Proper 20
Matthew 20:1-16
Unfair!
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Lord God, heavenly Father, since we cannot stand before You
relying on anything we have done, help us trust in Your abiding grace and live
according to Your Word; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and
reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
There is a cast system in our American culture. In five
months, our 8th graders will walk into Bellmont, Heritage and AC High Schools
for the first time. They arrive for freshman orientation. And already it will be predetermined those
who will succeed. And those who will fail. There are those who will succeed in
athletics and academics. There will be those who won’t. And there will be some, who, simply by hard
work and sheer determination will succeed. And we will applaud their efforts.
Some get that lucky break that sets their career on a
trajectory that only goes up. For others, the break does not come. Some live a life of privilege. Others not.
Some make it because they out work everyone else. God's economy is different.
When Jesus repeats Himself pay attention. He never wastes words. He’s not taking up
dead air space. He’s speaking an intense and powerful truth. Never shallow.
Always sincere. Jesus tells us “Many who
are first will be last and the last first.” He speaks these words with respect
to Peter’s response.
Pious Peter. He speaks for Himself. He speaks for the
twelve. He speaks for you. Peter reminds the Lord what he has done. He has
sacrificed He’s gone without. He’s given up, forgone and forfeited many
things for Jesus’ sake. “See we have left everything and followed you Jesus.
What then will we have?”1
Jesus’ parable is a reaction to Peter's question.
"We’ve given up everything." “What's in it for us?” he asks. Jesus
tells this parable because mercy is being challenged.
The parable of the laborers in the vineyard reminds us that
the Father’s generosity is equal to all. When payment time came for the
laborers in the vineyard, it was learned that each was to receive equal pay regardless
of hours worked. The reward is the same in the kingdom. Whether you enter early or late the payment
is the same. The thief on the cross receives the same reward as the faithful
Christian who lives eighty plus years. Who are you to spurn God’s mercy?
What is your reaction to God's kindness?
Some Grumble — vv. 8-15 “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 housemaster is remembered for what he does. He hires
workers. They don't apply. These workers
- they are of the same voice. They all
agree to work for a Denarius a day. It was a fair wage. These workers are standing idle, doing
nothing. Jesus uses the Greek word “argon” which means “lazy” or “inactive”.
It’s the same word for the chemical element, which undergoes almost no chemical
reactions. Literally, the gas does nothing.
These workers are hired at the 3rd hour, around 9am
The householder continues. “I will pay whatever is right.”
According to His goodness. According to His mercy, Christ redeemed you. This is
the root of justification. To work in the vineyard is to give meaning to your
life.
The householder. He did the same at the 6th and 9th hour. At
noon and at 3pm. He hires more workers.
“Why stand the whole day idle?” This is the first time he speaks. Those first
hired get what they bargained for the last receive grace!
They answer, “No one would have us.” These are the tax
collectors and sinners. The rejects of this world. These are the ones who the Master paid first
although they worked less. They didn't
barging for it. They receive mercy. As Jesus reminds the religious elite, “Most
certainly I tell you that tax collectors and prostitutes are entering into the
Kingdom of God before you!”2
The Lord of the vineyard speaks. “Now pay them starting with
those hired last.” The last-minute workers receive a Denarius. These were the
ones no one else wanted. There is a
sense of entitlement. Those hired first, they expected more. They were looking
for justice instead of mercy.
“You make them equal to us,” they argue. We sweated, they
didn't... Yet God is no respecter of persons.
The householder answered one of them, “friend...Same address
as Judas...I did not injure you...take what is yours and go… It is My will to
do as I wish. Generosity is the Master’s character...to grumble against the
King is to speak against the king's mercy...it says give me what I
deserve.
The Master’s final word is critical. There is no law...it is
permissible for Me to do as I wish with what is Mine...or is your eye evil
because I am good?
Some grumble. Then there are some who are grateful.
The Father lives up
to his promise to pay —Isn’t it wonderful that even those of us who worked only
one hour also receive a Denarius. There is a lesson to be learned here. The
work itself is already a reward in and of itself! Just to be a Christian is a
privilege. It is not a wearisome duty but a happy service, no matter how long
God allows us to serve. There is no richer, fuller life than that of a disciple
of Christ. The wage question in the kingdom of God need not trouble us. In the
kingdom, there is no unemployment, and the wage level is consistently high.
The Father has a right to do what He pleases with his own
—How does God justify the apparent injustice in the payment of wages? God
claims He is God, and can do what he pleases with his own. This, too, is
different for today’s employer. He cannot pay what he wants or hire those he
wants to work for him. Laws limit him. God deals differently from the world.
The Father is generous to all —His grace. His payment is not determined by wages or
hours worked. God is so generous that He gives the denarius of grace
(salvation) to everyone regardless of length of service or quantity of work
performed. He goes beyond justice to give His peace to all who come, whenever
they come.
Jesus responds to Peter, “Truly, I say to you, in the new
world, [a] when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have
followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel. And everyone who has left houses
or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's
sake, will receive a hundredfold[b] and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the
last first.”3
The Christian faith is not The Kentucky Derby. There is no
Win, Place or Show for those who out prayed, out witnessed, or out tithed the
others. Grace is not a performance-based trophy but a God-given gift. The last
do indeed receive a first-place prize. And the first receive a last-place
prize. And both prizes are the same: a
gold crown placed upon their heads by the One who, for the joy set before Him,
ran the race ahead of us all to win for us a trophy of grace delivered in love. 4
___________________
2. Matthew 21:31
3.Matthew 19:28-30
4. Facebook post by Chad Bird 17 September 2014
Words – 1,290
Passive Sentences -4%
Readability – 80.1%
Reading Level -4.6
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