God's Economy - The Gift of Grace

Matthew 20:1-16 Sept. 18, 2005

Audio Link: God's Economy - The Gift of Grace

Today's Scripture tells about workers in the vineyard. The owner of a vineyard wanted to hire some workers, so he went out to the marketplace early in the morning. He agreed to pay workers the regular wage, one denarius a day, and he sent them to work in the vineyard. He went out again at nine o'clock in the morning and saw some people standing there looking for jobs. He told them that if they would work at his farm, he would pay them a fair wage. So they agreed. Then, at twelve o'clock noon and again at three o'clock in the afternoon, the owner did the same thing. Much later, about five o'clock in the afternoon, the owner found some other people out at the marketplace who still could not find work. He brought the workers to the vineyard with the offer of a fair wage.

This parable describes the kind of thing that frequently happened at certain times in Palestine. The grape harvest is ready towards the end of September, and then close on its heel the rains came. If the harvest was not gathered in before the rains broke, then it was ruined; and so to get the harvest in was a frantic race against time. Any worker was welcome, even if he could give only an hour to the work. The market-place was a kind of labor exchange. A man came there first thing in the morning, carrying his tools, and waited until someone hired him. The men who stood in the market-place were waiting for work, and the fact that some of them waited until even five o'clock in the evening is the proof of how desperately they wanted to work. At the end of the workday, it was time for the owner of the farm to call the workers to receive their wages. The crucial point is this: The workers who had begun to work at five o'clock in the evening were paid a denarius each, the same amount paid to those who were hired early in the morning. Accordingly, the firstcomers grumbled, complained, and protested. They claimed that this was unfair treatment. Perhaps they were jealous for they thought that life was unfair.

By telling this parable, Jesus was trying to help His followers understand something important about grace in the Kingdom of God. We have to see and understand this parable not so much with an eye to economics, but rather and more importantly, with an eye to the spiritual perspective. Jesus was not encouraging unjust pay scales and discrimination. He was illustrating the nature of God's grace in terms that His followers could understand. The first thing to notice is that none of the workers was employed before the landowner hired them. The fact that they got a job was due to the employer's goodwill, not to anything they brought to the situation.

This kind of "daily hiring" still occurs today. In Annandale, VA, where I used to live, various companies hire Hispanic workers from a daily job market every morning. Early in the morning, when they drive their trucks into the job market where workers gather around the "Seven Eleven" parking lot, the men rush to the truck to plead for a one day job. Some of them have good skills, abilities, health, and some even have licenses, however, they totally depend upon the person who can hire them. If the owner of a construction or landscaping company for a daily job picked them, it would be a lucky day for them, because they could earn a bit of money. If they don't get chosen, they will stay there until someone picks them, and they will be desperate. This story makes me think again what God's grace means for us. It doesn't make any difference whether we have a good talent or not, whether we have worked for a long time or not, grace totally depends on God's decision.

In the kingdom of God, grace is given because of the nature of the Giver, not the worthiness of the recipient. Receiving God's grace is a privilege for sinners-who, after all, really deserve nothing but condemnation. Furthermore, the landowner promised the first group fair wages of a day's pay (a denarius) and the rest an undetermined amount, that is, whatever the landowner determines is right. When evening time came, the landowner paid everyone an entire day's wage. The owner wants to pay everyone equally. The owner not only wants to treat everybody fairly, but he also desires to please everyone, by giving each worker an equal opportunity. Some workers might exclaim that life is not fair, because the owner distributed wages equally to each worker.

However, he did not pay less than what he had promised to those workers. Rather, he simply offered a premium to some. It was not unfair, of course. No one was underpaid; it was just that some were treated with 'unreasonable' generosity. And more importantly, everyone received the owner's loving-kindness, and attention. This is God's grace, which is a free gift, an undeserved favor, given by God's own will. That is what the kingdom of heaven is like. God's grace is not limited by our ideas of fairness, and His grace is not limited by our conception of fairness; his gifts are far beyond what we can deserve. But, like the elder brother in the story of the Prodigal Son, we find it hard to abandon our human scale of values (especially when comparing ourselves with others!) and to accept the unmerited grace of God towards those we regard as undeserving.

There is a story about a pastor, Harry Ironside, who is known all over the world as a theologian and preacher. One day he was in conference with his church members. A young man lifted his hand and shouted all of a sudden, "Let us decide according to the law". Then, Dr. Ironside told an amazing story, "Now look, do you really want to keep the law? If God treated you according to the law, what would happen to you? You would be in the hell". We are people who live by a greater principle than the law; it is surely the principle of Grace.

In today's parable, Jesus gives a definite warning to the Jews. They knew that they were the chosen people, nor would they ever willingly forget they were chosen. As a consequence they looked down on the Gentiles. Usually they hated and despised them, and hoped for nothing but their destruction. This attitude threatened to be carried forward into the Christian Church. If Gentiles were to be allowed into the fellowship of the Church at all, they must come in as inferiors. In God's economy, there is no such thing as a most favored nation. Christianity knows nothing of the conception of a master race. It may well be that we who have been Christian for so long have much to learn from those younger Churches who are latecomers to the fellowship of the faith. It is in one sense a warning to the disciples. It is as if Jesus said to them. "You have received the great privilege of coming into the Church and fellowship very early, right at the beginning. In later days others will come in. You must not claim a special honor and a special place because you were Christians before they were. All people, no matter when they come, are equally precious to God."

These are the original lessons of this parable, but it has very much more to say to us. This parable speaks especially to those who feel superior because of heritage or favored position, to those who feel superior because they have spent so much time with Christ, and this parable especially speaks to new believers, reassuring them of God's grace. It doesn't matter when a man enters the Kingdom, late or early, in the first flush of youth, in the strength of the midday, or when the shadows are lengthening, he is equally dear to God. The Rabbis had a saying, "Some enter the Kingdom in an hour; others hardly enter it in a lifetime." In the picture of the holy city in the Revelation there are twelve gates. There are gates to the East which is the direction of the dawn, and whereby one may enter in the glad morning of their days; there are gates to the West which is the direction of the setting sun, and whereby one may enter in their old age. No matter when one comes to Christ, they are equally dear to him.

Sometimes a person dies full of years and full of honor, with their day's work ended and their task completed. Sometimes a young person dies barely after the door of life and achievement has opened at all. From God they will both receive the same welcome, for both confesses Jesus Christ as their Savior, and for neither, in the divine sense, has life ended too soon or too late. This does not mean that we don't need to do good works for Jesus Christ or that serving God and his church faithfully for a long time is in vain! This parable is not about rewards but about salvation. (I will preach about various rewards in the Bible later sometime) Today's parable is a strong teaching about grace, God's generosity. We shouldn't begrudge those who turn to God in the last moments of life, because, in reality, no one deserves eternal life. Many people we don't expect to see in the kingdom will be there. Like the thief on the cross in the gospel of Luke, the criminal who repented as he was dying (Luke 23:40-43) will be there along with people who have believed and served God for many years. Do you resent God's gracious acceptance of the despised, the outcast, and the sinners who have turned to him for forgiveness? Are you ever jealous of what God has given to another person? Instead, focus on God's gracious benefits to you, and be thankful for what you have.

Here is the generosity of God. These men did not all do the same work; but they did receive the same pay. There are two great lessons here. The first is, as it has been said, "All service ranks the same with God." It is not the amount of service given, but the love in which it is given which matters.

A man out of his plenty may give us a gift of a hundred dollars, and in truth we are grateful; a child may give us a birthday or Christmas gift which cost only a few dollars but which was lovingly saved up for-and that gift, with little value of its own, touches our heart far more. God does not look on the amount of our service. He looks on our heart. So as long as it is all we have to give, as long as it is our full love toward God, all service ranks the same with God.

One bitterly cold winter night a young man trudged through knee-high snow to the home of the girl he had been dating regularly. Tonight was the night. He asked her to marry him. Being very practical, the young woman replied, "When you have several thousand dollars, I will seriously consider it." Six month later, the two strolled hand in hand through a park along the river. He stopped to kiss her and asked, "When are we going to get married?" She inquired, "Well, you remember my condition. Just how much money have you saved?" He responded, "Exactly seventy-five dollars." She sighed and smiled, "Oh well, I guess that's close enough!" This story tells us what God expects from us. Because she knew how much he loved her, she accepted his love no matter how much money he had.

The second lesson is even greater-all that God gives is because of grace. We cannot earn what God gives us; we cannot deserve it; what God gives us is given out of the goodness of his heart; what God gives is not pay, but a gift; not a reward, but grace. When the great Puritan preacher Thomas Hooker was on his deathbed, a friend tried to console him by saying, "Brother Hooker, you are going to receive your reward." "No, no!" he breathed. "I go to receive grace!" As the apostle Paul reviewed his 30-plus years of sacrificial service, he saw himself as the "chief" of sinners and totally dependent on God's grace. Although he undoubtedly anticipated the rewards he would receive, he gloried only in the cross (Gal.6: 14).

Remember this! Salvation comes not from our position, our career, our eligibility, and our work but totally comes from His grace. God's economy is different from ours. Even though you are good at Math, you will not fully understand God's economy until you get to heaven. His economy is deeper, wider, and far beyond our calculation of fairness. Jesus paid the price for sin so that everyone who trusts in Him will receive grace. What a wonder of God's grace! Someday I will go to receive grace. I hope you will too.

God's Economy - The Gift of Grace

God's Economy - The Gift of God's Grace - Audio Sermon On-line - Reverend KyungMo Koo