2/9/25 “Agitating Grace”
“Agitating Grace”
Matthew 20:1-16
(Hold up a Rubik’s Cube)
Can anyone tell me what this is?
I believe I speak for many of us when I say that this is one of the most frustrating, agitating, aggravating, upsetting, annoying, disturbing, exasperating, vexing, discouraging, infuriating inventions of all time!
If you were counting – that’s 10 adjectives of negativity there….
That means I am very serious about my utter contempt toward this thing.
When these 3” blocks of frustration came out in the early 80’s, they were all the rage….everyone had to have one.
By the way, how many of you had a Rubik’s Cube – or still have one today?
Ok…now – keep your hand up if you have actually solved this thing
To all of you with your hands still up…
…..I don’t think we can be friends anymore! 😊
The Rubik’s cube was invented by Hungarian architect Erno Rubik in the late 70’s and was originally sold in Britian under the name “Magic Cube”…
…then, in 1980, it was released internationally and eventually would become the world’s bestselling puzzle game.
As of last year, over 500 million of these have been sold.
As a kid, I had a love-hate relationship with my Rubik’s Cube.
I knew that it could be solved…and part of me enjoyed that continual challenge…
…but It was also incredibly frustrating, because I just could not figure it out.
I’d occasionally get close, but then I would always stall out…
And, yes, in frustration, I did eventually peel off a few stickers and reapply them in order to make it appear as though I’d solved the cube….
…I had a bit of James T Kirk in me…I didn’t believe in no-win scenarios! 😊
What made things worse was that I had a couple of hot-shot friends who had actually figured out how to solve their Rubik’s Cube…
…And they would, of course, always carry their cubes with them wherever they would go….just in case the opportunity would present itself for them to display their amazing cubical talents to amazed onlookers.
All in all, I found this little puzzle to be extremely agitating.
In many ways, today’s parable is like a spiritual Rubik’s Cube.
Truth be told, it’s a frustrating parable, is it not?
If we are honest with ourselves, this is a parable that leaves us agitated by the extent of God’s abundantly generous grace…
I mean, we all love grace….when it is administered to us.
…But we often have a very difficult time accepting the fact that God lavishes enormous amounts of grace upon other people who we may view as less deserving – or even undeserving – of such grace.
Like someone wrestling with a Rubik’s Cube and not understanding the process of how it is solved…
…We wrestle with this parable not fully comprehending the process of how – and to whom - God decides to provide an overabundance of grace upon within His kingdom….
…My goal today is that – through this parable, and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit – we will all come to a better understanding of why – as believers all destined for heaven….…none of us has any reason to complain if God chooses to extend a surplus of grace to certain individuals.
If you are in Christ, you are on a glory train bound for heaven…
As one who will inherit the riches of God for eternity, there is absolutely no room for jealousy or resentfulness in your heart toward those who’ve maybe been blessed with an upgraded seat on that train…
…or for those individuals who end up waiting until the final stop to catch a ride on the train to everlasting glory.
So, with that in mind….Let’s take a look at our passage for today.
This story has traditionally been referred to as “The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.”
Beginning in verse 1 of Matthew chapter 20 (Matthew 20:1) we are told of a landowner who travels to a nearby village in order to find some day laborers to work in his fields.
Many vineyards in Palestine were planted on terraced hillsides, making it a somewhat difficult process to plant, prune, and harvest the grapes…
This would have required the services of numerous seasonal workers at specific times throughout the year…
It reminds me of a time right after college when I worked for a seed corn research company in Cottage Grove…
Every day each Spring we would drive down to the UW-Madison school of Agriculture building, where there would be 3 van loads of students waiting in line to come help us thin & cultivate the dozen or so test plots we had all around the state.
This is similar to what we have going on here in this parable…these were day-laborers who congregated in one location everyday - hoping to be given the opportunity to work.
Verse 2 (Matthew 20:2) informs us that the landowner made a deal with these early morning workers to pay them a Denarius for their labor that day…
…keep in mind that a denarius – which was the going rate for one day of field labor - was the agreed upon wage…this will come into play later in the story.
This trip would have been around 6:00 in the morning, as that was when the Jewish workday began.
Verse 3 (Matthew 20:3) tells us that 3 hours later – at 9:00 AM – the landowner went out to find more workers…
He rounds them up and - in verse 4 – lets them know they will receive a fair wage for their work.
The landowner continues to go out for more workers…
Verse 5 (Matthew 20:5) tells us that he goes out at the 6th hour (Noon) as well as the ninth hour (3:00 PM)
Finally, he makes one more run for laborers.
Verse 6 (Matthew 20:6) tells us that the landowner goes out at the 11th hour…this would be around 5:00 PM in the afternoon…
…Just 1 hour before the workday wraps us at 6:00 PM
So, in verse 8 (Matthew 20:8) when the workday is over, the landowner calls his foreman in to settle up with the workers for the day.
The landowner does something very interesting here, he instructs the foreman to distribute the day’s wages beginning with the group of workers who came at the 11th hour….the crew that only worked 1 hour.
…This is significant – the landowner intentionally wanted the men who worked all day to witness what was about to be given to the 1-hour group.
Obviously, a lesson was needing to be taught here.
Verse 9 (Matthew 20:9) tells us that the landowner pays each of these 11th hour workers a full denarius…
…keep in mind, a denarius was the going wage for a full 12-hour shift.
…These men were getting paid 12 times what they normally would receive for only working 1 hour.
Verse 10 (Matthew 20:10) describes the thoughts and expectations of those who had worked the longest that day…those who were hired at the crack of dawn…
…these men saw what the 11th hour crew had received, so they assumed the landowner was being overly generous to everyone…
…and that he would give each of them more than just one denarius for their many hours of labor that day….
…but when the foreman distributed their wages, each of the men received just one denarius as well.
As you might imagine, they were not happy.
As would be expected… the grumbling begins in verses 11 and 12 (Matthew 20:11-12)
They accuse the landowner of being unfair in his distribution of wages…
They argue that since he paid the crew that only worked 1 hour a whole denarius, then it was only fair that they receive more than I denarius…
…even though they were all originally contracted – and content - to work the entire day for 1 denarius.
The landowner reminds them of this agreement in verse 13 (Matthew 20:13) when he says, “Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius?”
Just 12 hours earlier, these men were happy and thankful to have work for the day…at that time, 1 denarius seemed like a real blessing.
…After all, 1 denarius was universally accepted in that region as a fair wage for a full day’s work.
In verse 15, the landowner continues, “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?”
…And Jesus ends this parable in verse 16 (Matthew 20:16) with the statement, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last”
So….before we look closer at the lessons that can be learned from this parable…
…Let’s first make sure that we all understand who and what are being represented in this story.
The vineyard represents the kingdom of God…
Remember, the kingdom of God is essentially the spiritual rule of God over the hearts and lives of those who willingly submit to His authority.
…It is the spiritual landscape of people in whom the Holy Spirit is dwelling and working through.
Simply put, it is the spiritual piece of real estate that all believers live upon…and this is represented in this parable by the vineyard.
All of these workers were people of faith working for God in some capacity…
…Just as all of us today who have placed their faith and trust in Jesus also work each day in some way for the advancement of God’s kingdom here on earth.
…if you are a child of God, you are involved in ministry in some way.
This is what is represented by the vineyard in this story.
The landowner, then, is God the Father.
He is the one who seeks to draw as many workers into His vineyard as possible…
He is the one who continually searches out human hearts to come and be a part of his kingdom.
He is the one who is generous with His grace beyond our wildest imagination!
The laborers – then – are believers….this would be us….people who have placed their faith & trust in Christ.
If you notice, however, not all people were laborers.
Every time the landowner went to town in search of hired help, there were only a handful of laborers waiting to be hired.
This is true of the world in which we live….
There will always be fewer laborers than non-laborers…
Or to put it another way, there will always be fewer followers of Jesus than non-followers of Jesus in this world.
Remember how Jesus reminds us of this in the Sermon on the Mount?
He tells us in Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Folks, we as believers will always be in the minority.
…we will always be swimming upstream against the current of culture and society.
We need to simply accept that truth…
this means that many of us – tragically - will have friends & family members who will never come to a saving faith in Christ.
Keep praying for them…keep reminding them of the gospel…
There are workers who are called at the 11th hour after all…
Some individuals come to Christ during the twilight of their lives…
We can never give up on people who currently don’t know Jesus as Lord & savior.
The foreman in this story is – most likely – Jesus.
If you recall, it was through the foreman that wages were distributed to the workers.
This is how it works spiritually as well.
It is through the Person of Jesus Christ that man is granted salvation.
The denarius, then, represents salvation.
Salvation is what we tangibly receive from Jesus when we complete our work here on earth…
Like the workers assembled at the end of the day, every believer will assemble before our savior and be granted the right to enter into his rest.
The apostle Paul makes mention of this event in 2 Corinthians 5:10 where he says “For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him…..”
This particular passage in 2 Corinthians is coming from the angle of eternal rewards, but it refers to this coming before Jesus for salvation that the parable alludes to as well.
The workday, then, represents the Christian’s lifetime of service to the Lord…
Some people are recruited and sign up for service in God’s kingdom from a very young age….the “6:00 AM crew.”
Perhaps, some of you here this morning were part of that group…
Maybe, like me, you came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ at a relatively young age….and you’ve been working in the vineyards of God’s spiritual kingdom ever since.
Or, perhaps, you were a member of the Noon crowd…or the 3:00 crew.
Maybe you came to Jesus as a middle-aged adult…and you have a testimony of how - for many years – you just didn’t have a desire to work in God’s vineyard…
…But finally, you heard the landowner coming to town…and something inside you convinced you to get in line to find out if His vineyard was right for you.
…And when you heard that small, still voice whisper that this vineyard was where you needed to be…you went.
…And what a testimony you have to tell others of how the landowner saved your life!
…The evening in the parable, then, is eternity.
The workday is over…and its time to go home.
Home to place you’ve never been, but your soul has been longing to be there your entire life.
Home to a place where there will be no more pain, no more sickness, no more death, no more tears…a place where all will be good and right and just.
This is such an encouraging parable of God’s grace as He seeks out those believers who have responded to his call…
…and who have decided to work in His kingdom.
It’s a beautiful parable….
So why is it a frustrating parable?
Why is it, the amazing grace we see in this story…is also agitating grace?
This story rubs us the wrong way when we read about the 1-hour workers getting paid the same wage as the 12-hour workers.
This is simply unfair, right?
Don’t we find ourselves sympathizing with the 12-hour workers when we realize they aren’t afforded some kind of ‘bonus’ for working longer hours with no difference in pay?
I mean, com’on, there isn’t an employer around who would do what this employer did.
It would be a HR nightmare, right?
We feel bad for the all-day workers because we perceive they are not being treated fairly…In our humanity, we feel they deserve more.
There can be a danger when approaching scripture…the danger is that of assuming we understand the way in which God’s economy of grace works.
If you begin reading scripture, you soon realize that the words “fair” and “deserve” are very dangerous words to use when describing humanity.
Because – if you want to really get down to the brass tacks – the only thing sinful mankind….deserves…is death.
We have all sinned, and scripture tells us that the wages of all sin is death.
Anything other than eternity, in a place called hell, is due to God’s indescribable grace through the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ.
Let me see if I can contextualize our parable in a more modern setting:
Imagine a father is taking his son’s basketball team to Culver’s.
Before they go, he asks all 10 kids if they’d like to have an ice-cream cone (Yes, I know technically it’s not ice-cream, its custard….I ask all of you super-detailed people to throw me some grace here)
To which each player replies…YES!....I’d love some ice cream!
So, the dad takes them all down to Culver’s.
The 5 starters all sit at one table.
These are the kids who are still sweating from running up and down the court…they are tired…they are worn out…they are hungry
Then…the 5 bench-warmers all sit together at their table.
These guys didn’t play at all…..they never saw any action on the court
This group didn’t break a sweat…they’re still full of energy and vitality
When the ice-cream cones come, all 10 players get one…everybody’s happy – for the moment.
Then the waitress soon comes back with 5 orders of cheese curds….but she hands them out to just the players at the bench-warmer table.
A player from the other table notices this and yells out, “Hey, when do we get our cheese curds!?”
To which the Dad replies “The deal was that everyone gets an ice-cream cone…and – as far as I can tell – every one of you has received an ice-cream cone”
To which the player responds: “But they got cheese curds too…why don’t we get cheese curds?”….I mean…we are the ones who worked hard running up and down the court for the past 2 hours…
To which the dad wisely says: “Because – for the past 2 hours - you had the privilege of playing in the game”
Do you see where I’m going with this, folks?
If you have been “working” in God’s kingdom for the past 40, 50, 60 years…
You have had the privilege of walking through this life holding God’s hand…
You have had the privilege of the Holy Spirit residing within you…
Giving you peace amidst the chaos of life
Providing you with Joy amidst times of hardship
Granting you hope in times of uncertainty
….and Supplying you with perfect love when you were alone
These things are worth so much more than cheese curds!!
Brothers & Sisters, the work we do in this life for our heavenly Father is a privilege that is like none other!
The peace, Joy, Hope, and Love that saturates a believer’s life are so far beyond anything this world has to offer….You are getting to play the game!!!
Those people in your life who don’t yet know the Lord….they are missing out on experiencing life that is – as the hymn goes – more abundant and free!
Someday, some of those people will perhaps give their life to the Lord…and they will receive the same reward as you – eternal life in heaven.
…but they will have missed playing 3 quarters of the game….
Right now – if you are in Christ – you are playing the game!
Rejoice in that!
…And rejoice when someone you know comes to the Lord – even if it’s on their deathbed….
even if they haven’t carried their cross of self-denial for the majority of their life….
…even if they spent the vast majority of their time on this earth partying rather than praying…drinking rather than thinking…sleeping around rather than settling down…
Rejoice if one of these individuals finds salvation before it’s too late for them.
Don’t be like the older brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son - who gets envious when little brother comes home after repenting of his sins…
The Father throws a big shin-dig, slaughters the fattened calf, hires the best DJ in all of Palestine to come lay down some sick tunes…OK, maybe not that last one.
But the older brother wants nothing to do with it…his heart is hard.
He cannot see beyond his own desires and his own selfishness…
Here’s a question for you: Do you think the younger brother – after living a life of sin, stress, grief, and debauchery that almost destroys him….
…Do you think he regretted ever leaving his home in the first place?...…absolutely!
So often, I hear testimonies from individuals who gave their life to Jesus at an older age…and I do hear Joy (Praise God)….but so often I also hear regret.
I hear regret in their story because they so wished they would have had more time to be in the game.
Some of you know Jeff Potter – he regularly attends the Monday night area men’s group….just a real warrior for the Lord.
Jeff came to a saving knowledge of Christ a bit later in life…
Jeff has an amazing testimony, and yet he often tells me how much he regrets wasting many years in disbelief and disobedience.
So many people in Jeff’s position wish they would have had more opportunity to “Work” for the kingdom.
The reason we become agitated with this parable…is because we mistakenly see unfairness and injustice when – in actuality – to be working in God’s kingdom for the long haul is a blessing beyond compare.
So much heartache, pain, anxiety, and stress can be avoided when you spend your days laboring in the peaceful vineyard of the Lord.
Let’s Pray