Septuagesima – February 1, 2026

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Let me first walk through the parable of the workers in the vineyard.

Then we will look at Christ and apply this parable to our own lives.

The master of the house owns a vineyard. He is the landlord.

And he needs to hire workers in order to pick the grapes.

And so he goes into the marketplace early in the morning to find laborers.

And he hired some who agreed.

They agreed to work for 12 hours for a denarius a day.

A denarius would be about a day's wage.

Notice that the workers agreed to work all day for a denarius.

It was about six o'clock in the morning, and they have roughly about 12 hours of work ahead of them.

It's around nine o'clock in the morning. The master of the house noticed that

there's others standing idle in the marketplace, and they have nothing to do.

And so he hires them. He said to them, whatever is right, I will give you.

Notice that there's no specific wage. He just said, whatever is right, I will give you.

And they trusted in the landowner, the master of the house.

They trusted his generosity and his honesty.

Well, the master does the same thing at noon and then at three o'clock.

And then at five o'clock in the afternoon, he still finds others standing in

the marketplace doing nothing, idle, just stand there.

It was not their fault.

No one hired them. And so out of compassion and mercy, he hired them so that

they would have a welfare to buy food and to take care of themselves.

At six o'clock, it's quitting time. And normally, we would expect those who

worked all day to be paid first.

But the master does something surprising.

He pays those hired last first.

And this is kind of unheard of. It appears to us to be unfair.

But again, this is a parable.

The master pays his workers.

And those who work one hour, three hours, six hours, eight hours,

12 hours, all got the same pay.

They all got a denarius.

The master was very generous. Those who were hired first,

they thought that they should receive more than those hired last They assumed

that they would be given more money because they worked longer And they worked

under the burden and heat of the day.

But he pays them a denarius, exactly what they agreed to.

After receiving their wages, they grumbled.

They grumbled at the master. They accused him of making them equal to those who work one hour.

They compared themselves to others.

When they focused on what they did and the work that they did and all that they

went through, the master addresses them and calls them friend.

We see in this that he has compassion, a love, a relationship with them. He bears them no ill.

He has not wronged them. They agreed to work for a denarius.

He has broken no law. He's not cheated on them.

He owned, the master owns the vineyard, and he has the right to do with what belongs to him.

He asks them, do you begrudge my generosity?

In other words, in the Greek says, is your eye evil because I am good?

This is the preaching of the law.

Yes, they were begrudging the generosity of the master.

Their eye was evil because of his goodness.

Jesus concludes the parable by saying that the last will be first and the first last.

Now let's apply this parable to the kingdom of heaven, to Christ,

and to also our lives too as well.

God is the master, he owns all things, he is our creator, and he sustains our

life with daily bread, food, and clothing.

He has redeemed us with his own blood there upon the cross and saved us from

our sins. He has given us saving faith in Christ.

He's baptized us, and he continues to care for us with his precious gospel here

in the kingdom of heaven.

The kingdom of heaven is not like this world.

In the parable, Jesus is not instructing employers in how to run their business.

He is not endorsing a political or economic system.

God's kingdom cannot be measured by some kind of worldly standards.

Christianity is not about labor negotiations, property rights, or contract law.

Christianity is not about going to heaven because of your goodness.

Christianity is about going to heaven through faith in Christ.

Christianity is not about politics. It's not about, but it is about the forgiveness

of sins. Christianity is not about rewards.

It is about God's grace through faith in Christ.

If we apply the workplace standards to God's kingdom, we quickly fall into the

air of thinking that we work our way to heaven.

But nothing is farther from the truth. God's kingdom is not like this fallen world.

Christianity is about God's grace won for us on account of Christ's sacrifice upon the cross.

And faith says, Amen. I believe and trust in it.

In God's kingdom, things are different than how we would expect.

The last is first and the first is last.

The one who humbles himself like a little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

We shake our heads at that and say, what?

The one who serves, Jesus said, is greater than one who reclines at the table.

But we would think it's the other way around.

The Good Samaritan is the Hebrew.

The Good Samaritan is a hero, but the priests and Levi are the losers.

Jesus said that repentant tax collectors and prostitutes enter the kingdom of

heaven before the self-righteous Pharisees.

Lazarus was a poor beggar.

He went to heaven, while the rich man did not.

The tax collector goes home justified, whereas the Pharisee did not.

You see, things in God's kingdom are different, or upside down and backwards, to what we would think.

The vineyard represents our life in Christ. Christ is the vine, and we are the branches.

What belongs to God belongs to us, and we are workers, servants,

the baptized within his kingdom.

Faith was given to us purely by God's grace and not by our works,

and life within his kingdom is a privilege.

It is a joy to work in the vineyard, not a burden.

Those standing idle represent those who do not yet believe in Christ God desires

that all people come to the knowledge of Christ their Savior The gospel goes out to all nations.

And if you have a friend or a neighbor who does not yet believe,

invite them to the divine service.

Bring them to church. Tell them about Jesus.

Invite them to hear the gospel so that they too may believe. God cares about them.

He cares about you and me as well. And we care about them too.

Some workers labored 12 hours. Others worked for eight and six and three and then one,

Some of us have been in God's kingdom our whole life

We were baptized as an infant Our mother read Bible stories to us We learned

more about the scriptures and about who Jesus is and what he has done Others

come to faith in Christ later in life Perhaps as a student, a K-State student,

a young adult or later Some even come to faith in Christ on their deathbed I'm

a witness of about six people that I brought the gospel to in their last year

of life It is a joy to help a family member or a friend,

It is a joy We rejoice when they come to faith in Christ Look at the thief on

the cross he benefits to the same salvation that we have through faith in Christ.

We are working in God's kingdom. What are we doing?

We are doing good works for the sake of the neighbor, not in order to be saved.

No, because the neighbor needs help.

We love our neighbor because God first loved us.

And it is a joy to serve in the church or in our various vocations as a husband

and wife, parents or children, neighbors or friends.

It is joy to help a family member or a friend. It is a joy to help and serve

within God's kingdom. not a burden.

At the end of the day, those who were hired first grumbled at the landowner.

They accused of him being unfair. They saw him as evil.

And so today, do not see God as evil.

Do not think that God is mean toward you. Do not grumble or complain if you don't get your way.

Don't blame God for this or

that He is not

against you He's not evil He

loves you The devil is our enemy Not God The devil tempted Adam and Eve Who

ate the forbidden fruit And because of that sin and death Entered our world

And living in a fallen world Life will not always be easy It will not always be, quote,

fair we suffer from various trials and temptations

we pray that God's word and sacraments will help us to persevere in the trials

and tribulations that we endure here in this life again God is for you he's

with you God is good he is gracious and merciful to us in Christ and the cross

of Christ defines God's love for you.

In our parable, the owner of the vineyard asks the question,

am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? And the answer is yes.

And so also God is free to act according to his gracious will.

Everything belongs to him.

Things are done according to God's ways and not our ways.

He knows what is best for us, even though we may not understand it.

My thoughts are not your thoughts, he says And our thoughts are not like his

thoughts But his ways are always for our good Even if he perhaps may discipline

us in love It's always for our good.

Do we really want God to be, quote, fair with us?

If God gave us what we deserve, if God gave us poor sinners what we deserve,

we would all be condemned.

We confess this morning that we justly deserve his temporal and eternal punishment.

When it comes to sin, we are all equal.

All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is none righteous here, no, not one.

Therefore, no matter how hard we work in God's kingdom, we are unable to contribute

anything toward our salvation.

We cannot earn heaven. We cannot appease the wrath of God. The wages of sin is death.

We need a Savior, and that is why Jesus came.

Jesus was our substitute. He took our place under the law, fulfilling the law

that we cannot fulfill. He fulfilled it perfectly.

He also took our place there on the cross, offering the perfect sacrifice for our sin.

The workers in our parable complained that they bore the heat and the burden

of the day, but Jesus bore the burden and the heat of the day being crucified on the cross.

Jesus suffered more than we will ever suffer.

And there in the sixth hour, Jesus endured God's wrath. And also at the sixth

hour, he cried out, it is finished.

He died for the sins of the whole world. And then in the eleventh hour,

he was laid into the tomb.

Jesus died upon the cross for the sin of the whole world.

He died for you and me, for the tax collector, the adulterous woman,

the thief on the cross, the self-righteous Pharisee.

He died for you and me. He died for all.

Our text says that the last will be first. Jesus who was crucified was looked upon as if he was last.

But yet, he became first by his resurrection from the dead.

He won the race for us against sin, death, and the devil.

Jesus came in first place.

God is gracious to us poor sinners because of what Christ has done upon the

cross and not because of our goodness.

We are saved by grace through faith in Christ and not by our works.

Grace is a disposition in God.

Grace is God's favor toward us poor sinners.

Grace is a loving attitude of God toward us, our sinners, giving us what we do not deserve.

The owner of the vineyard was good to his workers. They all received a denarius.

So also, God is good to you.

He gives you your daily bread, food and clothing and shelter.

He is good to you in your baptism.

God made you equal to Jesus, giving you Christ's righteousness.

God is good. He gives you his precious gospel, which forgives all your sins. God is good to you.

This morning, he gives you his body and blood, the forgiveness of all our sins.

Dearly beloved in the Lord, trust in God's goodness and mercy.

Trust that he knows best. Life will not always be fair at times.

And when you go through suffering, God will be with you.

He will carry you through suffering and give you his strength.

There is no reason to grubble and complain. Rather, we are thankful for all

that God has done for us and for our salvation.

By grace on this I'll rest when dying. In Jesus' promise I rejoice.

For though I know my heart's condition, I also know my Savior's voice. My heart is glad.

All grief has flown, since I am saved by grace alone. Amen.