Draft Sermons

"Troubled by Grace" 2011

Jonah 3:3-5, 10-4:4 Matthew 20:1-16

Jonah 3:3-5, 10-4:4

3So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. 4Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. 10When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. 4But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. 2He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. 3And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4And the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

Matthew 20:1-16

20“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ 7They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 8When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ 9When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. 11And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12saying, ‘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.’ 13But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 14Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

There are lots of wonderful and uplifting stories in the Bible.

We all have our familiar favorites, the ones we love best …

- beautiful texts that we love to hear again and again,

that overflow with hope and encouragement…

… but this Matthew 20 parable, probably isn't one of them.

Those of us who have been around the Church for a while

probably identify mostly with the workers hired early,

rather than

with the latecomers who worked only the last hour.

Most of you have worked hard and long serving at the church.

You have pledged and put money in offering plates.

You’ve supported our mission, served in various ministries

and tried to be faithful for many years ----

- so it just can’t be right or God’s will for slackers and latecomers

to receive the same compensation and rewards

as those who worked diligently and faithfully endured,

“the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” --- à

-- because,

if there really are no consequences tied to human achievement,

if we all receive the same regardless of effort or results,

then our faithfulness and what we do or don’t do,

really doesn't make any difference or matter,

so is there any reason to serve or work hard?

Surely that's not what Jesus was trying to convey in this parable.

We live in a world where we learn by an early age,

to do the right things that earn our parent’s approval,

in school, hard work & study are rewarded with good grades,

in scouting and the military you earn your rank & status,

and we work to earn wages or salary from our employer.

If compensation and rewards are tied to effort and achievement…

we consider that system to be reasonable, fair and just,

… but that’s not the case with this parable Jesus tells.

When Jesus first told this parable,

the religious authorities understood and taught that

faithful-Jewish people mattered more to God than others –

-- based upon their “religious achievement.”

But Jesus is teaching through this parable,

that God’s kingdom is not something

that we earn through human effort or accomplishment.

Paul explains the same point very clearly in Ephesians 2:8,

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

Grace is given. Grace is the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross,

because God loves us, and not because we earn it or deserve it.

But the religious authorities saw things differently…

which is why they objected and grumbled,

when Jesus offered fellowship and invited

undeserving sinners into a relationship with God…

… so Jesus told this parable to illustrate

that the kingdom of heaven is not something that we earn.

For them, a relationship with God was more like a transaction.

If you obey God’s commandments, do the necessary rituals,

then God would respond with abundance and blessings…

… the faithful earn the rewards they deserve.

But Jesus intended to shock and disturb his listeners by teaching

about God’s extravagant generosity, that is available to all.

God’s grace and benevolence toward even the underserving,

and that does not value one person more than any other.

When the gospel of Matthew was written a few decades later,

Christianity was spreading out into the gentile world.

The first Christians had almost all come from a Jewish background,

but more and more gentiles were becoming Christians,

who did not have a Jewish heritage and ancestry.

As the Church become more gentile, it was changing,

and the more traditional Jewish Christians

felt less comfortable and welcoming, and even wondering, were these gentile believers

really loved and cherished by God, as equals?

The author of Matthew

applied this parable as told by Jesus, to that situation,

as a reminder that

it is only by grace through Jesus Christ

that any of us are made acceptable before God.

As I thought about the teaching story in Matthew 20 this week,

I realized that the inclusive nature of God’s love and grace

was not just an issue and concern of the New Testament.

I am reminded that centuries before the birth of Christ,

when God commanded Jonah to preach to the Ninevites, à

he sailed off in the opposite direction because he didn’t

want them to repent and avoid the judgment of God;

because Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire,

a most brutal and bitter enemy of the nation Israel.

It was only after

he had been eaten and vomited out by a really big fish,

that was Jonah willing to obey God

by preaching a very short, but effective, 8 word sermon.

vs. 3:4-5, 10~4:1

Jonah cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry.

Jonah couldn’t stand that God’s love, forgiveness and grace

extended even to Israel’s unworthy-undeserving enemies –

-- very much like the early workers in the parable, vs. 10~12

Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 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.’

In our human pride, foolishness and self-righteousness,

we are troubled and offended by grace toward the undeserving.

When we hear this parable, for most of us it is a bit troubling,

because we generally identify ourselves with the early workers,

who feel offended and angry at the unfairness

of equal reward to those who worked for only an hour…

… as it seems to reward and encourage complacency,

as if our faithful efforts no purpose or effect.

But Jesus told this story from the view of the struggling peasant

who knew what it is like to miss an opportunity of being hired,

who may have trouble arriving early enough to be hired,

and may spend the day fruitlessly looking for work;

and who lives close to the edge, with the constant worry of how

to provide for their family to have food for another day.

Those struggling at the low-end of the socio-economic ladder,

they hear this parable as hope & promise, cause for celebration

for they hear blessings in it, the gospel of God’s grace.

Imagine the unexpected surprise and great joy of a full day’s pay,

and at the vineyard owner's unbelievable gracious generosity…

… for because that owner is gracious, my family gets fed.

We assume, that if we do more work, then we deserve more pay;

but the poor are focused on hunger and need,

often beyond they ability or opportunity to earn ---

-- which is that way that God's grace works and is given.

Grace is a lot like manna given in the desert to the Israelites,

that came in abundance each morning during their journey.

“Freely, gather all that you need, as much as you want,

but any excess, will spoil and grow worms overnight.”

So too, grace is given in abundance, all the grace we ever need;

either you accept and receive God’s grace, or you do not.

The misunderstanding that Jesus addresses in this parable,

is that sometimes we forget that grace is entirely God's gift,

it’s God's love, always unearned and entirely undeserved.

In the story, early workers were able to rejoice with the others,

as long as they assumed that they would be getting more.

But when greed and envy kicked in, their joy disappeared.

In the end everyone leaves with the same amount in their pockets,

some, incredibly grateful and the others bitterly resentful;

only their attitudes are different… thankful or envious.

And what is the basis for their complaint and bitterness?

you have made them equal to us

which is the same reason that we struggle with grace;

when we tell ourselves that we deserve better than those unworthy others,

that negates and denies our gratitude and the joy of God’s gift of grace.

This grace that we welcome and affirm for ourselves,

sometimes, we'd like to deny it for certain unsavory others –

those we deem less worthy, judge less deserving than us.

Those who serve and work hard and long are especially vulnerable,

that in arrogant pride, we may suppose God should be impressed

by how wonderfully splendid and faithful we are:

“O how fortunate God is that are such marvelous servants,

that we work so hard and accomplish so much,

who have bore the burden of the day & the scorching heat especially compared to those unworthy others.”

In the parable, Jesus calls us to think and rethink

about how we feel about grace, especially toward others;

and acknowledge our own need before we judge others…

… it’s our choice, gratitude for grace or bitterness for greed.

This parable’s perspective on God’s call is very personal to me.

When I was considering if God was really calling me into ministry,

it was as a second career, and I was getting a late start.

I would be older than many of my colleagues at graduation,

and I could serve only for a much shorter time.

I thought it might already be too late,

that my ministry would be too brief to matter,

not worth it – not long enough to accomplish any good.

When I voiced this concern and my trepidation,

a wise and dear friend pointed out this parable to me…

… and I was bathed in the grace of God that it contains,

and I think I really understood it for the first time.

In the parable, all came and worked when they were called,

and all received the same reward in the end, which is,

especially encouraging to those who are called late.

How wonderful that even against human wisdom and reason,

God honors and accepts our faithfulness and willingness,

and not just the amount we accomplish in His vineyard.

God’s economy --it’s not based on the quantity or duration of labor

therefore, we are free to respond, whenever we are called…

… for notice that the call to labor continues throughout the day ---

always, more workers are needed, more are still being called

even when there is little time left for useful labor.

This applies to all of us, for we are all called

to labor in God’s vineyard, in various ways and times…

…regardless of the specifics of time and task,

all are equally precious and important to God.

For as long as we live, we can usefully serve God in some way,

within whatever and whenever our particular life context;

that is the promise and grace of this passage.