Septuagesima - 02-08-09

The Church Season of Epiphany,
Septuagesima
One Year Series

Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (February 8, 2009)

“Equal to Us”

Readings:
Psalm 95:1-9
Ex 17:1-7
1 Corinthians 9:24 – 10:5
Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon Form: Deductive

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father

and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 20th chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verses.

Matthew 20:1-16 (NIV)

1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. 3 “About the third hour 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.’ 5 So they went. “He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6 About the eleventh hour 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.’ 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.’ 9 “The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour 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 men 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, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man 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 the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

In the Gospel lesson a parable is told about some workers who were called to work in a field. Some were told they would be paid a denarius, or one day’s wage. Other worker’s were also called to work in the field and they were promised they would be paid whatever is right. And at the end of the day some received their promised denarius. And the others received what they were promised too, they got whatever is right, which in their case was also a denarius. A good story if it were to end their but it doesn’t, the workers who came early were not very happy. The workers were not happy because they had worked a full day and received the same pay as they workers who worked a whole lot less time. The workers who came later in the day had not borne the heat of the day, and the owner had the audacity to make those short time workers equal to them. The first workers grumbled, as if to say “How dare he?” We were called out early, we worked the long day, we did as we were told. We did a good job too or we wouldn’t be here at the end of the day to collect the pay. How dare that man make those other workers

Equal to Us

That was their grumbling, you have made them equal to the likes of us. Maybe the heat of the day had affected them, because now it’s all about them and us. What an attitude of self-righteousness that is. They think, not only were we here before they were, we worked longer so we must be just that much better than them. They are just not equal to us. It’s a matter us and them, we and they, and of fairness and it is a matter of equality. Quite frankly we are no different. It has been driven into our heads too. From the days of the founder’s of our country who wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” It was self-evident that all men were created equal, but in fact even as the pen was drying on those words the in-equality was still abounding. Prior to the signing of the constitution many groups could not vote, they had all struggled together to make headway in the fledgling country but all was not fair, it certainly wasn’t equal. Now the years have passed and some headway has been made but all is still not fair in all that goes on around us. It has been said that, “We sometimes complain about quotas, salary caps, and affirmative action, yet when the shoe is on the other foot we smile and thank God for the gift of inequality that helps me but hurts my neighbor.” We have that same feeling of superiority in the church too, for those who have been Christians their whole life. We hold that it must be self-evident that we have worked harder and worked longer than these new people who haven’t got a clue what we went through. How dare they come into the church and be expected to be treated as equals when they’ve not put their time in. And when they’ve put their time in and worked through the heat of the day maybe then we will consider them as equals.

You know it would be easy to think that this parable was just about the equality of Christians. But really when Christ tells the parable about workers and He does not mention who believes what, who is the better in their upbringing. The parable is about workers who believe that they are unequal to others based upon what they have done. That makes them self-righteous, they are holding themselves above others based solely upon what they have done. The workers from the morning set themselves as the standard from which to measured, and if you don’t measure up then you, they, them, are not our equals.

But a strange thing happens on the way to the payment table. All are paid the same, all are made equal, all are paid that single denarius. And that is where the grumbling began. What was that landowner thinking? Yet how does the landowner speak to the grumpy grumbling workers? The owner simply addresses their complaints by calling them, “friend”(v. 13) Then he reminds them, “I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius?” Oh yes they had but that was not the point, the point was that they worked harder and longer and received a payment equal to that of all the other workers. That is unfair. The result of the owner’s generosity is unequal treatment and that is simply astounding. His generosity, kindness, grace and goodness causes the workers to become envious, to be hateful toward those who are not their equal those other workers who came last.

We too reflect that attitude of self-righteousness, we know more, we’ve done more, and those who are new just can’t be considered our equals. We say, “How can a person like me who has lived such a rough life get the same grace as one who has lived a godly life?”

Repent, for there is no self-righteousness in the kingdom of God. Righteousness comes from God. And in His eyes all who believe and baptized are equal in His sight. Whether you were baptized as an infant or on your deathbed the reward is the same and it is much more than just a days wages. For Christ sees when you entered the harvest field, because he knew you before you ever lifted a hand. He chose you, He called you by name, and then He placed His Name upon you in Holy Baptism. And that water combined with God’s word is the same water and word that all receive who are baptized into the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It makes you, we, they, them, everyone equal, regardless of the length of service. Whether you serve from stature or whether you serve from a low estate. We are told that all of heaven rejoices when one sinner repents, and by God’s forgiveness we are made equal on the account of the actions of Christ. For He is the landowner who pays us the same whether we were called early in the morning of our lives or whether He called us as the sun fades on our lives.

And if we want to say that’s unfair that we’re being treated equal to others when we should be treated differently, know that God, it would seem, did treat one person differently, and that person would be His Son. God sent His Son into this world, and His Son was crucified so that we all may receive equality. Christ took an unequal share of our sin, in fact He took all our sin, with Him to that cross. And that unequal burden to the very Son of God, gives us the promise that all the sins of the world have been paid. His payment of death was not fair, it was not equal, yet the grace which He freely gives us is given in equal shares. In your baptism you were offered an equal share, today in Holy communion your are offered an equal share. And the share Christ gives is His free grace. He forgives your sin sick soul, He renews your faith, He gives you the promise of eternal life.

Life is not fair, it is not equal, it can be long or it can be short, it can have straight paths or winding road, it can be disastrous at times and it can be a blessing, but it certainly won’t be fair. But that’s okay, it really is, because at the end of time, and the end of all days, at the end of your life, you will receive your payment and it will be equal for all who would believe. And your payment will be equal to more than a days wage for you will be given an eternal and heavenly rest. Amen.

The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

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