Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

If you want fairness, you won't like Jesus. If you want grace,

you'll love Jesus. We live in a world of calculation where grace

feels unfair. We calculate GPAs, we calculate scholarships,

we calculate playing time. You give what you earn, right? You earn

what you deserve. You deserve what you work for. That's the math

of our world. Then Jesus tells a story that totally shatters the

spreadsheet. This is a story that bothers many people, because

in the kingdom of God, grace is not earned. Grace is given. And

that will either offend your pride or it will free your heart.

Jesus begins this story like he does with all the parables. The

kingdom of heaven is like. And in this one, as in the other parables,

but more so in this one, the contrast between the world and the

kingdom is more stark than ever. It's huge. A huge shift to

escape the world's standards, the world's standards that are built

on a sinful, competitive nature to bring us into the kingdom

of enjoying grace. So in the story, the landowner hires workers.

You heard it read so well. I love when Dr. Startwell reads scripture.

She so brings it to life so well. So he hired workers in the

morning at 9 o', clock, he hired some more at noon, he hired

some at three, he hired some at five o' clock to go work in the

vineyards. Now, I don't know if any of you have ever worked in

the fields. I did one summer. It was horrible. Back when I was

about 15 years old, I was living in Portland, Oregon, and somebody

in Washington got the great idea. Let's get rid of all the migrant

workers in the country and let's have high school college athletes

go work in the fields instead. It'll be a great workout for them.

And they did that in Oregon. They sent all the migrant workers

home and they hired us. I was on a freshman football team, so they

convinced us we need to come work in the fields and we get paid.

Great. So I show up at the bus stop at 5:30 in the morning, and

in Portland, Oregon, even in May, it's cold at 5:30 in the morning

and you're freezing. And then you get on this bus and you ride

all the way out to where the fields were, which was a ways out

there. And you get there after about 45 minutes or an hour, and

you start to pick strawberries and you get down on your knees and

the fields are damp and dewy and it's cold and you're picking

strawberries the best you can. And then pretty soon the sun starts

to get warmer. And I remember so often by 11 o' clock, we were

so hot we couldn't stand it. We'd go lay under the bus, we'd lay

in the bus, but there was no air to try to get away from it. And

some of us, we only got paid by how much we did. So you got paid

by the flat of strawberries, like 50 cents for each flat you got.

And some people just went crazy, but most of us couldn't handle

it at all. But he didn't complain because we got paid what

we earned. And he didn't get paid more, he didn't get paid less.

You got paid on how much work you actually accomplished that day?

Well, the parable is completely different than that because

they all received the same pay. And immediately the people who

were hired early protested. They said, this isn't right. You're

paying the group who came at 5 o' clock and worked for an hour the

same as you paid us. That's not right. This is Jesus telling

the story. He created this story because we think in terms of

hours worked, effort given, seniority earned, resumes built.

That's how we measure value in our world. But the kingdom does not

operate on resume logic. It operates on grace logic. Grace is

what drives the kingdom of God. And so look at the end of the

story. It reads this. That evening he told the foreman to call

the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first.

When Those hired at 5 o' clock were paid, each received a full day's

wage. When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed

they would receive more, but they were too were paid a day's wage.

When they received their pay, they protested to the owner. These

people only worked one hour, and yet you paid them just as much

as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat. And when

I read that scripture, I can still remember the scorching heat

of being in those strawberry fields. Can't blame them, can we?

Can't really blame them. They worked all day in the heat. You see,

their problem in the story is not laziness. Their problem is comparison.

They assumed if somebody else gets X, they put in more effort and

they would get Y. And the issue is not pay. The issue is expectations.

And grace offends an entitled heart. And comparison in the Christian

world always breeds resentment. It does in the sinful

world too, even more so. But it breeds resentment. You see, comparison

is a kind of a quiet poison that can ruin our Christian life

and relationship with Christ if we let comparison become our standard.

When Jesus said, clearly it should not be, but when we do, what's

the result? The result is their mindfulness, mindset shifted

from gratitude for having the work and a full day pay to grievance.

They were glad for the work. They got what they were promised.

They got a full day's pay for a full day's work. They only got

unhappy when, when there was a comparison. Up until then they were

fine. You see, in the Christian life, comparison is always

destructive. When we start seeing what others get for their

Christian walk with Christ compared to what we get for our effort,

our eyes get off Jesus and they get on others and they get on

comparison. And in the kingdom of God, grace can seem offensive.

If we compare, you say, well, I've always done the right thing.

I grew up in the church, I've always been there, worship leader.

I stayed out of trouble, I followed Christ. Clearly he loves

me more. We can justify deserving more, but when it's grace,

it is given, it's not earned, ever earned. You see, it's possible

to obey God and also resent God. And we're going to talk about

that a little bit more in a moment. So he answered one of them,

friend, I haven't been unfair. Didn't you agree to work all day

for the usual wage, take your money and go? I wanted to pay this

last worker, the same of you as you. Is it against the law for

me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because

I'm kind to others? Well, in the story you imagine all these workers

lined up getting their pay and the people who were hired early are

really complaining. The ones who were hired at noon are complaining

some. And the ones who are five o' clock going, I can't believe

this. This is incredible. We got the whole thing. We had no leverage,

we had no negotiating power. We had nothing. And he gave it to

us. You see, they simply trusted the landowner's goodness

and they received an abundance. And not what they deserved,

but what the owner wanted to give them. I have a dear friend,

Dr. Jerry Young, who's on our board, pastor of a huge church here,

was president of a gigantic denomination. And every time I call

Jerry, no matter what I call him about, I always say, hey, Jerry,

how are you? The answer is always the same. I'm better than

I should be. I'm getting so much more than I ever deserve. And

we always talk for a few minutes about the grace of God before

we talk about whatever it is I called about. Cause he says, I'm

doing So much better than I deserve. That's his kind of his memory.

I think if we remembered often that God has been so much better

to us than we deserved, we would live in his presence more fully.

Well, God does not pay according to performance. He gives

according to his character. And that's the shock of grace. That's

not injustice, that's generosity. Grace always feels extravagant

to those who know they don't deserve it. But grace always feels

unfair to those who think they deserve it. You see, God is not arbitrary.

God is sovereign. God has already paid the price on the cross.

Jesus accepted the price for our sins. He paid the price because

God demands justice. And that justice was that Jesus paid the price

for those sins so we could be reconciled with the Father. So in

the story, the first workers received exactly what they were promised,

and the last workers were shocked. They received mercy because

they didn't earn it. But nobody was wronged. There wasn't

any injustice. The offense is disproportionate kindness. And disproportionate

kindness unsettles us. It really does. Landowner's question

is really the key to the heart of the story. The parable. And the

heart of the Kingdom of God comes down to this question. Landowner

asks, is it against the law for me to do what I want with my

money? Should you be jealous because I'm kind to others? See,

the issue was not wages. The issue was vision and our image of

God. And this is critical. Our image of God shapes our image, our

lives, and shapes how we relate to Him. Is God the payroll

master who rewards us for being good? Or is he the generous

Father who loves us no matter what? So why do we resent grace given

to others? Hope? Maybe you don't, but an awful lot of people

do. Why do we resent grace given to others? Jesus knew many

people would. That's why he told this story. Because he knew

us. Seeing others get grace would make it difficult for us if

we didn't understand kingdom principles. So why are we tempted

to resent grace? Scripture, the protests. These people worked

only one hour, and yet you paid them as much as you paid us,

who worked all day in the scorching heat. You see, God's grace

doesn't merely forgive, it equalizes. The first will be last,

standing, side by side, identical standing. And something

in us resents that. So why? I think there are five reasons we resent

grace given to others. I want to walk through these with you and

see if you recognize yourself in any of these five. First is this.

We haven't fully accepted that. Grace has generously given

to us. We just haven't accepted that it's given to us. Grace

can't be that easy. Forgiveness can't be that easy. We

got to do something, we got to pay a penalty. It can't be that easy.

Well, the book of Romans reads this way. It says anyone can be made

right with God by the free gift of his loving favor. It is Jesus

Christ who bought them with his blood and made them free from

their sins. It's free. Grace comes freely given because Christ

paid the penalty. So then that raises the question, well, why be

obedient? Why do we have to follow Christ? Why do we have to

be obedient? Why do we have to be good Christians? We do that out

of love, not to be forgiven. We do that out of following the design

of the way God ordered us and built this world to operate properly

and effectively and give us a fulfillment in life when we lead

life in the way he designed it instead of a sinful nature. That's

why we're obedient, not to be forgiven. We are forgiven by grace.

Our obedience comes by learning to live in that grace in

the way that he designed us to live and to be. The kingdom is not

earned. It is paid for by Christ and the generosity is given.

And if we have not fully rested in the sufficiency of Christ's

righteousness, we believe grace must be proportional. Length

of repentance, depth of remorse, visible transformation,

time served. We say, yes, grace, but gradually, yes, forgiven,

but let's measure it out. Yes, restoration. But after proving yourself,

yes, grace, grace. But it's got to be earned back, right, Grace.

But you're at a lower tier. Right, but that's not how God's grace

is given. We haven't accepted the fullness of God's grace is one

reason we're resentful of grace in others. Second is we haven't

forgiven ourselves. We haven't forgiven ourselves. God's forgiven

us, but we haven't forgiven ourselves of our sin. Why is that?

There are lots of reasons. Let me just tell you ones that I think

are important. The first is sin causes pain. Sin has consequences.

And every time we see the trail of those consequences, it triggers

the reaction of, of that sin and brings back the memory. And it's

hard to forgive ourselves. Even though God's forgiven. We drift

back into performance based because that's the nature of the

world. Everything's performance based in the world we

live. And so we just keep going, getting pulled back into that

when we know Grace is fully given, but it's hard to stay in that

space. Maybe we believe that others should be a lower tier because

we see they've sinned worse than I did and they didn't have to

pay more of a penalty. That's not fair. No, this isn't about fairness.

It's about grace. Maybe we can't forgive ourselves because we're

trying to justify why we did stupid things. Our pride's wounded.

We're frustrated over the lost time because of sinful behavior.

Maybe we can't forgive because we minimize the finality of the cross

that Jesus really did pay the price. It's paid in full. Jesus didn't

pay it partially. He paid it in full. And maybe we really doubt

our new identity in Christ. Remember the prodigal son? Prodigal

son went out and did the worst of the worst. And he came home and

the Father brought him back into the family, gave him the robe,

gave him the sandals, gave him the celebration. He was all a family

member again. And when God's grace gets poured into our lives

and forgiveness, we are family members again. And it's hard to feel

that way sometimes. And so we don't forgive ourselves. But the

scripture says so. Now there is no condemnation for those who

belong to Christ Jesus now. Not someday. Not when you earn it

back, not when you paid a penalty, not when you sat in the

penalty box long enough, no. But now there is no condemnation.

Zero. There needs to be no guilt, no probation, no partial acceptance

to those who belong in Christ. Belong, identity, union, family.

I am forgiven. I'm not forgiven and marked. I'm not forgiven

and blemished. I am forgiven and made whole. You see, the gospel

doesn't merely erase guilt. It confers righteousness. It restores

sonship. If God. Listen to this carefully. If God doesn't relate

to you primarily through your past failures, neither should you.

God doesn't see you that way, so don't see yourself that way. Well,

the third reason we may have trouble resenting grace is we trust

our feelings more than God's word. God gave us emotions for a

purpose. Joy, fear, anxiety, guilt. They're all tied up in our

corrupted nature. But they're also pure emotions that God gave

us. But sin is painful. Lots of emotion around sin. And those

emotional triggers remember all the consequences. But that's

not how God sees it. He says, as far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our sins from us. When memory brings back

the sin, say, yes, Lord, that was mine. But it is forgiven. And

you forgot it and help me forget it. You see, memory does not

equal liability. But there's one other emotion that comes up in

this resentment. Feels unfair. They got to have fun sinning. I know

people that go out on Saturday night, they do all kinds of horrible

things and they get to have all kinds of fun. And here I'm trying

to be obedient and God's going to treat them the same as he treats

me. Yeah, he is. But see, the part of sin you don't see is you're

seeing the social media gaussed picture of sin. You're not

seeing the broken, the pain, the path of destruction. I heard

a well known pastor once tell about his affair. He said how he

had an affair with this woman for several years. He said it was

a beautiful thing. It was amazing. We were soulmates, we connected

on a level I never connected with my wife. It was remarkable until

the moment we got caught. Everything fell apart. I lost my

wife, I lost my kids, I lost my church, I lost my income. Everything

was destroyed because of sin. You see, in sin you can look at the

glamorous part of it and be attracted to it, but you've got to

look at the consequences because they are enormous. Well,

the fourth reason we tend to resent grace for others is we haven't

learned to give grace to others ourselves. People say, well,

I'll give you grace when you deserve it. Now then, it's not grace

that's an earned reward. You see, they're operating by the world

standards. Not kingdom standards, you say, but I want justice

in, in this world. And this world is about justice, right? Really,

you think so? Have you been following the Epstein files? Where's

the justice? There's not an ounce of justice out there. The world's

way past sin places me at a lower tier. And so others ought to

remain at a lower tier too, right? Not in the kingdom of God.

Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,

just as God through Christ Jesus has forgiven you. Our reluctance

to extend grace often reveals our reluctance to rest in grace.

And if we learn to accept grace freely given, undeserved, it's

easy to give grace to others. See, the co workers couldn't celebrate

the generosity the amazing thing the landowner did because they

couldn't give any grace. They missed the joy of God's goodness

because they were focused on their comparison. Well, the fifth

reason is the best way for the devil to turn us away from God is

to make us resent grace given to others. You see, there are two

ways to miss the kingdom. The first is to rebel against God's authority.

And the second is to resent God's generosity. Remember the prodigal

son. Younger brother runs out, does all kinds of crazy stuff, come

home forgiven, he's a hero. Younger brother stays home, tries

to be obedient, tries to do the right thing, tries to always

do it right. And he grows bitter. He grows resentful of his

father's generosity to his brother. His grievance is not a broken

contract with his father. It's comparative generosity that bugs

him so much. Yes, salvation by grace. But surely, surely, doesn't

God measure perseverance in there? Don't we get some kind of

higher prize because we stayed by the stuff? The morning workers

did endure the heat and their labor was real all day long. But

God doesn't structure belongingness to the family around

metrics. Scripture says God saved you by his grace when you believed.

And you can't take credit for this. It's a gift from God. Salvation

is not a reward for good things we have done so that none

of us can boast of it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created

us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do good things he planned for

us long ago. You see, the resentment of grace in others reveals

our desire to boast of how good we're trying to be. And if the

devil can make and convince you that grace isn't fair, he turns

you away from God. Grace levels what we prefer to rank, and

we instinctively measure how long grace severity of the sin sacrifice

endured. But Christ's payment for our sins has no hierarchy. Some

of you have followed Christ since you were a young kid. And some

of you are just beginning to even ask real questions about faith.

But here's the good news. No one earns more of God than someone

else. Nobody does. So don't be resentful when grace dismantles status.

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our

sin so that we could be made right with God through Christ. You

see, the parable only makes sense at the cross. Jesus receives

what we deserve, the punishment we deserve. And we receive

grace because he paid our debt in full. That's a great exchange.

It's not about merit. It's all about grace. The question is not,

is God fair? The question is, is God good? The kingdom is not about

who worked the longest. It's about who trusts the owner. Embrace

God's forgiveness. Relax in it. Learn to enjoy grace. Let's say

together our benediction. No eye has seen, no ear is heard. No

mind is to see what God has prepared. To those who love him,

God bless.