Generous Grace

Take your Bibles this morning and turn with me to the Gospel of Matthew. We want to look at chapter 20, verses 1 through 16, but in order to get all the context, I'm going to begin reading in chapter 19. Chapter 19, verse 16. And behold, a man came up to him, saying, Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life? And he said to him, Why do you ask me about what is good?

There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments. He said to him, Which ones? And Jesus said, You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother. and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The young man said to him, All these I have kept. What do I still lack? Jesus said to him, If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.

When the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, Truly I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, Who then can be saved?

But Jesus looked at them and said, With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Then Peter said in reply, See, we've left everything and followed you. What then will we have? Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, in the new world 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 and will inherit eternal life. but many who are first will be last and the last first 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 After agreeing with the laborers for denarius a day he sent them into his vineyard. And going out 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. And about the eleventh 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. 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. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, These last worked only one hour, and you've made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.

But he replied to one of 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?

So, the last will be first, and the first last. Father, now guide our thinking. Teach us today what it means to be disciples. Teach us today this gift of the gospel. Teach us so that we will change, that we will have a proper view of life in your kingdom, that we'll have a proper view of what the gospel gives us. So, Father, we plead with you now.

Teach us by your Spirit. Amen. When my children were small, they would go with me places. I remember in particular when the boys were all in school and the girls were still at home and one day I took the girls with me somewhere And usually what happens is when anybody came with Dad we stop and get a pop or something and so that was always the custom So I'd come home with the girls, and the pop cans were in the car, and I'd go and pick up the boys at school, and they'd get in the car, and they'd see these pop cans, and they'd go, hey, what's this, Dad?

And I said, well, I took the girls to town with me today, and they got some pop. and their response is, hey, you can't do that. That's not fair. So I said to them, you want fair? And they said, yeah, we want fair. We want this to be fair. And I said, okay, here's fair.

No one ever gets pop again when they come with me. That's fair, isn't it? Silence. Yeah. Sometimes we make the plea for justice, and we don't know what we're talking about, do we? We all have a fixation on fairness.

What is fair treatment? Who gets treated fairly and who doesn't? We want to right the wrongs of what we consider unfair. We have this idea of fairness. You do so much, you get so much in return, right? Everybody should get the same.

And even as Christians, we carry this over into our relationship with God. We want so much for what we have done. Now, in the context, we see that Jesus challenged a rich man who came to him. And the man foolishly said that he kept all the commandments. And Jesus said to him, okay, there's only one thing that keeps you from eternal life, from me. Sell everything you have and follow me.

And it says the young man went away sad because he had many possessions. Those possessions were a barrier to Christ. He'd rather have his possessions than he would Jesus. And you recall, as we just read, that Peter says, Lord, we've left all to follow you, unlike this guy. So, basically, what's in it for us? And Jesus says to Peter, well, you'll have a hundredfold.

You'll have, if you give up households or houses and lands and family, you'll have brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers. You have all these things and eternal life You see Peter was still operating on the same viewpoint the merit viewpoint He was still fixated on fairness Okay, this guy isn't willing to leave his possessions. He gets nothing.

But look what we've left, Lord. What do we get? And then Jesus ends the conversation with this curious statement. but many who are first will be last, and the last first. Well, how can that be? Because in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus does not operate on the merit system, not with his disciples. He operates on the basis of grace.

Now, our master is always fair. Never accuse our master of being unfair. But he goes beyond fairness and he treats his disciples on the basis of grace. So in chapter 20 then, Jesus tells this parable. And he does this in order to explain how things operate in his kingdom. It's like a landowner who hires some workers to come and do work in his vineyard.

Now the vineyard owner goes out to find some laborers at about dawn. somewhere around 6 o'clock in the morning. And finding some workers in the marketplace, he hires them for a full day. Now, it was typical in that day to hire people on a daily basis. One denarius was the going wage for one day's work. Now, there are 12 hours in the day from sunup to sundown, from 6 in the morning to 6 in the evening.

Well, so he hires these guys to go work for him for a day. they head off into the vineyard. He goes back into the marketplace at 9 o'clock in the morning. Now this is the central square where the businesses were located. The people would be there. There's the hustle and bustle of the village square. He finds some more men who need work for the day.

And he hires them, notice, promising to pay them whatever is right. I no doubt believe that these workers probably understood that to mean that they would get about 25% less since they were hired three hours later than the normal. They'd started three hours after the start of work. The landowner again goes to the village at noon, and he hires some more workers.

He goes back at three, and he hires some more workers. to work for three hours. Finally, at five o'clock in the afternoon, he goes back and he still finds people who need work. And so he says, go work in my vineyard. I'll take care of you. And so he hires some men who've been without work in that marketplace to work for him for the one remaining hour of the day.

About an hour later, he returns to the vineyard. He summons his foreman. It's quitting time, and now it's time to pay the workers. Now, it was the custom of that day to pay the workers not weekly or monthly, but at the end of the day. When you read the Bible, you see this a lot. In the Old Testament, for example, it says, if you take the cloak of a man to back up the loan you're going to give him, make sure you give him back that night.

I mean, it was a daily thing. When Jesus said, give us this day our daily bread, they live day to day. And so that's what's happening here. It's end of the work day. You line up to get paid for that day's work. But he says to the foreman, start with the workers I hired last and move down, all the way down to those I hired first.

One by one, they step up to the pay table and those who worked for one hour receive one denarius. Those who worked for three hours, One denarius. Those who work for six hours. One denarius. What about those who work for nine? One denarius.

Those who work the entire day, the whole 12 hours. One denarius. Now the ones who last in line, the ones who are last in line, the 12-hour guys start to grumble. As they stand in line watching all these other guys who've only been out there for a little bit of time, I'm getting the same amount as them. They say, hey, since we actually work longer, they're probably thinking he's going to pay us more.

But instead, they get the one denarius. As they step up to the table, the foreman hands them one denarius, and they're ticked off, and they start to protest. We've worked here for 12 hours. We worked when the sun was blazing down on us. We sweated and we toiled. We broke our backs for hours hauling those grapes around, and now these guys who've worked an hour have just picked a few bunches hardly could fill a basket they getting the same pay that we are That not right Now notice something, and this is important.

They were not grumbling because the pay was too little. That's not what they were grumbling about. They were not grumbling about the fact that they got too little, but because the less deserving workers got the same amount. That's what the problem is. Because the master says to them, why do you begrudge my generosity? They were mad because the less deserving workers got the same.

The master gently rebukes the spokesman of this group of men and says, look, I'm not being unfair because you agreed with me to work for that wage. This is entirely fair. And besides that, this is my money, and I can do whatever I want with my money. You see, you're not angry because I am unfair. You are envious because I am generous. Jesus is saying that in the kingdom of heaven, the first will be last and the last first, because grace, not merit, is the operating principle. that's the bottom line let's explore that this morning we need to understand that jesus relates to his disciples on the basis of grace why does jesus tell this parable to begin with because of the common view that we all have that peter expressed in verse 19 verse 27 then peter said in reply see we've left everything and followed you What then will we have?

Okay? This guy, this rich guy, wasn't willing to get rid of anything. We are. So what are we going to get out of this? And you will see even there that Jesus promises much more than they ought to get. But be that as it may, he's saying we've sacrificed much in following Jesus, so there ought to be a proportionate return.

The ones who are first should get more. They followed Jesus first and gave up more than others for a longer period of time than those who followed Jesus later But we have to understand that Jesus responds to us on the basis of grace not on the basis of what we do Now right away some of us are thinking I don have a problem with this Well, before you start going down that trail, how many of you were also thinking with the people that were complaining, yeah, they're kind of right. Let's think about this.

In the kingdom of heaven, Jesus treats his disciples on the basis of a grace that is generous. He treats us on the basis of a grace that is generous. Verse 15, am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me, or do you begrudge my generosity? Was he generous to most of those workers? Absolutely he was generous. What would you think if you went up to the pay table expecting $30 or expecting $30 and you get $160 instead?

What would you think at that point? Would you say, well, frankly, boss, that's not fair, right? Or would you say, okay, this is really nice. This is great. He's generous. Most of you have left all to follow Jesus.

Have you earned anything from him for doing that? You've left all to follow Jesus. As I look at this congregation, I'm looking at most of you who I believe have said, Jesus is Lord, right? I want to follow Him. I am following Jesus. I've cast everything with Jesus.

He's my only hope. Have you earned anything up to this point? Have you earned anything by doing that? You're living a life that's characterized by supernatural joy. You have a joy that you never had before. You delight in life and in God.

You deserve that kind of joy because of what you're doing as a Christian? You deserve it? Hmm. Look at Ezra 9 for a moment. Turn back to the book of Ezra. Ezra chapter 9.

Here Ezra praying He says in verse 5 and at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting with my garment and my cloak torn and fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, saying, O my God, I am ashamed and blushed to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. From the days of our fathers to this day, we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities, we, our kings and our priests, have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame as it is today.

Now that's Ezra's view of their sins. Is that how you think of yourself? Do you think of yourself that way? But I'm a Christian, you object. And I say to you, are you a new creature? And you say, yes.

Have you changed? Are you growing in obedience? Yes. Do you still fall short of God's requirements? Do you still fall short? What's the answer?

No. What would you say? Go ahead and say it. Have you fallen short of God's requirements? Yes, you have. You still do not meet God's perfect standard.

Do you fail to do what God tells you to do? Yeah. Do you fail to do it in the manner God tells you to do? Yeah. Sometimes you do what's right, but it's with the wrong attitude? Yes.

How should God treat you then according to his holy standard? Do you want justice? Do you want fairness? You see, even though we belong to God, we still miss the mark every day. Every day we miss the mark. I was reading something some time ago and I came across this statement.

Listen to what this says. But God can and will overlook our imperfections because of the love in our heart. wow, Lord, overlook my imperfections because of the love in my heart. I don't want to go that way. I don't want to go that way because, you know, What? I know I haven't loved my wife like I should this week. Something in particular pops into my mind right now.

A terrible sin of omission on my part. All right? Lord, don't judge me on that. I haven't loved my children, my grandchildren. I haven't loved you like I should. Lord, don't overlook, don't look at my love and say, okay, that's all right.

You see, God forgives us and relates to us not because of what's in us, but because of his generous grace. we still fall short. But God treats us and relates to us on the basis of His generous grace. Jesus is generous beyond belief. So it's a generous grace. Jesus relates to you on the basis of a sovereign grace. Again, verse 15.

Can I do with my money as I choose? It's mine. I will choose how I will use this. Why was the landowner generous to the workers? Because of his compassion for the misery of the workers? Was it because the latecomers had faith when they accepted his call to work?

Was it because the latecomers helped the master harvest since it was late in the day and the harvest needed to get done? Because the latecomers had more pure motives than the ones who started earlier in the day? Is that why He was generous? What exactly moved the Master to be generous? There's only one reason given. Because the Master wanted to do it that way.

That's the only reason given. It was nothing in the workers. It was entirely in the Master. There was nothing outside of Himself that called forth that generosity. Nothing compelled Him to do it. Christian, why has God been generous to you?

Is it because of you? No, it's because of Him. Remember what Romans 9.16 says? It does not therefore depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. It's entirely up to God, to the Master. Jesus is completely sovereign in the bestowal of His grace.

Nothing outside of Himself compels His generosity. why does he give such why does he give so much to people who don deserve it Because he gracious Not because of you It's because of what he is entirely in his being. And he bestows that. He doesn't owe it to you. He did not owe one denarius to the workers who work less hours. Why did he do it? Because he's generous.

That's why. That's why. Here's the last thing to say about that grace. Jesus relates to you in his kingdom on the basis of a grace that upsets sinful human understanding. It upsets our understanding. Instead of generosity, we sometimes foolishly demand justice.

All right? many insist that God is unfair and they demand what they consider just treatment this is what the first hour workers thought and what was the master's reply I treated you fairly that's what you agreed to work for I treated you fairly some of you may be sitting here saying God, I've served you faithfully over these last several months. How could you let this accident happen? God, these things are happening in my life.

What am I doing wrong? Right? What's behind that? I deserve a little bit better, don't I? Haven't I sacrificed for you? We seem to think God is unjust, but you compare your faithful service to God's perfect standard, and you still fall short.

God has not been unjust. God is never unfair. Okay? Okay, well then, where is justice then? Justice and mercy and grace meet at the cross. You see, God can still remain just and give you what you don't deserve.

Why? Because Jesus took what you deserved he took it all and therefore God remains just and still gives you what you don deserve Never forget that The cross stands as God emblem of his generous sovereign grace He is not unjust. He will never be unjust. But he gives you what you don't deserve because Jesus took what you do deserve and everything that you have from Him has been bought by Jesus and is given to you.

We too often think that we can obligate God. Do we not? Do we not think we can obligate God? We think that way, don't we? Let me ask you this. Suppose you obeyed all the traffic laws perfectly for an entire year and you never got a ticket.

Some of us struggle with that. Alright? And you never get a ticket. And you never violate anything. And you go to the mailbox and you open the mailbox and you find a check from the state of Ohio rewarding you for your perfect obedience to the traffic laws, right? And you open it up and you see this check for $150 and you say, wow, is that what happens?

It's never happened. Why? Because even when you've done everything right, you've only done your duty. Right? You don't deserve a pat on the back for doing everything right. You've only done your duty. so God as the sovereign rule of the universe God has the right to require perfect obedience and faithful servant from us without in the least obligating himself is that not true? and so we can't pat ourselves on the back or walk around patting each other on the back saying good job because if we've done it perfectly we've only done what's our duty.

We owe Him that obedience and service. And if we had done it perfectly, the only thing we could say is we are unworthy servants. We've only done our duty. Can you see now just how generous God is to you Now here the problem We too often put ourselves in the shoes of the first hour workers when we ought to be looking at ourselves in the shoes of the 11th hour workers.

When we identify with the grumblers, it reveals our own failure to share God's values. One writer put it this way. It is frightening to realize that our identification with the first workers reveals how loveless and unmerciful we basically are. Isn't that right? It shows our ingratitude. The last becomes first not because they've done enough good things, but because they have a good Lord.

That's why the last becomes first. Where are you today in the vineyard of Jesus? Do you complain because maybe somebody younger has a wider field of ministry than you do? Right? You look across the auditorium and you say, I've been a Christian for a long time and he's only been a Christian for a short time compared to me and yet God's given him a wider ministry.

Why aren't I allowed to do more things? Right? Maybe you look across the auditorium and see a family who hasn't sacrificed as much as you. They still have their mom and dad, mine and Ben and me. And God seems to be blessing them, at least in your sight. How do you view that?

How do you think? Maybe this morning, and this is where I think many of us struggle, we're on what Jerry Bridges calls the treadmill of performance, thinking that if you do well, God will bless you more. God will bless you more if only you would do more. Is that what you're thinking? This parable blows that out of the water. Right?

God doesn't bless you because you're doing more God blesses you because he's generous and gracious better master than one who just looks at you and says, if you do a little bit more, I'll give you more. You have a master who is generous in his grace. You know what we see here? We see Jesus, the King of grace. This just tells us about Jesus even more than we've ever thought.

He relates to you not on the basis of how well you're doing, how much you're doing, whether you're doing it well. He doesn't do that with you. He's gracious. He gives you much more than what you deserve. You can't obligate Him, but yet He gives you more than what you deserve. Would you thank God for His grace today to you?

Would you thank God for His grace to you? Would you look to Jesus and say, Lord Jesus, you have given me more than I could ever have imagined some of you still haven given yourselves to faith in Jesus some of you sat here for a long time in fact you may have even grown up here and you have not ever come to the point of saying Jesus is my Lord Jesus is my Savior God's grace still is extended to you today he sent his son to die for sinners and if you've grown up here or you're just here for the first time and you're thinking how's god gracious to me here's how he's gracious to you right now he hasn't brought his judgment down on you and yet he stands here week after week day after day imploring you holding out to you jesus someone you don't deserve and saying if you just trust in him everything's done it's a done deal. Your slate is clean.

There's no problem between me and you. You're mine, and I'll watch out for you the rest of the for eternity Every day you face a God who just says here my son just take him That all Just take him There's the grace of God. That's pure grace. And he freely forgives. He freely forgives without anything from you. As the song we sang earlier, it's not how sad you feel, it's not how much sorrow you have, it's not how much you've done, it's none of those things will bear the load of your sin.

Only Jesus can. And all you have to do is just trust him. He's borne the cost of that forgiveness. This is the generous landowner, our Savior, Jesus Christ. And I will say it one more time. He relates to you on the basis of grace.

He is generous to you beyond all measure every day. that's the king that we serve Father thank you for your word thank you for the Lord Jesus our gracious, glorious, generous king I would pray Father that we would see him that way Father we must confess to You that too often we come before You thinking that You are a God who delights to see us fail. Or, Father, we see You as one who stands or sits on His throne and says, yes, I know You're coming for forgiveness, but You've got to do a little bit more. in order to get it. Father, deliver us from that thinking.

Help us to see that our triune God is a God who is gracious on every front. Help us to see that, I pray. Help us to understand that, I ask. Father, help us to see ourselves as 11th hour workers instead of first hour workers. for all that we have is by your generous grace. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.