Sermon -- 18th Sunday after Pentecost (September 27, 2026)

THE PROMISED REWARD IS RECEIVED BY GRACE ALONE.

MATTHEW 20:1-16

In the name + of Jesus.

     An Old Testament parable which would have been well-known to the Jews came from the prophet Isaiah.  He wrote, “Let me sing for my loved one a song about my loved one’s vineyard.  My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile ridge.  He dug it up and gathered the stones out of it.  He planted it with the best vines.  He built a tower in the middle of it.  He also cut a winepress into it.  He expected it to produce clusters of sweet grapes...” (Isaiah 5:1-2).  The vineyard is the kingdom of God.  It is the Lord’s kingdom.  No one deserves a place in it because everyone is a sinner.  Sinners cannot stand on holy ground.  If anyone would have a place in this vineyard, the Lord has to intervene out and bring people into it.

     This brings us to Jesus’ parable.  “Indeed the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.  After agreeing to pay the workers a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard” (Matthew 20:1-2).  In order to have people in his vineyard, the landowner went out to seek them.  The people he found were idle.  They had no purpose, and they were not engaged in any good works.  Therefore, the landowner called them for a higher purpose and promised them a rich reward.

     This is true for all people who enter the kingdom of God.  No one enters on his own initiative.  We are, by nature, dead in sin.  That means we cannot fix our sinful condition.  The dead cannot take steps to come to God.  If God had not intervened, every person’s life would be a meaningless march to the grave.  We get up.  We go to work.  We eat.  We go to sleep.  And we do it again for decades.  For many, that is all life is; and they wonder: “What is the point?  Is life really that meaningless?”  If you do not have an eternal reward awaiting you, and if there is no God to summon you to a higher purpose, you will become discouraged and depressed. 

     The Lord, however, has intervened.  The Lord summons sinners to receive hope and a future.  The Lord gathers people to enjoy his vineyard and to find satisfaction in their labors.  The work God gives you to do may not be flashy or get you famous, but it is good and serves your loved ones and your neighbors. 

     Besides the work he gives you to do in this world, the Lord also sets you apart for a kingdom of glory and endless peace.  Again, we do not work our way into that kingdom.  God brings us in.  As Jesus said in the parable, the landowner summoned the workers and pledged to give them a denarius.  The promise of the denarius came before any of them did a lick of work.  And when the landowner went out again to gather more laborers into his vineyard, “he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right’” (Matthew 20:4).  The reward was promised first, then then work began. 

     At this point in the parable, everything seems reasonable.  The workers were promised a denarius—a day’s wage for a day’s work.  They knew what they were getting when they went to work in the vineyard.  But this is where the story takes a turn.  And here, we learn that our Lord Jesus Christ is a bad businessman.  The workers recognized it, too.

     The landowner continued to find people standing around doing nothing.  The first workers began the day at the first hour.  More were sent at the third hour.  And then again at the sixth and the ninth hour.  Finally, with only one hour left in the workday, he sent in the last group.  At the day’s end, each came to receive his reward.  “When those who were hired around the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius.  When those who were hired first came, they thought they would receive more.  But they each received a denarius too.  After they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner: ‘Those who were last worked one hour, and you made them equal to us who have endured the burden of the day and the scorching heat’” (Matthew 20:9-12)!  Those workers seemed to have a legitimate gripe.  How can the landowner treat equally those who did not labor equally?  How could he give a full day’s wage to someone who labored for only one hour?  That’s not fair!

     It is a common complaint: “Why isn’t God fair?”  Most people are able-bodied, but some are disabled.  Most people have decent vision, but some are blind.  Most people do not have food allergies, but for some, consuming certain foods is life-threatening.  Most people are relatively clear-headed; some endure crippling mental illness.  Most people seem to get through life with minor struggles; some seem to get hit by one crisis after another.  If you are on the wrong end of these scenarios, you may cry out, “All I want is for God to treat me fairly!”

     If we were to judge the landowner on his business practices, we would find a lot of faults with him.  But the kingdom of God is not a business.  The Lord does not cut deals with people.  And we are in no position to negotiate for a better reward. 

     Do you want God to be fair?  Do you want your reward to be something you earned?  Be careful about such prayers, and take to heart what we say when we confess our sins.  After we acknowledge our sinful nature and our sinful deeds, we confess what they have earned us: “I deserve your punishment both now and in eternity.”  It is not God’s fault that this is a sinful world in which bad things happen.  It is not God’s fault that we are sinful beings who do not live up to his commandments.  If we insist that God treat us fairly, then God must banish all people to eternal, hellish torment.  If we insist that God give us what we deserve, then he should let us languish in the evils that occur because mankind brought sin into this world and we continue to add sin to it.

     Our Lord is not a good businessman.  And God be praised for that!  He squanders his grace and mercy upon sinners.  He does not treat us as our sins deserve.  It was Jesus who was treated as our sins deserve.  Jesus’ sufferings and death were incredibly unfair.  Jesus assumed the guilt for sins he did not commit.  Jesus paid the price for a debt he did not owe.  Jesus was sentenced to a death he did not deserve and died under a curse that he did not earn.  It was terribly unfair, but it is also mercy and grace beyond measure.  Jesus Christ has taken away all your sins.  And his mercy does not run out.  When you come back to God’s house confessing your sins again, Jesus continues to pour out his mercy and grace.  A good businessman would recognize that this continual forgiveness is like throwing good money after bad.  A good businessman would cut his losses.  But a faithful Savior shows compassion for the people he has created and redeemed.  He gives his reward freely, and that promised reward is received by grace alone.

     Nevertheless, the sinful nature still demands credit.  When the landowner brought the laborers in for their reward, some were outraged.  “When those who were hired first came, they thought they would receive more.  But they each received a denarius too.  After they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner: ‘Those who were last worked one hour, and you made them equal to us who have endured the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’  But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not make an agreement with me for a denarius?  Take what is yours and go. I want to give to the last one hired the same as I also gave to you.  Can’t I do what I want with my own money?  Or are you envious because I am generous’” (Matthew 20:10-15)?   

     When we hear the parable, we recognize the goodness of the landowner.  When we see it in real life, we take the side of the bitter laborers.  If someone has dedicated his whole life to fornicating, drugs and booze, lying, stealing, and fighting only to repent shortly before his death, he will have eternal life.  You might feel ripped off.  After decades of faithful church attendance and clean living, you might think that you should receive more.  Beware.  This shows that you don’t want your reward based on God’s grace but upon your own merits.  If you will not receive God’s promised reward by grace, you will not receive it at all.

     The promised reward is received by grace alone.  Even if the Lord brings someone into his vineyard at the eleventh hour, it has cost you nothing.  When you hear a story about firefighters rescuing a family from a housefire, you are grateful for the firefighters and for the rescued family.  Don’t you have all the more reason to rejoice when our Lord snatches someone from the fires of hell, regardless of who or what that person has been?  Our Lord delights in rescuing sinners, bringing them into his vineyard, and giving each one a denarius.  This promised reward is received by grace alone.

     Perhaps your problem is that you envy the wicked.  You wish you could live a debauched life and then repent on your death bed.  Be aware that deathbed conversions are rare.  People die like they live.  Besides, why would you envy the wicked?  Do you not recognize the blessings in God’s vineyard?  You are always covered by God’s mercy and grace.  You know what your final judgment will be thanks to Jesus.  You can be confident that your future is everlasting peace and glory.  You know that God is with you and that God is for you in every stage of life.  God continues to pour out his forgiveness upon you for all sins—even sins like calling God unfair or envying the wicked.  You have the hope of the resurrection—a hope that cannot be destroyed by sickness or death.  And these are not rewards you will receive one day.  Already now you have received the Lord’s grace, mercy, hope, peace, comfort, confidence, and joy. 

     Our Lord not only speaks to his laborers, he also feeds them.  And here, from this altar, the Lord provides you with his living body and blood to sustain you through this life until you receive your promised, eternal reward.  The Lord strengthens your faith and cleanses you of sin.  Week after week, the Lord nourishes you so that you may continue in your godly labors.

     The Lord Jesus is not fair in how he treats the laborers in his vineyard.  He is not a good businessman.  Rather, he is a gracious Redeemer, and he treats all the laborers well.  He promises each and every one the same glorious reward—a joyful resurrection to life everlasting.  His reward is promised because he is gracious.  It will be given because he is faithful.  We receive it by grace alone. 

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