WEBVTT 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:21.280 Our reading today is Matthew chapter twenty, verse one to sixteen. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:28.160 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. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:33.200 After agreeing with the laborers for denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:38.479 And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:43.920 And to them he said, You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you. 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:45.119 So they went. 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:49.920 Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:53.759 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:57.200 And he said to them, Why do you stand here idle all day? 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:03.520 They said to him, Because no one has hired us, he said to them, You go into the vineyard too. 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:12.560 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. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:18.319 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:24.640 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:35.040 And on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house, 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. 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:39.680 But he replied to one of them, Friend, I am doing you no wrong. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:42.400 Did you not agree with me for denarius? 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:44.799 Take what belongs to you and go. 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:49.280 I choose to give to this last walk worker as I give to you. 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:52.959 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:55.760 Or you do you begrudge my generosity? 00:01:56.079 --> 00:01:58.959 So the last will be first, and the first last. 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:00.719 And so reads God's word. 00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:10.479 I was enjoy a good illusion. 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:16.479 But um we're gonna be talking this morning about the passage that Lisa read for us just a minute ago. 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:21.759 And um I gotta say, I as as a Christian, I've been a Christian for a good long while. 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:25.919 Um, and I know what what my reaction to this parable is supposed to be, right? 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:28.240 You're supposed to think, oh gosh, yeah, that's great. 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:31.759 The first will be last, and the last will be first. 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:41.759 And that's that's that's very easy to say, but you want to know what in in in my heart of hearts, in in the deep parts of me that I don't talk about. 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:45.280 It's great to be in that situation if you're the last. 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:48.479 Because if you're the last and you're you get to come up and be first, that's great. 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:52.719 But if you're the first, that doesn't always feel all that great. 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:54.719 I can tell you a story. 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:55.840 You want a story? 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:57.120 Great stories here. 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:03.360 Um, 20 years ago or so, I was working for a company, and um it was really a high pressure kind of job. 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:17.360 Really had to had to keep on top of a lot of different things, a lot of planning, a lot of replanning, a lot of on-call hours where you're solving problems in the middle of the night out of a dead sleep, and just just a really demanding job in a lot of different ways. 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:19.360 Um, but I was really good at it. 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:20.639 I really liked it, right? 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:24.319 It I didn't always like it, but but I really, I really excelled at it. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:26.879 I really felt like I was knowing what I was doing. 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:28.800 I was a credit to the company. 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:37.439 And um a little bit embarrassing here, the uh performance review that I got about 20 years ago was like a love letter from the company. 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:44.800 They're just like, you know, talking about my my critical thinking and my outside of the box and problem solving, all of this great stuff, right? 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:46.719 And it said, I remember this clearly. 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:57.360 It said, if the it, you know, the next time a promotion opportunity comes up, we would not hesitate to, you know, recommend you, to, to, to heartily recommend you for promotion. 00:03:57.520 --> 00:03:58.639 I was just like, this is great. 00:03:58.800 --> 00:03:59.520 This is great. 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:07.280 So as luck would have it, or as God would would have designed it there, um, a promotion opportunity did come up. 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:08.960 And I applied for it. 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:13.759 I went up and talked to the department manager, and it was a great interview. 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:14.719 It went really well. 00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:20.720 He was practically gushing on me, and he says, you know, we have to finish the process here, but stay by your phone. 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:23.199 I think we'll have some good news for you in a few days. 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:29.279 And sure enough, a few days later, I get a call to go back upstairs and sit with this manager and talk with him. 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:32.560 And he says, I'm sorry, we're gonna have to give the job to someone else. 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:34.639 And that was bad enough. 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:35.519 That was bad enough. 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:40.959 But the person that he gave the job to was nowhere near as good as I was. 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:41.759 All right. 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:46.879 I hate to speak badly of people, but she was she was in a completely different spot. 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:50.399 She was she was very difficult to work with. 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:55.199 Um, she didn't trust upper management, she was paranoid, she was burnt out. 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:59.040 Her last performance review was not a love letter from the company. 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:02.720 It was basically a get your act together or you're gonna be sent packing. 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:04.160 And they gave her the job. 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:05.199 They gave her the job. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:06.240 They didn't give me the job. 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:12.319 They said she has more experience with the company, she's been here longer, and she has a higher level of education. 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:21.519 So no matter how hard you may have worked, no matter how much you may have gotten done, no matter how much we may appreciate what you've done for the company here, we can't give you this. 00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:29.920 And so if I if I have the proper Christian response that you should have after reading a parable like this, I would have said, Oh, that's great. 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:33.439 Because the first will be last, and the last will be first. 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:39.120 My actual reaction, my actual response to it was was slightly less um gracious. 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:45.360 I didn't say anything untoward, but I did wind up moving on and finding a new job in a new company. 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:50.560 Um and so that really reveals a lot about how we think of work. 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:54.240 And maybe, maybe some of you have been in similar situations there. 00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:57.199 Maybe you've uh found yourself in those places. 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:01.199 But this parable works on two levels, I think. 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:08.240 I think first of all, it tells us about what it's about, but I think it also reveals who we are. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:14.079 It it opens up our heart and lets us uh lets us be made aware of how we respond to this. 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:15.680 It's not a parable about work. 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:21.920 It's not, you know, a manifesto for labor relations or some kind of Marxist thing or anything like that. 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:24.240 But it's a tale of grace, right? 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:27.839 And this tells us a lot about the grace of the Lord Jesus. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:34.240 And like I said, we can see a lot by what's in it, and we can see a lot by what's in us as we approach it. 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:36.240 So a tall order for the morning. 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:40.560 I hope you're properly caffeinated and ready to uh begin here. 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:44.959 But uh let's let's go to our Lord and ask his help as we as we dig into it. 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:55.279 Heavenly Father, we do thank you for your word, and we thank you that we have the opportunity to get into it here, and I thank you that we can see so much from this parable, Lord. 00:06:55.519 --> 00:07:04.319 Help to uh reveal in our own hearts and in our own minds how we might need to be changed as we study this, as we read this. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:07.759 Lord, let your spirit be at work within us all. 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:09.600 Pray this in Jesus' name. 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:10.560 Amen. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:27.600 So before we before we get into the deeper spiritual meaning, because this is a parable, parable is a a mundane story, a story of normal things that we could relate to, but it's it's set over the top of spiritual truths, and so it helps to explain that. 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:34.399 But before we can really get a sense of the spiritual truths that this is communicating, let's just let's recap what's gone on here. 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:42.160 Essentially, you've got a landowner, guy owns a vineyard, and he goes out early in the morning. 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:45.120 The the ancient world they had this 12-hour workday. 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:47.439 So next time you're complaining about how long your day is. 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:49.439 But they had this 12-hour workday. 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:54.639 And so if we think about it as, you know, kind of six in the morning until six in the evening, uh, that's what we have in mind. 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:56.319 So he goes out, say, at six a.m. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:07:57.839 and he goes down to the marketplace. 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:04.160 This is where all the people who are going to be looking for work for the day are are hanging about and looking for somebody to take them on. 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:08.720 And he finds a group of people and says, Come on, work for me, I'll I'll give you denarius. 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:14.240 And he goes back again at nine, at noon, at three, and at five. 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:18.240 So he's there five different times and he brings back five different groups of people. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:21.120 We'll call them groups one, two, three, four, and five. 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:24.800 Group one, they've worked 12 hours. 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:28.240 Group five, they've worked one hour, right? 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:36.639 But the twist at the end there is of course that they all wind up with the same wages at the end of the day. 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:44.720 He doesn't he doesn't give them any kind of consideration for who's worked longer or who's achieved more. 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:46.480 Everybody gets the same. 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:56.080 And we hear group one grumbling about this because they were expecting, you know, if group five is getting a full denarius, a denarius was about a day's wages. 00:08:56.240 --> 00:09:02.399 So if group five, who worked one day, are getting a full day's work, what are we gonna get? 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:03.759 That's so exciting. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:09.440 But he doesn't do that, he doesn't pay in proportion to how long they worked or any of those kind of things. 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:21.519 And it says that uh verse 12 says that the uh uh group one were grumbling about it because they themselves had borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:25.759 Now, we don't hear from groups two, three, four, or five. 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:28.399 Presumably, group five thought this was a pretty good deal. 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:35.440 But the fact that we only see the reaction of group one tells us that's who this parable is about. 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:37.919 That's that's the focus of this parable. 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:48.080 And so it's important to us before we dig into what the parable is is pointing to spiritually, we need to understand who does group one point to? 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:50.639 Who do who can we map onto that? 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:54.000 Well, we know there's there's a couple of couple of things we can look at here. 00:09:54.159 --> 00:10:01.759 Jesus was in the middle of a conversation with the scribes and Pharisees, kind of the religious elite of the society there. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:04.080 So we know that he was talking to them. 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:08.799 Um so that right there would give you a clue that maybe that's who he's who he's addressing here. 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:11.679 But think about what we know about scribes and Pharisees. 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:22.799 If you've if you've read the Gospels, if you're familiar with the gospel accounts there, it's easy to kind of cast them as the you know pantomime villains and they're you know sneering and twisting the mustaches. 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:30.799 But uh in reality, these guys to their own to their own perspective would have been really the ones who were working hard. 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:33.279 They really wanted to please God. 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:34.559 Did they get it wrong? 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:35.039 Yeah. 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:37.600 Did they have some of the wrong thinking and the wrong mindset? 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:41.519 Were they more about how they looked to other people than what God thought about them sometimes? 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:42.320 Sure. 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:47.360 But really, that was what drove them, this this desire to please God. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:11:00.399 And so you can see there's there's a pretty strong parallel there between group one, where they're complaining that they've worked harder than everybody else, and you know, scribes and Pharisees who work harder than anyone else to please God. 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:08.960 So it's it's easy to map the map the Pharisees onto group one, but we can also see Jesus is answering a question from his disciples. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:16.960 So uh in the previous chapter, uh the Apostle Peter is saying, Hey, uh, see, we've left everything and followed you. 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:19.600 What then will he what what then will we have? 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:27.039 It's almost like he's saying, Hey, Jesus, we're in on the ground floor with you on this whole, you know, new kingdom thing that you've got going. 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:30.559 What's what's our what's our what's our stock options on this? 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:33.440 How much how much do we get of the of the kingdom? 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:37.679 And they might have expected that Jesus was going to say, Yeah, you guys have been here the longest. 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:39.919 You guys are the best, you're the cream of the crop. 00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:45.039 You get the you get the most stock options, you get the most property, you get whatever, you're you're you're top of it. 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:46.559 He doesn't say that. 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:51.440 Instead, he gives us, you know, the last verse of of the prior chapter. 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:55.759 He says, Many who are first will be last, and the last first. 00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:05.840 Imagine you go to your boss and you're like, okay, so I've worked hard this year and I think I'm really up for a pay rise, and your boss says, uh, many first will be last, and many last will be first. 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:06.639 Okay. 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:16.799 So maybe not what they were, what they were thinking of, but again, this is where Jesus is going to turn it upside down on them a little bit and give them a better idea about grace. 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:19.039 We're gonna see three things about grace. 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:22.879 We're gonna see grace, number one, levels the field. 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:31.840 We're gonna see that grace is better than a transaction, and we're gonna see that grace is uh just more amazing than we can possibly understand. 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:34.559 So we'll start off with grace levels the field. 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:38.720 Jesus has already said, many first will be last, and the last first. 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:43.360 He says this at the end of our passage as well, in verse 16. 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:46.399 And this again, this just doesn't feel right to us. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:54.480 I was I was talking with with a friend about, you know, preaching on this this passage earlier in the week, and I said, Yeah, yeah, the laborers in the vineyard. 00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:56.159 He says, Yeah, injustice. 00:12:58.080 --> 00:12:59.279 So he knows. 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:03.679 But um but we we we see that Jesus is pointing to a different way. 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:04.960 Take a look in in verse 11. 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:10.480 If you've got the passage, I'm sorry, if you've got it open in front of you, um, it's gonna help because we're gonna be referring back to it a lot. 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:15.840 Group one sees that they've got the same wages as groups two to five. 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:20.159 It says, and on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house. 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:22.799 They're saying, This isn't right. 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:24.559 This doesn't make sense. 00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:27.440 But the vineyard owner is not having it. 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:30.480 He's he's not uh he's not taking it on for them there. 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:32.480 He's saying, You've not been shortchanged. 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:36.480 I gave you what I agreed to give you, you've not been swindled. 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:41.360 The only reason it's a concern to you is because you saw what everyone else got. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:48.080 You know, in verse 15, he says, Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:50.159 And that's a legitimate question. 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:54.320 But going deeper, he says, or do you begrudge my generosity? 00:13:56.399 --> 00:13:58.720 In other words, I lived up to my commitment to you. 00:13:58.799 --> 00:14:02.879 So if I show generosity to these others, what does that have to do with you? 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:09.440 I can remember, I I I try not to use my kids as an example too much, but I'm gonna do it today. 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:18.799 When when they were small, um we we might have one of them in the in the living room and say, Oh, I'm really proud of you for doing this right, or you remembered to do this, or you you you did this well, or whatever. 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:22.879 And sometimes you'd hear from the other room somebody else was listening, hey, what about me? 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:26.399 It's like it has nothing to do with you. 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:31.120 I can I can I can give praise to your sibling, and it doesn't mean that I'm not praising you. 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:37.600 So there's there's certainly an element of of rivalry, of jealousy when it comes to ver to group one. 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:43.360 You know, you gave these others more than they were expecting, but you didn't give me more than I was expecting. 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:46.320 But there's also just again this sense of injustice. 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:53.840 We worked harder, we fought out through the heat of the day, we provided more value and benefit to your business. 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:55.200 We should get more. 00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:59.279 And you can imagine how this would apply to Pharisees, right? 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:05.120 People who who really tried really hard to work and earn their way in with God in the way that they lived. 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:17.840 These guys would have would have seen themselves as much better, much higher, much, much further along in terms of their relationship with the Lord than, say, a tax collector, right? 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:23.919 Tax collectors, just to give you a little bit of uh of background in the area there, nobody likes paying taxes. 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:25.679 I will I will I will give you that. 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:30.399 But um but tax collectors of this day were were a special breed. 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:37.200 They were they were representatives of the Roman government, but they got to charge basically what they wanted to charge. 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:48.159 And so they they would frequently um take more from people than they were required to, and so then they could send off what needed to go to Rome and keep the difference to lie in their own pockets. 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:54.159 And this is people from within the community, you know, siding with the occupying government. 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:56.000 So these guys were were outcasts. 00:15:56.159 --> 00:15:58.080 These guys were the worst of the worst. 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:04.399 They were getting rich off of the backs of their own people and lining up with the oppressors, right? 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:11.039 But we we do see in Luke's gospel, there's a there's a story of a tax collector, a guy called Zacchaeus. 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:20.639 If you're familiar with this story at all, this man, he's a short guy, he had to climb up in a tree, but but um he encountered Jesus. 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:27.840 And he responded to Jesus, what Jesus was was saying in faith and repentance. 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:35.919 So he was he was turning away from his wicked ways, and he even committed to restoring what he had defrauded other people of. 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:52.399 And lest we think this is some kind of, you know, just lip service, yeah, he's he's just saying this so that he looks good, Jesus himself, who sees hearts and minds and knows what people are thinking, Jesus himself says, Today salvation has come to this house. 00:16:53.120 --> 00:17:01.360 Now, maybe a generous and charitable uh Pharisee might look at it and say, okay, it's probably good that this tax collector is changing his ways. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:05.359 It's probably good that he's coming under grace, that's good. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:11.519 But no way is this tax collector gonna be as high in the kingdom as me. 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:14.559 Look how hard I've worked, look how long I've worked. 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:20.880 This guy is just coming around for the first time, and before this, he's been doing terrible stuff on his own people. 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:25.359 But Jesus' parable here tells a very different story. 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:33.119 We say it here at City Church a lot, but the ground before the foot of the cross of Jesus is flat, right? 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:38.160 There's no there's no higher and lower Christians, there's no better or worse. 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:47.279 It's not like not like a Pharisee is gonna be kicking back in some mansion in glory and the tax collector's gonna be there, you know, shining his shoes. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:51.519 So grace levels the field. 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:58.319 So I I could look at myself and I could tell you some unflattering, uh, some unflattering things too, because I mean, look at me. 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:02.240 I'm up here in front, I'm teaching all of you, look how great I am, right? 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:10.480 But the minute I start to think that I'm better or further along than somebody who's just come to faith, I'm not getting it. 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:12.319 I'm not understanding it. 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:15.759 I don't have a good picture of grace, the kingdom of God. 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:20.960 I can I can very easily justify myself and make other people seem worse. 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:28.880 I can say, you know, you've done maybe some good things, but I've done more, or you you you've you've got a lot of sin in your life, and I don't I've only got a little. 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:31.920 But but that's not what this is about here. 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:36.640 We're all of us, each of us on the same scheme, so to speak. 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:44.079 We're all working based on grace, not working on our own merits or figuring it out for ourselves. 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:52.079 And the thing about this parable is if we come to it and we're not okay with it, what does that reveal about our hearts? 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:56.799 What does that show about how we really feel about grace? 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:01.039 If I'm smug, then I'm not getting it. 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:04.000 If I'm indignant, then I'm not getting it. 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:08.799 God is generous to other people, and he's generous to me. 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:11.119 Grace levels the field. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:17.519 So the second thing that we see, grace is better than a transaction. 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:23.440 To put it another way, hey, you know, Pharisee guy, disciple guy, whatever, you're not earning your way. 00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:24.400 You didn't earn it. 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:26.240 It's not about earning it. 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:35.440 It would be easy to look at this story and say, well, you know, the first group, group one, they worked all day long and they got a day's wages. 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:36.640 That that seems fair. 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:39.759 Seems like they were able to earn their way to it. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:51.839 And, you know, you could, you could, you could nitpick and say, well, they're unskilled laborers, and well, they they didn't have a uh a steady gig, so maybe they were they would only do, you know, a portion of a denarius. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:53.920 But but think about it. 00:19:54.240 --> 00:20:01.519 The workers in the parable, from from group one all the way through group five, where do they where do they start off? 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:06.319 They start out their day idling in the marketplace. 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:12.079 They're not uh they they don't have a gig of their own, they don't have a job, they don't have a prospect. 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:21.920 It's not even like they're kind of going around from vineyard to vineyard and knocking on doors, hey, we're here, we're laborers, we'd like to, we'd like to do some harvesting for you today. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:24.240 They're just sitting in the marketplace, they're waiting. 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:28.960 They have no hope of being able to provide for themselves. 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:35.680 And if it's not for this vineyard owner, that's where they're where they're gonna end up at the end of the day as well. 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:41.599 But compare their work to that of the vineyard owner. 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:46.079 Verse 1, it says that the vineyard owner is in the marketplace. 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:52.960 He's back again in verse 3, he's there twice in verse 5, and he's there again in verse 6. 00:20:54.079 --> 00:21:01.920 Now, you know what's funny about this, what's interesting, is we see, I think it's verse 8, that he has a foreman. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:10.400 He has somebody working for him whose job it would have been to go and hire workers and bring them on and settle wages and stuff like that, but he's going himself. 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:17.200 We can also see how the discussion of the wages progresses, right? 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:21.039 Group one is the only one that's that's promised any particular amount. 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:23.519 It says, you know, come work for me, I'll give you a denarius. 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:26.640 Groups two to four are promised, you know, whatever is right. 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:28.480 That's in verse four. 00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:31.519 And the last group, he doesn't even talk about wages. 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:35.039 He just says, Hey, why do you stand here idle all day? 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:38.079 And they say, Well, because no one has hired us. 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:46.480 So group five, it's not like they had another job earlier in the day and they got finished early and now they're just seeing if they can supplement it. 00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:51.359 It's not like they, you know, slept through their alarm and uh are only coming in now. 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:55.279 He says they've been waiting there all day long for someone to hire them. 00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:58.880 So he says, You've been here all day. 00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:03.119 He says, You've been You've been idling, you've been waiting, let me put you to work. 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:08.480 And the thing that we see there is that everyone is given the opportunity to work. 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:13.920 There isn't a sense in which the work isn't even really the point at that stage. 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:15.599 It's not really what it's about. 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:25.599 It's a sense of the vineyard owner is out looking for people in need, people who need to need to make money, need to have food to money to buy food and to live on. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:32.960 And he's going to, he's going to meet their need regardless of their situation or what time of day they they signed on. 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:36.079 And this really points us to Jesus. 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:45.599 This points us to Jesus and his ministry because Luke 19, Jesus says he came to seek and save the lost, much like this vineyard owner. 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:47.920 He came down from heaven himself. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:52.400 You know, we we talk about Jesus being God himself. 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:56.799 God himself came down to earth to call people to himself. 00:22:57.680 --> 00:23:08.000 We know that in previous times there were, you know, God spoke through prophets and other things, but Jesus himself came down just like this landowner came to the marketplace seeking people. 00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:13.920 He entered our broken world to show us this upside-down kingdom where the last are first and the first are last. 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:26.880 All the distinctions that we have in the world, whether it's how hard we work or how skilled we are, or even things like race and class and everything like that, they're all undone. 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:44.640 So I think we all of us sometimes get our own kind of inner Pharisee voice, and we we justify our own actions, we justify ourselves and try to make ourselves more significant than other people, you know, thinking I'm gonna earn my favor. 00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:53.519 I actually got a really nice compliment that I have to work hard not to make into my identity because somebody told me that I was a hard worker. 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:56.640 I'm like, oh, that's so good for a workaholic like me. 00:23:56.720 --> 00:23:58.480 That's that's very, very comforting. 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:07.519 But the moment I start to put my identity, my sense of significance in how hard someone else sees me working, then I'm losing it. 00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:09.279 Then I'm making it about me. 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:13.039 My life is not rooted on my own efforts. 00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:17.519 It's rooted in the work that Jesus accomplished on the cross. 00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:23.039 If I start thinking the wrong way, then all of a sudden I have reason to boast in myself. 00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:26.799 I remember we talked about the first point was grace levels the field. 00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:28.880 We're all kind of in the same boat here. 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:39.599 And so if group one is there based on their works and groups two through five are there based on generosity, well, then group one could always boast on groups two to five. 00:24:40.079 --> 00:24:40.960 But we're not there. 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:42.000 That's not what it is. 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:45.680 We're all of us, once again, on the same scheme. 00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:50.799 I'm not entitled to more than somebody else because I'm not entitled to it in the first place. 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:53.519 It's by his grace, by his generosity. 00:24:54.079 --> 00:25:08.160 No longer, no matter how long we've been Christians, no matter how much we've served in church or gone on mission trips or given to charity, we've all had our time of idling in the marketplace. 00:25:08.640 --> 00:25:14.559 And it wasn't our initiative or our ingenuity or our hard work that changed that. 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:18.079 It's only by the grace of God He found us. 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:26.480 I want to point us to a few verses in Ephesians chapter 2, because these really dovetail into this idea very well. 00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:29.440 It says that for by grace you've been saved through faith. 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:30.000 By grace. 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:32.799 And this is not your own doing, it's the gift of God. 00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:43.839 It's not a result of works, so that no one may boast, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:47.839 So the grace comes before the works. 00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:54.319 By grace you've been saved, and we've been created in Christ Jesus for good works. 00:25:54.559 --> 00:26:05.200 Whenever I want to blow my own horn, whenever I want to congratulate myself, or more likely, whenever I want to throw a pity party because somebody didn't recognize how great I am. 00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:13.359 Whenever I want to be sad that I got overlooked in something, those are the moments I'm not understanding what grace is. 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:15.359 I need it. 00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:17.359 You need it, we all need it. 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:19.839 None of us are earning our way to salvation. 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:23.759 That's really what this parable is showing us here. 00:26:24.079 --> 00:26:31.359 So, third and final, third and final point here, guys, is that grace is even more amazing than we recognize. 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:33.680 Think about it. 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:40.559 In the modern world, in the in the real world, why does a business have to manage its costs? 00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:41.039 Right? 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:44.319 This this is not a manifesto for for labor relations, like I said. 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:46.240 See, I used to work at my dad's machine shop. 00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:49.200 You can you can ask him about how good of a machinist I was. 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:58.319 Um but if I was if I was running a job for him and I took too long, then that raises the cost basis for that job. 00:26:58.480 --> 00:27:04.240 If I scrap too many parts and and used more material than was budgeted, then that raises the cost basis. 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:15.839 If I break a lot of tools or you know, any number of things, I can I can take a job that would have been profitable and sustainable and turn it into something that's going to just cost the business money. 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:17.279 And why don't you do that? 00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:19.119 Why don't you continue running jobs at a loss? 00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:21.359 Well, because you run out of resources. 00:27:21.599 --> 00:27:30.559 You run out, your your bank account goes empty, and you can't continue to buy material, you can't continue to pay wages, you can't continue to keep the lights on. 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:34.160 Because we live in a world of finite resources. 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:37.039 But God's grace is not like that. 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:39.200 It's not in limited supply. 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:43.039 Think about the parable of the prodigal son. 00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:43.680 Right? 00:27:43.920 --> 00:27:47.440 When the prodigal returns, the father doesn't say, Oh, well, you're back. 00:27:47.599 --> 00:27:48.319 That's great. 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:55.519 But he runs to his son, he puts a robe on him, he puts a ring on his finger, and he butchers the fattened calf, and he throws a party. 00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:59.759 Not because the prodigal deserved it, but because he loves his child. 00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:04.559 So, what do we see in this passage about amazing grace? 00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:12.000 Well, we've talked about how the owner goes out himself to seek out the workers for his vineyard. 00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:15.359 We've seen how he gives beyond what they deserve. 00:28:16.319 --> 00:28:21.119 We see how he speaks with kindness to group one, who's grumbling at him. 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:27.200 The funny thing is, and and we see this a lot of times in scripture, group one stumbles onto it. 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:32.160 They they they they completely have it wrong, but they get it right in verse 12. 00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:41.839 It says, These last have only worked for one hour, and you've made them equal to us who've borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. 00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:45.839 They don't say, You've brought us down to their level. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:50.000 He said, No, you've you've brought them up to our level. 00:28:51.279 --> 00:29:05.759 So if we go back to Ephesians 2, um, verses 6 and 7 talk about how God's grace has raised us up, and how we've been raised up to show the immeasurable riches of his grace. 00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:08.480 So this is this is the same idea right here. 00:29:09.519 --> 00:29:14.799 So if we if we think about it just in a purely modern day world standpoint, what do we do? 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:17.440 We trade resources, one resource for another. 00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:25.680 If I'm a laborer, I'm trading my labor, my hard work, whatever, for a wage, right? 00:29:25.839 --> 00:29:30.799 I've got a resource, you've got a resource, we're gonna trade and mutually benefit one another. 00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:34.000 But it's not the way that it works in the kingdom of God. 00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:36.960 Because we start with no resources at all. 00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:41.839 We we don't have anything that we can offer to God in order to get what we need. 00:29:42.319 --> 00:29:49.119 And on the other side of the equation is God who has all the resources, who has limitless supply of grace. 00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:57.119 And since the work and the wage are no longer the point, we see that we're getting more than just gainful employment. 00:29:57.680 --> 00:30:02.559 We're getting purpose, we're getting belonging, we're getting fellowship with God Himself. 00:30:02.720 --> 00:30:05.519 So, yeah, some pretty amazing grace there. 00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:08.720 We'll sum it up here. 00:30:09.519 --> 00:30:19.440 Jesus told this parable so that the Pharisees and his own disciples as well, um, would not get the wrong idea about grace and about salvation. 00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:26.160 Once again, we don't deserve more than other people just because we've worked harder or longer. 00:30:26.400 --> 00:30:29.119 And the reason for that is because we don't deserve it at all. 00:30:29.359 --> 00:30:32.880 It's strictly by his generosity, by his grace. 00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:37.920 Grace is God's unmerited favor towards us expressed at the cross of Jesus. 00:30:38.079 --> 00:30:41.200 And it's it's far more amazing than we realize. 00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:48.079 So the best application for us, for each of us, is to find out where we're not okay with this. 00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:51.119 Where does this cut across our grain? 00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:56.319 And where where do we need to let God change us, shape us differently? 00:30:57.440 --> 00:31:06.240 I can think of times in my own life when I felt hard done by the church or by other people in my life who overlooked me. 00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:12.319 And I I rationalize why I was better to do something than someone else. 00:31:12.799 --> 00:31:19.839 But again, if I think I'm deserving and someone else is not, am I really understanding grace? 00:31:20.960 --> 00:31:21.759 One more time. 00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:23.920 We're all on the same scheme here. 00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:34.160 Now, maybe you're here this morning and you haven't bought into this whole Christianity business, you've not uh followed Jesus as Lord, and if if that's you, I'm glad you're here. 00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:37.839 I'd love to talk to you, love to answer questions. 00:31:39.119 --> 00:31:45.440 But I would invite you to reflect on what this grace means, what this means to you. 00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:57.759 We have God who has all the resources, and he wants to share those resources out of his out of his generosity to raise us up and seat us in the heavenly places. 00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:07.440 Talk about people sometimes who who, you know, I I think maybe I'll I'll come to Jesus later in my life because I just want to enjoy myself now. 00:32:07.599 --> 00:32:14.640 I just want, I just want that that happiness now, and maybe later on when I'm older, tell you a secret, there's never a time. 00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:16.319 It's never gonna be like that. 00:32:16.559 --> 00:32:22.240 But it's because we're looking at what the kingdom of God is from the wrong perspective. 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:23.519 Right? 00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:36.799 It's not like the Christian life is some burdens, some restrictive, you know, terrible place to be, but it's God out of his limitless grace calling us to abundant life in the here and now. 00:32:37.039 --> 00:32:43.920 So if that's you, if you're not uh not yet following Jesus, I hope you won't wait too long in the marketplace. 00:32:45.039 --> 00:32:52.000 And finally, for the gathered church here and around the world, let's uh let this picture of grace turn us loose. 00:32:52.559 --> 00:32:57.200 There's a world of people who haven't yet heard it, haven't yet understood it. 00:32:57.519 --> 00:33:02.559 Let's bring this good news, this gospel, to those who desperately need to hear it. 00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:05.920 And let's pray that God will open eyes and ears to hear it. 00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:08.880 And let's pray that all of these things will happen. 00:33:08.960 --> 00:33:15.119 We'll we'll watch with expectancy to see what God does in our lives and in our world. 00:33:25.599 --> 00:33:27.759 Thank you for listening to this week's sermon. 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:34.319 If you found this helpful or want to know more about City Church Dublin, please visit our website found at the link below.