Do you want the Lord to be fair to you?

“My Generosity”

(Matthew 20:1-16, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, February 10, 2008)

Matthew 20:1-16 "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."

Introduction – The last shall be first …

It seems that it is a very difficult thing for us to rest in the idea that salvation belongs to Jesus Christ. It is not our right, and He is free to do with it whatever He desires. He has determined to give it as a gift of His mercy.

What that means is that some folks who seem to have done almost nothing for the Kingdom receive it just the same as those who seem to have given everything for it. Some come to “work” very late in the day and they get the same blessing of eternal life that someone else receives who has been working all day long from before the rising of the sun. They seem to have worked much harder for the Lord but they are right there with others who have nothing more than the simplest faith in Jesus. Does that seem fair to you?

When you come right down to it, does election seem fair to you, where our salvation is more about God’s sovereign eternal choice of you, rather than your choice of Him? Does grace seem fair to you, where our participation in eternal blessings is not so much about our own charitable works, but more about the charity of Christ for us? Does it seem fair that a horrible murderer justly walking to his death in chains because of his crimes might actually be claimed by God at that moment, truly resting in Christ in the very last hour of his life, and that a man like that would actually be given eternity by a just God? Does it seem fair that a faithful woman in a nursing home who has willingly suffered for the Lord all of her life would have to wait in pain for years for the Lord to take her home? She was first in line, but the murderer comes home to glory in a moment, while the faithful saint of 100 years has to wait until it seems that she is somehow last. All of her family and friends may be gone. She may die alone, and it seems like every one else has forgotten her as she spends her last years in discomfort or confusion, perhaps not even able to recognize the name of Jesus Christ anymore. Does it seem fair to you that the last should be first, and the first last?

Laborers for the Master’s vineyard (1-7)

If that all seems wrong to you, then you need to listen carefully to this story that Jesus told His disciples, because this will help you to see why you need to accept election and accept grace, because election and grace are not about “fair.” They are about “generous.” Fair is not the same as generous, and with God, generous is much, much better than fair.

The story that Jesus tells is very clear. There was a man who was the “master of a house.” The Greek word there is a combination of two words, the first simply meaning house, and the second from which we get the English word “despot.” The point I want to make is that the man had absolute control over the house and all of his property. He was the owner and the master over it all, and it was his to do with as he wished.

He went out early in the morning to a place where people congregate who want to work, and he hired a number of workers for the day to work in his vineyard. His terms were very fair. He gave a day’s wages for a day’s work. As it happens he went out three hours later and then again three hours later and again just before the sun went down. Each time he did the same thing, he hired workers. He said to these later workers that he would give them whatever was right. I suppose that they were all expecting some kind of proportional wage. For those who worked for half of the day, they should get half a day’s wages. Something like that would have been fair and would have caused no problem.

Pay them their wages (8-9)

But that is not what the master of the house did at the end of the day. He had his foreman start with the ones who had worked the least, and he paid the men who had only worked one hour a full day’s wage. That was something like twelve times as much as they would have expected. My guess is that everything would have been fine if he continued with that same practice and paid everyone twelve times as much as expected. But he did not do that either. He paid them all the same amount – a day’s wage.

It might help us to think some more about his payment system this way. The ones who worked one hour received one hour’s wage, but then they were given a gift from the master of the house equal to eleven hours wages. The ones who worked three hours received three hours wages, but then they received a gift equal to nine hours wages, and so on. Finally the people who worked all day received twelve hours wages, and no extra gift at all, which is what they agreed to, and what they originally expected, but not what they thought might happen when they saw that these other people had been given unusual gifts. Of course everyone had received the same thing, an amount equivalent to one day’s wage, but since some of them had worked much less than a day, the wage component for them was much smaller, and the gift was much larger. The ones who had worked all day got no extra gift at all, just what they had agreed to in the first place.

They grumbled at the Master (10-12)

Everyone received a day’s wages, but some expected more, and they thought that it was not fair. Therefore, they complained against the master of the house – the lord of the vineyard. They did not judge based on their agreement with the master. They knew that they had no case on that point. They did not complain even based on the actual amount that they had received or on the work that they had to suffer through, although it might seem that this was their root concern. Their real problem was what the other people got. If everyone had received a proportional amount, then there would not have been any complaint.

As it was, there was grumbling. They were judging based on the horizontal rather than the vertical. They would have had to admit that they could not bring any charge against the master of the house. They just did not want to see anyone else do unreasonably well. That was the problem. Would we all be OK without eternal life, as long as we could be sure that not only would we miss out on heaven, but that nobody else would ever end up there either? At least then we would all be equal. Would that be OK with you? At least it would be fair.

Do you begrudge My generosity? (13-16)

The words of the master are very penetrating here in response to the stir that he has caused. He says, “I am doing nothing wrong.” He explains this based on the agreement that he had with the first workers. He agreed for one day’s wage with them, and he gave them one day’s wage. There is no unfairness in that. He says, “I choose!” “I choose to give to the last just the same as I gave to the first.” That is the master’s choice. No one can accuse Him of wrong-doing. He says, “I own my resources.” Is a man not allowed to give away his own money? Then He closes with a great question: “Do you begrudge me my generosity?”

That is the question for you and me. Salvation is the Lord’s. We don’t deserve it. It is not about fair. It’s about generous. Are you against his generosity? The Lord changes hearts where He will. The Lord shows mercy where He will. The Lord gives faith where He will. The Lord saves a thief on the cross in the eleventh hour where He will. It is a gift from beginning to end or it is not the Lord’s salvation.

The fair wage for your life and mine is eternity in hell. There is no option for all of us simply to have no existence for our spirits after this life. Fair is fair. We can all have hell, if that is what you want. But the Lord has determined not to be fair with us. He has determined to be generous with us.

Are you clinging to the hope that the Lord will be fair with you? Are you sure that’s what you want? I need something more that that. I need the Lord to be generous. I need a big gift; my wages would not be good. Jesus took my wages on the cross. It was very unfair, but very kind. He took my sin and received my wages. His wages were the full blessing of eternal life, but that was His to do with as He wished. He chose to give it to me as a gift. That is more than fine with me. How about you?

If it is a gift, then it is all grace. If it is grace it must be at root all about God, and the fruit of God’s decree of election, rather than the fruit of my own spiritual wisdom or obedience. That is a good thing, because my spiritual wisdom and record of obedience would lead a man to eternal damnation. Is it not better to receive the gift of the Lord’s wisdom and His record of obedience? Is it not better to receive the gift of Jesus, rather than to insist that God be fair? Receive the Lord’s gift, and live with Him in heaven forever.

Questions for meditation and discussion:

1. Was the owner of the vineyard a fair man? Why or why not?

2. What did the workers find offensive? Can you appreciate their concern?

3. What was the point of the parable?

4. What does Jesus mean when He says that the last will be first and the first will be last?