September 21, 2008, P19A. version5
Pastor Harman - St. Peter LCMS - Newell, IA.
Title: A Response to God's Generosity.
Matthew 20:1-16
Today's parable is framed by a verse right before this text and our
final verse: "the first shall be last and the last shall be first." It is
crucial to remember that a parable is an earthly story with a specific
heavenly meaning; so while there are many points that can be taken from the
parable, only one can be the key.
Peter had just heard Jesus say it would be easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. An
astonished Peter brags that they have left everything to follow Jesus, so
they expected some reward.
The words of Christ clearly comes out: "My ways are NOT your ways" as
He says "the first shall be last and the last shall be first."
Our Old Adam and his inheritance preach "you get what you deserve."
But God gives to us by grace, which is foolish to that Old Man in us and to
the world around us.
The world cries out: "equal pay for equal work!" When we hear of an
employer who pays more for men than for women, reporters swarm like Asiatic
ladybugs into our attics and other warm spaces in the winter and cause a
stink. So the words of our Lord sound strange in many ears...
He tells of a man with an urgent need for unskilled labor. HE owns the
field. HIS crop is mature. HE goes at 6am to a spot with workers and HE
offers unskilled help as much as a skilled craftsman might expect: a
denarius. Archeology has unearthed that they should have actually gotten
MUCH less (1/12th that wage, or a pondion) since they had no real skill. HE
seeks them out and HE calls them; they don't "decide to follow" the Owner.
He goes again at 9AM, since there is plenty of work. He assures them:
"I will pay you what is right." Remember that phrase. [ by Whose
standards? :) ]
He goes back at noon, and again at 3pm; hiring whomever he finds. He
still has work, so He takes the initiative, goes at 5pm, and finds unskilled
laborers.
"Why have you been standing here all day without work?" He asks. "No
one hired us" they reply. "I WILL! Go and work" He answers.
Jesus gives no surprise in the way He lines up the payments. According
to Jewish Law (Lev. 19:13) they were all paid at sunset from last to first.
But the exorbitant, insane, audacity of the story is not just the size of
the wages. HERE'S THE POINT OF THE PARABLE! NO PERSON deserved the pay
they got!!!
In our farming community, we know the urgency of the harvest. If hay
is down and a sudden storm brews, we know it needs to be baled and barned
quickly. If the spot price of beans would jumps to $25 a bushel, heaven
help anyone caught between your bins and the elevator. You would want every
vehicle manned, fully loaded, and on the scales as soon as possible.
God's harvest of souls will also end some day. Soon. Until that time,
the Lord wants every available worker equipped and in the mission fields.
The Owner gave equal pay for VERY unequal laboring. While those hired FIRST
did not deserve a whole denarius because they were unskilled day-labor, they
were certain and felt those who only worked a little did not deserve the
wage. They grumbled. Certainly, they had been over-paid - and on a day
when it should have been NO pay. But the Owner overpaid others even more!
They felt they did NOT get what they deserved. They grumbled at God's
generosity. (Do you feel that way??)
Stop for a moment and ponder with me. Consider the life-long Lutheran
who has been an elder for a few terms, president of the church once, and a
trustee for what seems like a century. Now consider the thief on the cross
who heard Jesus promise "Today you will be with me in Paradise." Is that
fair? Really?
What of the faithful ladies of our LWML and their tireless efforts, or
African missionary who serves 50 years compared to the lady in the nursing
home who repents as she lays dying; or an African gang member who is given
faith to confess Christ even as his life drains into a pool on the street.
Should they go to heaven? Shouldn't God reward our youth workers FAR more?
Or some other difficult work in God's harvest fields?
Consider that good stewardship in New Testament practice includes a
tithe. Ten percent of ALL that you or I receive from God thru our employers
/ renters / sales should be given back to God as a standard MINIMUM (!)
offering. You DO give ten percent of everything for the mission of God's
Church, don't you? :) Surely God rewards those who give first-fruit tithes
more than those giving meager leftovers. That is how the Old Adam feels.
So, deep in our sinful heart we still feel when we work for the LORD
all our lives and "bear the heat of the day" that we should be compensated.
What does the Bible say? The wages (that is: what we EARN for what we
do), the wages of sin is DEATH. (Rom. 6:23). The very FIRST matter we need
to realize is that we DO N-O-T get what we deserve from God. Read the short
list in Romans 3:10-19. The most pious among us deserves to go to hell at
this very instant ("do not pass GO, do not collect $200").
As Lutherans, we say "the two chief works of God in men (are) to
terrify; and, to justify and quicken the terrified." AP XII 53. That is to
say, the Law must be preached in all its harshest tones, and then the Gospel
alone declares us right with God and makes us alive. We also give all
credit to the Holy Ghost for bringing us to faith and keeping us. (SD II 5,
LSC AC III, etc.).
The question Jesus is asking you is this: is your heart in step with
God's will? It is easy to start feeling we deserve something from God for
doing good, working hard, and the like. It is not hard to believe God
should give us health, or wealth, or "you name it and claim it" as false
prophets say.
Peter's question, "what's in it for us?" is one that haunts us all from
time to time. When we see non-Christians prospering on earth, Satan tempts
us to deny Christ's work and dream of mansions WE feel WE have earned
because of faith.
Our Heavenly Father gives by grace. While the Law is very harsh, the
Gospel is even more gentle. The Owner says: "I will pay you what is
right." Not right by our patterns of what is just, but His. And all
praise to God this is so!!!
"As high as the heavens are above the earth, so are God's ways higher
than our ways; and His thots than our thots" Jesus declares in Isaiah.
Psalm 24 reminds us "the earth is the LORD's and everything in it."
God owns the land. He owns us. God owns the gold and paper money. We do
not decide to work for Him; HE calls us into HIS harvest fields. God truly
owes no one anything. And 'who has given first to the Lord that He should
repay?' (Job 41:11). So even IF you could somehow live an entirely perfect
life and somehow get rid of your Old Adam (Which is utterly impossible!),
God would STILL not owe you a spot in heaven.
God does not want us to grumble about anyone going to heaven. The
heart of our faith is that God saves by grace alone, not by works - no one
can boast (Ephesians 2:10). God tells us there is rejoicing among the
angels when ANY sinner repents (Luke 15:10). No matter how many years you
or I serve on earth in the Church Militant, we cling to salvation by grace
alone thru faith alone in Christ alone.
The life that you and I live is not a response to the Law. We
Christians live by and in the power of the Good News of Jesus Christ, who
lived the perfect life and died on the cross to pay for all our sins as true
man and true God.
Think of it this way, ladies. Mom fixes a BIG Sunday dinner. The 5
year old gets a tiny dot of mashed potatoes, because he hasn't contributed
much to the family and was wiggly in church. The 15 year old gets more, but
still not much because she contributed little and spaced out the sermon. It's
the grandparents that get the huge portions, because they've contributed the
most to the family AND acted really good in church. RIGHT? Of course not!
God has blessed us with an abundance of food in America. You serve each
family member by grace, not because they worked for food.
God works in a far, far better way. Christ served as the payment for
all sin on the cross, so that we could be in His family thru Baptism, feed
at the Lord's Table on earth, AND also by grace be with Him forever in
heaven. Any task that we do is a response of thanks, not an act to earn
love.
As Paul writes in the Epistle (Philippians 1), our thanks and joy is
because of a partnership in the Gospel, not the Law. We live pure and
blameless with righteousness that comes from Christ. We conduct ourselves
in a manner NOT worthy of the Law, but of the Gospel. Paul does not say "to
live is to observe the Law." He says, "to live is Christ." The service we're
able to render is a response of love by the power of the cross. Our service
earns us nothing. But then, it does not have to -- for Jesus Christ has
earned it all for us.
When a man loves the land, he works hard for it. You men know what I
mean. Yes, you want to make a living. But when you love to farm, or when
you love whatever you do in life, you'd rather do that and break even than
work a job you hate for more money.
God's love fills us that sort of way. The Spirit works in Word and
Sacraments to load us with the energy and ability to serve, AND enjoy the
service rather than grumbling that someone might get paid as much for less
work in God's Kingdom.
The parable Jesus gives is a severe warning against any idea that God
gives us what we deserve. Thank God, we do not get what we deserve, but
rather the grace we need!
May the Spirit continue to work in each of us, so that we joyfully and
willingly work in God's Kingdom of Grace to the best of the talents, gifts,
and abilities God has given us. And may He also labor in us thru His Word
to not be envious at God's generosity, but rather rejoice in it. Thru Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
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