Tag Archives: Fair

A Fresh Look – Sermon on Matthew 20:1-16 for Septuagesima Sunday

Matthew 20:1–16

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. 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.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

What is the greatest gift given in this parable?

At first glance, we think that it’s the denarius, that full day’s wage, handed to the workers who showed up last. But that’s the wrong answer. All the workers – those who were hired at the eleventh hour, the ninth hour, the sixth hour, the third hour, and right way at daybreak – they all get the same coin. It looks like the later you come, the greater the gift you receive. We think the only ones who don’t receive a gift are those who worked all day. They simply get what they had agreed to, what they bargained for – an honest day’s wage for an honest day’s work. But the denarius is not the greatest gift in the parable.

The greatest gift is a place in the vineyard. All of these workers – no matter what time of day they were hired – all of them started out in exactly the same place. They were all stuck in the marketplace with no prospects, no future, no income. None of them had anything until the master came to call them into his vineyard.

None of the workers got into the vineyard on their own. All of them knew they needed work to provide for their families. But they had no shot at that until the master called them into his vineyard. Before the master called them, they apparently didn’t even know there was a vineyard or how to get there, otherwise they could have gone to his house, knocked on the door, and asked for work. But that’s not what happens. Instead, the owner comes to them, seeks them, finds them, and promises to give them what they need. It’s the master who brings them all of them in. So, into the vineyard they all go – each at the time of day when the master called – not one moment before, not one moment after.

Back up just a bit and imagine the thought process of the workers hired first. They went to the marketplace because, in that part of the world in Jesus’ day (and still today), people who didn’t have normal, secure, regular jobs, they would gather at a certain spot in the marketplace in hope of being hired. Again, the people who were hired at the beginning of the day had nothing, no money, no job, no prospects. So, as the sun rises and as they march toward the vineyard, they’re excited about the master’s promise of an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work. That promised denarius motivated them. Throughout the day, all of their work and toil and enduring all the heat and sweat was tolerable because that denarius meant life for each of them and for their families.

The only thing that spoiled it, the only thing made that denarius unappealing, was the fact that others also received the denarius. Seeing others get the same denarius was the only thing that robbed those first workers of their joy in the denarius. To say it bluntly: comparison is the thief or joy.

Imagine a company has two positions open. You apply and are given one of the positions, and you love everything about your new job. You like the environment, your coworkers, and $100,000 per year compensation. But then, you find out that the person hired for the other position – who is doing the same job, working the same hours, and has the same experience as you have – imagine finding out that person makes $101,000. How would that change your perception of your job and salary? If you’re selfish like me, I’m sure your attitude would change. You’d feel cheated. You’d complain. It’d ruin your whole perception of your new job. But here’s the thing: nothing has actually changed. Your paycheck didn’t diminish. The environment around you didn’t get worse. Nothing has been taken from you. You haven’t lost anything. The only thing that has changed is your perception. Someone else has gotten something that you don’t think they deserve. Repent.

Dear saints, God’s grace isn’t only for you. It is certainly given to you, but you aren’t the only one who gets or needs it. Please, please don’t be so foolish as to demand that God give you what you deserve because what you deserve is an eternity in hell. God doesn’t want to give you what you deserve. He wants you to be in His vineyard. And, yes, He has work for you to do there.

Look again at v. 12-15. When the workers hired first grumble about their denarius and all the hard work they did in the scorching heat, the master doesn’t fight or question their claim. He doesn’t diminish the work they have done. Not one bit. The only objection the master against their grumbling is that he’s being completely fair with them. His generosity doesn’t mean they were short-changed. The owner simply says, “If you don’t like my generosity, take what is yours and go. You’re free to leave my vineyard and go back to the marketplace.”

Dear saints, yes, this is a parable about working in God’s kingdom, and I titled this sermon “A Fresh Look” because we all need to be reminded that life in God’s kingdom does require work. God’s call to be a Christian is a call to much work. Jesus says, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Mt. 16:24). That calling from your Savior is a call to work. But there is so much joy in your work in God’s kingdom. That’s not to say that all of the work is pleasant and easy.

Dear saints, there are many things in this world that require work, but the work itself is good. There is work, there is labor, there are difficulties involved in all good things. For example, being a parent is work – a lot of work, and even a lot of unpleasant work. Parents have to get up in the middle of the night, change poopy diapers, suck snot out of the noses of the babies. I don’t know anyone who thinks those things are pleasant or anyone who enjoys doing those things. But none of those things mean the baby isn’t a delight or a joy to be around. And there is blessing in doing them. People are happier and more content when they give of themselves and serve others. Yes, the work is its own reward.

Christian, you have been brought into God’s vineyard. A vineyard is a place where there is plenty of work to be done, but the purpose is not to produce grapes. Vineyards exist to produce wine which makes glad the heart of man (Ps. 104:14-15). Life in God’s kingdom is to live where work is done, but that work culminates in joy and feasting. The whole point of your work and labor and toil in God’s kingdom is to join God in producing joy.

Dear saints, you’re going to leave here and head back to your labor, back to your work, back to the heat and sweat and toil of your God-given vocations. But before you do, God invites you to His table to feast. Come and enjoy a foretaste of the feast to come. Come and receive the joy of receiving Christ’s Body and Blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sin. Come to the feast. Then, go. God still has vineyard work for you to do. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Out of the Marketplace & into the Vineyard – Sermon on Matthew 20:1-16 for Septuagesima Sunday

Matthew 20:1–16

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. 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.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Was this vineyard owner being fair, or was he being merciful? Was he being just, or was he being gracious? As I was preparing for the sermon this week, I came across several sermons that summarized the parable as a dichotomy: “Not fair, but merciful,” or, “Not just, but gracious.” If you think fairness and mercy or justice and grace do not exist together, you are wrong. Just plain wrong.

We must get one thing straight. With this parable, Jesus isn’t giving advice on how to run a business. An economic system where everyone is paid equal wages without considering how much experience they have, the skills required for the position, or the number of hours a person works has been tried. Even when whole governments try to force this type of arrangement in the country, it fails. It fails miserably, and that failure is always accompanied by a lot of suffering and death. But even in a small business, it doesn’t work. There are tons of examples of this, but I was reading about one particular company near London that tried to do this,[1]and the experiment lasted only a year before they had to abandon it and adopt a normal pay scale.

The reason this doesn’t work is companies do not have unlimited, infinite resources. Sure, they might have massive profits and huge budgets, but that doesn’t mean a business can afford to pay everyone equally. Companies always need to be taking in more money than they are spending and paying. If a company doesn’t balance its finances, it won’t be in business for long. A business should pay its employees a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work. The economy of the marketplace needs to operate on a fair and just scale because it is always dealing in the realm of supply and demand, and supply is always limited.

Now, all of that is just basic economics. But I am not an economist, I don’t play one on TV, and didn’t I stay at a Holiday Inn last night. And this is not an economics lecture; this is a sermon. I only say all of that to set the stage so you can see that the vineyard owner is fair and just as well as merciful and gracious. Through the whole parable, this vineyard owner follows every standard of just of economics.

In Jesus’ day, you didn’t have a 9-5 job; instead, you worked while it was light until it got dark. Because Israel is geographically close to the equator, the workday throughout the year is basically consistent, 6 AM to 6 PM. We don’t have that luxury here in the bitter north. Our shortest day has about 8.5 hours of daylight, and our longest day just over 16 hours. So, this vineyard owner goes to the marketplace to hire workers just before sunrise. In Jesus’ day (and still today), people who didn’t have regular jobs would gather in a certain spot in the marketplace hoping to be hired – even if it was just for a day. The vineyard owner selects some workers and offers them the standard wage for a regular workday – one denarius. Because the arrangement is acceptable to the workers he selects, off to the vineyard they go. They have the confidence and security that they will be able to provide for their family for the day.

About the third hour of the workday, think 9 AM or during the morning coffee break, the owner goes back to the marketplace, and notice how different v. 1 and v. 3 are. In v. 1, he goes to the market to hire workers. But in v. 3, there is no mention of the owner wanting to hire more workers. He simply goes to the marketplace and sees people who are still there hoping to get a job. The owner gives them two things: an invitation and a promise. Listen carefully to what he says, “You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.” This group sees it as a job offer, and since they trust the owner to be a fair and just guy, they go and work in the vineyard.

The owner goes out two more times – the 6th hour (lunchtime), and the 9th hour (afternoon break) – and does the exact same thing. “You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.” And the owner isn’t done visiting the marketplace. He goes again at the 11th hour, right as all the other businesses are getting ready to close up. He finds even more people standing around because no one hired them. Now, the owner simply invites them, “You go into the vineyard too.” They don’t get a promise of getting what is right, fair, or just. They are simply invited to leave the marketplace and go into the vineyard.

Now, the surprises start coming in the parable. Suddenly, there’s a new character, a foreman. Think of him as the manager of the vineyard. Now, why wasn’t this manager going out to hire workers? But we don’t even have time to ponder the question because the next two surprises come so quickly. The owner tells the manager lit., “Call the workers and pay them the wage.” (Our translation makes it sound like the wages are still a secret, but the Greek is clear.) No matter when they arrived in the vineyard, they all are to receive the wageof a full day’s pay. The final surprise comes with the order in which the wage is paid out. The owner decides that the order will be the last get their denarius first and the first will get their denarius last.

Why not do it the other way? Those who agreed for a denarius could get exactly what they bargained for, and every subsequent group would get a surprise that would bring more delight because they worked fewer hours. Everyone would be happy, and it would avoid the trouble of the argument which comes at the end of the parable. We could also ask, when the owner went to the marketplace at the eleventh hour, why didn’t he just toss a denarius to those who were still there? Why go through the trouble of bringing them to the vineyard? The answer to both questions is that the owner wants his grace and mercy to be seen and witnessed by everyone in his vineyard. This vineyard is the place to be. The owner doesn’t want them to have to go back to the marketplace.

Well, the grumbling comes, “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.” If those grumblers had thought two seconds about what they were saying, they would have realized their complaint roughly means, “This isn’t right, fair, or just. Why are you being gracious and merciful to them? They haven’t deserved it!”

Let me paraphrase the owner’s response, “Um, excuse me? I’ve been completely fair and just with you. Remember our contract this morning? You agreed on a denarius. You have it. It’s yours. You are free to do whatever you want with what is yours. Don’t I have the freedom to do what I want with what is mine? Why does the grace I give to others irritate you? You don’t have any less because I give more to others. I understand that you want to be richer at the end of the day. That’s fine. You are. I have chosen to be poorer at the end of the day. If you don’t like that, you can take what is yours, get out of my vineyard, and go back to the marketplace.”

The parable ends there, and we are left hanging. How did the full-day workers respond? Did they leave the vineyard where the owner runs things with both justice and mercy? We don’t know.

What would you do? Or, more accurately, what are you doing?

Again, this parable is not about companies and businesses who have limited assets. This parable is about the kingdom of your God who has unlimited resources, and the vastness of His resources is only outmatched by His incalculable mercy. There is only one vineyard and one master who is fair and just as well as being merciful and gracious like this. You can certainly return to the marketplace if you want, but there you will only find justice and no mercy.

Dear saints, in the end, there is only One who has worked a full day’s shift – Jesus. Christ has borne the burden and heat of the day. He has come and did the work you could never do. He has fully kept God’s Law and was perfectly obedient to God’s Commands. You get His wages, and this is Jesus’ delight. Christ willingly went to the cross got the wrath and punishment of sin that you deserve. For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross for you (Heb. 12:2). Jesus wants to bring you out of the marketplace and into the vineyard. There is no better place to be, but if you don’t like the vineyard, you are free to go.

Christ Jesus invites you to remain in His vineyard and never go back to the marketplace that is empty of mercy and grace. Because of the mercy and grace of God, you are no longer workers being overpaid. You are a member of the kingdom, a child of God, and a brother or sister of Christ. You remain with Him. Not only do you get paid generously; you also have a permanent place and remain in the vineyard.

And secure in His vineyard, Jesus invites you now to a feast at His table where He will give you what is right and just as well as what is merciful and gracious. So, come. Dear saints, when you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to mercifully and graciously forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:9). Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Information on the company in London that wasn’t used:

The company started out small, just five people. The owner realized everyone was basically contributing the same, so he talked to his employees, and they all agreed to be paid the same. From the owner himself down to the office assistant, they all received the same amount which is what they all agreed was a ‘decent living wage’ for London. For a while it worked just fine, but as the company grew, this wage model caused all sorts of problems. The company needed to hire more staff because of a higher demand for their services. When they advertised a position for a software developer, they didn’t get applicants because that skill is in high demand and was typically compensated higher than the living wage the company had set. And when they advertised for more another office assistant, they were inundated with applications because the salary was much higher than other companies were offering for the same type of work. In short, the experiment lasted only one year before the company started basing their salaries on experience and expertise.

[1] “CEO Secrets: ‘We tried paying everyone the same salary. It failed.’” https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55800730