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INJ
St Matthew 20:1-9
'The Blessed Unfairness of the Gospel'
Morning Service
Septuagesima | February 8th, 2009
Dear Saints,
Christian doctrine goes against our flesh, our very nature. This is why it is so important to come to church and continue to study the Lord's Word, because what the Holy Spirit teaches us hear is truth that we cannot hear anywhere else. And our flesh naturally gravitates away from the truths of the kingdom of God.
Perhaps the text before us today is one of the clearest on this point. We hear it and we naturally rebel against it. We say, “Jesus, that isn't right. It isn't fair.”
Remember the parable: there is a vineyard owner, and he goes to town to get workers for his vineyard. These first workers he promises to pay a denarius, a day's wages. Some start work early, some at lunch time, some in the afternoon, and some at sundown. These last workers only work for an hour, the first worked for twelve hours. When the day is over they all line up for their wages, those hired last are the first in line, and they get paid a denarius.
Now as we're listening to this parable unfold, you have to put yourself at the end of the line. You're there, looking over the sweaty shoulders of the man in front of you, and you see some commotion in front. “Yes,” says the man behind the table, “That's what the master says, one denarius.” “One denarius!” “What?” you say, “That guy's getting paid a denarius?!” and you start doing the math in your head. “He worked one hour and got a denarius, I worked twelve hours...” and you know how it would be, at this point your mind is already on all the nice things you're going to buy, a new TV, a steak dinner.
You're probably so lost in these thoughts that you don't notice that another commotion has started at the front of the line. “What do you mean, a denarius? I worked for five hours, and I'm getting paid the same as that guy who only worked an hour?” “That's what the master says, one denarius,” says the man behind the table, and this second group grumbles off.
And now you're thinking to yourself, “This can't be.” Everyone gets the same, no matter how much they worked.” “What's going on?” you ask the guy behind you. “Don't know,” he says, and deep down you're thinking, “Well, the master is probably just paying the same to all the guys who came after lunch, we who worked through the day will surely get more.”
But then the guys in front of you, the guys who came in midmorning are paid a denarius, and you are ready for mutany. As these men complain you are going through the senarios in your mind, what you will say to the master. You even test the water of the guys around you, “This isn't right.” “No,” says the man next to you, “It isn't fair.”
Sure enough, when you reach the table to be paid the man puts down a denarius. “What's this?” you ask. “A denarius.” “But you paid the guys that came at sunset, the guys that only worked for an hour, the guys that didn't even break a sweat, you paid them a denarius.” “Yes. One denarius. That's what the master says.” With anger rising you say, “I want to talk to this master.”
Are you with me? Are you there in the text? Is this not exactly what you and I would have done? And would we not be right?
Well pick up the rest of the story from the text itself, Matthew 20:10-16:
Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it 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? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?' So the last will be first, and the first last."
If we are hearing this text rightly, something gristles inside of us, that internal fairness barometer. You know what I'm talking about. We all have a little scorekeeper in our sinful flesh, that's there tallying up the count to make sure everything is fair. We're born with this. Even the smallest child knows when something is fair and something isn't. “They got to go first last time.” You know what I'm talking about. And this little internal referee is good at what it does.
When someone hurts us or sins against us, it remembers. When we've done something nice and the favor wasn't returned, it remembers. If we see someone being rewarded for something, it remembers, and it expects the same. Our little scorekeeper is on a constant crusade to make sure that it is treated fairly, in accord with it's actions.
And so when these men who worked all day see the men who only worked an hour get paid the same amount as they did, they throw their flag and blow the whistle: Foul! That's not fair.
And that, dear saints, is the point: the kingdom of heaven is not fair. For you to enter the kingdom of heaven your little internal scorekeeper has to be put to death, and that is exactly what this parable is doing.
Now your little scorekeeper resists this death sentence, and says something like this, “That pastor's right. I know a lot of people just like that, always keeping score, always tallying things up, always demanding what's fair.” Dear saints, I'm not talking about them, I'm talking about you.
Jesus did not come to give you what you deserve or what you have earned. If He did things that way He would have for you and nice large heaping of death and destruction, for the wages of sin is death, and you, dear friends, are professional sinners, and there is no government mandated salary cap here. If Jesus were to give you what is fair, what you've earned, He would be giving you hell. But this is not what he has for you. He gives you what you do not deserve, but what He promised: life, eternal life in the blessings of His righteousness.
When we stand before Jesus fairness comes to an end and mercy takes over, grace takes over, love takes over, forgiveness takes over. His blood takes over, and this is not fair.
It isn't fair that Jesus died, and not you. It isn't fair that he hung on the cross and you get His pardon. It isn't fair that He was perfect and you get the benefits. The kingdom of heaven is not fair, but it is good, eternally good.
So we, dear saints, members of the kingdom of God, rejoice in the blessed unfairness of the Gospel, because it is our hope and comfort and life and salvation. Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Hope Lutheran Church | Aurora, CO
