back to index2020-03-08 God's Glorious Grace
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- Well, thank you for the kind words, Pastor Mark. 00:00:07.000 |
I just want to say good morning, Brian, and I send greetings to you from Brian Mission 00:00:14.220 |
We're so thankful for the relationship that our churches have and also for the gospel 00:00:18.600 |
partnership that we share together in Christ. 00:00:21.560 |
And in particular, I just praise God for this church and for your godly pastors and elders 00:00:26.860 |
and really the gospel presence that this church has in Orange County and in Southern California. 00:00:33.920 |
And personally, I've seen BCC's ministry in the lives of so many people I know and I've 00:00:38.320 |
watched from afar as friends have come to faith in Christ and to see others just growing 00:00:44.760 |
in their walks with the Lord, some of whom are still here and others who are a part of 00:00:50.640 |
And it just brings me such great joy to know and to see how God is working through your 00:00:58.420 |
And so I want to thank Pastor Peter and just the elders for the invitation to be here. 00:01:03.680 |
And I'm grateful for the opportunity to bring God's word to you this morning. 00:01:07.660 |
And so if you have your Bible, I invite you to turn with me to Matthew chapter 20, and 00:01:15.840 |
And as I was thinking about what to preach on, this passage was really on my heart to 00:01:21.440 |
It's become one of my favorite parables and it's not as well known as some of the other 00:01:25.120 |
ones because it's found in Matthew's gospel alone. 00:01:29.480 |
And so I hope just to familiarize you with this story and I trust that it can be encouragement 00:01:36.280 |
Matthew chapter 20, beginning in verse 1, and I'll read our text for us this morning. 00:01:44.360 |
For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning 00:01:51.720 |
After agreeing with the laborers for denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 00:01:57.240 |
And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. 00:02:02.160 |
And to them he said, you go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you. 00:02:09.240 |
Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 00:02:13.200 |
And about the 11th hour, he went out and found others standing. 00:02:17.720 |
And he said to them, why do you stand here idle all day? 00:02:21.360 |
They said to him, because no one has hired us. 00:02:24.240 |
He said to them, you go into the vineyard too. 00:02:27.480 |
And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, call the laborers and 00:02:31.800 |
pay them their wages, beginning with the last up to the first. 00:02:36.680 |
And when those hired about the 11th hour came, each of them received a denarius. 00:02:42.040 |
Verse 10, now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but 00:02:50.560 |
And on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, these last worked 00:02:54.680 |
only one hour, and you made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and 00:03:00.760 |
But he replied to one of them, friend, I am doing you no wrong. 00:03:10.800 |
I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 00:03:14.280 |
Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? 00:03:20.560 |
So the last will be first, and the first last. 00:03:28.480 |
Father, we ask that as we approach your word this morning, that you would give us ears 00:03:34.200 |
to hear and eyes to see and hearts ready and eager to receive your word, that we might 00:03:40.880 |
be transformed into the likeness of your son, Jesus Christ. 00:03:52.400 |
One of the first things that we learn to say as children is the phrase, it's not fair. 00:04:00.960 |
It's not like someone sat us down and walked us through, this is how you pronounce it. 00:04:05.360 |
Here are all the occasions in life that you'll find it useful. 00:04:15.720 |
When they have to share a toy, it's not fair. 00:04:19.440 |
When they have to stop playing their game, it's not fair. 00:04:23.440 |
When they don't get their way, it's not fair. 00:04:28.560 |
It's not fair is one of the first things that we feel and express in life before we even 00:04:37.700 |
And we discovered that this carries over to adulthood. 00:04:41.680 |
It's one of the things that we continue to feel most strongly and say most loudly, whether 00:04:59.280 |
We feel the cost of living in Orange County is not fair. 00:05:04.000 |
Think about maybe when the last time was when you said this phrase. 00:05:08.160 |
For me, it was when my wife, Carissa, picked up Chick-fil-A for me. 00:05:12.960 |
And she was on her way home from a place called Fairfield. 00:05:21.520 |
And unlike for you guys in SoCal, it's a total treat because we don't live close to one living 00:05:27.760 |
The closest one is in San Jose, which is an hour away. 00:05:30.680 |
And so when my wife brought some Chick-fil-A back home, I was so excited. 00:05:35.600 |
But when I opened the bag, I found a spicy chicken sandwich with no spicy chicken. 00:05:42.240 |
It was literally two slices of bread, and they left out the chicken in the middle. 00:05:46.480 |
And they had the audacity, for some reason, to leave even the cheese in there. 00:05:50.600 |
So I was like, "Dang, Chick-fil-A, you wrong for this, all right? 00:05:59.120 |
Most of us, we go through life feeling and thinking that a whole bunch of things aren't 00:06:04.680 |
And don't get me wrong, I'm not dismissing that there is not real injustice in the world. 00:06:11.600 |
We should want our laws and our justice systems and our standards to be fair. 00:06:19.040 |
All of us put on some lens whereby we look at the world. 00:06:25.240 |
Because none of us just experience the world, but we constantly interpret it. 00:06:31.760 |
And for some of you, it's through the lens of fairness, where we're always assessing 00:06:37.600 |
what we think we deserve and what others deserve or don't deserve. 00:06:43.520 |
Where we're keenly aware of what people have and what we don't have. 00:06:47.920 |
Where we compare other successes to our failures. 00:06:51.880 |
Where we're cognizant of whether someone's being recognized and whether we're being ignored. 00:06:56.480 |
See, we're always sizing up, we're always calculating, we're always feeling like we're 00:07:01.320 |
owed something by our family, by our friends, and even by God. 00:07:07.560 |
This has become the socially acceptable and respectable sin. 00:07:12.120 |
It is to look at the world in this way, to be discontent, to envy what people have, to 00:07:24.040 |
But there's another way to look at the world. 00:07:28.080 |
It's to get up each morning to put on lenses not of fairness, but to put on lenses of grace. 00:07:36.120 |
One writer says that when you do this, you'll see that most days are a lot better than you 00:07:41.680 |
And on the really hard days, you'll fight to believe that God is working for good. 00:07:47.320 |
With the lenses of grace, you'll rejoice in the success of others. 00:07:52.000 |
Instead of experiencing life as a series of disappointments where you weren't treated 00:07:56.080 |
as you deserve, you'll experience life as a gift. 00:08:05.880 |
Whatever good is in someone else's life, it's grace. 00:08:09.000 |
It's a profoundly different way of looking at the world. 00:08:14.800 |
Jesus tells a parable that challenges our tendency to view life through the lens of 00:08:22.120 |
fairness, and shows us that instead, life is to be seen through grace. 00:08:33.200 |
It's a story that highlights the beauty of God's grace to us in the gospel, and it's 00:08:42.200 |
And as we go through this passage, I want us to see three things here. 00:08:47.600 |
We see the parable itself, the purpose for why it's told, and then the principle that's 00:08:57.240 |
If you're taking notes, the first thing that I want to look at is the parable. 00:09:01.960 |
And I just want to walk us through this account, and so you can follow along in your Bibles. 00:09:07.100 |
In verse 1, it begins like this, "For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house 00:09:12.580 |
who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard." 00:09:18.500 |
Verse 1 sets the context of this parable for us. 00:09:22.780 |
Jesus tells a story to illustrate what the kingdom of heaven is like. 00:09:31.740 |
He is the landowner who has a vineyard and is in need of laborers for that vineyard. 00:09:38.460 |
And at this time, it's likely September, and it's harvesting season. 00:09:43.420 |
The weather was still hot, and so it was important to gather grapes before the rain came and 00:09:49.620 |
And so harvesting was in great demand at this time. 00:09:52.540 |
And you never really had enough manpower to do that in terms of a permanent staff. 00:09:57.400 |
And so you needed to very quickly find part-time laborers to get the harvest in on time. 00:10:03.680 |
Now in those days, the workday was usually from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. 00:10:09.980 |
The man in the story we're told goes out early in the morning before 6 a.m. to find laborers 00:10:17.340 |
And he makes his way to the marketplace of town nearby. 00:10:21.780 |
And there he would find men standing, waiting for work. 00:10:27.440 |
It'd be like a scene from that of the Great Depression, where there would be people waiting 00:10:32.760 |
for someone to hire them, and they're waiting along the docks, just waiting for someone 00:10:47.240 |
They were unemployed except for a day at a time, never knowing when the next job would 00:10:54.940 |
It was difficult because they had to work in order to eat, and if they didn't work, 00:10:59.280 |
then they couldn't eat, and neither could their families. 00:11:02.620 |
And so they would congregate in the marketplace, and there they would wait for someone to come 00:11:10.960 |
And so the master in the story went to the marketplace and saw these men on this particular 00:11:16.240 |
day, and he would say, "You, you, and you, come and work in my vineyard." 00:11:22.920 |
And he set the terms, "I'll give you one denarius for one day's work." 00:11:30.040 |
In fact, a very generous wage for unskilled workers. 00:11:34.400 |
And so these men agree, and in verse 2, he sent them into his vineyard to begin work. 00:11:41.240 |
But then we're told three hours later, at the third hour, which is 9 a.m., the landowner 00:11:46.800 |
comes back to the marketplace to find more workers. 00:11:50.280 |
And it says in verse 3 this, "And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing 00:12:00.300 |
They're unemployed, and they're looking for work too. 00:12:03.520 |
And so to those, verse 4, the master said, "You go into the vineyard too, and whatever's 00:12:11.840 |
The landowner simply promises rightful pay for appropriate work, and off they go to the 00:12:20.000 |
But the story goes, the master comes back to the marketplace on three more occasions. 00:12:27.440 |
He goes out again at noon, at 3 p.m., and once more at 5 p.m. 00:12:32.160 |
Now this is one hour before the end of the workday. 00:12:36.640 |
And he sees men still standing there at this hour. 00:12:40.300 |
And so he asks them, verse 6, "Why do you stand here idle all day?" 00:12:43.980 |
And their response is, "Because no one's hired us." 00:12:47.740 |
And he said to them, "You too go into my vineyard and work." 00:13:00.740 |
When he finds out the reason that they're there is simply because no one wanted them 00:13:04.720 |
and no one hired them, though they were willing to work, he hires them for just one hour. 00:13:11.960 |
They waited all day, stayed all day, likely thinking that with each passing hour they 00:13:18.860 |
But against all hope, this generous man shows up and he says, "Just go, and whatever's right 00:13:27.640 |
And you can imagine, they're grateful to have been hired this late in the day. 00:13:39.280 |
A landowner hires five successive waves of workers at 6 a.m., 9 a.m., 12 p.m., 3 p.m., 00:13:47.620 |
And he sends them off to work in his vineyard. 00:13:54.080 |
The bell is rung, the whistle's blown, it's the end of the workday. 00:13:57.800 |
And as was the custom, everyone lines up to get paid. 00:14:02.460 |
But a couple of interesting things happen here. 00:14:06.320 |
First in verse 8, "When evening came, it says the landowner said to his foreman, 'Call the 00:14:12.280 |
laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last up to the first.' 00:14:20.700 |
The owner asked his manager to pay the last hired workers first." 00:14:25.000 |
And so you think, well, isn't that a little odd? 00:14:28.120 |
Usually we pay workers in order of hiring, the first to the last. 00:14:32.760 |
But this master instead gives specific instruction to do the opposite. 00:14:38.920 |
The workers who are hired last get paid first, and those who are hired first get paid last. 00:14:45.220 |
And so these men who work for one hour, maybe even less when you account for travel time 00:14:50.800 |
from the marketplace to the vineyard, they're in the front of the line. 00:14:55.040 |
And those who worked all 12 hours are in the back of the line. 00:15:05.920 |
Verse 9, "And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 00:15:14.640 |
So, the workers who were hired at the end of the day, worked less than one hour, got 00:15:27.600 |
We work less than an hour and we get an entire day's wage. 00:15:36.800 |
Now how do you think those at this point are feeling in the back of the line? 00:15:50.080 |
If they get a denarius for one hour of work, do the math, we work 12 hours, we get 12 denarii, 00:15:57.920 |
We're going to have a little extra in the bank. 00:15:59.680 |
We're going to buy that Tesla Model X, right? 00:16:01.960 |
We're going to have a happy commute home, right?" 00:16:05.400 |
But in verse 10, it tells us that when they got to the front of the line, they thought 00:16:11.480 |
they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 00:16:19.880 |
They had this silent expectation that when their turn came, they would receive more because 00:16:28.600 |
And when that didn't happen, they couldn't hide their disappointment. 00:16:33.560 |
It says this in verse 11, "And on receiving this one denarius, they grumbled at the master 00:16:40.320 |
of the house, saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to 00:16:45.640 |
us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.'" 00:16:50.640 |
They were saying, "These guys who worked in the cool of the day for one hour, and we worked 00:16:56.880 |
in the scorching heat for the entire day, they get paid what we get paid?" 00:17:03.260 |
And so the master replies to this group of men. 00:17:08.360 |
So let's finish reading the account together. 00:17:11.040 |
Verse 13, "He replied to one of them," notice what he calls him, "Friend, friend, I'm doing 00:17:28.080 |
I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 00:17:31.240 |
Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? 00:17:38.040 |
So the last will be first, and the first last." 00:17:49.320 |
It's a simple story, but we know it's more than that. 00:17:55.440 |
What's the purpose of this parable that Jesus tells us? 00:17:59.120 |
I believe there are two purposes that we can find here for why Jesus tells this story. 00:18:05.800 |
One, I believe this parable is told to show that God's grace is manifested in our salvation. 00:18:22.760 |
Our Lord is unmistakably cast here as the landowner. 00:18:30.320 |
And specifically, the story is about his grace and the salvation that he offers to sinners. 00:18:37.160 |
That's what the denarius in the story represents, salvation. 00:18:43.960 |
Well, this parable, if you read it in its context, is a continuation of what Jesus has 00:18:50.080 |
been teaching on in the chapter before in Matthew 19. 00:18:54.840 |
And there we have an account of the rich young ruler. 00:18:58.280 |
And if you remember the story, in verse 16, this young man approaches the Lord and he 00:19:03.000 |
asks him this question, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit what? 00:19:15.480 |
And so from there, Jesus begins to teach on eternal life. 00:19:19.840 |
And he then tells the story about the vineyard to illustrate truths regarding this eternal 00:19:26.200 |
And he highlights specifically God's compassion and his love and his grace towards sinners 00:19:36.560 |
And this truth is found throughout the entire story. 00:19:40.320 |
Jesus cast in the story not only the landowner, but the hired workers. 00:19:46.640 |
And as I alluded to, life for them was desperate. 00:19:51.760 |
What they were in the marketplace tells us that they were in need of some kind of work. 00:19:58.720 |
In those days, these workers were near the bottom of the socioeconomic scale, just above 00:20:05.360 |
So you realize that day laborers were regarded as the lowest class of workers. 00:20:14.580 |
They were unemployed except for a day at a time working from job to job to job. 00:20:24.320 |
And so each morning they would line up in the marketplace in hopes of being hired. 00:20:30.640 |
And on this particular morning, this landowner, he goes out and he finds these men waiting 00:20:37.320 |
And so he brings them to his vineyard to work. 00:20:40.240 |
Now at this point, nothing really seems out of the ordinary. 00:20:44.920 |
And it's what happens in the third hour and beyond that tells you something more about 00:20:52.640 |
This man goes back out not once, not twice, not three times, but four more times to bring 00:21:03.980 |
And each time he found them, the story emphasizes that these workers were what? 00:21:12.120 |
Not that they were willfully idle, but they couldn't find work. 00:21:19.320 |
And as they waited, it was the landowner himself who initiates, who seeks out, who calls for 00:21:28.200 |
these laborers and brings them to be part of his work. 00:21:34.760 |
And as we read this, the question that we inevitably ask is, why does he keep coming 00:21:41.120 |
Does he not know how many people it takes to harvest this? 00:21:44.840 |
This master not have foresight to plan accordingly. 00:21:47.840 |
You think that after a while, he would say, "Okay, well, there's this much land and it 00:21:51.440 |
takes this many people working this many hours to gather this many grapes." 00:22:03.560 |
And he's coming back not because he needs more workers, but because he wants to give 00:22:18.040 |
He goes to the marketplace and he sees these men in their situation, unhired, unwanted, 00:22:29.480 |
And he has compassion on these workers who really had nothing to offer. 00:22:35.280 |
And this is so evident that the quality of workers who are available lessens as the day 00:22:43.320 |
See, because it would be the young, the strong, the capable who are gone first on any occasion, 00:22:49.720 |
and yet this master, he goes and he finds these second, third, fourth-tier men. 00:22:56.880 |
Remember when he asked, "Well, why are you standing there idle?" 00:23:00.320 |
They more or less replied, "Well, because no one wants us." 00:23:05.200 |
They were the scraps for work because they were older, they were slower, they were less 00:23:16.240 |
And yet the landowner looks upon them with a heart of compassion. 00:23:36.660 |
And he does this up until the very last group of workers and he's saying, "There's only 00:24:08.820 |
The marketplace is where religion has left each of us. 00:24:15.480 |
Religion has told us that we need to work in order to earn our way to God, in order 00:24:19.600 |
to earn salvation, but religion always leaves us desperate, always looking for more work 00:24:25.960 |
to do, always falling short, never doing enough to earn heaven. 00:24:36.400 |
And as sinners, we were hopeless and condemned in our situation. 00:24:41.040 |
And it is here that God meets us where we're at. 00:24:45.120 |
He sees our sin and our desperate situation and He has mercy. 00:24:50.320 |
He comes to the marketplace of this world and He seeks to bring those undeserving into 00:24:55.120 |
His kingdom, not because He needed us, but because He loved us, because He sought after 00:25:02.480 |
us and He has made a way for us to be brought into the kingdom. 00:25:07.960 |
The Bible tells us that God would provide a Savior for our sin. 00:25:12.620 |
He sends His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins and in our place to 00:25:17.760 |
pay the debt that we owed and take the judgment that you and I deserved. 00:25:23.020 |
But on the third day, He rose from the grave for our justification, conquering sin and 00:25:28.840 |
And as the living God, He promises that if you renounce your sins and works and instead 00:25:35.340 |
trust in My work on the cross, you can be saved. 00:25:40.480 |
See, God is looking for those who are willing to say with a humble heart, "We're not 00:26:03.320 |
God seeks those who don't trust themselves for salvation, but those who throw themselves 00:26:12.860 |
And it is when men and women are at this place and they acknowledge their sin and their need 00:26:17.600 |
for grace and mercy that God will bring us to His vineyard, His kingdom, and to give 00:26:24.920 |
God is trying to impress to us the futility of the religion of works where man tries to 00:26:31.400 |
do as much as he can to be saved and instead points us to the gospel of grace where God 00:26:36.800 |
has done it all for us to be saved in Jesus Christ through faith in Him. 00:26:42.800 |
So we see that God's grace is manifested in our salvation. 00:26:45.840 |
Second, we see that God's grace is manifested equally. 00:26:51.760 |
This is the other purpose for why the Lord tells this parable. 00:26:56.920 |
All who come into Christ's kingdom to serve Him, no matter how long, no matter how short, 00:27:02.680 |
will in the end equally receive the same reward. 00:27:08.000 |
In this parable, if you go back to it, some worked 12-hour days, some worked nine, some 00:27:13.000 |
worked six, some worked three, some worked less than one hour, but realize that in the 00:27:23.080 |
The point that Jesus makes is those who come first to God will receive no more than those 00:27:31.480 |
And those who come last will receive no less than those who come first. 00:27:38.680 |
The same eternal life will be given to the sinner who turns from Christ at the end of 00:27:43.720 |
his life, who turns from sin to Christ at the end of his life, as is given to the missionary 00:27:50.080 |
who spent 50 years in a remote tribe in Africa. 00:27:54.600 |
Brothers and sisters, I want to tell you that is an encouraging thing, that while life may 00:27:59.480 |
be inequitable, God isn't, and eternity won't be either. 00:28:05.680 |
Every believer, no matter when converted or what manner of service or for how long, will 00:28:11.920 |
receive the same reward of heaven just like everyone else. 00:28:17.840 |
But there's another aspect to this, because this issue of equality of grace doesn't just 00:28:23.760 |
deal with length of time, but notice here also to experience. 00:28:32.360 |
See for the earlier group who worked, their complaint was it wasn't just that they worked 00:28:38.840 |
all 12 hours, but you notice their response upon receiving the same one denarius as everyone 00:28:45.560 |
Verse 12, it says, "These workers, these last workers who worked only one hour, you have 00:28:50.840 |
made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat." 00:28:57.600 |
See what they appealed to and why they accused the master of unfairness wasn't how long they 00:29:07.600 |
These men, it says, bore the burden of the day. 00:29:25.240 |
These men had worked long and they worked so hard for their denarius. 00:29:32.160 |
This parable is in fact told as a response to what Peter says in the chapter right before. 00:29:40.120 |
In verse 27 of Matthew 19, Peter says, "Lord, we've left everything to follow you. 00:29:49.440 |
See these disciples were saying this to our Lord. 00:29:52.360 |
"Jesus, we've left everything and we've already endured three years of deprivation in the 00:30:01.920 |
We've been out here in the hot sun and we felt the persecution. 00:30:08.280 |
We've experienced the hostility and yet we see others now following you and they get 00:30:18.560 |
It's coming from a place where they felt that things were unfair. 00:30:24.040 |
Let me try to give you a sports analogy to maybe illustrate this truth. 00:30:29.360 |
Sports analogy is about the Golden State Warriors. 00:30:31.840 |
I live in the Bay Area with all these Warriors fans and it's terrible. 00:30:38.440 |
Even worse that they won three championships in four years. 00:30:43.640 |
Whatever your loyalty lies, I mean, objectively we have to give it up. 00:30:48.520 |
This was one of the all-time great teams in NBA history. 00:30:51.920 |
I'm a Kings fan, so pray for me, but I'm from Sacramento. 00:30:56.240 |
There was legit happiness that I had for Warriors fans because I know that they've endured the 00:31:04.120 |
They've gone through the dark ages of the Fontego Cummings, the Bob Sear, the Eric Dampier 00:31:09.960 |
The reward is that much sweeter for them because they won. 00:31:13.320 |
At the same time, living in the Bay Area, I noticed this. 00:31:16.960 |
I've observed that these same fans aren't happy that they're now sharing this mountaintop 00:31:23.240 |
experience with people who became fans way back in 2015. 00:31:31.920 |
It's not fair because they're thinking, "We've endured through all that losing and pain and 00:31:40.960 |
That reminds me that long-time suffering fans are those who worked the morning and labored 00:31:48.760 |
The 2015 fans are the ones who worked for one hour in the cool evening breeze. 00:31:55.200 |
Now older fans are being told, "You guys are actually equal, and we have to share this 00:32:03.200 |
In our economy of things, that doesn't seem right. 00:32:11.800 |
See, they counted the cost from the beginning, and now there were those who just started 00:32:20.080 |
The disciples were thinking, "These guys are jumping on the bandwagon at the last minute 00:32:25.680 |
Surely, we should get more than they, Jesus, because we've been through so much for you 00:32:34.160 |
It really illustrates this truth on a more sobering note that there are believers who 00:32:41.640 |
come to faith in Christ in some of the most difficult places in the world where they have 00:33:01.360 |
It's a sobering truth that we at times forget that at this very moment, we are enjoying 00:33:08.460 |
the freedom to worship while believers around the world are in bondage, are persecuted, 00:33:16.800 |
are being martyred for their faith in Christ. 00:33:21.400 |
An average of at least 180 Christians around the world are killed each month for their 00:33:27.320 |
In 41 of 50 of the worst nations for persecution, Christians are the group being persecuted 00:33:38.360 |
More Christians, we're told by historians, have been martyred in the 20th century alone 00:33:47.560 |
90,000 Christians were killed for their faith last year alone, with many more who suffer 00:33:55.000 |
and die unaccounted for, forgotten, and largely unknown. 00:34:00.680 |
See, they are those who work here, the 12-hour days and the scorching heat. 00:34:14.040 |
They are those workers in this parable who have worked hard, who have suffered much, 00:34:20.560 |
who have sacrificed greatly under the harsh sun in the vineyard. 00:34:25.520 |
And they stand in contrast to those who work in the one hour and the cool evening breeze, 00:34:34.200 |
This man who was a criminal for his entire life, living a wicked life, people like him 00:34:40.920 |
will turn to Christ in the last moment of their lives, and they will get the same eternal 00:34:45.160 |
life as those who suffer all their lives for the sake of Christ, those who give their lives 00:34:49.880 |
for Christ, men like Stephen and Paul and John Hus and William Tyndale and Dietrich 00:34:55.840 |
Bonhoeffer and Richard Wurmbrand, those slaughtered for the faith. 00:35:19.120 |
They are those in this parable who have worked the 12-hour days. 00:35:28.680 |
They're those who serve Christ in contrast in the coolness of the evening breeze, those 00:35:34.800 |
like many of us, where there are seemingly no sacrifices for their entire lives. 00:35:42.080 |
They are born in free and prosperous nations. 00:35:53.820 |
They can live out their faith in freedom without any fear of persecution. 00:35:58.560 |
You look at us, and we've not shed one drop of blood for the gospel, at least to my knowledge. 00:36:08.600 |
I've been opposed by my parents for my faith for a time, and I've endured mild hostility, 00:36:17.720 |
but I've not shed one drop of blood for Christ because I am one of those who have labored 00:36:28.680 |
And oftentimes I ask myself this question, is that fair? 00:36:34.760 |
Is that fair that I would receive this one denarius, this eternal life in the glories 00:36:39.820 |
of heaven with all those who go through so much suffering? 00:36:55.280 |
Jesus is telling us all who come into the kingdom to serve him no matter how hard, no 00:37:01.520 |
matter how easy the circumstances will in the end equally receive the same full reward. 00:37:11.360 |
We ask, why would God allow us to suffer so little compared to those who are in the world 00:37:22.080 |
Why would God bless us with so much when others have so little? 00:37:27.320 |
Why would God allow us to enjoy what we have while others are deprived? 00:37:48.880 |
This leads to the third and final point, the principle here. 00:37:55.200 |
There's a practical application found in this story, and it's simply this, that the grace 00:38:01.480 |
of God is to affect the way that we see life. 00:38:08.020 |
When it came time for the first workers to receive their pay, they took exception. 00:38:18.840 |
But he replied to one of them, "Friend, I'm doing you no wrong. 00:38:26.600 |
I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 00:38:30.000 |
Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me, or do you begrudge my 00:38:37.680 |
The master is saying that he kept his end of the deal. 00:38:45.200 |
They agreed to a denarius, and that's exactly what he gave. 00:38:48.600 |
And when he chooses to pay the latter group, he's saying it was completely his right to 00:38:54.400 |
And so he says here, the problem isn't injustice, because he gave as he said he would. 00:39:00.120 |
Instead, he identifies the problem with you guys. 00:39:09.820 |
See, and the master says this, "Or do you begrudge my generosity?" 00:39:16.680 |
The literal translation for this in the Greek is, "Is your eye evil because I am good?" 00:39:25.900 |
The landowner asked whether they were seeing with an evil eye, whether their perception 00:39:31.960 |
was wrong, whether their perspective was wrong. 00:39:42.000 |
And this really gets to the heart of the problem here. 00:39:44.640 |
See, this isn't about the denarius that they received. 00:39:49.240 |
It's about the denarius they saw others receive. 00:39:53.320 |
In verse 12, you notice the workers complained, "You made them equal to us," not, "You made 00:40:01.480 |
It wasn't that they were upset about the pay they received. 00:40:04.680 |
They were upset that others received the same pay as them. 00:40:08.600 |
They resented the generosity of the master to people who they felt weren't deserving. 00:40:16.600 |
This sort of perception of people in life led to this greater problem that our Lord 00:40:23.080 |
They focused on what others got rather than being thankful for what they got, far more 00:40:45.640 |
And I think this speaks to the issue of their heart and it spoke to this really issue of 00:40:53.760 |
And I believe that this is a word to all of us. 00:40:57.440 |
Because let me ask you this, are you a thankful person? 00:41:08.640 |
Now if you don't know the answer to that question, let me help you. 00:41:11.520 |
And I just want to give you a series of diagnostic questions to ask yourselves. 00:41:17.960 |
Would people who know you characterize you as a complaining person or a thankful person? 00:41:26.480 |
How often do you point out something wrong with work, people, and life in your conversations? 00:41:33.200 |
Conversely, how often do you affirm evidences of grace in your life and in your conversations? 00:41:42.520 |
Do you look at the world and find many reasons to complain because things aren't going your 00:41:49.440 |
Or do you look at the world and find yourself blown away at the many reasons that you have 00:41:59.400 |
Do you view yourself as someone who has been constantly shortchanged and neglected? 00:42:07.500 |
Or do you view yourself as one who has been unfairly showered with blessings? 00:42:18.160 |
Do you often say, "If only I had this or if this was different." 00:42:22.240 |
Or do you often say instead, "I can't believe God has given me this." 00:42:33.400 |
Those questions are searching and they're humbling and they sober us. 00:42:42.460 |
Because far too often we are more like these mourning laborers than we like to admit. 00:42:48.200 |
We look at life through the lens of our perceived fairness, that he has such a nice job and 00:42:56.140 |
They always get invited to things and I don't. 00:43:01.280 |
All the guys notice her and they don't notice me. 00:43:05.440 |
Their marriage and their kids seem so good and ours doesn't. 00:43:10.900 |
They have everything going on for them in life and life is hard for me and the cry is 00:43:22.560 |
That's coming from a place where you think you deserve better, certainly better than 00:43:28.960 |
And why you feel that way is because you don't really think of yourself as a sinner as you 00:43:37.280 |
But God desires for us to instead put on lenses of grace, to see the gospel, to see the cross, 00:43:52.300 |
That the God of this universe would love me and give me the greatest thing in his son 00:43:59.000 |
He continues to give me more than I ever deserve. 00:44:04.720 |
Jesus is having us recalibrate our view and light of the cross to see who we really are. 00:44:14.100 |
That we're simply sinners who have been saved by grace and we see that there's nothing good 00:44:18.240 |
in you and me and we have nothing unless God grants it. 00:44:22.380 |
And it's when we see ourselves and life in this way, feelings of humility and thankfulness 00:44:29.000 |
rather than entitlement and disappointment fill the heart. 00:44:36.360 |
When we see through the lens of grace and the light of the gospel, you'll have reasons 00:44:45.520 |
There will even be moments when your life is marked by disappointment and loss and trials 00:44:51.680 |
and you find yourself amidst your suffering asking, "Why is this happening to me? 00:45:03.040 |
And God will say through the lens of grace, "It's there in your sufferings." 00:45:11.760 |
When we struggle, we're to fix our eyes back on the cross. 00:45:17.320 |
And as we do so, I'll guarantee you the world will look like a different place, a better 00:45:24.880 |
place and God will appear as he truly is, the God of grace who gives us better than 00:45:42.360 |
Is this not the more appropriate way to view the world and to view ourselves, to see it 00:45:52.680 |
And I'll tell you that every day is a fight in our hearts to do this. 00:45:58.480 |
In the exhortation that I give you, Berean Community Church, let us be disciplined to 00:46:14.680 |
Father, we thank you that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 00:46:26.920 |
We were undeserving of anything but judgment and yet, Lord, you showed us grace. 00:46:34.320 |
Help us to be grateful for the salvation that we have in Christ, not feeling entitlement 00:46:42.280 |
but seeing all that we have as grace upon grace from your generous hand. 00:46:50.000 |
And in those moments that we complain, when we feel discontent, when we're tempted to 00:46:58.080 |
be resentful for what we have and what we're going through, help us to see Christ, to look 00:47:05.160 |
upon the cross, to celebrate your grace once again and to say that Jesus is all we truly