~ About Seventy Days until Easter ~
Readings: Exodus 17:1-7 | 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:5 | Matthew 20:1-16
Text: Matthew 20:1-16
The dictionary defines “grace” as God’s undeserved favor, as “God’s forgiving mercy” and “Gifts freely bestowed by [Him].”[1] So, we sing praises of God’s grace in Christ. We name congregations after it and we sing about how amazing grace is. It truly is incredible to ponder, as even St. Paul marvels in Romans 5: “6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” What tremendous turn of events, that the righteous judge of all humanity—the One who knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts, the one to whom we will all have to give an account—has paid in full the penalty for our evil, and embraced His enemies as sons!
We can’t say enough about God’s grace when it has to do with us personally. Yet, in practice, God’s grace becomes a stumbling block to the natural way we think. That’s what Jesus shows in this parable. It’s a work setting, and what we know about work is that labor deserves fair wages. Here, the wages are constant: a denarius, a silver coin which was the going rate for a day laborer. What varies is how much work is done. In some cases, 12 hours, others 9, 6, 3, and even 1. However, at the end of the day, each receives the same wage for that varying amount of work. And that’s when even a young child will stand up and say, “That’s not fair!”
This is an illustration of grace: not that the laborers worked and got paid, but that they watched other people work less or more, yet get the same wage. There would have been no quarrel if those hired at the beginning of the day hadn’t seen the latecomers. But if grace is undeserved favor, then those 12-hour workers also wouldn’t understand what those hired at the last hour experienced: That for very little if any work, they were accounted as having worked a whole day.
And his is why our Lord begins this parable by saying, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.” This is a picture of how the kingdom of heaven is. It is not about our labors, our striving, or our wise choices (or even less bad choices than others). But when you measure God’s favor that way, it doesn’t seem fair. Because of that, grace is scandalous.
Grace is scandalous because it means the Kingdom of Heaven is never something that can be achieved. Last Sunday, we witnessed that beautifully in an infant being baptized. I can be perfectly honest and say that Trent and Maritza’s son, David, had no cognitive clue what we were doing or had any comprehension of the words that were being said. As an infant, he is as close as we can get to someone who can’t earn anything. Everything must be given to an infant.He can’t even find his mouth with his hand, much less vocalize the name Jesus.
But this application of grace is an offense to those who still think the Kingdom of Heaven is something that we endeavor to enter. You’ll hear it cited from Romans 10:9: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” So, they argue people shouldn’t be baptized as babies because they don’t know what’s going on, and they can’t decide that it’s right for them. The scandal about grace is that it happens apart from our works, so that it even happens for those who can’t show us “adequate” evidence of faith. The recipients of grace are so passive that the best example of faith is parents bringing even infants to Jesus that He might bless them. Recall what’s read in the Lutheran baptismal rite, regardless of the age of the baptized:
“13 Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.’ 16 And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.” (Mark 10:13-16 NKJV)
Another illustration of this is the healing of the Paralytic in Mark 2: “2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” The man is there, not inert like a rock, but he certainly can’t bring himself. But it says when Jesus saw their faith, He declared the man’s sins forgiven. What had the paralytic done? Had he brought himself? No. Did he ask his friends? Maybe, but it doesn’t say that. He is another precious picture of grace, because it’s received apart from works.
Grace is also a scandal because it isn’t just. Even if we can get over our unbelief that a little bitty baby can have faith and receive the Kingdom, we have trouble with grace when it means God welcomes people who deserve anything but forgiveness and salvation.
The experience we have with others and their actions challenges the application of grace. For those who have sinned against us or others, it’s not just that they didn’t lift a finger to move toward God, but they are guilty! We want to see them get their come-uppance for what they’ve done. Have they lose their job because they were doing drugs? Too bad. Have they alienated some of their family? Let them rot in loneliness. Have they betrayed trust with those who they were supposed to care for? They’re worthless. If grace happened in a vacuum, it wouldn’t be a problem, but when we see God’s grace given to sinners, it leaves our thirst for justice unsatisfied.
Yet, the grace, the wages that were equal among all the workers in the vineyard, are the same for every one of us. That’s because grace isn’t about our doing or lack of doing. The righteousness and justice which God requires to go to heaven is offered up by another. You are saved by works—Christ’s. In Jesus Christ, justice is carried out, the scales are balanced in a divine, miraculous way. Our lack of good works and our sinful birth are met with His sinless birth and life. All our sin, be it small or great, is paid for by the blood which Jesus shed on the cross, and there the just retribution for evil is executed.
So the reward is the same, not in silver or gold, but in the precious blood of Christ. The Kingdom of Heaven is not a reward for our works, but a gift paid for by another. That’s grace, and it’s not just for you. It’s also for the person sitting next to you, the people you meet on the street, and for even those you can’t stand. After all, that is how God is able to receive you. Repent of your earthly grumblings, and let your heart be tuned to the grace of the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen.
[1] “Grace.” Easton, M. G. Illustrated Bible Dictionary and Treasury of Biblical History, Biography, Geography, Doctrine, and Literature. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1893.
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