{"id":612,"date":"2020-10-13T11:13:32","date_gmt":"2020-10-13T18:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/?p=612"},"modified":"2020-10-13T11:13:32","modified_gmt":"2020-10-13T18:13:32","slug":"its-gods-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/?p=612","title":{"rendered":"It’s God’s Grace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(based on Matthew 20:1-16)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parents can relate to the experience all too well. Mom or dad hasn\u2019t yet made up their mind about whether or not dessert is on the menu for the night. Maybe it depends on how supper goes. Maybe the decision is based on how much junk food the kids have already had over the course of the day. Whatever the criteria, the kids pester with the same question all day – \u201cCan we have dessert?” “Are we having dessert?” “Have you decided if we\u2019re having dessert?” “So, how about dessert?\u201d Finally, the joyous declaration resounds throughout the house, \u201cYes, we shall feast on dessert this evening.\u201d And, as you would expect, cheers ring out and words of gratitude pour forth from the lips of the children. Only\u2026 that doesn\u2019t happen. Instead it sounds like this: \u201cHe got more than I did!\u201d \u201cShe got a bigger piece!\u201d \u201cWe didn\u2019t all get the same amount – it\u2019s not fair!\u201d What should be expressions of gratitude and thanks are instead replaced by outbursts of inequality and charges of unfairness. Parents wonder if their children will ever outgrow this phase.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But at some point it becomes obvious – or should, at least; we don\u2019t ever outgrow that phase, do we? We spend our entire lives being concerned about the very same thing – making sure that everything is fair and that everyone gets the same or at least no more than they deserve. We find other ways to belt out the adult version of \u201cIt\u2019s not fair!\u201d It\u2019s not fair that I got a speeding ticket and that other guy back there going fast enough to zip past me doesn\u2019t get pulled over. It\u2019s not fair that I always get picked for jury duty and she never does. It\u2019s not fair that they got their food first when we ordered before they did. This isn\u2019t fair. That\u2019s not fair. It\u2019s not fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not fair\u201d had the hired hands up in arms in Jesus\u2019 parable, too. It just wasn\u2019t right in their minds. Person A who showed up at the crack of dawn and worked all day long should earn more than Person B who strolled in at the tail end of the work day. That\u2019s how it is supposed to work. That\u2019s fair. And it would be fair if this was a parable to teach us about economics. But, like all of Jesus\u2019 parables as we\u2019ll see the rest of this month, their purpose is not to provide some temporal takeaway, but to provide spiritual insight that gives us a clearer picture both of who God is and who we are. Our parable today achieves both. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus introduces this parable using what for him is a typical introduction: something \u201cis like\u201d this or that. He is clarifying that what he\u2019s about to say is not a literal occurrence or an actual historical event, but rather a story that is intended to illustrate a particular point or teaching. In this case, he is explaining what \u201cthe kingdom of heaven is like\u201d<\/em><\/strong> (v.1). What is \u201cthe kingdom of heaven,\u201d exactly? It is one way that Jesus reminds us that our sense of belonging in this world – a family name, a town in which we were brought up, or citizenship in a certain country, for example – is vastly different than what it means to belong to the Lord, to be his, or as Paul puts it in his letter to the Philippians, to have \u201cour citizenship [is] in heaven\u201d<\/em><\/strong> (3:20). The criteria for belonging to Christ\u2019s kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, is unlike any criteria on earth for belonging in that it is based on one thing and one thing only: grace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We love grace. We celebrate grace. We just sang a hymn about grace that is near and dear to many of our hearts. Grace is what we\u2019re all about. We know forgiveness is extended to us because of grace. We know salvation is ours because of grace. We know that even the gift of faith itself which clings to all these truths is because of grace. From start to finish, through and through, it\u2019s all by grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it is the very thing that makes grace so attractive – that it is underserved – that makes it tough for us to swallow when others receive it. The real irony? It irritates us to see others receive grace when we don\u2019t feel they deserve it! It\u2019s the very definition of grace – undeserved love, that ruffles our feathers when we see it extended to those we don\u2019t think deserve it. But no one deserves it! That\u2019s just it. I don\u2019t deserve it. You don\u2019t deserve it. No one deserves it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet God desires to extend it to everyone. \u201cTurn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other\u201d (Isaiah 45:22).<\/em><\/strong> \u201cAll the ends of the earth\u201d includes everyone – including you, if I\u2019m not mistaken. But \u201ceveryone\u201d also includes the estranged family member. Everyone includes that jerk from high school who treated you like garbage. Everyone includes the offensive co-worker. Everyone includes the alcoholic, the addict, the rapist, the racist, the sex-trafficer, and the pedophile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s where Jesus\u2019 parable challenges us. We know that God wants everyone to be saved. We know that that means everyone needs his grace. So why is it that we can slip into the same thinking as the first hired hands who worked the longest and resent that those who worked the least got paid the exact same amount? Why should such resentment ever creep into our hearts? Well the truth is, it doesn\u2019t creep into<\/em> our hearts – it\u2019s always been there. It resides there, and a parable like this just exposes it. But why would we ever resent God extending his grace to anyone else if, like him, we also want everyone to be saved?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wonder if Jesus\u2019 final words in this parable clue us in. He concluded with, \u201cSo the last will be first, and the first will be last\u201d (Mt. 20:16). <\/em><\/strong>And, if you look at how Jesus concluded his teaching in the previous chapter, he closed the same way. Why does Jesus need to make this statement repeatedly when teaching? Isn\u2019t it rather obvious? It goes against our very nature. We are bent toward self first and foremost. When that happens, you know what we tend to do? We use ourselves as the metric by which we judge others. We are our own measuring stick. When that is the case, we lose our bearings and it throws everything out of perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See what it did for those hired first in the parable? When they got paid the same exact amount as those who put in less time, \u201cthey began to grumble against the landowner. \u2018These who were hired last worked only one hour,\u2019 they said, \u2018and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day\u2019\u201d (v.11-12). <\/em><\/strong>The metric by which they determined how things should be was on the basis of the long hard day that they<\/em> had put in. By comparison then, the workers whose timesheet reflected fewer hours worked didn\u2019t deserve the same wages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worst of all, their skewed sense of comparison led them to resent the landowner who had hired them in the first place. He even called them out for resenting his generosity (v.15). So an ego-fed hard day\u2019s work as their standard resulted in their despising not only all those hired after them, but also the generous landowner who had hired them all in the first place. And, how quickly they forgot that they had even agreed to work all day for the payment that was promised!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than using our inflated sense of self as the measuring stick, there is only one metric by which we can explain this parable, and really understand the kingdom of heaven. Only when grace is the metric does all of this make sense. Grace makes room not just for those hired last, but also for the resentful workers hired first. Grace hires those who never even applied for the job. Grace pays out the same wages to every worker. What a beautiful thing that is for us! What a beautiful thing that is for everyone! Hired first? Work hard, work faithfully, work as long as it is day, because you know that Jesus means your payment in heaven is never in question. Hired last? It\u2019s never too late to get working in the vineyard. Though even the majority of your life may have been a missed opportunity to serve in the kingdom of grace, Jesus means your payment in heaven is never in question. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what is our takeaway from this parable? Let it be two-fold: 1) thank God that he deals with us on the basis of grace and not our own standards, and 2) guard against allowing that grace to be taken for granted or despised when we see it extended to others. How do we keep these two points in our hearts and minds? We remember that it\u2019s God\u2019s<\/em> grace. It\u2019s his. Though he extends it to us, he doesn\u2019t entrust it to us to determine who does or doesn\u2019t deserve it. Then it would no longer be grace. For it to remain grace, it must remain God\u2019s to give freely as he determines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice the arrangements of those hired later in the day. They didn\u2019t agree to work for a set amount as did the first hired hands, who agreed to a denarius. No, they agreed to work for whatever the landowner determined was right (v.4). They were excited to be asked to work, not even worrying about the payment. They were totally fine with the landowner paying them as he saw fit. So their joy wasn\u2019t based on how much they stood to earn. In fact they weren\u2019t even worried about that. Their joy was found in getting to work in the vineyard. They were elated to be chosen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually, if we really want to get at the point of this parable, we have to admit that the landowner really was being unfair. Not only did none of the workers apply for the job or deserve to be hired, but none of them actually deserved to be paid. Yet they were all hired. They were all paid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it\u2019s God\u2019s grace, not ours, to dole out, it isn\u2019t fair. No one deserves it. In fact we all equally DON\u2019T deserve it. But rather than grumbling and complaining about God being unfair with his grace, let\u2019s celebrate it, work our tails off in his vineyard, and then when the time comes, look forward to being paid something far greater than a denarius, far greater than even the dessert your kids pester you for\u2026 let\u2019s look forward to finding out what it\u2019s like to be on the other side of the kingdom of heaven. We will, by God\u2019s<\/em> grace. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(based on Matthew 20:1-16) Parents can relate to the experience all too well. Mom or dad hasn\u2019t yet made up their mind about whether or not dessert is on the menu for the night. Maybe it depends on how supper goes. Maybe the decision is based on how much junk food the kids have already… Continue reading It’s God’s Grace<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[64,65],"tags":[53,66,36],"class_list":["post-612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parables-of-jesus-series","category-sermons","tag-grace","tag-parable","tag-sermon"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p842FN-9S","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/1thingmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Gold-Glasses-National-Wine-Day-Social-Media-Graphic.png?fit=2000%2C2000&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=612"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":620,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612\/revisions\/620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}