Inexplicable Grace

How do you measure success? It’s one of the most important and life-defining questions that we ask. None of us wants to come to the end of our lives only to realize that we’ve failed. Our most common means of measuring the success of our lives is by comparing them with others. How good of a mom am I? Well, how do I compare with the other moms? How good of a husband am I? Am I doing better or worse than most other husbands? How good of a pastor or an intellect or an entrepreneur am I? How do I stack up against the others?

Things were no different in Jesus’ day. In fact, in Jesus’ day, the perceived successes and the perceived failures were even more publicly prominent. In Jesus’ society, it was all about how you ranked in society. That’s why in a couple of weeks, we’re going to see the momma of two of Jesus’ disciples ask Jesus to place her babies on his right and left sides in the Kingdom of God. She wanted to make sure that her baby boys were considered successes and given positions of honor in the Kingdom. So, this morning, we’re going to continue seeing Jesus teaching us the extraordinary value system of the Kingdom. On the Kingdom of earth, your success and your honor may be determined by your position and your merit, but in the Kingdom of God it will be completely different.

"What then will we have?" It's important to remember the context in which we find chapter 20. Jesus and his disciples had just been approached by the Rich Young Ruler who had departed Jesus sad because Jesus had told him to inherit eternal life he would have to betray his wealth, and it was a price too high for him to pay. Peter responds to this situation on behalf of the disciples by asking Jesus, "What then will we have? We, who have laid down everything to follow you. We, who have left businesses and livelihoods believing that you were the Messiah. We, who live under death threats and constant scrutiny. What then will we have?" You see, from the perspective of the disciples it appeared as though the Rich Young Ruler was better off than they were. Or, to put it in spiritual terms, that he was more 'blessed' than they were. They had been trained to think like most of us to believe that God's favor and your riches are proportional to one another. You see, in comparison to the Rich Young Ruler, it didn't appear that the disciples were doing very well. It appeared, from the outside looking in, that the Rich Young Ruler had experienced the blessing of God far greater than they had.

And, Jesus responded by teaching them the transcendent glory of eternal treasures in place of temporary treasures, and he ended that point and chapter 19 by saying something that he says frequently: "But men who are first will be last, and last first." In other words, Jesus is saying to this disciples: Don't believe what you're eyes are telling you. Believe what I'm telling you. And so, this is where we pick up this morning. Jesus is driving home this last-first ethic and how it transforms thinking in the kingdom of God.

“So the first will be last, and the last first” In our text this morning, in verse 16, we see an almost verbatim repeat of 19:30. Again, Jesus says that the first will be last and the last will be first in the Kingdom of God. And, in chapter 20, we see Jesus approaching it from the opposite side of 19:30. In 19:30, it is given to his disciples as a promise, something to encourage them and to enable them to persevere in their suffering for the cause of Christ, but in verse 16 we’re seeing it, not as a promise, but as a warning. So, in 19:30, Jesus is saying: Don’t be beaten down when it feels like the world is winning. Don’t be beaten down when it appears that others around you are finishing first. Don’t be beaten down when it feels like you’re finishing last, because in the Kingdom of God the last will be first and the first will be last. God does not evaluate us by how we finish on earth. Then, when we come to 20:16, he’s saying: Don’t be puffed up. Don’t compare yourselves to one another. Don’t try to calculate God’s generosity. Don’t try to rationalize God’s grace. So, it’s the promise that they will be rewarded beyond what they can see and understand, and it’s the warning to not self-impose their standards onto God’s grace to others.

APPLICATION: We tend to not only be

“a master of a house who went out....to hire laborers” Jesus tells the parable of a wealthy master who owns a vineyard. It’s the time for him to harvest his grapes and so he needs to add some day laborers to his permanent staff to account for the increase in workload. So, he goes out at 6 in the morning to find some workers and he promises them one denarius for their work, which was a standard day’s wage. But, then he goes out again at 9am and again at noon and then, he goes out once more at 5pm, which was one hour before quitting time to hire yet another crew of workers. And, you’ll notice that each of the workers hired after the first crew are not promised a denarius for their work; rather, they are promised “what is right.” This would have likely been in their minds as an amount that was commensurate with the amount of time they worked. But, then quitting time comes, and that’s when the most extraordinary part of this story takes place. Starting with those hired last, the master pays every, single man for a full day’s work, regardless if you’ve been there one hour or you’ve been there ten hours. So, you have some who leave that day astounded at the generosity of the master, and you have others who leave that day angry at the generosity of the owner. Those who worked one hour for a full day’s wage are ecstatic, and those who worked a full 12 hour day for ONLY a full day’s wage feel slighted. And, Jesus says that the Kingdom of God is like this.

And, Jesus says that the Kingdom of God is like this.

“Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first” Jesus’ intention in the parable is to teach us by the characters that we meet. And so, I want us to look at these characters together. The main character of this story is the owner of the vineyard. In this parable, the owner of the vineyard is to give us a portrait of our heavenly Father so that we might better understand his Kingdom and the last-first principle of the Kingdom. And, what Jesus teaches us about the grace of our heavenly Father. You see, it really doesn’t make business sense for this master to hire so many workers and to pay what would have been an exorbitant amount to people who worked so little. Those who were hired last were paid more than 10 times what they should have earned. If this is about business, then this owner is a terrible business man. He could have increased his profit margins exponentially by reducing his workforce and paying the workforce the bare minimum that he could pay them. But, this wasn’t about business; this was about generosity. And, in that generosity we catch a glimpse of the generosity of our God. Notice three portraits of grace that are seen in the landowner.

First, we see that the landowner is not calculating, but generous. Most interpreters agree that the landowner would have hired all the workers that he would have needed early in the morning. So, the landowner is going back to hire workers each time, not because he has underestimating the work that was to be done, but so that he could show compassion and provide for as many people as necessary. You see, this owner is not a numbers cruncher. He’s not calculating it out so that he can get the most work out of the fewest people for the smallest amount. Rather, he is seeking to be a generous benefactor. And, here’s the point: Our God is not basing his generosity toward us on any business formula. He’s not trying to get the bare minimum He needs to build his Kingdom. No! Our God does not need any of us!

APPLICATION: Brothers and sisters, we do not serve a penny-pinching God! Our God is not a calculating, numbers-crunching God! Our God is not worried about the overhead of taking too many of us on as his adopted children. He is not worried that we will exhaust his resources or bankrupt him. No! He is just generous toward us! He is just kind toward us! He gives and gives and gives with no record or calculations for what all is given. His grace toward us in incalculable and inexplicable! Don’t be afraid of how big your sin is that needs to be forgiven! God is not penny pinching with his grace! He gives it exorbitantly and abundantly so that every sin, no matter how big or how small might be washed clean. And, stop praying so small! Stop praying as though the God of heaven were poor and fearing bankruptcy. Pray in proportion to his inexplicable generosity. Pray as though He really can transform a community. Pray as though He really can bring an explosion of grace into our church family!

Secondly, we see that the landowner pays not by merit, but by grace. You know, each of us read this story, and we totally get why those who have worked the longest are peeved, don’t we? They are reacting exactly as we would. Man, they worked 12 hours! And, they were paid for 12 hours. The landowner was just. As a matter of fact, if he had not insisted on those who had been there the shortest amount of time being paid first, nobody would have even known the difference. But, how can it be fair that those who worked one hour are paid for 12 hours, and those who worked for 12 hours are paid for 12 hours. Like, that seems off! And, it seems off because we’re all accustomed to living by a system of merit. You’ve got to earn your spot! You’ve got to make something of yourself! You do more; you get more. It’s how the world works. But, the Kingdom of God is not rooted in merit. It can’t be. If the Kingdom of God were rooted in merit none of us would ever be there, because the Bible says that none of us are good. We might feel like we win a comparison game with other sinners, but in comparison with true holiness, true goodness, to Jesus himself, we see that we are woefully inadequate. So, the Kingdom of God isn’t based on how much you’ve worked or on how much good you do. It’s based on unwarranted, freely given, inexplicably generous grace.

APPLICATION: Here’s what Jesus is saying: The Kingdom of God is not based on what anyone has earned; it’s based on what God has given! It isn’t based on how well you’ve performed or on how much you’ve sacrificed or on how little you’ve cussed; it’s based on what Jesus has done! So, it doesn’t matter if you Jesus saves you at 5 or at 50, you’re just as saved because God is just as generous. It doesn’t matter if you’re a tax collector or a pharisee when you get saved, you’re just as saved because God is just as generous. Brothers and sisters, stop measuring out your performance, and start measuring out God’s grace! Stop comparing yourselves to other Christians, and plunge yourself into the depths of God’s grace.

Lastly, we see that the landowner didn’t seek out the best, but the least. Let me ask you a question: Why do you think those men were still available at 5:00 without any work? You see, in Jesus’ day, a day laborer was often a less skilled worker than a permanent worker. So, they had to just offer manual labor as they could find the work. And, that’s who we’re talking about. And, by the way, this is who we are in this story. It’s not the most flattering picture of us. But, then you get to 5:00, and what you’ve got are those who have been passed over all day. You’ve got the least skilled, and the least able. These are the men that bring the least to the table. And, yet who is paid first? Who gets the greatest honor? Who experiences the most profound generosity? The least. The world’s leftovers. The has beens and the never was’s.

APPLICATION: Tell me you see the picture here. This is us! This is me and you! We bring nothing to the table. We are all Mephibosheth! David’s friend Jonathan had a crippled son named Mephibosheth, and David brings him to his table, and he says to this lame man, “You’re going to eat at the table of the king for the rest of your life!” Mephibosheth asks, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?” Brothers and sisters, this is us! We are dead dogs offered a seat at the King’s table! Why are the least the greatest in the Kingdom of God? It’s because they love grace the most! They have no entitlement. They know who they are, and they know that Jesus is all they have. And, that is the place of highest honor in God’s Kingdom!

“Do you begrudge my generosity?” The other characters that are featured in our story are those who feel slighted. It’s those who worked a twelve hour day and received the same pay as those who worked one hour, and they’re mad about it. It’s important for us to note that they were treated with perfect justice. They agreed to a set pay for a set amount of work, and they were paid exactly as promised. But, you see, they are viewing this all wrong. The ESV uses the word ‘begrudge,’ but it means evil. It’s kind of a word play that says, “You see my good with evil eyes.” That is, they are seeing the generous owner’s good through very jealous, envious eyes. So, they see something that is actually good and call it evil. Truthfully, they have been in position to know the generosity of the owner the longest, and they have had the greatest assurance of provision for the longest period of time. But, they are jealous nonetheless of those who worked so little for the same pay.

Jealousy is the opposite of the first are last and the last are first. Jealousy is always rooted in a high view of yourself and a low view of other people. If you are seeking to be first in the Kingdom of God by seeing yourself as last in the kingdom of earth, then you are able to celebrate the smallest fragment of God's generosity in your own life and the most extravagant example of God's generosity in the life of your brother or neighbor. But, if you are constantly making the case why God should give to you or treat you and reward you like someone else or instead of someone else, you've moved away from grace and back to merit. You've raised your view of yourself, and you've lowered you're view of God.

Jealousy is a thief of joy, but humility, a last-first mentality is a fountain. A humble man can see God's generosity in places that a jealous man despises. A jealous man may despise his house, but a humble man praises God for a warm shelter. A jealous man may despise his marriage, but a humble man praises God for someone to whom he can demonstrate God's love, even if they don't get the same love back. A jealous man may despise his job, but a humble man praises God for taking care of him for another week. You see, the source of discontentment and misery in the life of the jealous man is the very same source of joy in the life of the humble man. The only difference is jealousy or humility. Jealousy steals joy and humility produces joy in the most unlikeliest of places.

APPLICATION: So, be warned disciple! If you seek to be first, you will find misery. If you seek to be first, you will finish last. But, if you seek to be last, if you humble yourself before God, if you stop comparing yourself to other men, if you live in grace and trust in grace and walk in grace, you will find joy! You will find firm ground in God’s Kingdom!

What if the source of your jealousy became a source of joy for you? What if you could celebrate every fragment of God's generosity in your life along with the most extravagant examples in the lives of others? This is the glory of a last-first mentality. This is what greatness looks like in the Kingdom of God. This is Kingdom success.

What if the source of your jealousy became a source of joy for you? What if you could celebrate every fragment of God's generosity in your life along with the most extravagant examples in the lives of others? This is the glory of a last-first mentality.

Inexplicable Grace

Introduction

God’s Word

Read

Don’t Trust Your Eyes

A Promise and a Warning

A Full Day’s Wage

A Generous Master

Not Calculating, But Generous

Not Merit, But Grace

Not the Best, But the Least

A Jealous Worker

A Thief or a Fountain

Landing