Parable of The Vineyard Workers

What About Me?

Matthew 20:1-16 ““For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ “ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day. But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.””

Australian Ideology and values built around freedom & fair go for everyone

He's been waiting down there, waiting half the day They never ever see him from the top. He gets pushed around, knocked to the ground He gets to his feet and he says

What about me? It isn't fair I've had enough, now I want my share Can't you see, I wanna live But you just take more than you give

The voice

Shanno knowles

Jimmy Barnes

Story of CEO giving cars to all his employees.

Jesus best Preacher

Parable of the Vineyard Workers

Story is about how things work in the Kingdom of God (economy of KOG) and their stark contrast to the way things are done in the world

Answer to Peters reward question in (19:27) and how lowly fishermen could be ruling the 12 tribes from heaven (very different to the worlds view of fair)

Matthew 20:1-3 ““For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.”

Matthew 20:4-6 “He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’”

Matthew 20:7-9 ““ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius.”

Matthew 20:10-12 “So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’”

Matthew 20:13-16 ““But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.””

Theological Framework:

Salvation of the Johnny come lately’s the vile gentiles (remember prayer glad I’m not a woman or a gentile)

They share title of God’s chosen people, and if Christianity is correct they have to submit to this carpenters son – SHOCKING, VILE, RIDICULOUS (to the Jew a stumbling block to the world a laughing stock – similar to today?)

Genorosity

Focus point who/what is truly fair, - Justice

God’s Justice - Punitive Justice, God’s Court is the highest court and we all have viloated His laws and the punishment is death.

Psalm 89:14 “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.”

Meaning his Justice doesn’t change as it is part of his imutable character. He doesn’t wink at sin, nor allow any one who has broken the law (even once)

Often God’s Justice is treated as a mean, or vindictive kind of Justice. the Hebrew concept of justice must be clearly discerned lest one read modern notions into it. Therefore we must examine the Hebrew word ṣedâíâh (justice or righteousness) and its relationship to ḥesed (loyalty) and ‘ĕmet (fidelity).

Justice and Salvation go hand in hand

Old testament writers used parellels to link words together. They frequently linked the words Justice & Salvation together (especially in the Psalms).

Psalm 36:6-7 “Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”

Is. 45:21 “Declare what is to be, present it— let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.”

The Justice is there to guide us to salvation. If we do not know the penalty or the restitution how can we tell if we need to be saved or not.

God’s Mercy -

Gods mercy - simply put is his compassion on people, when they do not deserve it.

Putting it all together

Judge Kaufman presided at the trial of the Russian spies, the Rosenbergs. They were charged with and convicted of treason against the United States and sentenced to death.

In his summation at the end of the long and bitter trial, the lawyer for the Rosenbergs said animatedly, “Your Honor, what my clients ask for is justice.”

Judge Kaufman replied calmly, “The court has given what you ask for—justice! What you really want is mercy. But that is something this court has no right to give.”

You see a Judge, if he is a good one will give the maximum sentence when something so heinous has been committed, becasue Justice demands it, showing mercy is a miscarriage of justice. So to God. However, his Justice and Mercy do co-exist, or as Tozer puts it....

“God’s justice and God’s mercy do not quarrel with each other.” A.W. Tozer

Why?

God through the second person of the Trinity, acheived both without compromising his character.

Thief on the cross, ultimate late comer. We have them too, are we going to feel its unfair or embrace.

How is it fair that some make it into the Kingdom of God?

How is it fair that any make it into the Kingdom of God?

Picture of true unfairness - Jesus upon the cross

A blamelesss man endured 6 hours of excruciating pain lifting himself up for gasps of air whilst his lungs filled with blood for you and I and our payment for sin

That he left the kingdom of God and stepped into his creation and the sinless Jesus had to endure sin drenched humanity, he administered love and truth to people who would eventually shout crucify him crucify him

He was silent when he was falsely accused (so different to the worlds way)

Did not complain of unfairness when beaten, plucked, left naked, when he was hungry, thirsty, homeless

How he handled himself on the cross (in the KOG way) won over the hardened centurion who said surely this was the son of God

He also rose again the cross is empty the tomb is empty and

The fact out of love that he would do this for you and I, to restore our relationship to the Father. It is unfair what happened to him and if we were honest it is unfair that we received eternal life, but that is Grace another economy found in the KOG

Revelation 21:8 “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.””

1 corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

That is all of us - how is that fair?

Welcoming but not affirming