Sermon -- 17th Sunday after Pentecost (September 24, 2023)

MATTHEW 20:1-16

BE GRATEFUL THAT GOD IS NOT FAIR.

In the name + of Jesus.

     We often measure God by earthly standards.  When we do, we find all kinds of reasons to criticize God about the way he acts.  Why are some people born with birth defects when most people are born with bodies that are whole?  That does not seem fair.  Why are some people born in poverty, squalor, or war when others are not?  That does not seem fair. 

     God receives similar criticism because he does not run his kingdom the way we would run a business.  We are very calculating about our expenses and income.  We make our decisions based on cost analysis.  And while everyone has a different idea about what is the fair treatment of employees, we expect that employees would be treated fairly.  We also expect that the longer you work somewhere, the better you would be compensated.

     Now consider the parable that Jesus told.  The master of the vineyard went out to hire day-laborers.  “(He) went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.  After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard” (Matthew 20:1-2).  So far, so good.  A day’s wage for a day’s work.  That is fair.  Then “going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’” (Matthew 20:3-4).  We don’t know what the master had in mind here for a wage.  He did not promise any specific amount, just “whatever is right.”  So, we assume that they will get a reduced wage.  If they did not work a full day, it would not be fair to give them a full day’s wage.  Then the master went out again, at the sixth hour and again at the ninth hour.  He even went with only an hour left in the day and found other laborers who had not been hired.  He sent them to his vineyard, making no promises about the wage.  Nothing seems out of line here.  Workers were hired.  Each put in their time, though different time for different laborers.

     At the end of the day, the day-laborers were lined up to receive their day’s pay.  “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.’  And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.  Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius” (Matthew 20:8-10).  You can see the problem.  How is someone who only worked for one hour paid the same as someone who worked for twelve hours?  This is patently unfair, and the workers said so: “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’” (Matthew 20:11-12).   

     Remember, however, that this is not a parable about business practices.  This is about the kingdom of heaven.  The vineyard is not a business; the vineyard is the Church.  The laborers are the people who have been brought into the Church.  None of them were in the vineyard when the day began.  The master had to go out, find them, and bring them in.  The master gave them opportunity to be productive and to have purpose.  Without the master, they had none of that.  Without the master taking the initiative, the people would have no association with the vineyard.  And everyone who was brought in was given the same promise from the master.  The master would give them all what was right.

     But it does not always seem right.  The first laborers lodged a complaint which seems to be valid.  “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” (Matthew 20:12).  Even in the Church, we get the idea that those who have been around longer should get greater reward and receive better treatment.  You might feel that it is not fair that God makes everyone equal.  Some complain and even demand that God would be fair with them.  But be grateful that God is not fair; for we all have a flawed view of what is fair. 

     So, what’s fair?  Fair is that God would give us what we deserve.  Not what we think we deserve, but what we have actually earned from God.  Remember in the parable how none of the workers were in the vineyard.  This is the reality for all people who come into the world.  No one begins in the kingdom of God.  Psalm 51 reminds us, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5).  We all begin in sin.  We prove our sinful nature as soon as we are old enough to do it.  No one had to teach you how to be selfish; you just are.  No one had to teach you to be jealous, to be angry, or to seek revenge; it just comes out of you.  We do not have an inherent right be in the vineyard or to receive the master’s goods.  If the master were to be fair, he would leave us to self-destruction.  Then he would convict us and condemn us.  Fair is that everyone goes to hell because everyone is a sinner.  Be grateful that God is not fair.

     In bringing people into the Church, the Lord is not fair.  To secure our place in the kingdom of God, the Lord became a man to be the way for mankind to enter in.  The Lord Jesus is the one man who was born into this world apart from sin.  Having been conceived by the Holy Spirit, he did not inherit a sinful nature.  His nature is pure and innocent.  He is the very image of God in the flesh.  For this reason, Jesus is also the one man who has kept every commandment of God.  Every thought, word, action, and motive of Jesus is in perfect harmony with God’s will.  So, the only person who can claim to have earned God’s favor and a place in eternal glory is Jesus.  But that is not what he got.

     St. Peter wrote, “Christ…suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).  It is not fair that the righteous one should suffer and die.  He deserved better.  And it is not fair that the unrighteous should be set free and be praised by God.  The unrighteous deserve death and judgment.  Be grateful that God is not fair.

     Jesus Christ willingly gave up his life to rescue you.  The innocent one was condemned so that the guilty would be pardoned.  He who has the words of eternal life was put to death so that we, who deserve death, will receive eternal life.  Jesus died under the curse of his Father so that we now receive the Father’s blessing and good will.  None of this is fair.  Jesus was cast out of the Holy City so that we could be brought in.  Be grateful that God is not fair.

     You and I have been sought by the Lord and brought into the vineyard, the Church.  We have been set apart for good works so that our lives honor God and benefit our neighbor.  And our prayer is that more and more be brought into God’s vineyard to have the same blessings and benefits we have. 

     Still, we struggle with wicked jealousy.  Beware that you do not fall into the same temptation as the one laborer who rebuked the master.  “On receiving (the denarius) 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.’  But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong.  Did you not agree with me for a denarius’” (Matthew 20:11-13).  Then he spoke these chilling words: “Take what belongs to you and go.” (Matthew 20:14).  The man did not want to benefit from the grace of his master; he wanted what was fair.  And the master answered his prayer.  He was expelled from the vineyard.

     Be grateful that the Lord is not fair, and do not become jealous when he is not.  Many Christians have been in the Church their whole life long—born in Christian homes and baptized as infants, attending services on Sundays and striving for godly living all week.  But others have been brought into the Church later in life—at the third hour, the sixth hour, the ninth hour, or even the eleventh hour, perhaps on one’s death bed or on death row.  Those, by the way, are rare.  Why would Christians be upset that laborers were brought into the vineyard later? 

     And what is there to envy about those who are outside the kingdom?  For many, life is all about wine, women, and song.  The worst that they think can happen to them is to lose the whole world.  Eventually, they will.  This world will pass away.  How could we resent anyone who is delivered from such a dismal future and whose life now is empty?  Would you envy people who go through life without comfort, peace, and hope?  Would you envy people who face death with no assurance?  But for you, the worst that can happen is to lose your soul.  In Christ, we can’t.  Not even death can take us away from Jesus.  Therefore, we long to be with Jesus. 

     Be grateful that God is not fair.  Everyone brought into the kingdom of God did not deserve to be brought in.  Everyone in the kingdom of God receives the same denarius—forgiveness of sins, new life, and salvation.  Everyone in the kingdom of God is a child of God and an heir of eternal glory.  Whether you have been a Christian your whole life long or your conversion occurred since the beginning of this sermon, you are all equally loved and redeemed.  There is no Christian with an asterisk.  There is no child of God on probation.  We are all clothed in the same garments of salvation—not because it is fair, but because we all have the same gracious God.  Be grateful that God is not fair.

     The blessings that we receive in life are often not distributed evenly.  You may look at the way God blesses various people and conclude that God has not been fair.  It may not look fair to you, but God blesses us according to his wisdom, knowing what is best for us.  If God has you bearing the burden of pain or sorrow, he still comforts you with the promise that all your pains and sorrows will have an end.  If you have to endure the scorching heat of persecution, the Lord Jesus is still with you.  God never forsakes his beloved redeemed.  And if your labor in the vineyard gets difficult, your fellow workers in the vineyard are here to encourage you. 

     “The kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard” (Matthew 20:1).  We are the laborers in his vineyard, the Church.  In his grace, God has brought us in.  In his grace, God has promised us great reward.  In his grace, God desires us to be with him and he with us.  The gracious master gives us all we need for this life and the next.  Be grateful that God is not fair, and rejoice that God is so gracious.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.