easy for you add, “Lord, I trust you.” Not to earn a better heavenly reward, not to make another checklist, but to trade our attitude

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Matt. 20:17-34

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Move 1Matthew 20:17–19ESV

of achievement for an attitude of amen.