Naylor Community Christian Church
Naylor, Georgia
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 19:27-30
Matthew
19:27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then
will there be for us?”
28
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the
Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit
on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has
left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or
fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit
eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last
will be first.
-- one day, Bill invited his friend Ned to
join him at a fancy restaurant downtown for lunch -- Bill was a highly
respected businessman in town -- a local celebrity -- well-known in the
business world -- and he was quite proud of his position -- that’s one reason
why he invited Ned to join him for lunch -- he wanted to show off a bit when
people recognized him in the restaurant
-- Ned was a nobody -- just a normal,
ordinary Joe -- or, at least, that’s what Bill thought
--
Bill goes up to the maître de and announces that he has a reservation -- all of
a sudden, the maître de looks past Bill and sees Ned standing there with him --
he cries out, “Hello Ned! How are you? Hey everybody! Ned's here!"
-- and everyone in the restaurant -- from
the waiters to the customers -- all came up and said hello to Ned and
completely ignored Bill
-- as they were leaving, Bill said, "Ned,
you seem to be pretty popular in this place!" -- “Well,” Ned says, “I'm
the most popular man in the world.”
-- “I can’t believe that -- it’s
obvious you’ve been here before, but there’s no way anyone knows you outside of
this place and this town” -- Ned says, “It’s true -- I’ll bet you a thousand
dollars that I'm friends with anybody you can name!"
-- "That so?" answers
Bill, "How about the President of the United States?" -- Ned replied,
“Let’s go!”
-- The two fly to Washington and knock on
the front door of the White House -- The president answers and exclaims,
"Ned! How are you doing? I haven't seen you in ages!" -- The three go
play a round of golf together and then leave.
-- Bill said, “That was just luck --
you just somehow knew the President from back in the day -- I bet you’re not
friends with the King of England” -- “Let’s go,” Ned replied
-- The two fly to Buckingham Palace and,
sure enough, are greeted by the King. ''Hello, Ned my boy! What have you been
up to these days?" They enter the palace and have some tea with the King
and his family and leave.
-- Frustrated, Bill says, "Okay,
I don’t know what’s going on -- but what about this? -- Double or nothing, you
don't know the Pope!" -- Ned says, “Let’s go”
-- When they get to the Vatican, Ned
instructs Bill to wait outside and tells him that he will come out on the
balcony with his arm around the Pope. -- Bill’s standing there with the crowd
that has gathered to hear the Pope speak -- and he’s just waiting to see what’s
going to happen
-- After a little while, the Pope appears
on the balcony, being escorted by Ned himself with his arm around him -- Ned
looks down from the balcony, and he sees Bill passed out on the ground -- he
rushes down and wakes him up
-- "Bill! Bill! Wake up!" Bill
opens his eyes and says, "Ned. I
have to admit it -- you are the most popular man in the world."
-- "I told you that,
Bill," Ned said, "but you didn't faint when the President knew me --
and you didn’t faint when the King invited us in for tea -- so, what happened
here?
-- "Well, I was shocked that you knew
the Pope," Bill said -- "But when you and the Pope came out on the
balcony and the man next to me tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Who is that
up there with Ned,” I just couldn’t take it and I fainted dead away”
-- it’s just like Jesus said here in
these verses -- many who are first will be last, but many who are last will be
first
-- this morning, we’re starting a
series of messages on the Parables of Jesus -- Jesus taught a lot in parables
-- parables are illustrations or stories that are given to make a moral or
spiritual point -- and Jesus loved to teach in parables
-- they were teaching tools to help
His disciples understand the truth of what Jesus was teaching and to help them
see the difference between the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of heaven
-- so, in the Bible, the parables
are usually given to express a point that Jesus is trying to get across -- just
like here in this passage that we are about to look at -- the parable of the
workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20:1-16
-- this is one of those places were
we can get misled by chapter breaks, because the reason Jesus gave this parable
is actually because of a question that Peter asked Him in Matthew 19:27
-- Jesus had just had a conversation
with the rich young ruler and counseled him to sell all his possessions and
give the money to the poor -- the ruler walked away sadly, because he refused
to do that and he let his money keep him from following Jesus
-- as he walked away, Jesus said that it
was hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven -- and the disciples
were astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” -- in other words, “if the
rich can’t get into heaven, what hope is there for us?” -- and Jesus replied,
“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”
-- which brings us to Peter’s question --
look back at verse 27
Matthew
19:27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then
will there be for us?”
-- Peter’s question is very telling
-- it implied that he was following Jesus -- not because of who Jesus was --
but because of the rewards he would receive once Jesus entered into His kingdom
-- keep in mind that at this point in
their journey, the disciples still didn’t understand exactly who Jesus was or
why He had come -- they were hoping He was the Messiah -- but in their minds,
the Messiah was going to be an earthly king who would restore Israel and who
would reward His followers once He received His throne
-- “What then will there be for us? --
What are we going to get?” Peter asked
-- and Jesus told him that the disciples
would be rewarded for following Him by sitting on thrones and serving as judges
over Israel -- and then He said, “But many who are first will be last, and many
who are last will be first”
-- and He goes straight into this parable
of the workers in the vineyard to help Peter and the disciples understand the
truth about why we should be serving Jesus and the rewards for our service
II. Scripture Lesson (Matthew 20:1-16)
-- so, let’s turn to this passage
and see what we can learn about that from this parable of Jesus
-- Matthew 20:1
Matthew
20:1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the
morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a]
for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
-- Jesus tells us up front that this
story is a parable about the Kingdom of Heaven -- we call it the parable of the
workers in the vineyard -- but that’s not really the focus of the message --
that’s not really the point Jesus is making -- the focus is not so much on the
workers, as on the generous landowner
-- Jesus tells us the landowner goes
out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard -- probably around
6:00 in the morning, because that’s when the workday for the Jews began
-- there’s a couple of things for us to
get out of that -- first, the landowner had a plan and a purpose -- he had
already planted the vineyard and it was ripe for harvest, so he got up early
that morning to fulfill his plan -- it wasn’t an afterthought -- it wasn’t just
something he came up with on the spur of the moment -- it was planned -- it was
thought out
-- and that reminds us that God has
a plan and a purpose for our lives -- God’s ultimate plan for us is to live
with Him forever -- to be in a personal relationship with Him -- to share in
His life eternally -- that was the plan from the beginning when He created Adam
and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden to love Him and serve Him as His
stewards there
-- very simply, we are made to know
God -- to love God -- to worship God -- and to serve God -- that is our reason
for being
-- and secondly, we see that God has
specific work for us to do -- this parable tells us that -- God is represented
by the landowner -- and we see Him going out and hiring men to work for Him in
His vineyard
-- Ephesians 2:10 says that we are
God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared
in advance for us to do
-- so, the question, then, is this
-- why are we working? -- why are we serving God? -- is it a response to His
grace and mercy? -- is it a response to His free gift of salvation and the
forgiveness of sins?
-- or are we responding like Peter
-- asking, “What then are we going to get out of this by following You and
serving You?”
-- is the only reason I am standing
up here this morning because you are paying me? -- do I serve you only because
of what I receive? -- do I serve God only because of what He offers?
-- those are the questions this
parable raises
-- notice here that these workers
did not just get up and go with the landowner when he showed up seeking workers
-- they only went with him when he agreed to pay their rate -- a denarius for a
day of work
-- they were willing to go and work
for him, but only after they entered a contract with him for their wages
-- you get the impression that these
were skilled laborers -- harvesters -- who were used to setting a price for
their labor and who expected to be paid that price and nothing less
-- so, the landowner hires them and
carries them to his vineyard, where they begin the day’s harvest
-- verse 3
Matthew
20:3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the
marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my
vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5a So they went.
-- so, the landowner goes back out
at the third hour -- about 9 o’clock in the morning -- and finds a bunch of
people standing in the marketplace not doing anything
-- the marketplace was where the day
laborers would have gathered -- the unskilled workers who didn’t have regular
occupations or regular jobs -- they would gather up at the marketplace and wait
for someone to come by who needed help
-- so, the landowner calls out to
them and tells them to go and work in his vineyard, and he would pay them
whatever is right -- now make a note of that -- these workers did not negotiate
wages -- they did not say they would only work if they knew in advance what
they were going to receive -- they went because he asked them to go and work
for him
-- God expects us to work -- He
doesn’t expect us to just stand around and do nothing -- a lot of Christians
think we’re done once we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior -- but Jesus
didn’t save us so we’d just sit around and do nothing -- He saved us so that we
might serve Him and fulfill the good works that He prepared in advance for us
to do
-- if you’re just sitting around
doing nothing, you’re not doing what God wants you to do -- as Henry Blackaby
said, “See where God is working and join Him” -- not because of any promised
reward, but because it’s the right thing to do -- that’s the message of these
verses
-- look back at the second part of
verse 5
Matthew
20:5b“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the
same thing. 6 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?’
7
“‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He
said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
-- three more times the landowner
goes back out and when he sees people standing there in the marketplace doing
nothing, he sends them to his vineyard to work for him
-- this reminds us that the work of the
kingdom is so great that the call for workers is continual -- in this case, there
was so much fruit to be gathered, that the landowner had to keep going back
time and time again seeking more and more people to join in the harvest
-- remember what Jesus said in
Matthew 9:37-38, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few -- ask the
Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field”
-- God is continually calling for us
to join Him in His work, for the need is great and the harvest is plentiful --
all you have to do is look around you to see someone who needs to know the
grace and the love of God in their lives -- start there
-- by the way, if you’ve ever
wondered where the term “the eleventh hour” came from, it came from this
passage -- in most translations, verse 6 says, “In the eleventh hour…” -- which
was 5:00 pm
-- so, “the eleventh hour” means the end
of the day is nigh -- time is running out
-- there will come a point when the
work will end -- when no more will be called to serve or to come -- at that
point, it will be too late
-- notice the reason why the men the
landowner talked to at the eleventh hour were still standing there -- “because
no one has hired us” -- sometimes people aren’t serving simply because no one
has asked them to -- sometimes we have to challenge people to do great things
and to serve God
-- when Kim and I moved back to
Georgia and began going to Morven UMC, we were happy there -- we were going to
church -- going to Bible study -- going to Sunday school -- doing well -- we
thought we were doing exactly what we were supposed to be doing -- this is what
I knew -- this is what I had seen growing up in churches in south Georgia --
our call was to come to church, listen to the sermon, and go home -- and I was
happy doing that and felt this was what was expected of me
-- but I didn’t count on Pastor
Debbie -- Pastor Debbie saw us standing there and not doing anything and she
said, “Why aren’t you working?” -- so she put us to work -- we ended up on the
church council -- ended up on committees -- ended up working at Vacation Bible
School -- and then she asked us to lead Sunday School, which we felt we were
not qualified to do -- but that led us to realizing God’s call on us to go into
ministry -- which led us to where we are today
-- how many people do you know who
are just like we were? -- just standing around passively, doing nothing,
because nobody has hired them or put them to work in the kingdom of heaven?
-- the truth is that most people
will serve God willingly, if you just give them the opportunity
-- verse 8
Matthew
20:8 “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.’
-- all who serve will be rewarded,
but notice one thing -- when does the reward come? -- in the evening -- at the
end of the day
-- if you’re going around through
life and complaining because you don’t feel like God is blessing you enough
right now or you’re not getting your just rewards, maybe it’s because it’s not
time to be paid
-- I heard a story one time about a
missionary couple who were coming back to the U.S. after having served decades
overseas -- on that same ship, there were several people who were coming back
from an extended vacation in Europe
-- as the ship pulled into the
harbor, there was a crowd of people waiting for the vacationers with a sign
saying, “Welcome home” -- and they met them at the dock and just loved on them
and were just so happy to see them
-- the missionaries watched as the
happy people headed off to their cars, leaving an empty dock behind -- as they
gathered up their luggage and made their way onshore, the husband griped to his
wife, “Nobody came to welcome us home” -- to which she replied, “Don’t forget
-- we’re not home yet”
-- our homecoming and our reward
will be at the Lord’s Wedding Feast in Heaven -- our reward will come when our
job is done -- don’t expect to be paid before the job is over, and don’t gripe
about not being paid until the end
-- verse 9
Matthew
20:9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each
received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected
to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they
received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘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.’
13
“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you
agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one
who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what
I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16
“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
-- in these verses, Jesus gives us
the main point of His parable -- the currency of the kingdom of heaven is grace
-- and sometimes, grace just doesn’t seem fair to us -- just like it didn’t to
Peter
-- that’s why Jesus began and ended this
parable with the same statement, “Many who are first will be last, but many who
are last will be first”
-- it’s not about you -- it’s not about
the rewards you feel you deserve for working and serving in the kingdom -- it’s
all about grace -- in this case, the grace of the landowner
-- the workers who had been there
the longest griped when they got paid because they did not receive more pay
than those who had come at the eleventh hour -- and, you know, it looks like
they have a point -- it doesn’t seem fair, does it? -- why should they get paid
the same thing as the guy who has only been there one hour when they’ve been
out there working in the sun for 12 hours?
-- it comes down to the reason why
they were working in the first place -- it comes down to their motives and
their heart
-- if you remember, the first
workers didn’t go with the landowner until they had entered into an agreement
-- a contract -- with him for their wages -- they would work, but only at the
rate they agreed to
-- the rest of the workers responded
to the call of the landowner on faith -- they trusted him when he said he would
pay them whatever was right -- they served based on their faith and trust in
Him -- and received the same reward as the first workers
-- and that didn’t set well with
most of the people in first century Palestine, especially when it came to
religion -- and we see that in Peter’s original question
-- remember that the Jews were God’s
chosen people -- that’s who they were -- that’s how they considered themselves
-- and they looked down on everyone else who was not a Jew
-- and within the nation of Israel,
there was a pecking order -- the Sanhedrin -- the Pharisees -- the Sadducees --
the scholars and writers of the law -- these people considered themselves
better than the common Jews of the land
-- so, when it came to spiritual
rewards, they expected God to reward the Jews more than any other nation -- and
to reward the most spiritual and most religious people within the nation of
Israel more than those who didn’t follow the Law of Moses so religiously
-- and then, when Jesus showed up
and everyone began to realize He was the Messiah -- well, it was only natural
that Peter and the first disciples expected to receive greater rewards than
everyone else -- because they had followed Him and served Him longer than
anyone else had
-- that’s why Peter asked, “What
then will there be for us?”
-- see the reasoning? -- makes
sense, right? -- we do the same thing, too -- when we think of spiritual
rewards, we believe that those who have been saved longer and served God longer
-- those who pastor megachurches or who lead evangelistic crusades and rallies
that reach hundreds of thousands of people -- these people deserve more of a
reward that those who just got saved, right?
-- but remember -- “Many who are
first will be last, and many who are last will be first” -- it’s not about when
you came -- it’s not about what you do -- it’s about your heart and your motive
and your reasons above all else
-- are we serving and following God
because we think we will get paid more? -- or are we serving and following God
as a response to His grace and mercy? -- that is the question Jesus is asking
here in this parable
-- do you remember Jeffrey Dahmer?
-- the infamous serial killer who ate his victims? -- evil, evil man -- finally
got caught and went to prison -- died there at the hands of another prisoner
-- but did you know that before he
died Jeffrey Dahmer became a Christian? -- do you know what that means? -- that
means that he’s with God right now -- this man who killed so many young boys
and committed such evil atrocities in his life -- this man -- is with God
-- Dahmer received the same reward
that we are looking forward to
-- it doesn’t seem fair, does it? --
it doesn’t seem right -- shouldn’t we be treated differently than someone like
Jeffrey Dahmer? -- shouldn’t we get a greater reward? -- shouldn’t we be paid
more? -- after all, we’re the ones who have been coming to church for years and
working for God everyday?
-- that’s the point of the workers
who worked the longest in the vineyard -- “It’s not fair,” they exclaimed --
and they were right -- it’s not fair -- grace and mercy are never fair, and we
should thank God for that
-- but this parable is not about
fairness -- it’s not about our work or the quality of our work or our
worthiness to be rewarded -- it’s about the character of the landowner and his
extravagant generosity -- it’s about undeserved grace and mercy being given to
all, regardless of who they were or when they came
-- God’s mercy -- not getting what
we deserve -- and God’s grace -- getting what we don’t deserve -- is more than
we could ever hope for
-- we have no reason to complain --
to be honest, we really don’t deserve anything, anyway -- the Bible tells us
that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God -- it says that we
are saved by grace, through faith, and this not of works -- we can’t earn our
way to heaven -- whatever reward we receive -- whatever wages we get at the end
of the day -- is not something we deserve -- it’s a factor of God’s grace in
action -- of the Kingdom of Heaven in our lives
-- as Barclay pointed out in his
commentary, this parable served as a warning to the Jews and to the disciples
-- and we can take it as a warning for us
-- It is as if Jesus was saying to
us this morning, "You have received the great privilege of coming into the
Christian Church and fellowship very early, right at the beginning. In later
days others will come in. You must not claim a special honor and a special
place because you were Christians before they were. All men, no matter when
they come, are equally precious to God."
III. Closing
-- so let me close with this -- In
his book The Prodigal God, best-selling author and pastor Tim Keller offers the
following story to illustrate self-centered giving:
Once upon a time there was a gardener who
grew an enormous carrot. So, he took it to his king and said, "My Lord,
this is the greatest carrot I've ever grown or ever will grow. Therefore, I
want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you."
The king was touched and discerned the
man's heart, so as [the gardener] turned to go the king said, "Wait! You
are clearly a good steward of the earth. I own a plot of land right next to
yours. I want to give it to you freely as a gift so you can garden it
all." And the gardener was amazed and delighted and went home rejoicing.
But there was a nobleman at the king's
court who overheard all this. And he said, "My! If that is what you get
for a carrot—what if you gave the king something better?"
So, the next day the nobleman came before
the king, and he was leading a handsome black stallion. He bowed low and said,
"My lord, I breed horses, and this is the greatest horse I have ever bred
or ever will. Therefore, I want to present it to you as a token of my love and
respect for you."
But the king discerned his heart and said
thank you and took the horse and merely dismissed him. The nobleman was
perplexed. So, the king said, "Let me explain. That gardener was giving me
the carrot, but you were giving yourself the horse."1
-- “Many who are first will be last,
and many who are last will be first.”
-- as we leave here this morning,
let us take some time and think about the state of our hearts and our
relationship with God -- are we serving God with pure and noble motives? -- or
are we serving God because of what we can get from Him?
-- do we judge others because they
have been blessed more greatly in the Lord than us or because they have been
blessed even though they have not served Him or known Him as long as we?
-- let us heed the words of Jesus in
this parable -- let us think on what He is teaching here -- and let us seek to
serve God and work for His kingdom out of love and gratitude and nothing more
-- let us pray
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1
Source: Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God (Dutton, 2008), pp. 60-61
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