Septuagesima
(3 Sundays til Lent) – Matthew 20:1-16 – January 23rd
and 24th, 2016
In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +
In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +
Thus
far in Epiphany we have been focused on how this Jesus, this child
who was born in Bethlehem, is indeed true God – Light of Light,
Very God of Very God. So now the question these last three weeks
before Lent becomes this – how does this Jesus fellow operate? How
does He work? What is the way, how does one deal with this Jesus
fellow, how does one benefit from Him? Historically in Lutheranism,
we've talked about the three solas, the three “alones” - Grace
Alone, Scripture Alone, Faith Alone. And in each of the next three
weeks, our texts will deal with one of these themes – Grace, the
Word, and Faith. So to understand that Christ Jesus works by Grace
alone, we will consider our parable from Matthew 20 – the workers
in the Vineyard.
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. And after agreeing
with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them out into his
vineyard.
Now, I want you to understand the point, the impact of this parable.
Jesus is not telling this parable in a union friendly state. There
are no government benefits, nothing like that. The rule was simple –
if a man shall not work, he shall not eat. And who are these people
standing there in the market place? They are the unfortunate souls
who have no job. They have no income, no back up plan, nothing. And
more than that – they are just “workers”. They don't have a
specific trade to where they can try to latch on at some place
already established – these are the bottom rung workers. And
unless someone hires them, tonight they starve. That's their
situation. And into the market comes this master of the house, and
he hires these folks for a denarius a day. A Denarius was a good
wage for a day-laborer; it was appropriate. The master isn't playing
hard ball, he doesn't negotiate them down. Just simply – let's do
this fair and square. And they agree. Happily. In Greek, the word
is “symphony” - that's how beautiful and harmonious this
agreement is. And off they go.
And
going about the third hour he saw 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. Going out
again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.
Now, he hires three more groups of workers – but does this give
you the sense of desperation these workers would have been having?
Think about it – how desperate do you have to be to go and work for
someone who says, “wages, we don't need to set up any wages –
just trust me, I'll pay you something.” But there they go. The
day is wasting, and as that sun creeps higher and higher without them
being hired, that's just a reminder that they will probably starve
tonight – so take what you can get.
Finally,
at the 11th
hour, 5 O'clock, an hour before quitting time, the master goes out
again. And about the 11th
hour 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.” He said to them, “You go into the vineyard
too.”
We can hear this wrong. We can hear these workers say “because no
one has hired us” and think, “Bums, get on out there and look for
a job.” No – they've been there, where the jobs would be, all
day. And nothing. The “idle” doesn't mean that they were
loafing, it means that they hadn't found work... or more accurately,
work hadn't found them. And so the master send them into the
vineyard. Then what happens next is wondrous.
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.” And when those hired about the eleventh
hour came, each of them received a denarius.
This is mindblowingly generous. This would be utterly unexpected.
This is bad business sense. But that's what the master likes to do.
He shows over-abundant compassion. However, it does end up ruffling
some feathers. Now when those hired first came,
they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also
received a deniarius. And on receiving it, they grumbled at the
master of the house, 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.”
That harmonious agreement, not so harmonious anymore, is it? You've
made us equal – how dare you say that we are equal to them when
we've done more, we've suffered more! The master responds gently.
But he replied to them, “Friend, I am doing you
no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what
belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I
give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs
to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?”
That last line in the Greek is literally: “Or is your eye evil
because I am good?” Look pal, I've dealt with you fairly, kindly –
everything's been above the board. Why do you gripe? If I choose to
show kindness to those poor schlubs who thought they were going to
starve, that's no skin off of your back. Why does my kindness build
up your resentment?
This, dear friends in Christ, is the picture of
Christ's grace to us, and also a warning of how and why we can end up
hating God's grace. The first workers are indignant – You have
made them equal to us! We're so different than them! We deserve
more! They view everything on the basis of what they themselves have
done and they become angry. Yet, the master is right. All of them
were equal – they were all the same thing. Workers. Day-laborers.
Folks who would have starved that day with nothing if the master
hadn't gone and found them and put them to work. These first could
have easily been the last if the master had hit different parts of
the market in a different order. These angry workers failed to see
that they were in the same boat as all the other workers, regardless
of when they entered the vineyard. And so they became angry.
What do you see when you look at your fellow
Christians, your fellow sinners, oh members of Trinity? How do you
judge them, how do you size them up? Do you see them as folks who
are in the same boat as you are – sinners in a sinful world,
struggling with a variety of sinful stuff just like you are... or do
you size them up on the basis of what you do, how hard you work, how
much you've done for God, how much more in order your life is than
theirs? Do you see them as the same as you, equal to you – or do
you find a way to see them as less than you, so that you really ought
to deserve more than them?
It was a false, misleading dream that God His law had
given, that sinners could themselves redeem, and by their works gain
heaven. The opening of the third verse of my favorite hymn. Do you
judge, do you evaluate people on the basis of what they have done?
If so, my friends, you have forgotten grace, and we are indeed saved
by grace alone. Grace refers to a gift of God, freely given, without
any merit or worthiness in me. And the simple fact is none of us
deserve anything from God. We are born sinful, born in opposition to
God, born at war with Him. And yet, simply and solely out of His
great love, He calls us out of darkness into His marvelous light,
gives us forgiveness, gives us life, gives us meaning and purpose to
our lives. And this is not because of how great we are – no, it is
how great, how good He is, in spite of our own jealous wickedness.
Here's the thing. We know this. This is a Lutheran
Church full of Lutherans. If I said “grace alone, grace alone”
you all would smile and nod your heads, yes pastor, grace alone. But
here's the thing; here's where Satan will attack us. We still like
to check our works, we still like to get out the ruler and measure
ourselves and compare ourselves to each other and get all prideful.
When we do that, we forget truly what great gifts from God we have
received. Or do you not know that even your works aren't “yours”
in the sense that you created them – they are gifts from God to
you.
Consider
again the workers from the parable. The very first group, the ones
that so quickly become prideful in their own accomplishments. If the
master of the house hadn't walked up to them and sent them into the
vineyard, where would they have been at the third hour, or the sixth
hour, or the ninth? Standing idle, waiting, fearing for the future,
wondering if they were going to starve. This is why they rejoiced in
the morning, this is why they gladly went into the fields. Even
working itself was a gift – because they knew that they would be
provided for, their day had certainty instead of doubt. And even
though the work was hard – not something I'd want to do – it was
still a great blessing to them. And if they never looked at anyone
else, they would have taken their denarius with joy and satisfaction
and gone home glad.
Think on the first article of the creed – God gives
us our bodies, clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home,
wife and children, all that I need to support this body and life. Do
you see what this is teaching us? That our vocations, that our
ability to work at all is a gift from God. Indeed, as we heard
today, having been saved we now live under Christ in His kingdom and
serve Him! What a gift! Now, if this is a gift from God, where do I
get off thinking that I should look at what I do, my life, which is a
gift from God gift from God, and then start jawjacking at God about
how He's not giving me enough because I do more than that person over
there? How dare You, God! You give me talents and opportunity that
others don't have – but then You dare to not give me more on top of
that! Kind of stupid, ain't it? All sin is when we step back and
think about it.
But
here's the thing. God doesn't look at you or judge you on merit. At
least not your merit. If He did, we all would be in a heap of
trouble. But rather, Christ Jesus has done it all, and we are viewed
in terms of what He has done, we are viewed in terms of Christ's
death and resurrection upon the cross – and in Him we are all
equal, and in Him we all receive forgiveness and life, in Him we
receive our daily bread with thanksgiving, whatever the tasks that
come along with that daily bread look like. Because here is the good
news – your life, your salvation; it doesn't hinge upon you. When
we are feeling prideful, we wish it would – but then things go bad,
and we mess up, and we fall and crash and expect to burn. But God
says no. God says, “I am good, and I will give you good things,
not because of you, but because of Christ.” So what if you fail –
Christ does not, and thus the love of the Father for you will never
fail. And it will continue to be free and full, just as He has
promised. You will have work and labor during your days here on
earth – some of it will be hard, some of it will be less hard.
Either way, He will put you to work, and when the day is done He will
call you home saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter
now into your rest.” We know – it's what He's promised, what He
agreed upon with us at Holy Baptism when we were called away from
standing idly in this world and into His kingdom. His grace for you
is free, and it never fails. Thus, I encourage you, when that
jealousy or sniping comes up, remember once again God's grace, and
see again how is flows generously to you and those around you. In
the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the world +
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