17th Sunday after Trinity – Sermon 118

Prayer to start

May the words of my lips and the thought of our hearts be graciously received for the Glory and Honour of our Lord Jesus Christ
AMEN

Introduction

I feel very privileged this morning – being able to preach on one of my favourite passages in the Bible –
“The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard”

Many people dislike this story – because – it doesn’t seem to make economic sense –

The idea of giving the last minuters – the same as those who started work at the beginning of the day somehow – goes against the grain –

But Jesus’ message is not given to support our worldly values – but to remind us about God’s love and mercy – and what God requires of us – as we live our lives – in His Kingdom

 

 
Point 1      God’s grace

 

The vineyard owner – comes to the marketplace – to hire workmen – to gather in his grapes

Working in a vineyard is not easy – the grapes have to be picked – at temperatures of 40 degrees or more – and the owner wants the task completed in one day –

He agrees a daily wage with the first lot of workers – and hires them – the NIV translation gives the value as 1 denarios – the same as for a Roman soldier – so it was a very generous offer –

When the owner sees – that the men he engaged are not going to finish in time – he decides to employ some more – but these he didn’t bargain with – and promised to pay them what was right for the job –

He did this every three hours – until finally an hour before sunset – he finds he still needs to hire more men – to complete the work – these last workers – are men who no one else would employ-

Then – one hour later – when the work is finished – and everyone lines up to receive their wages –

He paid them what he promised – beginning with those who came last – and ending with those who came first – they were all were paid the same – a full days wage – the men who worked for one hour – got the same as those who worked for the whole day

This parable strikes at the heart of our understanding of forgiveness and fairness –

The main message behind it – is that God rewards according to his grace – and (mercy) standards – and not ours –

For Him – it doesn’t depend – on what we have done – or the length of time we have been – in service with Him

There is no such thing in the Gospel message – as a reward based on merit –
The arrangement doesn’t seem fair to those who worked all day – but that’s because they expected more – the truth is – those taken in on the last hour – are going to be paid in full –

True discipleship comes when our acts of service are performed – out of love and gratitude for God – and not out of duty or for the sake of reward –

Jesus tells this parable during the closing months of his ministry – on his last journey to Jerusalem – and to the cross –

On the cross Jesus paid the price we can never pay – He suffered and died for us – so our sins are forgiven – and our relationship with God – restored

No amount of hard work and service on our part – can ever match – what Jesus has already done for us

What we need to realize is that God’s mercy and generosity is enormous – far beyond our understanding –

He seeks us out – to give us opportunities – just as the owner did for the workers – and our service is important to Him – and needed to get the harvest in

Sometimes – we feel that God’s grace is hard for us to accept and believe – which makes it hard to receive – but its given to us despite the things we do – It reminds us – that God does for others what we would never do for them –

In God’s eyes our worth is not based on what we do – but whose we are –

His greatest of all gifts is Jesus Christ – through Him we all – have a fresh (equal) start – no one is first – no one is last – no one is better or worst that anyone else –

When our reward is based on the goodness of the giver – and not what we have done – then we are free to receive all that God has to offer us

  

Point 2        Attitude & expectations of Jonah & workers

 

In the parable – those who worked all day – felt superior to those who only worked for an hour – they wanted them to be treated differently – they were angry because they saw – that these others were receiving the same benefits as them –

The same is true of Jonah in our OT lesson

We can’t be sure why Jonah resented God’s treatment of the Nineveites – but God knew they were ripe for change – and when Jonah finally preached there – the entire city believed his message – and repented – unlike many of the Israelites who had never responded to a prophet in the same way –

God was about to forgive them – and this angered Jonah – because he didn’t think they should be forgiven –

He was so convinced of his case – that he went off – and found a spot – and decided to wait – to see what happened –

During this time – his discomfort was eased by the shade of a plant – but when the plant – was attacked – and killed by a worm – and his obsession changed from anger to despair – as he was exposed to the scorching easterly wind –

“You are sorry about the Gourd”, said God, “But you did not grow it – a plant which comes up one night – and died the next” – How much more should I be sorry about the hundred and twenty thousand people of Nineveh?”

Jonah believed that God gives freely and without – merited – that His grace – cannot be earned – yet he couldn’t accept – that that grace should be given to the Ninevites –

Sometimes like Jonah – we think God should love us more than non-Christians

Or like the workers who came first – that our efforts can earn us extra favours –

God gives to us all equally – and our reward is the same as those we are helping – Jesus’ love – is available to us and to everyone who is coming to know Him as Saviour –

The men who came first did so – because – the price was right – they’d reached a deal based on their own efforts and talents –

The men who came last – knew that their cause was hopeless – they were out of time – and out of talent – and were totally dependent on the landowners mercy and faith fullness – they were not worried about how much they would make – just glad of the chance to work

 

 
Point 3    Our attitude to the Kingdom

So we’ve looked at God’s attitude and response towards us – the response and expectations of Jonah and the workers – what’s our response to Jesus’ offer of life in the kingdom

The main problem we face is that many of us still believe deep down – that we can make our lives work – without God’s help or presence –

As Paul writes in our NT lesson – for him – life is Christ – for many of us – life is success – happiness – money – a big house – an new car – getting your husband or wife’s attention –

Paul tells us its not enough – to confront these beliefs – we have to turn them into God given ones – and we do that through our relationship with Jesus Christ –

Through Jesus – each one of us has a choice – to accept or reject – the grace and forgiveness – He offers –

But living in the Kingdom means we have to turn many of the world’s values upside down

There’s nothing wrong in wanting to be good or great in something – but the way to greatness in the kingdom – is through humility – and being by Jesus’ side serving the needy –

Identifying ourselves with Jesus – will bring suffering and persecution – when we reflect the character of Jesus – those who reject Jesus – will reject us also –

Paul tells us as members of the Kingdom – whatever we are faced with – our conduct should be worthy of the Gospel of Christ –

I’m reminded of something that a father – who was a chef – once taught his daughter – who was complaining to him that life wasn’ t fair – and she didn’t know how she would cope –

He took her into the kitchen – and showed her three pans of boiling water –in the first – he placed a potatoe – the second an egg – the third coffee beans. After boiling for 20 minutes – he took them out and placed each one in a bowl –

Each of these he said – had faced the same hardship – boiling water –

The potatoe – which was originally hard – had now gone soft and weak

The egg originally soft – with a hard shell – had gone hard in the middle – but the coffee beans instead of being changed had transformed the boiling water into something new –

In life – things happen around us – and to us – but the only thing that really matters is what happens within us –

 

Ending

Accepting God’s grace and forgiveness means that He will always be there to help us through the challenges and conflicts we face.

It – means that God’s goodness and mercy will fill our lives – which for us – is perhaps the greatest privilege of all –

 

 
Prayer to finish

In the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit

AMEN