Septuagesima

Today the Church sets aside the joy of Christmas and Epiphany and begins her journey toward the season of Lent. This day is called Septuagesima, which means seventy days. The great celebration of Easter is seventy days away. We know how the story will end. We know our Lord emerges from the tomb victorious, with the hosts of hell under his feet. We know he now rules in glory, and his kingdom will have no end. Yet the time leading up to Lent and the weeks that follow is a time for penitential reflection. It is a time to restrain our joy as we consider the road that our Savior walked. It is a time to contemplate the terrible cost of his victory. Yes, Lent is still three weeks away, but we begin today to prepare ourselves. The vestments are violet, the color of repentance. The Gloria in Excelsis, our joyful hymn of praise, has been set aside. So too the universal word of praise, “Alleluia,” which will not be sung again until Easter morning.

Each of the next three weeks focuses on one of the great Solas of the Reformation: by grace alone, by Scripture alone, and by faith alone. Our theme this week is the first, Sola Gratia, and our text is the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard” (Mt 20:1). The Master of the house is God the Father. The vineyard is his Church. God goes out looking for idle people. He finds them, calls them, and sets them to work within his church.

Among those that the Master calls into his vineyard, we find two kinds of people, two kinds of workers. The first group is mercenary. They only agree to go into the vineyard after making a contract – a specific amount of money in exchange for a specific amount of work. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, [the Master] sent them into his vineyard (Mt 20:2). A denarius was a silver coin equivalent to one day’s labor. It was a fair wage, and the workers were happy with the agreement.

The other group of workers did not demand a contract. They were in no position to negotiate. They weren’t among those hired at the beginning of the day. Why not? I don’t know. They were too busy, or too lazy, or simply not in the right place at the right time. Whatever the reason they missed the first call into the vineyard. This is our first glimpse of the extravagant grace of God the Father. He goes out mid-morning and finds others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, “You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went (Mt 20:3–4). A quarter of the day has been already wasted, but the Master finds them and sends them to his vineyard anyway. They have no contract, only the Master’s word that he will give them whatever is right. They trust him, and they go.

But the Master is not done. The harvest must be brought in before the night comes. God is not willing that any should perish. He wants all to be gathered into his kingdom. So he goes out at noon and again in the late-afternoon and finds more workers. Finally, at the eleventh hour, right before sunset, he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, “Why do you stand here idle all day?” They said to him, “Because no one has hired us” (Mt 20:5–7). The Master could have said, “Oh, really? You’ve been standing here all day, have you? No one would hire you?” But God is gracious. Whatever these idlers were doing before, all is forgiven. Even though the day is nearly over, he goes out and finds them and sends them into his vineyard.

And now comes the moment in the parable when things get weird – there’s always that moment in Jesus’ parables, because the kingdom of heaven operates differently than any worldly institution. When evening came, the Lord of the vineyard said to his steward, “Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first” (Mt 20:8). Now what do you think the last workers were expecting? They’d been hired right before sunset. By the time they got to the vineyard it was basically time to quit. “What’s he going to pay us anyway?” they might have thought, “A twelfth-part of a silver coin?” But no, each of them received a full denarius (Mt 20:9). Imagine their surprise! They certainly didn’t deserve it! They had trusted the Lord of the vineyard to give them whatever he thought right, and so he had. What amazing and undeserved grace! Even though they had squandered most of the day, it was never too late to heed the Lord’s call into his Church!

Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more (Mt 20:10). It’s easy – do the math. “Those who worked one hour got a whole silver coin. We’ve worked twelve hours. We’re going to get twelve coins! It’s what we deserve.” But each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house” (Mt 20:11). Isn’t it strange how their attitude changed so quickly? They had been happily working all day, expecting to be paid fairly according to their contract. And they were – but suddenly they’re grumbling. What changed? The Master gave what he promised, so why are they angry with him? It’s no longer about the money. They care about something else: “These last worked only one hour, and you have them equal to us!” (Mt 20:12).

Here is their case against God – he is unfair! He gives grace to all, even people who don’t deserve it. Yes, he does. That’s Jesus’ point in telling us the parable. This is how the kingdom of heaven works. You can’t run a business this way; you’ll go bankrupt. But it’s how God runs his church. He doesn’t care about turning a profit. He cares about giving away his grace for free to all who will receive it. God doesn’t run things the way we do. The Gospel looks like foolishness compared to conventional wisdom. More than that, it does seem unfair. “Are you telling me that a murderer who comes to faith on his deathbed will go to heaven the same as a cradle to grave Christian?” Yes. Both are undeserving sinners who live only by the grace of God. “Well, I’m not going to church. It’s full of hypocrites!” Of course it is. Where else could we hypocrites go to be forgiven? Besides, there’s always room for one more hypocrite. It’s never too late to come into the vineyard of the Lord. The kingdom of heaven is full of people who, in our eyes, don’t deserve to belong. So what? None of us belongs. The chosen ones of God are those who lay claim to no status at all. They have nothing to contribute to salvation, and they know it.

At the end of the day there are only two kinds of workers in God’s vineyard: those who demand to be paid what they think they deserve, and those who gladly receive what they know they don’t deserve. Which kind are you? This isn’t about how long you’ve been a member of the church, whether you were born into a Christian home or came to faith at the eleventh hour. It’s about your attitude towards the grace of God. Do you rejoice that he has been merciful to you, or do you begrudge his generosity to your neighbor? Of course you won’t get what you deserve. Thank God! You’ll get something far better. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 6:23).

The grumblers are right about one thing: Yes, our Lord does desire to treat all sinners equally. He chooses to give to the first workers as to the last. His death on the cross was equally for all. His invitation is extended to all, so long as the day of grace continues. The Lord of the vineyard offers the chalice of his blood indiscriminately, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for the forgiveness of all your sins.” Receive his gift with gladness. There is no other way to enter the kingdom of heaven. You didn’t deserve it, you couldn’t earn it, but salvation is given to you by grace alone. Amen.