05.26.2013 Unfair, God!

20130526 from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

20130526Worship from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

SermonAudioSermonAudio^^^^^^^^^

As we celebrate Memorial Day tomorrow, we are thankful for those who have served – both from our congregation and throughout the country – and for those families who have children who are service. Thank You for that. Father, we are grateful – we have hearts of praise – you have given us all we have – help us to be people of grace and to recognize that all we have has come from You and we should be grateful. As we begin this series on GRACE, help us to realize how blessed we are to know You. Jesus gave His life for me and saved me – and if that is all He ever gives me, it is enough. Help us to have that attitude.
I am going to read today’s passage – you can either read along or close your eyes and visualize it. Try to put yourself in the shoes of those who are hearing it for the first time. Imagine being the first to hear it – what are you hearing? Listen and think – what is He saying – not so much theologically, but how does it hit your heart?
Matthew 20: 20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 And after agreeing with the workers for the standard wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When it was about nine o’clock in the morning, he went out again and saw others standing around in the marketplace without work. 4 He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and I will give you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. When he went out again about noon and three o’clock that afternoon, he did the same thing. 6 And about five o’clock that afternoon he went out and found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why are you standing here all day without work?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go and work in the vineyard too.’ 8 When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and give the pay starting with the last hired until the first.’ 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each received a full day’s pay. 10 And when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each one also received the standard wage. 11 When they received it, they began to complain against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last fellows worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us who bore the hardship and burning heat of the day.’ 13 And the landowner replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am not treating you unfairly. Didn’t you agree with me to work for the standard wage? 14 Take what is yours and go. I want to give to this last man the same as I gave to you. 15 Am I not permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
As you hear that story – what do you think? Not fair! If we are honest – that is what we think – it makes us uncomfortable – and that is the point of most parables! If you are not shaken by it, you only THINK you understand it! I’d like to explain all that is going on in the story and then we’ll look at some practical applications from it.
The landowner must be a person of some wealth.
The landowner goes down to the unemployment office – and there are people waiting there.
You had landowners, and some who owned shops - and day-laborers – the day-laborers would just hang around the market until someone would hire them for the day. He comes to an agreement – a denarius. This was standard fare for a day laborer – enough to pay for rent, food, and utilities, generally speaking. They were glad to work for 12 hours for a denarius.
About the third hour he goes out and finds more standing around – he doesn’t promise this group a day’s wage, rather, what is right/proper/fair – I will give you.
And what is amazing – they go, without a contract – without an agreement. This should tell us something about the landowner. He is trustworthy. He will do what is right and just. And they jump at the chance. There must be something about this landowner that indicates that they will get what they deserve.
And he goes out the 6th and 9th hours – and they agree to the same thing.
About the 11th hour – we have that phrase, don’t we – it comes from here – And he says to them – why have you been standing here idle all day long – because no one hired us. – and he says – go out into the vineyard too.
With the first group – a day’s wage, a day’s work. Second group – I’ll do what is right. This group – he says nothing about pay. He just says go out.
And the owner says to his foreman – wouldn’t the foreman normally be the one to go to the marketplace? It would normally be beneath the landowner’s reputation to go into the marketplace to find the laborers. This is kinda’ like the boss undercover guy tv show.
This gives us some insight into the humility of this landowner. He is a wealthy man who does not see himself above other people. He is a man who is willing to come down to the level of everyone else. We’ll look at this at the end.
Pay the laborers, beginning with the last group. This was a breach of etiquette. Normally you would pay the first first – but he is paying the last first. It is kind of like when they are laying off people – the person who just got there is supposed to be laid off first – you don’t lay off the guy with the most seniority. He is paying the last first - It is important that he does it this way.
The 11th hour group receives a denarius. They got a full day’s pay! Wow! When the first came – they were watching this – and thought they would receive more. But each receives a denarius.
You think – this guy is being generous! We worked 12 times the amount of them – maybe we’ll get 10 times more! But as each group comes – he gives each one a day’s wage. He pays them the same – and they grumbled at the landowner.
He could have resolved this problem by paying the first group first – and they would have left and none would have been the wiser. But he specifically did it in this order, because he wanted the first group to understand something about his character – he is generous.
And they shout UNFAIR! You have made them equal to us.
This is getting to the heart of it – they believed that they were more deserving – because they had been working longer.
We know, from a theological perspective – this is about the Jewish people – those who had followed God for centuries – and he is gathering sinners and tax collectors and prostitutes – and they are crying UNFAIR – we stay away from the evil people and they are getting welcomed in and getting what we get.
From a simple and practical standpoint – we like to cry unfair at times also – all of us. We like to stand up and shout, “God is unfair!” Yes, the landowner is God – He is Jesus – and there are so many ways we can claim unfairness by God. Maybe it is financially. You might work just as hard as anyone else – you have followed Dave Ramsey’s Steps to Financial Freedom – and you’ve had catastrophe after catastrophe – and you see someone else who doesn’t follow it – and you think UNFAIR!
Someone won 600 million in the lottery this week. This has got to create a lot of envy.
Tragedies. We had big tornadoes this week. And there were houses next to each other – one destroyed, one intact – and they could cry, unfair!
Life can seem random – almost selective – we know of a woman who lost two husbands to cancer – in a 20 year period – we think – how does that happen? How is that fair?
Ministry – how come they have a bigger church than me? It affects us everywhere. Health. Background. Some come from the nicest, healthiest families, and we might be saying – if only any of that were true for me! My family was a mess! Healthy? It was a cancer for my life. And we think – why didn’t I get the healthy family?
Consequences for sin. We drove to Columbus yesterday – and there were 455,000 cops out. Every three miles, someone was pulled over. And of course, I go under the speed limit. Once I thought I was in a 45 zone and it was a 25! And you just want to say, why aren’t you out there capturing criminals – I am a good person.
The owner has 3 responses:
20 : 13 And the landowner replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am not treating you unfairly. Didn’t you agree with me to work for the standard wage?
Did we not have an agreement? Did we not have a contract? Have I not fulfilled it? You are getting what you asked for and what you agreed to get. Did you not agree?
14 Take what is yours and go. I want to give to this last man the same as I gave to you.
You see again – the character of the owner is to give. We need to ask God -– what have I contracted with God to get? What has He promised you?
The one thing we know He has promised us is that if we put our faith in Him – we’ll have life everlasting. Nothing about new houses, jobs, careers, health – we could go through the list.
15 Am I not permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”
Is it not lawful? Throughout Matthew – the Pharisees ask him 9 times – is it lawful? Is it not lawful? And he takes their words and uses them against them. They believe they’ve earned this right before God – we think we have earned God’s blessing because of what we have done – everyone thinks they have earned it through their good religion, politics, or whatever.
And Jesus is saying – in the kingdom – you have earned NOTHING. Everything you have has been given to you.
Or is your eye envious because He is generous. Sometimes God likes to GIVE and bless people. And in our selfishness, we become envious and jealous – and even though we are talking about grace – we have been saved by grace through faith – we know that – and yet, we think we have done something to earn it.
The rabbis had a parable – a story of a guy who accomplishes more in 2 hours than others who work 12 – so he is rewarded more. That is the human way of looking at it. The God way of looking at it – is the opposite
This parable is about those who are overpaid, not those who are underpaid. No one is underpaid. What we have are people who are overpaid.
This parable is about those who get what they don’t deserve – not those who don’t get what they deserve.
The complaint is not from those who are overpaid, but by those who are fairly paid.
This story doesn’t finish – it ends. It ends with these guys complaining – and the owner saying – GO! And the reason is – we are to stick ourselves into the story and ask yourself – what kind of person are you.
You have bible people – devoted to the Bible all their lives and those who are coming to the scriptures for the first time – and there are those who think they deserve more – those who believe you must earn everything you get in this life. Or in humility – we have been graciously given all these things.
16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”
This is not a strategy! This is a verse of hope – a verse that should give hope – that when we discover ourselves last in this world – not getting the job we wanted or the career that we wanted – it gives us hope that if we are trusting in a gracious God – if we are last here, we may be first in His kingdom