The New Math Of Grace

Text: Matthew 20:1-16

Introduction: I have always been puzzled about the teaching of the parable of the vineyard workers-until several years ago when I got a copy of Philip Yancey’s book What’s So Amazing About Grace? Yancey took one story from each of the four Gospels to illustrate God’s grace. In chapter 5, “The New Math of Grace,” he taught from Matthew. There I read the key that, for me, unlocked the meaning of the parable. Suddenly I understood!

1. The Promise (Matthew 19:28-29). We need the story of the rich young ruler to understand the parable. The story in Matthew 19 tells of a young man who seemed to have it all and yet had a spiritual yearning in his heart. He wanted to know how he could obtain eternal life. Jesus told him to keep the commandments. But the man boldly claimed to be a commandment keeper. Jesus, who knows our hearts, confronted him with his greedy lifestyle (vv.21-22). The young man, unwilling to pay the cost, walked away. Peter heard the conversation and responded by saying, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?” (v.27). Jesus did not dodge the question. He told Peter of a future and present reward.

• Future reward: Believers will be honored in the regeneration (v.28).
• Present reward: Family blessings. Jesus is the one who can make strangers out of brothers and brothers out of strangers (v.29).

2. The Principle (19:30; 20:16). “The last will be first, and the first last.” In his book The Parables, Gary Inrig provides an excellent comment on this principle: “So the Lord summarizes with two points. ‘Many who are first will be last.’ From an earthly prospective, the rich young man was one of the first. He looked and lived like a winner. But in the crucible of decision about Christ, he made a choice that excluded him from true wealth. Those who look like winners from a human perspective are often life’s losers. Conversely, ‘many who are last will be first.’ The disciples represent the ‘last.’ Uprooted from family and vocation, they wandered as the vagabond followers of a rejected leader. . . . But appearances can be very deceptive. When they are seated on their millennial thrones alongside King Jesus, they will be revealed as God’s first on the earth” (p.179). 2. And yet Jesus detected a commercial spirit in the question, “What shall we have?” so a parable was in order to address that issue.

3. The Parable (20:1-15). A 21st-century illustration of this parable is found in the Middle East, where day laborers are still seen today. The United Arab Emirates is a growing Arab country in which 20 percent of the population is composed of Emiratis (native-born people) and 80 percent of expatriates from over 100 nations. Those who have moved there have come hoping to improve their income. Early in the morning, they sit on the curb hoping to be offered a job for the day-to do lawn work or other manual labor. In the parable, it is harvest time. The need is great and all through the day more help is hired-even workers at 5:00 p.m., the eleventh hour of a 12-hour workday. What do we learn from this parable?

A. What the story does not mean:

• It is not about people being saved at the very end of their life. It’s about service.
• It is not about how to run a business.
• It is not about rewards.

B. What the story teaches:

Values. Jesus values faithfulness to our God-given opportunity to serve. In my first pastorate, a woman received Christ, but a short time later she was in my office sobbing because so much of her life had gone by without the knowledge of the Word. Telling her this story helped. God knew when she went to work in His vineyard and wanted her to be faithful to her opportunity in the time she had.
Attitudes.

• A competitive spirit. * In an age when the largest and the fastest growing churches receive a lot of attention, we can forget that we are workers together. Paul faced it: “For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed . . .? Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor” (1 Corinthians 3:4-8).
• A complaining spirit. It is easy to imagine the complaints when the men were paid. Jesus had promised the first workers hired a denarius, the typical wage for a day’s work. When the 5 o’clock workers received a denarius, those who had worked all day expected even more! Instead, they received the promised pay and howled about how unfair the boss was. The master of this vineyard gave the last in the field not what they earned or deserved but what they needed to care for their family. To the grumblers, he said, “Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?” (Matt. 20:15 NLT).

Conclusion: Our God is a generous God, and as His image-bearers we are to reflect that generosity. In a time of great financial stress, we need not look far to find a friend or neighbor who needs our generosity. Let us remember that we are on the same team and not competitors. And let us resolve to be the first to rid our church of a complaining spirit!

3 Responses to “The New Math Of Grace”

1. Bernice says:

   September 22, 2009 at 11:41 am

   Wonderful!
2. MJCoombes says:

   October 22, 2009 at 1:09 pm

   A gripping and enriching sermon. Grace is not often thought of alongside Generosity. I enjoyed the insight shown in the paragraph about the Master of the Vineyard. Normally we stop with the thought of his generosity, but you have given us a further look by showing us his loving care – something also included in the equation of Grace.
3. peacemaker-2009 says:

   November 9, 2009 at 11:31 am

   God bless your life.