The Goodness of God and the Jealousy of Man

This section of Scripture has bookends on it. The bookends is the phrase:

“The first shall be last and the last shall be first.” Look at 19:20 and 20:16 and you’ll see it. Jesus is illustrating the truth of that phrase with this parable.

You’ve probably heard that saying before. It’s a popular one. It’s a very catchy saying, but do we understand what it means?

Jesus wanted us to understand what it means that’s why He gives us this parable as an illustration. Simply put it means when it comes to the grace of God, God does not deal with people in the way humans think He should.

When it comes to the kingdom of God things are often the opposite of what we would imagine.

This is illustrated in the story of Lazarus and the rich man. Things were one way on earth and the total opposite in eternity.

Jesus says something close to this again in 21:31. He tells the religious leaders that the tax collectors and prostitutes will enter heaven before they do.

This parable has to be interpreted in the context of what we saw last week.

In 19:25 the disciples thought for certain the rich young ruler was saved. They had been taught the circumstances of life reveal if God is pleased with you or not. They thought if he were not saved then no one could be.

Jesus then told the disciples that they were the ones who could expect reward in the kingdom of heaven. This made no sense to the people.

People thought it was foolish that lowly fishermen and despised tax collectors were now the leaders of the people of God. How could God look over talented, rich, strong people like the rich young ruler and choose these lower class people to be His representatives?

I’m sure most of you have experienced the custom of picking teams. It’s common among school aged children. A captain for each team is appointed and then he or she picks teammates out of a group of people.

Normally the same people get picked first and last no matter what day it is or what game is being played. It can be a humiliating time for kids. When Jesus steps on the scene it’s as if He is picking a team filled with people who would always be picked last.

The point of the parable is to discourage those who have been chosen by the grace of God from getting jealous of one another as the disciples do in 20:20-28.

You would think that we would be so humbled by God’s grace that we are just thankful to be on the team. But that is not how human nature is. Once we are on the team, we begin to get jealous of how our teammates are treated.

Why is he playing first?

Why does she get to pitch?

He doesn’t deserve to be quarterback.

The proverb “The first shall be last and the last shall be first” not only refers to those who are saved and those who are not. It also refers to the mindset of those in the kingdom of God.

Pride- thinking you are first- will keep you from being saved.

But pride will also keep us from spiritual growth once we are saved. It seems to me that Jesus applies the proverb in two different ways- Salvation and sanctification.

This parable is about two things:

How God dispenses His grace.

How people respond to seeing God’s grace dispensed.

1. The parable.

A Common situation. A landowner needs workers to work in his vineyard.

He goes to a marketplace, a common place where day laborers would gather in hopes of being hired.

The first group is hired at daylight and promised what was equivalent to one days pay in that culture. It wasn’t a lot of money but it was the average one could expect to be paid.

The owner return to the market place at 9 AM and hires more workers. He doesn’t tell them what he will pay them but promises it will be fair.

He returns at noon and 3:00 and does the same thing.

Surprisingly, he returns at 5:00. One hour before sundown and hires a final group to work.

He asks them why they aren’t working and they respond by telling him no one has hired them.

He hires them with one hour of daylight left and promises to pay them fairly.

At the end of the day the owner of the vineyard tells the foreman to pay the men in an unusual way. He wants the people who were hired last to be paid first.

More surprising than the order is the amount. Each person, regardless of how long or hard they worked received the same amount.

The men who had worked throughout the day were upset with the owner. They complained to him. They told him they deserved to be paid more than the guys who only worked an hour.

They worked longer.

They worked through the heat of the day.

The owner replied to their complaint by asking them three questions:

Didn’t I pay you what I agreed to pay you?

Can I not do what I want with my own money?

Are you upset with me because of my generosity? “The evil eye” in Scripture refers to jealousy (Proverbs 27:4).

If we’re being honest, we would probably agree with these guys. If we worked a 12 hour shift and were paid the same amount as someone who worked a one hour shift we’d probably be upset.

But remember this parable isn’t about labor laws or minimum wage. This parable is about those who labor in the kingdom of God and their respond to the grace of God in the lives of others.

The vineyard is the kingdom of God.

The Owner is the Father.

The Foreman is Jesus.

The laborers are believers.

The pay is the grace of God.

The day is the life circumstances of each believer.

This morning we are going to consider the proper way to respond to the grace of God.

1. We should be satisfied with God’s grace.

A. People who expect more from God don’t understand grace.

Grace is God’s undeserved favor. When it comes to salvation God is not fair. God is merciful. Fair would mean we pay the price we owe. Mercy means God pays the price for us.

What should we expect from God?

Certainly not heaven!

Certainly not forgiveness!

Certainly not imputed righteousness!

My second year of eighth grade I took a report card home with fives F’s and a B on it. What did I expect when I got home?

A trip to McDonalds?

A five-dollar bill?

I expected discipline.

I expected to get yelled at.

The rich young ruler brought his report card to Jesus. He thought he aced every subject. He thought he was like those guys hired at daylight who worked all day. He said “All these commandments have I kept since my youth up.”

Then Jesus graded his work and he realized he failed everything. When it comes to righteousness we have failed.

Let me ask you a question:

What have we done to earn salvation?

We have done the very same thing the thief on the cross did. He was saved at the eleventh hour. He did nothing for his salvation, and we have done nothing for ours.

B. We should be overwhelmed that we have been called by the Master at all.

Where did the owner find these men?

They were standing in the marketplace.

They had nowhere to go.

No one had hired them.

If it were not for the owner of the vineyard, they would not have a had a job at all.

Where would we be had Christ not come to us?

Why would the Christian ever be jealous? What more do we want?

Our debt is paid!

Our eternity is secure!

Our rewards are safe!

Our home is heaven!

We have been called out of darkness and we are in his marvelous light!

We are seated with Christ in heavenly places!

I like the old hymn that says:

I'm satisfied with Jesus, He's everything to me;

He saved my soul from torment, and awful misery;

He gave me peace and gladness, yea, more than I deserved,

And since my Savior found me, Him I have gladly served.

If you are saved you should be satisfied. You have Christ. What more could you have? Your cup is already overflowing.

2. We should not complain if we must bear more burdens than others do.

The murmurers in this parable had a longer and harder day than the others. They complained that they had worked through the most difficult time of the day. In their minds it wasn’t fair for them to be paid the same amount.

Some of you have had relatively easy lives.

Some of you have had trial after trial.

Jesus told Peter that he was gonna die for his faith in John 21. Peter didn’t like that. He said to Jesus “What about John?”

Do you know how Jesus responded?

He said, “That’s none of your business.”

John died of old age.

Peter was crucified.

There are times we look at our suffering and think we deserve more than others.

Lord this isn’t fair:

They have had an easy life.

They have had everything given to them!

They have the perfect wife/husband.

They have children who obey!

They are healthy!

Stop. You’re looking at the wrong people. Look at Christ. Let me ask you a question. Is your life better or worse than Christ’s earthly life? It’s better.

He was:

Homeless

Hated

Lied about

Arrested

Tortured

Suffered the wrath of God.

Died

You will bear more burdens than some people in this world. But you will never bear more of a burden than Christ bore for you.

Let every burden you bear remind you of the burden you will not bear because of Christ!

These men wanted those who were hired at five to have to experience the same discomfort they did.

Aren’t you glad Jesus isn’t like that?

Aren’t you glad He doesn’t say:

I was beat with a whip, they should be.

I was crowned with thorns, they should be.

I was crucified, they should be!

I experienced hell, they should too!

Your life will be easier than some.

Your life will be harder than some.

Your eternity will be the same as every other believer.

3. God may by His providence show you His blessings in the lives of other people to test you.

In a normal circumstance the men who were hired first would have been paid first. Pay them and let them go home. They’ve been there all day.

These men were paid last so they could see how much the guys were paid who showed up at 5 PM. If they were paid first they would have left and never known. The owner wanted these men to know everyone was getting paid the same.

There are no accidents in the believer’s life. When God shows you His blessings in someone’s life it’s for a reason. When you see God bless someone do you know how you should respond? You should say “Praise God!”

I remember me and Jeremiah went fishing once with some people we didn’t know. It was on a charter. The agreement, unbeknownst to us, was that at the end of the day the fish were split.

Well you know me. It’s gonna be tough to out fish me. Me and Jeremiah end up catching the majority of the fish. It was a long hot day and not many fish had been caught but we had caught the bulk. After we dock the boat, they start splitting up the fish and me and Jeremiah are getting a little upset.

We figured we keep what we caught, and they keep what they caught. That’s not the way it worked. We could have chosen to be happy for the other folks.

They probably went home thinking “We didn’t catch much but praise God the other fellows did.” We saw it as unfair they saw it as a blessing.

Because of that circumstance I can see that I wasn’t happy that God blessed those people. I was unhappy because I thought I was treated unfairly.

These men could have said “It’s too bad those guys didn’t find a job until so late but praise God they got paid for a full day.” But they didn’t. They were selfish. They were paid fairly but that didn’t matter when they started comparing themselves with other people.

When god shows you someone is being treated better than you are in this world, how will you respond? Will you say, “Praise God!”?

Do you remember the story of the prodigal? This kid left home, blew his inheritance, and hit rock bottom. He came home in repentance and the father made this huge feast for him. The older brother got upset and said, “What about me?” I’ve been here the whole time. I never left. The older brother couldn’t be happy with God’s blessings in the prodigal’s life. All he could think about was his brother was more blessed than he was at the moment.

When God by His providence shows you His blessing in the lives of others it is a test. It reveals if you are a person who is humbled at the grace of God and loves people.

4. We should be thankful God is calling others to the work.

The owner kept returning to the marketplace. It seems He couldn’t get enough workers. God by His grace will continue to call people out of this world and into His work until He returns.

Some of you were called into this work more than fifty years ago.

Some of you more than twenty years ago.

God is calling people into His work every day.

Just as we should not compare how long we have suffered with others we should not compare how long we have served with others.

There are some who take great delight in people knowing how long they have served:

“I’ve been in this church 100 years!”

There’s nothing wrong with that. Just make sure you don’t look down on those who have just arrived.

We should be thankful for those who have been here less time than we have because it proves God is still sending laborers.

If we look down our noses at those who have just arrived, they may leave. We should remember that this is not our church it is God’s church. This is not our work. It is God’s work.

Who God sends we should:

Welcome

Love

Hope the best for

Do you know why God sends more people into His work?

Because there is more work than we can do. We can’t do all that God wants us to do. That’s why He goes into the marketplace and brings another soul in the door.

When God brings a new laborer we should be filled with gratitude. We should do all we can to include them in the life of the church.

God has a place for them.

God may be starting a new ministry through them.

God may give us relief as they help us do a job we’re doing or He may give us breadth by establishing a new work.

If you get upset because the church is growing you have a heart problem. One of the most heartbreaking things to hear a church member say is “Our church is just fine the way it is.”

What do you want God to do?

Do you want Him to quit saving people?

Do you want Him to quit giving people a hunger for the Word?

Do you want Him to quit showing His love to the world?

As long as God is doing all of those things He will be sending people into the vineyard.

What a blessing it is when God sends someone new to our church! When we see the goodness of God we should beware of the jealousy of man.

God is good. He isn’t just good to me. He is good to others as well. We should be thankful for that.