We are champions of God’s grace. - Matthew 20:1-16
As Lutherans, we pride ourselves on being people of grace. Sola Gratia (grace alone) is a battle cry of sorts for us. The hymn Amazing Grace may not have been written by a full-fledged Lutheran, but few sing it better than a church full of Lutherans. We know Ephesians 2:1-10 like the back of our hands and as proof of our understanding of grace we are quick to quote, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast”[1]. Our extensive understanding of grace allows us to recognize work righteousness in other religions. We shake our heads at the invention of a treasury of merit, the selling of forgiveness, and a place called purgatory. We scoff at the belief that God needs the assistance of people who make a decision or choice before He can intervene to save. We Lutherans are champions of grace! We teach grace in our classrooms, we preach grace from our pulpits, and we sing grace in our sanctuaries. And yet sometimes we still struggle when God’s grace is put into practice. Sometimes we demonstrate we don’t understand God’s grace as well as we think we do.
Peter and the boys were struggling with God’s grace. A rich young man had just asked Jesus, “teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”[2] He told Jesus he had kept all the commandments and wondered what else he had to do. Jesus told him to give away all his money and become a disciple. Upon hearing this, the young man “went away sad, because he had great wealth.”[3] This exchange between the rich young man and Jesus got Peter and the boys thinking about what they had given up to be followers of Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”[4]
What then will there be for us? It is an intriguing question, isn’t it. For those of us who have followed Jesus from baptism, what then will there be for us? For those of us who have resisted the temptations to follow the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of air, what then will there be for us? For those of us who have sacrificed comfort and convenience in order to be here today, what then will there be for us? Like Peter and the boys, we have left maybe not everything, but we have left a lot to follow Jesus. What then will there be for us?
Jesus answers His followers’ question with a story about the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said, “1 For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.” Like other stories that Jesus tells, not every detail is easily understood nor are they essential to our understanding of the story. Some details simply set the scene or help move the narrative of the story along. However, there are some details that are essential and obvious. For one, the landowner who does the hiring is obviously God. And the people who are hired are obviously us, the faithful followers of Jesus.
Already in these first two verses Jesus is teaching His followers a lesson on grace. Jesus is reminding Peter and the boys, Pastor and y’all how it is that we came to work in His vineyard. We did not apply for the job. We did not go through a series of interviews. We did not beat out other applicants. The landowner went out looking for us. The landowner found us and called us to work in His vineyard. The landowner promised he would treat us right.
It is important for us to be reminded that we are here by the grace of God, because sometimes we act like God should be grateful that we showed up to work. We act as though we are busy people who have 1,000 more important things to do. So, when we do find the time to be here, we feel we have gone above and beyond what should be expected of us. It is important for us to be reminded that we are here by the grace of God, because sometimes we act like this place would fall apart without us. If it weren’t for us sermons wouldn’t be preached, music wouldn’t be played, communion wouldn’t be served, the children wouldn’t be taught, the widows would be forgotten, the church wouldn’t be cleaned, and the lights wouldn’t be on. We grumble and complain, If it weren’t for the 20% of us doing 80% of the work around here nothing would ever get done. It is important for us to be reminded that we are here by the grace of God, because sometimes we act like we own the place. We want others to feel welcomed and wanted here, but at the same time we want things to be done the way we want things to be done, the way things have always been done and when they aren’t; we tend to get a little grumpy.
It is important for this pastor and you people to be reminded we are all here by God’s grace. Let’s face it, before the landowner came looking for us, our lives had no real meaning, we served no real purpose, and our future was worse than bleak. But the landowner did come looking for you. The landowner found you. Through Word and Sacrament, the landowner has called you to work in His vineyard. And the landowner has promised to treat you right. Every single one of us is here because of God’s grace. It is important for us to remember that and act accordingly. By God’s grace, we get to be here. By God’s grace, we get to do works of service. By God’s grace, we get to be accommodating hosts of His house.
We are all here by God’s grace and we are not the only ones. The landowner calls more people to work in his vineyard. Jesus continues His story in verse 3. 3 “About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. “He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6 About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ 7 “ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ Did you notice when and how often the landowner went out looking for people to work in His vineyard? He called the first group at the start of the day, he called the second group about the time the first group was pouring their second cup of coffee, called the third group about lunch time, called the fourth group while everyone was having their afternoon snack, and He called the fifth group at the very end of the day when most of the employees were logging off their computers and texting their families about dinner plans. The landowner went looking for people to work in his vineyard a total of five times throughout the day and right up until the last moment of the day.
Here also in these verses Jesus is teaching His followers a lesson on grace. I know I said not every detail of a story needs to be pressed, but why do you think the landowner went out so often and so late? Surely it can’t be because He needed the workers! Even if you imagine his vineyard to be vast that still does not account for the fact that He was still calling people to work in His vineyard in the eleventh hour after all the work was essentially completed and people were already packing up and getting ready to head home. It is obvious this about more than how much work the landowner can get out of these workers. The landowner did not need these workers… but He wanted them. He wanted to fill his vineyard as full of as many workers as He possibly could before day’s end.
When a mother and father bring a child to be baptized, it is because of God’s grace. When a young man follows his girlfriend into the sanctuary on Sunday morning, it is because of God’s grace. When a prodigal child is sick of sleeping with the pigs and returns home, it is because of God’s grace. When the person who has lived most of their life racing down the highway to hell is at the last moment diverted to the narrow path to heaven, it is because of God’s grace. God doesn’t need any of us… but He wants all of us. That is why God calls and keeps calling till the day is done.
The Landowner fills his vineyard full of people so that they can be in line on payday. And here is where we see just how well we understand God’s grace. Jesus continues His story in verse 8. “8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ 9 “The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ As the landowner began handing out paychecks, there were some disgruntled employees who began to grumble against the landowner. Did you notice why? The Landowner treated everyone right just as He had promised. He did not cheat a single soul. The disgruntled grumblers were upset because the landowner was just as generous to those who had worked less than they. And that generosity set off their unfairness alarms.
My unfairness alarm has gone off a time or two. One time I was running with some friends over a mountain in Texas. One of my friends was a Coast Guard Rescue swimmer by the name of Ryan. Ryan didn’t exactly train for the race, but as a rescue swimmer it was literally his job to work out and stay in shape so he thought he could finish the race. And Ryan did great till about midnight. When I caught up to him at an aid station he was beaten down like a screen door in a windstorm. But as I left the aid station I convinced him to tuck in behind me and follow me down the trail. For the next two hours Ryan hardly spoke a word. But we got to the finish line, in fact we crossed it together. But the next day when the race results were officially posted, the race director listed Ryan’s name ahead of mine. Don’t get me wrong I was happy my friend finished the race, but secretly I did a little grumbling that my name was not listed before his.
I don’t think there is a single one of us here who would begrudge God for letting someone into heaven. We might have a few people in mind whom we imagine will need a double dose of God’s generosity (I say that with my tongue pressed firmly to my cheek) but we want as many people in heaven as possible. And I am certain we will rejoice to see just how many people, by God’s grace, are walking the streets of gold. But fair is fair. And some of us have been working in the vineyard for a hot minute. Surely there will be some sort of extra compensation, maybe a bigger mansion, in a better neighborhood, something very Jesus adjacent. We don’t want to deprive those who spent less time in the vineyard, we just feel they shouldn’t be, how did the disgruntled grumblers put it, they shouldn’t be “made equal to us.”
Jesus concludes His story starting with verse 13. Listen to how the landowner responds to this gross misunderstanding of grace. 13 “But he (the landowner) answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” The landowner rebukes the disgruntled grumblers and in so doing teaches us a very important lesson on grace. When payday comes, eternal life will not be compensation for work we have done. Salvation is not a wage we will be paid. Rather, salvation is a gift we will be given. I have not earned and I do not deserve that gift any more than any of you and you have not earned and you do not deserve that gift any more than anyone else. When payday comes, not a one of us is going to receive a wage that we worked for, rather every one of us is going to receive a gift that was bought and paid for with the life, death, and resurrection of the Landowner’s Son. This is not our God being unfair to us, this is our God being gracious to us.
Peter and the boys once asked Jesus, “what then will there be for us?” To this pastor and you people it is an intriguing question. But Jesus’ answer to the question changes our focus from what we deserve to get to what by His grace we have been given. By God’s grace we have been given the opportunity to work in His vineyard. By God’s grace we are given more and more people to work beside us. By God’s grace all the workers in the vineyard will be given the gift of salvation.
Therefore, as Lutherans who pride ourselves on being people of grace, let us not merely teach God’s grace in our classrooms, preach God’s grace from our pulpits, and sing God’s grace in our sanctuaries. Let our hearts also be filled with gratitude and our lips proclaim praise for every time and every person our God puts His grace into practice. For then we will truly be champions of God’s grace. Amen.
[1] Ephesians 2:8-9
[2] Matthew 19:16
[3] Matthew 19:22
[4] Matthew 19:27