Real Life Selkirk
**September 13** "The Gift of Grace (Matthew 20:1-19)

  • Sermon

    Key Passage

    Matthew 20:1–19 NIV
    “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ “ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ “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.’ “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These 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.’ “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”

    Introduction

    As we open today, I want you to do something. We are going to take a breath.
    Take a breath. This is the real world. You have air in your lungs and your heart is beating.
    You have sustained your life for a good number of years. Some are 16 or 17 years. Others are pushing 80 or 90 years..
    But we all share this time and moment together, whenever you were born and wherever you are from.
    There is a way this world works.
    All of us will need food. All of us will need a place to live. All of us will need transportation.
    How do we get those things?
    We have jobs, or we had jobs and saved and now we live off of those savings
    Others don’t yet have jobs, but dad and moms jobs are sustaining you.
    If you want to have the things this life offers, there is a path to do that:
    You work hard.
    Get an education
    Sacrifice
    Leverage your skills and abilities
    Find what makes you unique and utilize it
    There are commands in Scripture about providing for your family and working in a way that honors God.
    In fact, if you don’t provide for your family, the Bible says that you are worse than an unbeliever.
    Unbelievers go to hell. Can you imagine being worse than that?
    We earn and leverage what we have to put ourselves in a position to thrive in this world.
    Romans calls this the “pattern of this world”
    When Jesus came and in Matthew 3 began to preach the message, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”
    He indicated a new Kingdom was coming.
    Repent wasn’t just a “leave sin” command
    Repent was a statement that the Kingdom of God was true north on the compass. Everything you did for every other direction of the compass would have to change.
    This Kingdom would work contrary to the “pattern of this world”
    As we come out of the world and into the Kingdom, it is a temptation for all of us to think that if we just do the things we do in the world, but make them spiritual, we will advance in the same way.
    If we do enough, sacrifice enough, serve enough, give enough, pray enough, or behave enough, then God will owe us some blessings and favor from heaven.
    We start looking at God like a boss that we want to impress.
    We use everything we have to get God to be happy and get some advancement in His Kingdom.

    Satan’s Opposition to Grace

    THIS IS EXACTLY WHY SATAN HATES GRACE.
    Grace destroys the lie that you can earn God’s favor
    Grace destroys the lie that you can leverage God’s blessing
    Grace destroys the lie that you can negotiate your standing with God
    Grace destroys the lie that your performance determines your worth.
    Satan wants you chasing things that don’t matter so you will miss the things that do matter.
    He wants you exhausted
    He wants you insecure
    He wants you comparing yourself to the other people in this room
    He wants you believing you are never enough
    If Satan can keep you from understanding grace, he can
    Keep you from resting in Jesus
    Keep you from joy
    Keep you from worship
    Keep you from freedom
    Keep you from the Gospel itself
    That is why this parable matters so much.
    Matthew 20 is the last parable Jesus tells before He enters Jerusalem to be crucified.
    It is the last story before His last week
    The last window into His heart before the chaos of the Passion week consume him.
    What does He choose to talk about?
    GRACE
    Grace that cannot be earned
    Grace that cannot be leveraged
    Grace that overturns human values
    Grace that eliminates comparison
    Grace that reveals God’s heart
    Jesus is saying,
    “Before you watch Me die, you need to understand why I’m dying. Before you see the cross, you need to understand grace.”
    It is my hope today that we will walk out the door and understand the grace of the Father given in His Kingdom.

    Today’s Question:

    What does grace really look like in God’s Kingdom?
    Jesus answers this question by telling a story about workers, wages, comparison and generosity.
    It is a story that makes no sense in the world in which we are taking in our breath.
    But it is a story that is the only hope of life for everyone in this room.

    Topic

    I would like to begin by opening this text up by looking at the first word of our first verse. It will help us understand the story Jesus is telling.
    Matthew 20:1 NIV
    “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.
    You don’t just start a sentence with the word “for”
    Also, when interpreting a parable it is easy to over-interpret the parable or completely mis-interpret the parable.
    We must take great care to interpret the parable as Jesus intended it.
    Seeing the word, “For” helps us know what Jesus is telling the parable for.
    If you work your way backwards back into chapter 19, we see that a rich young ruler asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life.
    Jesus said, “Do you follow the 10 commandments?” The guy says, “Yeah”. Jesus said, “Great! Sell everything you have and follow me.” The guy went away sad because he had a lot of wealth.
    Jesus then said it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to inherit eternal life.
    Then Peter says, “We left everything to follow you! What do we get?”
    Jesus says, “When you get to heaven, I’ve got some special stuff for you. But for now, you need to know that the first shall be last and the last shall be first.”
    Then we have a chapter break, but there is no break in the text. There is no intended stop here. It is a continuation of that conversation.
    Matthew 20:1–2 NIV
    “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
    I want you to have in mind what is happening here. There is a common place in the community where people go during the harvest time. The workers congregate and the land owners come and choose the harvesters they will need for that day.
    So early in the morning a landowner went out to the day-worker collection spot to hire workers. It was grape harvest time and he needed his harvest.
    He talked to the guys and they agreed to the pay of one denarius for the day.
    One denarius is considered one day’s pay.
    He sent them into his vineyard.
    At this point, all of us are likely thinking, “This is a standard labor contract. They are hired to do a job. They do their part, the master does his part and both part ways with what they need.”
    But Jesus is not telling a parable about how to be an employee. Nor is he telling a parable about how to be a landowner who is hiring for the harvest.
    He is talking about grace. It is an odd place to make this point, but this point will be made as we continue.
    The first thing we need to know about what grace looks like in God’s Kingdom is:
    What does Grace look like in the Kingdom?
    Grace cannot be earned
    You cannot earn what the master gives freely.
    Jesus is telling this parable to highlight the point that the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
    He was telling this so we can see that there are those who think they are first.
    There are those who have followed all of the 10 commandments
    There are those who are smarter than everyone else
    There are those like the rich young ruler who are rich, young and rulers.
    They take all they can to Jesus and say, “With what I have, I would like to obtain greatness in the Kingdom.
    The first guys here:
    Negotiate a wage
    They expect fairness
    They assume merit
    These are all “The way of the world” approaches to God!
    This is why Jesus concluded the conversation about the Kingdom of Heaven and the camel and the eye of a needle by saying, “It is difficult for a rich man to inherit eternal life.”
    But what is impossible for man is possible with God.
    Think about my kids.
    They didn’t have to negotiate with me to earn their place at my kitchen table for dinner.
    They didn’t earn it
    They didn’t have to prove their worth.
    They sit at my table because of who they are, not what they do.
    The RYR thought he had worked hard since the beginning and had done what it takes to earn grace.
    Jesus said, “You can’t earn grace”
    In this room, I don’t know that we fully wrap our heads around this.
    Some of us are complete knuckleheads. Complete knuckleheads. Do you know what? You haven’t out-sinned the cross and you haven’t holied up your life to not need the cross.
    Our standing before God is not based on what we do. It is based on who Jesus is.
    Take a moment and think about this.
    Here is the thing about grace. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. The reality is that we see first and why someone is first. We see last and why someone is last.
    Grace doesn’t see that at all. Grace sees people with grace and people without grace.
    if you have grace you are equal. Undeserving, but equal. There is no first or last.
    So if you’ve worked really hard to earn your status before God, you are equal and on par with the last place guy.
    Matthew 20:3–5 NIV
    “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing.
    So the master of the vineyard returns to the day-worker place at noon and hires some more.
    Then returns at three and hires some more.
    So understand the hierarchy here.
    The early morning guys are the high quality workers.
    The midday guys are the ones who weren’t hired on the first go-around.
    The 3:00 guys are getting pretty low to the bottom of the barrel.
    These workers are average, unimpressive. Not overly smart, strong or even capable. But they can still produce.
    I want to tie this to Peter in the last passage because it seems that Jesus is addressing Peter as well.
    Peter says, “Hey, the RYR didn’t leave everything and follow you, but we did. What do we get?”
    Jesus says, “You will be rewarded when you get to heaven, but I have a story for you.”
    What does Grace look like in the Kingdom?
    Grace cannot be earned
    Grace cannot be leveraged
    Hey Peter, your sacrifice doesn’t put God in debt to you. We may not be able to earn grace, but grace cannot become a bargaining chip.
    Like somehow, I’ve received grace. It wasn’t my merit. It was Jesus’ merit. But now that I have received grace, I need to start earning my way to God.
    Like grace is the foundation, now I need to build the house.
    I don’t want to come across like God doesn’t care about our lives or the circumstances in our lives, but if you are like me, I look at my struggles and say, “Hey God. You up there? I’ve preached a few hundred, probably over a thousand sermons. I’ve let people to salvation. I’ve walked people on a journey to greater maturity in their faith. Don’t you think you could start getting rid of some of the stress, problems, issues, brokenness, pain, grief and loss in my life? I’ve done a lot. You kind of owe me.”
    God owes me? What?!
    God’s grace isn’t a beat up old coin that I polish up and make it work and now my grace is better than your grace.
    I can’t take the gift God has given me and turn it around and demand from God what i want because I have grace.
    This is the height of pride and a greater height of not understanding grace.
    Obedience matters. Maturity matters. Sanctification matters.
    But they don’t add to my grace. They grow from understanding that my grace is not earned and my grace cannot be leveraged.
    Matthew 20:6–7 NIV
    About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ “ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
    I want to sit here at this passage for a moment. This is a powerful passage.
    The owner of the vineyard returns to the day-workers location one last time. The end of the day is likely around 6:00, and he returns at 5:00.
    I want to ask you, “Who would still be sitting there?”
    Everyone went to the dayworkers office hoping to get a job. They would go home to their families. Their wife would say, “Did you get work today?” The man would say, “Yes, we can buy our groceries!” or “No, it’ll be a tight week.”
    It’s one thing to get passed over. It’s another thing to get passed over and still sit there waiting until the end of the workday.
    This is the group of people who have very little to offer.
    They don’t have a resume
    They are old, broken, useless
    There is no reason to hire them.
    They are the “too little, too late” crowd.
    It’s the mom of three kids who’s husband just left her for a younger model.
    It is the step-child who’s real dad isn’t in the picture
    It’s the grieving widow who just watched her whole world take his final breath.
    It’s the person who looks in the mirror and says, “I’m too broken, useless, stupid, old, worthless or invisible to be used by God.”
    The master sees these people.
    They are low production people
    There is little time.
    The master hires them.
    Can you imagine what one of those guys said to his wife when he got home?
    “Honey, were you able to get work today?” “Not really, but with one hour left, I was still waiting and this man came and hired me. He gave me a whole day of wages. I don’t understand it.”
    Here is the thing about the 5:00 workers.
    They were the ones who needed the denarius more than any of the other workers.
    The master hiring them was an act of mercy, not an act of business management.
    What does Grace look like in the Kingdom?
    Grace cannot be earned
    Grace cannot be leveraged
    Grace overturns earthly value
    From the workers of the seemingly highest value to the workers that had been passed over all day, The Kingdom of Heaven is not about who has made themselves first or last.
    Grace doesn’t look at what time a person was hired to determine their value. Grace sees a person that has value.
    Can you imagine living in confidence and joy, knowing that because of grace, you are enough.
    You are good enough in God’s eyes
    You are loved in God’s eyes
    You are not last place and beaten down. No one is greater and no one has more merit. You are not “too little, too late”
    This rolls into the next passage and point:
    Matthew 20:8–12 NIV
    “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.’ “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These 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.’
    Evening came and all of the guys that were hired throughout the day lined up.
    First in the line were the 5:00 employees. They all received a full day’s wages.
    Now, if I’m one of the 6:00 a.m. crew, I’m seeing this and doing the math in my head.
    If that guy worked for just an hour or two and got a full day of wages, and I worked for 12 hours. I should get 5 or 6 days wages. Sweet!
    When these guys get to the front of the line, they were expecting a hefty payday and when they found the single denarius, they were outraged.
    These last guys only worked one hour.
    You have made them equal to us.
    Matthew 20:12 NIV
    ‘These 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.’
    There is no first or last in the Kingdom.
    The Kingdom is about justice, not fairness.
    The workers bought into the idea of comparison
    I want you to see this. When they compare themselves to the other workers, they had every reason to be angry.
    When they compared themselves to the master, they had agreed to one denarius and were given one denarius.
    He was the master. He was honest. He was just.
    The master can give to whomever the master wants to give.
    What does Grace look like in the Kingdom?
    4. Grace is based on mercy, not merit
    We can sit here in church and wonder why that person has what they have and the other guy seems to pray so well.
    When we compare ourselves with others, we will either end up feeling worthless or overly valuable.
    When we realize that we are not called to compare, rather we are called to surrender to the Master, our comparison mindset goes out the window.
    All too often we set our eyes on the people around us. When we do this, we lose sight of grace.
    Grace is seeing and knowing the love of God.
    Knowing I didn’t earn it
    Knowing I didn’t deserve it
    But also knowing I needed it and He gave it to me.
    Matthew 20:13–16 NIV
    “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
    The master’s eye is set to a completely different target than the people.
    Think about this. Jesus said in John 3, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send workers into the field.”
    When it comes to the Kingdom of Heaven, we don’t earn it. We don’t deserve it. But if that 5:00 employee can help to do one simple thing that helps one person start to turn their hearts to Jesus, was it worth it?
    We are not talking about fairness here on earth.
    We are talking about a God who cares about eternity and doing everything He can do through His Kingdom to expand it so that none are lost.
    What does Grace look like in the Kingdom?
    4. Grace is based on mercy, not merit
    5. Grace reveals God’s heart
    Grace reveals the heart of God
    Grace is not based on merit. His love is not based on merit.
    But God is passionate about people joining His Kingdom regardless of who they are.
    Everyone has a need. The greater the need, the more grace that can be given by the master.
    As we have seen in our journey through the book of Matthew, those who needed Jesus the most were the ones He served.
    It is the sick who need a doctor, not the healthy.
    We have to understand that we might see ourselves as having value or status in our own merit, but before God, all of us are the 5:00 employee.
    If we don’t realize that, we will never surrender to Jesus.
    We’ll never value the gift of salvation
    We’ll never have gratitude for the love of a Savior.
    Matthew 20:17–19 NIV
    Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”
    We’ve talked about grace as a gift, grace that is not earned or leveraged. Grace that reflects the heart of God.
    But what is grace? Why do we need it?
    What does Grace look like in the Kingdom?
    4. Grace is based on mercy, not merit
    5. Grace reveals God’s heart
    6. Grace is purchased through the cross
    Give Gospel presentation
    We are hopeless. Unable to feed our families. Unable to sustain ourselves until Jesus gives us salvation.
    Salvation that is bought by His love and grace.

    Conclusion

    As Jesus finishes this parable, He turns His face toward Jerusalem. Toward betrayal.
    Toward mockery.
    Toward flogging.
    Toward crucifixion.
    Toward resurrection.
    Why?
    Because grace is not a theory. Grace is not a metaphor. Grace is not a parable. Grace is a Person — and that Person is about to hang on a cross.
    Grace is the Master paying the wage you could never earn. Grace is the Master absorbing the cost you could never cover. Grace is the Master giving you what only He deserves. Grace is the Master taking what only you deserved.
    Grace is Jesus.
    And this is where the whole passage comes together:
    Grace cannot be earned — because Jesus earned it for you.
    Grace cannot be leveraged — because Jesus paid it all.
    Grace overturns earthly value — because Jesus sees you differently than the world does.
    Grace eliminates comparison — because Jesus makes you equal at the foot of the cross.
    Grace reveals God’s heart — because Jesus came for the broken, the late, the overlooked, the hurting.
    Grace is purchased through the cross — because Jesus died and rose again to give you life.
    The 5:00 worker didn’t bring anything to the table. He didn’t impress anyone. He didn’t produce much. But he received everything — because the Master gave him grace.
    And here’s the truth:
    We are all 5:00 workers. Every one of us. We bring too little. We come too late. We have no résumé that earns eternal life.
    But Jesus gives us the full wage anyway — because He loves us, because He sees us, because He died for us, because He rose for us, because He wants us.
    So here is the question — the one piercing question I want ringing in your heart as you walk out the door today:

    “Will you receive grace, or will you keep trying to earn what Jesus already paid for?”

    That’s the question. That’s the crossroads. That’s the decision.
    Some of you have been trying to earn God’s approval for years. Some of you have been trying to leverage your spiritual performance. Some of you have been comparing yourself to everyone else in the room. Some of you have been living like a 6:00 a.m. worker — exhausted, frustrated, insecure, angry, discouraged.
    And Jesus is standing in front of you today saying:
    “Stop striving.Stop earning.Stop comparing.Stop negotiating.Come to Me.Receive grace.”
    If you have never surrendered your life to Jesus… If you have never received His free gift of salvation… If you have never trusted His death and resurrection as your only hope…
    Then today — right now — is your 5:00 moment.
    You don’t have to bring anything. You don’t have to prove anything. You don’t have to fix anything. You don’t have to earn anything.
    You simply come.
    And the Master gives you the full wage of eternal life.
    So I invite you — not to try harder, not to work longer, not to negotiate better, but to receive grace.
    To say, “Jesus, I need You. I trust Your cross. I trust Your resurrection. I surrender my life to You.”
    Because grace is the only hope of life for everyone in this room.

      • Matthew 20:1–19ESV

      • Matthew 20:1ESV

      • Matthew 20:1–2ESV

      • Matthew 20:3–5ESV

      • Matthew 20:6–7ESV

      • Matthew 20:8–12ESV

      • Matthew 20:12ESV

      • Matthew 20:13–16ESV

      • Matthew 20:17–19ESV

Real Life Selkirk
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