Kingdom Work

Matthew 20:1–16 CSB

1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the workers on one denarius, he sent them into his vineyard for the day. 3 When he went out about nine in the morning, he saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He said to them, ‘You also go into my vineyard, and I’ll give you whatever is right.’ So off they went. 5 About noon and about three, he went out again and did the same thing. 6 Then about five he went and found others standing around and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?’ 7 “ ‘Because no one hired us,’ they said to him. “ ‘You also go into my vineyard,’ he told them. 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and give them their pay, starting with the last and ending with the first.’ 9 “When those who were hired about five came, they each received one denarius. 10 So when the first ones came, they assumed they would get more, but they also received a denarius each. 11 When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner: 12 ‘These last men put in one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day’s work and the burning heat.’ 13 “He replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius? 14 Take what’s yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what is mine? Are you jealous because I’m generous?’ 16 “So the last will be first, and the first last.”

Matthew 20:25–28 CSB

25 Jesus called them over and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. 26 It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

It is never too late to join the work.

63% of those who become Christians do so between the ages of 4-14

34% of those who become Christians do so between the ages of 15-29

2% of those who become Christians do so after age 30…

The 11th hour would have been around 5 PM, just 1 hour before quitting time.

It made no economic sense to hire someone for 1 hour

Our society often writes off the older generations, thinking they are too set in their ways

What we see here is that God’s grace defies human logic – as long as there is breath in someone’s lungs, the invitation is open

People aren’t looking but are waiting to be called.

In the parable, the workers know there is work to be done, but instead of going to find it, they wait in the market for someone to come offer them a job

We often assume that people who don’t go to church “hate God” or are hostile toward God – in some cases this is true

Often, people are just waiting

In his book, The Unchurched Next Door, Thom Rainer discovered that 82% of unchurched people say they are likely to attend church if invited – this is great news

The sad reality – the same study shows that only 2% of church members invite an unchurched person to church each year

The owner determines the reward - after all, it is His to give.

Everyone was okay with their pay until they started looking at the latecomers’ pay

Comparison kills kingdom joy

God does not operate on human economics or meritocracy – He owes us nothing

It is His sovereign choice to be lavishly kind

This leaves us with a question – Are you serving God because of what benefits you think He owes you, or because He is the Master?

The reward has been determined…and it is more than we deserve.

Each worker received a denarius for their pay

This wasn’t pocket change – a denarius is the exact amount of money a family would need to survive for one day

God gives us what we NEED, daily

Think about it – technically, the only workers who “earned” their daily wage were the very first ones called – even that wasn’t earned because they wouldn’t have had the job if the Master hadn’t called them

The reward isn’t based on hours worked; it is life, salvation, and kingdom citizenship

If God paid you what you deserved, where would you be?

Attitudes

The attitude of the believer - to serve in humility, to bring as many as we can with us to the finish line because we all cross together.

The attitude of God - He will keep calling people to come to Him until the end; He seeks them out where they are.

When we look at the cross, we see a Master who paid a debt we couldn't pay, to give us a life we didn't earn. If God paid us strictly what we deserved, none of us would be standing here today. Instead, He calls us, He saves us, and He invites us to walk together to the finish.

If we truly grasp the depth of God’s kindness, it changes how we see everyone else. It strips away our pride and replaces it with an urgent humility. We aren't elites who earned our way into a private club; we are just broken people who found rescue, tasked with pointing other broken people toward the same Savior.

There are people in your path this week who feel written off. They feel too late, too broken, or too far gone. But the data shows they are just waiting. They are waiting for a real person with a real relationship to offer a simple invitation. God is still relentlessly pursuing them—the question is whether we will care enough to walk with them to the finish line.