The Grace of the Master of the House: How The Sovereign God is Fair
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Scripture Reading
Opening Prayer
Introduction
“In an article entitled “The Pursuit of Happiness,” posted at the Huffington Post July 4, 2007, Daniel Brook summed up what most of us learned in school: “The eighteenth-century British political philosopher John Locke wrote that governments are instituted to secure people's rights to ‘life, liberty, and property.’”
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“And in 1776, Thomas Jefferson begged to differ. When he penned the Declaration of Independence, ratified on the Fourth of July, he edited out Locke's right to ‘property’ and substituted his own more broad-minded, distinctly American concept: the right to ‘the pursuit of happiness.’” - https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/46460
American Dream
Philosophy of Happiness
For many, pursuing happiness is equal with pursuing position or status
We are really, ultimately still trying to answer the disciples question that was asked all the way back in 18:1
Review
Matthew 18:1
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
If you’ve been with us, you know what happened after that...
Review Ch. 18-20
Exposition
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.”
Application
The point of this parable is not that all kingdom citizens receive that same reward but...
I. The Sovereign God rewards people based on His grace
I. The Sovereign God rewards people based on His grace
Grace is … God’s unmerited favor to do or have what you could not on your own.
All is grace, life is grace, food is grace
Eternal life is overwhelming grace
II. God’s generosity is different from that of anyone else
II. God’s generosity is different from that of anyone else
III. God’s gifts are not given because anyone earned them but because of His choice
III. God’s gifts are not given because anyone earned them but because of His choice
IV. Don’t be envious of blessings given to others
IV. Don’t be envious of blessings given to others
Prayer of Thanksgiving