Matthew 20:1-16
give ills. of a grazing mace
There was a mechanic who owned a dog named Mace. Mace loved to eat grass, so the mechanic kept him inside so he wouldn't ruin the lawn. One day the mechanic decided to finish his work at home, so he took some tools home with him.
When he got home he realized that he dropped his favorite wrench out in the yard, and was so upset that he forgot to close the door so Mace wouldn't get out. He searched for the wrench, but couldn't find it because the grass was too tall.
Next morning he found his wrench in the yard, because his dog had eaten the grass near it.
The mechanic was so happy he started to sing
A grazing Mace,
How sweet the hound,
That saved, a wrench for me.
It once was lost,
but now is found...
Song, amazing grace that saved a wretch like me,,,,, definition of grace.. : a miserable person : one who is profoundly unhappy or in great misfortune
: a base, despicable, or vile person
amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me
Grace, in the magnitude that Jesus offers it, is difficult for me to get my mind around.
The Bible says, “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” That’s some pretty super-sized grace.
It also tells us in Romans 8:1, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” (emphasis mine)
Despite the clarity of these statements, it seems difficult for us – for me anyway – to really hang on to just how forgiven I am.
We all need to receive..... the Grace of God.
It Is All .....About Grace!
A story is told about Fiorello LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City......Which was during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of World War II, .........was called by many New Yorkers ......"the Little Flower" because he was only five foot four ......and always wore .......a carnation in his lapel.
He was a colorful character who used to ride the New Your City fire trucks, ........ raid speakeasies with the police department, ...... take entire orphanages to baseball games, ...... and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, ...... he would go on the radio ......and read the Sunday funnies .....to the kids.
One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, ......the mayor turned up at a night court ...... in an area that served the poorest ward .....in the city.
LaGuardia had dismissed the judge for the evening .......and took over the bench himself.
Within a few minutes, ......a tattered old woman was brought before him, ...... charged with stealing .......a loaf of bread.
She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, .......her daughter was sick, ...... and her two grandchildren ......were starving.
But the shopkeeper, ....... from whom the bread was stolen, ....... refused to drop the charges.
"It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor." .......The shopkeeper told the mayor.
"She's got to be punished to teach others around here ......a lesson."
LaGuardia sighed.
He turned to the woman and said, ........"I have got to punish you.
The law makes no exceptions ...... ten dollars ......or ten days in jail."
But even as he pronounced sentence, ...... the mayor was already reaching into his pocket.
He extracted a bill and tossed it into his hat saying, "Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; ...... and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town .....where a person has to steal bread ......so that her grandchildren can eat.
Mr. Bailiff, ..... collect the fines and give them to the defendant."
The following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady ......who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren,...... fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner.
While some seventy petty criminals, ...... people with traffic violations, ...... and New York policemen, .....each of whom had just paid fifty cents ...... gave
the mayor a standing ovation.
Here is my question. ..... Did the elderly lady in the story get what she deserved?
Of course not.
She had stolen a loaf of bread.
She had a good reason to take the bread, but still, she broke the law, and had to be punished..
.....What we see in the story .....is called grace.
Grace is when one in superior power .....shows kindness or mercy...... to one ...... in a lesser position.
Grace is receiving what we don't deserve,, unmerited favor
Mayor LaGuardia, rather than demanding punishment of the woman herself,......paid the fine ......that is just what God did for us. We were guilty, and had to be punished, but Jesus paid our fine on Calvary.
It was more than she deserved. ...... It was grace.
That is what our Gospel text this morning .....is all about.
It is all about Grace!
Today we will look at ......the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.
In this parable .....Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven ......is like a landowner that went out and hired workers for his vineyard.
Some he hired early in the day telling them that he would pay them the usual daily wage.
He went back at different times of the day ,and found more workers wanting work.
Each time as he hired those that were there, he told them that he would pay them the proper wage.
At the end of the day , he came to pay off the workers.
He began with the ones most recently hired .and he paid them all a full days wages.
Those that had worked all day figured that they would get paid more than agreed upon, because they had worked all day.
They were excited.
Their excitement was short lived.
They were pretty upset , when they found out they were getting paid the same wages as the ones who had only worked a few hours..
The land owner tried to explain to them, that he wasn't unfair to them. He gave them what they had agreed upon, he had given them what they had agreed on. so , he was being fair.
It sounds like the land owner didn't know business very well,. In todays society, that would sound foolish..
For the next time he went out to hire some people, none would probably go to work until the last few hours of the day.
But what the landowner knew a lot about though, was grace.
The workers that came at the end of the day ......did not get what they deserved ......they got mercy.
They received grace.
Of course in the parable the landowner is God, the workers are us and the pay is the kingdom of heaven.
And, as we study this parable, we see, that it is about grace.
> (First of all ......the parable says that grace is received, ......not deserved.
For all of us who are people of faith we know that grace is unmerited favor of God
Nothing that we can do can earn God's grace, we don't deserve it, we didn't earn it, all we can do is gladly receive it.
It is a free gift of God.
"Grace is hard for us to accept, we think today, that we should get what we deserve, If I work a full day, I deserve a full days wages. I am glad I don't get what I deserve. I deserve God's wrath,, but He gives me grace.,,,,Eph. 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
⦁ No matter how hard we work, we don't deserve grace. We can't earn salvation, it is a gift from God.
Grace is given freely, all we have to do is accept grace.
. (Grace is received, not deserved.
(2. ) Secondly, God's grace is about God' mercy, .....not about fairness.
What we think would have been fair, would be to pay the workers who had worked all day, more wages than the ones who only worked an hour.
WE think, now that would be fair.
When we speak about grace, we should remember that it is not about fairness.
It is about mercy.
God loves us and gives us what we haven't earned.
Christian financial consultant and author Larry Burkett .....speaks in his book "Business by the Book" .....about going the extra mile,...... going beyond fairness.
Early in Burkett's career ......he leased an office .....in a building that proved to be ....a nightmare.
The foundation had not been properly constructed, .....and the office building was literally sinking .....several inches a year.... into the ground.
After more than three years of putting up with assorted problems, ..... including power failures and several weeks without water, ..... Burkett moved his business ......to another location.
Two months after he left ..... Burkett received a call from his former landlord .....who demanded that Burkett remodel and repaint .....his former office space.
Burkett said no, ..... feeling he had already been more than fair with the landlord, ......but the former landlord continued to call .....with his demands.
Burkett consulted an attorney .....who agreed that Burkett had fulfilled his responsibility .....and should not do anything.... further.
Burkett went on to say .....that his son offered him some different counsel.
His son ...... reminded him that the landlord and his wife had lost their only child a few years earlier ......and still suffered .....from that tragedy.
Burkett had often commented .....that he would like to help them..... heal through their loss.
Burkett's son suggested ......that this might be an opportunity .....to do just that ......by not doing what was fair, ......but what was merciful.
Burkett said he considered .....what his son had said.
He decided to commit several thousand dollars ......to restore a virtually non-usable building.
..... That is going beyond fair, .... to merciful.
And that is what God's grace is about.
1. Grace is received, not deserved.
(2. Secondly, God's grace is about mercy, not about fairness.
3. ) Thirdly, God's grace is just as much for the last, as the first..
Some Christians think that because they were saved at an early age, and lived all their lives as a Christian, that they deserve more than the older person who was saved in their elder years.
But God doesn;t see it that way. You see, none of us deserve grace, no matter how long we have been christians.
God wants a relationship with everyone, it's all about grace
That is what Grace is all about
(1 ) Grace is a free gift that we receive, it is not what we deserve.
(2 ) It is about mercy, not fairness.
(3 ) It is for the last as well as the first.
(.... It Is All about grace.
Grace is about forgiveness.....
If you and I want to have relationships that last for the long haul, then we must be willing to extend forgiveness to others. Here’s another way to say it: In every relationship you have, you will constantly be called on to forgive and to ask for forgiveness.
Forgiveness is costly -- it’s not easy to ask for forgiveness and it’s certainly not easy to extend forgiveness to those who’ve wronged us. Proverbs 18:19
says that, “An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city, and disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.”
Forgiveness is the virtue we most enjoy and least employ. There are at least two reasons why we struggle with forgiveness:
Forgiveness is not natural. That’s why it’s so hard to do.
Forgiveness is not fair. Our sense of justice wants to be vindicated.
Unlimited Forgiveness
When a person works an eight-hour day and receives a fair day’s pay for his time, that is a wage. When a person competes with an opponent and receives a trophy for his performance, that is a prize. When a person receives appropriate recognition for his long service or high achievements, that is an award. But when a person is not capable of earning a wage, can win no prize, and deserves no award—yet receives such a gift anyway—that is a good picture of God’s unmerited favor. This is what we mean when we talk about the grace of God.
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A husband and wife didn't really love each other. The man was very demanding, so much so that he prepared a list of rules and regulations for his wife to follow. He insisted that she read them over every day and obey them to the letter. Among other things, his "do's and don'ts" indicated such details as what time she had to get up in the morning, when his breakfast should be served, and how the housework should be done. After several long years, the husband died. As time passed, the woman fell in love with another man, one who dearly loved her. Soon they were married. This husband did everything he could to make his new wife happy, continually showering her with tokens of his appreciation. One day as he was cleaning house, she found tucked away in a drawer the list of commands her first husband had drawn up for her. As she looked it over, it dawned on her that even though her present husband hadn't given her any kind of list, she was doing everything her first husband's list required anyway. She realized she was so devoted to this man that her deepest desire was to please him out of love, not obligation
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Although out of pure grace God does not impute our sins to us, He nonetheless did not want to do this until complete and ample satisfaction of His law and His righteousness had been made. Since this was impossible for us, God ordained for us, in our place, One who took upon Himself all the punishment we deserve. He fulfilled the law for us. He averted the judgment of God from us and appeased God's wrath. Grace, therefore, costs us nothing, but is cost Another much to get it for us. Grace was purchased with an incalculable, infinite treasure, the Son of God Himself."
Heaven's Entrance Exam: A man died and went to heaven. Of course, St. Peter met him at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter said, "Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in." "Okay," the man said. "I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart." "That's wonderful," said St. Peter. "That's worth three points!" "Three points?" said the man. "Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithes and service." "Terrific!" said St. Peter. "That's certainly worth a point." "One point?!! Well, I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans." "Fantastic, that's good for two more points," said Peter. "Two points!" the man cried. "At this rate the only way I'll get into heaven is by the grace of God." "Bingo, 100 points! Come on in."
I would say that His grace has appeared in the person of Jesus. The nature of God is that He wants all men to be saved in Jesus.
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish....”
Luke 19:10
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
John 1:29
“Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."
The problem with our society, however, is that they don’t even know they are lost. They don’t even know they are perishing. Most people don’t know they are heading to the 2nd death, which is separation from God.
ILL.- Two or three years before the death of John Newton (former slave ship captain and eventual author of the song, “Amazing Grace”), when his sight was so dim that he was no longer able to read, a friend and brother in the ministry called to have breakfast with him.
Newton said, “I am not what I ought to be! How imperfect and deficient I am! I am not what I wish to be, although I abhor that which is evil and would cleave to what is good! I am not what I hope to be, but soon I shall be out of mortality, and with it all sin and imperfection.
“Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor yet what I hope to be, I can truly say I am not what I once was: a slave to sin and Satan. I can heartily join with the apostle and acknowledge that by the grace of God I am what I am!”
What a great testimony to the one who wrote “Amazing Grace.” He knew well what the grace of God could do for a person. God’s grace can not only save us but also teach us how to live right in this world of sin.
