Matthew The Great reversal

Matthew 20-1-16 The Great reversal Prayer for illumination: Sermon introduction: Statement one- I’m trying out for the Seahawks this fall Statement tw...
Author: Agatha Peters
1 downloads 0 Views 122KB Size
Matthew 20-1-16 The Great reversal Prayer for illumination: Sermon introduction: Statement one- I’m trying out for the Seahawks this fall Statement two- When I was five I road my bike to Seattle Statement three- I have memorized every word of Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield. Statement four- This watch on my wrist is worth $500,000. Statement five- I hunt grizzly bears with my bare hands. What do all of these statements have in common? First, they are all lies. Second, and more importantly, they are all shocking statements. When someone says something shocking everyone stops, turns their heads, and listen’s up. This brings us to Matthew 20:1-16 and another parable about the kingdom of God. A parable is a short story designed to make a point. The kingdom of God is the rule of God. We enter into this kingdom by trusting in king Jesus. In the middle of this parable Jesus says something shocking. He says that the person who worked one hour gets paid as much as the person who worked 12 hours. This is shocking!!! To make sure that we don’t miss the point, this parable begins and ends with similar shocking statements- Theologians call this literary device an inclusio. Matthew 19:30 (ESV) — 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first. Matthew 20:16 (ESV) — 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.” This seems crazy and shocking… shouldn’t the first be first??? What is Jesus point in this parable? God’s grace is shocking! To help us understand this we will look at three aspects of this storyHiring the workers Paying the workers Responding to the workers First, hiring the workers Even though there are technically five groups of workers that get hired Jesus focuses on two groups of workers; the first and the last hird. Let’s look at both of them. The group hired first! Matthew 20:1–2 (ESV) — 1 “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.

The master of the vineyard wanted to harvest his grapes. Harvest was tons of work so it was common for vineyard owners to recruit and hire day laborers from the town square. We read specifically that the master went out early in the day. In this culture day laborers started work at 6am and worked until 6pm. The first group of laborers agrees to work the whole day (12 hours) for one denarius. A denarius was roughly $100 in todays money. This means that they made $8.30 an hour. The group hired first! The group hired last! Matthew 20:3–7 (ESV) — 3 And going out about the third hour (9am) 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 (noon) and the ninth hour (3pm), he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour (5pm, nearly the end of the work day) 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.’ The first group was hired at 6am and worked all day (12 hours). $8.30 an hour The last group was hired at 5pm and worked one hour. Why was this group hired last? They were probably the most unimpressive workers, meaning that no one wanted to hire them, which is why the master questioned them before he hired them. So far we have looked at the two groups of workers… Application: These workers represent Christians and their work is Christian work! The one’s hired first, who worked all day, represent the “most likely to succeed” group. This is the person who trusted Jesus in his crib. He memorized the book of James, in fourth grade, in Greek. While in Junior High, instead of smoking cigarettes behind Seven Eleven he started a Bible study in the lunchroom. He helped found young life at his high school while maintaining a 3.95 GPA and captaining the lacrosse team. He went off to College, got really involved in campus ministry and his church, started a non profit, sold it for millions, gave all the money to the Hillyard Youth for Christ chapter, and then moved to Saudi Arabia to work for a Tech firm in order to tell Muslims about Jesus only to be hauled off to prison and martyred for Christ at age 47. This person honored Christ his whole life, all 47 years. On the other hand… Those hired last who only worked one hour represent the “least likely to succeed” group. This is the person who starting smoking pot in 6th grade, but quickly moved onto to harder drugs… he was in and out of prison, involved in gangs, homeless for a season, had no family, and no close relationships. At age 47 he stumbled into a church heard the gospel, repented of his sin and puts all of his trust in Jesus. His life is still a mess due to years of bad habits, so he does change all at once. Unfortunately, his kidneys stop working and he died 47 days after his conversion. He served Christ for 47 days of his life…

By the way… we have seen in the gospel of Matthew that Jesus specializes in these types of people; the outcast, the marginalized, the lepers, the little children, poor people, women, two blind men, a roman centurion, and a tax collector, etc… So far this story is not that shocking… one person labors all day and the other person labors for one hour. First, hiring the workers Second, paying the workers How much does the group hired last get paid? One denarius! Matthew 20:8–9 (ESV) — 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. Here is where the story gets interesting. The people hired at 5pm… the people who worked for one hour got paid one Denarius. Remember that a Denarius is worth $100. This means they got paid $100 an hour. If you were in this group, the group that got hired last, how would you respond? You would be shocked and amazed!!! You did not expect to get paid a denarius but this is exactly what you got. It is all about expectations. This is our problem… we expect grace, we expect good treatment from God, so we are not that amazed when we get it. Instead of amazing grace we have boring grace. How much does the group who was hired last get paid? One denarius! How much does the group who was hired first get paid? One denarius! Matthew 20:10–12 (ESV) — 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.’ The ones who worked all day got paid the same as the ones who worked one hour. It is difficult to blame these guys for complaining… Imagine being in their shoes? “Hay, wait a minute… we worked 12 hours and they only worked one hour… we should get paid more.” We only got paid $8.30 an hour and we worked during the hottest part of the day. They got paid $100 an hour and only worked one hour… This is shocking and it is meant to be shocking. Application: The denarius represents the gift of eternal life.

This does not mean that we work for salvation. Furthermore, this parable does not teach that everyone will get the same reward in heaven. You are not supposed to press every detail of parables. This parable is making one point. God’s grace is shocking!!! God does the unexpected. God blesses the last one hired and not the first one hired. God’s grace is shocking because the one’s who did not work all day get paid as much as the ones who worked all day. This means that our salvation has nothing to do with our works. Our salvation has nothing to do with how much we read the Bible, tithe, serve on the set up team, attend home group, serve our spouse and children, honor our bosses, and mow the neighbors grace. Back to our earlier characters… the person who served God 47 years and died needs just as much grace as the person who served God for 47 days. Both people must look away from their works to the work of Christ. Both must say, “nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling” We can’t forget that Jesus tells this parable to Peter… 19:23ff Peter says, “Lord we have left everything to follow you… we have made great sacrifices to follow you… what we will get in heaven?” Jesus says, “Don’t worry Peter, you will receive a reward,” but Peter you are not going to heaven because you worked really hard. The folks who worked less than you and did give up as much as you are in heaven for the same reason you are going to be in heaven. Grace!!! Then he tells Peter this parable to drive the point home. Salvation is a free gift that cannot be earned. It is simply received by faith. this is shocking. Dave… I know, I know, I have heard you say this many times!!! But do we really understand grace? Let me give you a test. Let’s call it “the understanding grace test.” Do you ever feel like God owes you something? If you complain the answer is yes. Let me explain… Sometimes life is hardWe get lonely We get depressed, sometimes we get severely depressed Our relationships fall apart Our cars break down and we have no money Our marriage is a mess Our children are a mess Or something else… When these things happen we are tempted to think, “But God I have served you faithfully for all these years, surely I deserve a better than this???” We are complaining. If we think this way, we are relating to God based on our merit. Our merit earns us nothing. Plus, God does not owe us anything but Justice. And even our best deeds are tainted by sin. And when we do what God wants us to do we are only do we are supposed to be doing.

Understanding this would change everything for us. Most of our unhappiness is due to the fact that we think that God owes us something that we don’t have. The only thing God owes us is judgment. If we don’t believe this, we will never be amazed by grace. If God’s grace is not shocking to us we don’t understand god’s grace… By the way, this parable is not encouraging people to put off salvation until the end of their lives (2 Cor. 6:2). JC Ryle writes, “Few are ever saved on their deathbeds. One thief on the cross was saved, that none should despair; but only one, that none should presume.” (Ryle, 250) First, hiring the workers Second, paying the workers Third, responding to the workers The workers hired first grumble to their employer/master… How does the master respond to the grumbling? God’s grace never violates God’s justice Matthew 20:13–14 (ESV) — 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. The master says to the workers hired first, “you agreed to work the whole day for $100 and I paid you $100. I’m doing exactly what I said I would do.” Summary- in God’s economy no one gets less than they deserve… although some get way more. The master is just and gracious but no one can accuse him of doing wrong or being unfair. God is never unjust. Everyone who has ever lived and who will ever live will either get justice or grace. Justice is getting what we deserve, Grace is getting what God earned for us. How does the master respond? God’s grace never violates his justice! How else does the master respond to the grumbling? God’s grace must not be envied! Matthew 20:15–16 (ESV) — 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.” According to verse 15 God gives his grace to whomever he wants to give his grace too. This is his divine prerogative. He is God! In this story God lavished the second group of workers with a full day’s worth of pay. It was his right do to this. Some got jealous and complained. When God lavishes others with well behaved children, a godly spouse, good grades, athletic ability, a good job, a new house, a new boat, or a new whatever we are often tempted to be jealous. Instead of being jealous we are called to rejoice in God’s goodness and generosity towards others. We have looked at three things

Hiring the workers Paying the workers Responding to the workers What is the point? God’s grace is shocking… When most of us hear the name Jeffery Dahmer we cringe. Jeffery Dahmer was one of the most wicked human beings to ever live. He wound up in prison for killing 17 young men. I can’t describe what he did to these young men in this context because it is way too gruesome. In fact, there is no context where what he did should ever be described to anyone. While in prison Dahmer was sent books and tracts explaining the gospel. He was intrigued and started meeting with the prison chaplain. Eventually he came to faith in Christ. This was verified by his father, the prison chaplain, and others. Then Jeffery Dahmer was baptized in the name of the Father, the son, and the holy Spirit. A little while later he was attacked by another prisoner and he died. Sean O’donnell writes, “Then what? Did Jeffery Dahmer- the most horrific human being of my lifetime- go into the presence of a holy God? Did he get a denarius? He tortured and killed people, lots of people. Sure, he professed faith in Christ, but he died so shortly after, he hardly had a chance to prove himself worthy of the kingdom. What do you think about sharing an apple from the tree of life with with Jeffery Dahmer in the new heavens and the new earth? Does the thought of it make you sick? Does the thought of it shock all spiritual sensibilities? Well, my brothers and sisters, that’s the shock of grace?” (Odonell, 562) lets pray…