Undeserved goodness
Matthew 20:1-16
March 24, 2019
In his book, “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” Philip Yancey told this story . . .
He had a conversation with a friend, Daniel. Daniel told Yancey he had decided to end his marriage of 15 years because he was now in love with a younger woman. Someone whom he said made him “feel alive, like he hadn’t in years.”
Daniel and his wife had no real areas of incompatability, he felt he needed a change. Like a person who is tired of their car and wants a new car.
To complicate this issue, Daniel is a Christian. He fully understood the moral and religious consequences of his actions. He understood the pain that his wife and children would experience. Yet, he explained the force pulling him toward this younger woman was like a powerful magnet, which was too strong for him to resist.
Then, Daniel explained he wanted to ask Yancey a question - - - “Because you study the Bible, do you think God can forgive something as awful as I am about to do?”
With that loaded question in mind, let’s dig into scripture this morning to look again at what it means to experience, to seek and know the grace of God.
We’re going to look at a parable from Jesus to help us along. We’re looking at Matthew 20:1-16. Listen to the words of Jesus —
1 “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.
2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’
5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.
6 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?’
7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’
8 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.’
9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.
10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius.
11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house,
12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’
13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?
14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you.
15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ – Matthew 20:1-15
Now, people have a few different interpretations of this passage, but what I believe this passage shows at it’s deepest root level is that Jesus is teaching about God's generous grace, and how it’s at work in our lives, and how we can get in on it as soon, and as often, as possible.
This story reflects a common occurrence in ancient times. Workers would gather in a central area, hoping to be hired for the day. The typical workday was from 6 am to 6 pm - - and the normal pay for a day's work was a denarius, which wasn't a lot, but it was enough for a man to feed his family. And you were paid at the end of the workday. So, this all made sense to those listening to Jesus.
If you weren’t hired in the first hour, often times, owners would come back during the day, if needed, to hire more workers. If you weren’t chosen, returning home would get you no money. So, it was good to stick around and hope an owner would return needing more employees.
So, this story made sense to the listeners. The owner promised a denarius to those first workers, then he promised a fair day’s wage to the rest.
So, we would assume, if they were receiving $10 per hour, those who worked 1 hour would receive $10, those who worked 3 hours - $30, and so on. Simple.
But the story takes a strange twist when the foreman is passing out the wages. Those who were hired last get paid first and they receive 1 denarius. They’re shocked and feeling great!
Now, those who were hired first - are assuming they’re going to be making big money. Maybe they’ll get 2 or 3 denarius or more. But they received what was promised - - - 1 denarius.
They were pretty angry. . . They questioned the owner, "Why do those who worked only 1-2 hours make the same wage we do?"
Again, the landowner said –
13 ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?
14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you.
15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’
What does this say to us about the grace of God?
Firstly, we need to open our eyes to the generosity of God. This may be a strange thing for us to understand, but everybody in this story was a winner. While some seemed to get more, everyone received the same. Everyone received exactly what was promised to them.
Something for us to consider about God, which some may struggle with is this - - God is never unfair! Sometimes, in our humanness we don’t like it when someone we don’t think deserves it, receives something good.
? They receive the scholarship we wanted and we don’t understand how!
? Their surgery was successful, your’s was not.
? They received a favorable diagnosis, you received a negative diagnosis.
? They receive a promotion you don’t believe they deserve.
? You were a nicer person, but they got the girl!
? Someone gave them the questions for the test and they aced it!
? They fell into receiving a great deal for buying a home which was underpriced when you’ve been looking for months. And you would have loved this one.
SO . . . YOU’RE NOT VERY HAPPY ABOUT WHAT’S FAIR!!
Our sense of what’s fair and what’s not is skewed by our world-view. We have a different way of looking at what’s fair and right and wrong.
God’s idea of fairness is not ours. The Lord declares –
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:8-9
If we were to be really honest, we don’t always like that. We might even say God is unexpectedly, inexplicably and maybe even controversially generous.
Do you kind of agree with that? Have you ever played God?! I mean we all do a little bit. We pick and choose who’s in and who’s not. Our criteria is radically different than God’s. We pick and choose according to our likes and dislikes. We kind of have the Santa mentality - - looking at who’s been naughty and who’s been nice. Who’s treated us well, who hasn’t.
Yet, I truly believe that when we enter the joy of being welcomed home in heaven, if we could express shock at who’s there and who’s not, we would! This parable is a reminder of God’s amazing generosity.
Again, Paul reminds us —
8 God shows His love for us in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8
Do you get what Paul’s saying? God doesn't love us because we first loved Him, He didn’t look at us and see you with your noble ideas, your charm, your intellect, your good looks, your integrity, and say, “I could use that dude that on my team.”
The truth is - - even while you’re in the midst of your sinfulness, He sent His Son for you so that you could experience the joy and power of His grace.
God has given you more than you could ever possibly deserve. What I'm hoping you’ll understand is the fact that our God is a generous God. He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, but He’s kind and compassionate an forgiving.
I want you to realize that in our relationship with God, there are many times when, at the end of the day - - we receive a day's pay for a day's work, because God is never less than fair.
Yet there are many more times when, at the end of the day, God is profoundly more gracious, generous, merciful and compassionate — than we deserve.
Be on the lookout for these moments, because when you open your heart and spirit to them, you'll find them everywhere.
In the end, the owner told the workers, I can do whatever I want. When it comes to salvation, I’ll do it my way, it’s my call because I know the heart and spirit. I can see deep into who you are. God is so generous that it can be controversial. People will question His lavish love, but He won’t stop loving. In Jeremiah 32:40-41, God tells us –
40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them . . .
41 I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul. – Jeremiah 32:40-41
Not only will God do good, but He will have fun doing it. He rejoices and delights in doing you good. Isn’t that great to know. Put that on your refrigerator, tell the world about our awesome God, who delights in doing good for you.
Again, this is a reminder that God will offer abundant grace. To the rest of the world it’s scandalous, it’s outrageous, it’s irrational and it seems unfair. But it’s not. God offers the same grace to those who offer last minute conversions, as well as to those who have worshiped Him for the past 90 years.
Now, let me give you a couple more thoughts about grace in this passage.
We need to make ourselves available to receive God’s grace. What if those workers thought, well, nobody got me at the start of the day, so, I’ll go home and watch a movie or play X-Box?
What’s amazing is that some of the workers stayed there all day. They didn’t go home at noon, they stuck it out. They refused to give up on the idea of having no work.
And guess what happened? They not only got an hour's worth of work, they got a whole lot more — a full day's pay. It happened because they never took their name off the list.
If you want to experience the fullness of God's generous grace, you've got to show up. He can't bless you when you're hiding out at home. You've got to be available.
That means that you can't give up. It means you show up. It means you don’t give up on God. Even when His plans don’t make sense to you, you still don’t give up. You make yourself available and wait on the Lord.
Sometimes it means and I know for some it’s a struggle, but you need to pray. . . you need to talk to God, you need to open His Word and read it. You need to do as James tells us in James 4:8 –
8 Draw near to God and God will draw near to you. – James 4:8
We’re all different, different things bring us closer to God. Maybe it’s being in nature, or fishing, or building something, or looking at art or music. That’s all great, yet, we still need to intentionally draw ourselves closer to Him. It takes work, time, dedication, effort. If we believe it is important . . . we will. Is it?
I believe there are some of us who are in desperate need of God's grace. Maybe you're struggling with sin, or with guilt, or you can't escape the feeling of God's absence in your life. Maybe there’s a relationship which is suffering, or it’s financial, or there’s a physical issue, maybe you’re struggling with a sickness or a loss . . . and you feel like your life is a mess - - - you need to make yourself available to experience the overwhelming generosity of God’s grace.
Ask yourself, “Am I in a position to be on the receiving end of God's generosity? Can God bless me where I am right now? What do I need to do to position myself for God's blessing?”
The workers who gave up too soon and went home early that day missed out on a blessing. Don’t miss out on the blessings that can come your way. Stay available. If you don’t, you will miss out on God’s generosity. I don’t know when it will happen for you, but I trust it will.
Back to Yancey’s story . . .
He told his friend, “Can God forgive you? Of course. God uses murderers and adulterers. He used people like Peter and Paul to lead the church. Forgiveness is our problem - not God’s. Sin distances us from God - and there’s no guarantee we will ever come back. You ask me about forgiveness now, but will you even want it later, especially if it involves repentance?”
Yancey added, Several months after our conversation, Daniel left his family. He has now labeled most of his friends as narrow minded and judgmental, and looks to surround himself with people who celebrate his new found liberation. He said, God is not part of my life right now, maybe later.
And that my friends is the outrageous scandal of grace. If and when Daniel returns to God, God will be like the father of the prodigal son, waiting to embrace him and welcome him home. But don’t wait, to hold onto the weight of not experiencing God’s presence. Open yourself up to God, repent, draw near to God and experience the power and joy of His grace, receiving what you don’t deserve . . . the grace of God!
