Getting What You Don’t Deserve
- David Fairchild
- Jul 27, 2008
- Series: Encountering Jesus
TEXT
Matthew 20:1-16: "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 have 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?' 16 So the last will be first, and the first last."
INTRODUCTION
We've been in the Parables of Jesus for the last eight weeks. We took three weeks to discuss the Parable of the Two Sons, so we've only actually looked at five of the 55 parables that Jesus told. As I mentioned last week, parables are stories in comparison form. They set one thing against another. Jesus teaches us that the Kingdom of Heaven is like this, but not like that. This helps us to see what it is more clearly as He teaches us what it isn't.
If you remember last week's message, we were in Matthew chapter 13 which contains seven parables on the Kingdom. These parables were given by Jesus to teach us what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. Most of them began with, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like..." What does God's reign in our life look like? How are we to be characterized as children of the kingdom? How is God's reign over this whole world going to look when Jesus returns to bring His Kingdom to fullness? These are the questions Jesus is answering through stories (parables).
This morning, in light of our gathering at the beach and following baptism, I wanted to change things up a bit. Instead of simply reading the text and having me give a running monologue to comment on it, I thought we would give and take a bit more today.
In doing so I want you to participate in discovering some of these truths together for a few reasons: First, God speaks in community and not just through one person. God may choose particular mouthpieces to proclaim His word, but the entire community is responsible for learning and teaching one another. It's really healthy for us to learn together as His people and gain insight that we might have missed otherwise. Second, I want to help you see how I go about studying a particular passage to mine out from it the gospel insights and application. Hopefully this will help you to do the same in community and on your own. Third, it's healthy for us to get out of our comfort zones on Sunday. Sometimes we can get into the same routine and forget that we're not passive spectators when we gather, but instrumental and vital parts of God's whole family. As brothers and sisters, we don't only want your attendance but your engagement when we gather. Though we don't do this every single week, it's good to mix it up to keep you guessing!
Why don't we read the parable and then we'll start to unpack it together. As we discuss this together, some ground rules might help us. 1) Be ready to retell this parable back to me after we read it. 2) When answering a question, only answer it from this parable so that we keep it in context unless asked to do so. Try not to jump ahead and insert text from outside the story itself. 3) Try to speak so that everyone can hear you. I'll try and repeat your comments, but speak clearly.
Here's the parable:
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
Matthew 20:1-16 "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 have 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?' 16 So the last will be first, and the first last."
Someone please retell the parable and we'll fill in what was left out.
Q- Who are the characters of this parable?
Q- Which characters are in conflict with one another?
Q- Why are the workers frustrated with the master of the house? Why do they give him the "evil eye" (v. 15 begrudge is actually evil eye in Gk.).
Q- What charge are the laborers bringing against the land owner?
A- The charge of injustice.
Q- Have you ever been in a position where someone less qualified than you received higher wages? How did you feel about that? Does it seem unfair?
Q- Have you ever made less than someone who didn't work as hard as you? How did you feel about that? Does it seem unfair?
Q- Have you ever slacked off at work for an afternoon or a day and still made more money than someone who works harder than you? Was that fair to the employer?
Q- In this story, who sets the standard for work to be done and wages to be earned?
A- The master of the house.
Q- When you were hired at your job, who set the standard for your work and what wage you would receive? Who has the right to dock your pay if you slack off?
A- Your employer.
Q- Is that unfair?
A- No, they hired me and have the right to hold me accountable to the standard they set when hiring me.
Q- Who does the master in this story represent?
A- God, who created all things and called us to be obedient in the garden. If we did so, he would give us eternal life. If we didn't, he would pay us a wage.
Q- What is the only wage that God is willing to pay today?
A- Death. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23)
The broader context of the parable in chapters 18-25 of Matthew:
Question from the disciples in chapter 18 about who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus' lesson is he puts a child on his lap and says, "Unless you turn and become like a child, you'll never enter the Kingdom of Heaven." He was looking for humility and trust.
Question from the Pharisees at the beginning of chapter 19 about giving the least responsibility to your wife. Jesus teaches them that instead of asking about the minimum responsibility as a way out, they should be asking what God's intention for marriage is.
Question from the religious man in the middle of the chapter about giving to God your best religious duty to inherit eternal life. Jesus' answer is to give up.
The immediate context of the parable:
Peter's question:
Matthew 19:27-30: "Then Peter said in reply, ‘See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?' 28 Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.'"
The experience and context of the writer of this Gospel, Matthew:
Matthew's perspective in writing this parable. Can you imagine as a tax-collector, and one who was hired late and unworthy of God's grace, how he'd perceive this parable? Matthew writes his account of Jesus' call:
Matthew 9:9-13: "As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.' And he rose and followed him. 10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?' 12 But when he heard it, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice." For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.'"
Grace narrative vs. workers narrative
Matthew 20:17-28: "And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.' 20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And he said to her, ‘What do you want?' She said to him, ‘Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.' 22 Jesus answered, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?' They said to him, ‘We are able.' 23 He said to them, ‘You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.' 24 And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'"
Q- Have you ever felt like everything in your life was being measured against a standard or excellence...someone else's standard? And if you didn't perform well enough you wouldn't receive a full wage of love, acceptance etc.? You looked around and it seemed that everyone else was getting what they needed and doing a whole lot less than you to get it! We are NOT getting what we deserve from God-death and rejection, but we are instead getting a "full days wage" in love and acceptance, forgiveness...eternal life! And we don't have to perform or earn it at all...just surrender and accept the Master's "wage" at the end of the day, which is His loving grace.
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