Septuagesima

Septuagesima
2/20/11
Matthew 20:1-16
Bror Erickson


[20:1] "For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. [2] After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. [3] And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, [4] and to them he said, 'You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.' [5] So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. [6] And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' [7] They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.' [8] And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.' [9] And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. [10] Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. [11] And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, [12] saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' [13] But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? [14] Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. [15] Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?'
[16] So the last will be first, and the first last." Matthew 20:1-16 (ESV)


Jesus expounds on grace as he talks of the kingdom of heaven, the nature of it all is incredible. The kingdom of heaven has different aspects to it. Here in large part it is code for the church, the vineyard within which we are privileged to work for our denarius, if you will. But in reality the denarius is gift, as is the work of the vineyard, and life itself.

Jesus gives us life, Jesus gives us salvation. He does so by calling us to work in his vineyard. He hires us if you will by this analogy. In doing so he puts our fears to rest as to what will happen to us at the end of the day. We are given salvation. We have it. He has promised this too us. And for that we gladly work in the vineyard, we contribute to the church, with time talent and money. We go about harvesting the grapes if you will.

Vineyard work is always depicted in art as joyful work, whether it be men with smiling faces filling baskets full of grapes with smiling faces anticipating the wine to be made, or the village virgins dancing barefoot in the vats to crush the grapes and create the juice. However, I imagine the reality of it isn’t always so pleasant. It is work like any. Every job has its joys and pleasures as well as its hardships. I imagine slaving under the hot sun trying to grab the grapes before they spoil can be a bit tough at times. And what is fair is fair. Work is work right? Most of us are used to the concept, those who work more should get paid more.

Perhaps this is why every once in a while, I hear people grumbling about death bed conversions, or hypothesizing about rank in heaven, or jewels in crowns. Somehow our sinful nature wants to be compensated more for our good behavior as upstanding members of the church and the longer the better. Even as Christians we find ourselves bulking at the concept of grace that would have mercy on all just the same. Letting all take part in the glories of heaven as equals. Sinners who have been forgiven. Make no doubt about it, this is the one of the greatest attractions to Mormonism. It is also one of the biggest dis-attractions to the Christian faith, especially as it is trumpeted by Lutheranism. Our sinful nature may hope for a bit of earthly mercy from time to time, but it hates the concept of Grace if it means that those who commit heinous crimes, or spent this life enjoying illicit sex, drugs and rock and roll, or made the good life exploiting the poor, or even the middle class would have their sins forgiven and enjoy the same heavenly grace as us. Arrogant enough we thing Jesus hasn’t had to forgive us near as much as he has had to forgive those others. Which should perhaps be an indication as to just how sinful we are, and how much Jesus actually has to forgive us. And this is the point of the parable. It reveals our sinfulness as much as it reveals our grace. It reveals our sinfulness as only grace can.

These men worked all day in the vineyard, and because the owner paid the last to come the same as he promised to the first, they felt they deserved more than had originally been promised them. And just as working in a vineyard isn’t always as pleasant as is made out, so being a Christian can have it’s hardships in this life. It is not without reason that Jesus says pick up your cross and follow me. We do suffer persecution. At times we refrain from activity that appeals to our sinful natures in the name of Christ. And perhaps it doesn’t seem fair that the late comers experience the same grace as we do. But then grace would not be grace. Because grace doesn’t calculate fair. If it did, we would all suffer hell.
But as it is we should rejoice in knowing the grace of God as early in the day as we have! We have not needed to worry. But early in the morning our Lord promised us a generous gift, and in thankfulness we work in this vineyard that others might know the same gift. Others for whom Christ has died, because he has died for all to pay us as well as them the denarius of Grace.
So what does fair have to do with it? Jesus had to die to forgive our sin, just as he had to die to forgive theirs. And he didn’t do it because we deserved it. How do we deserve to have God become man and die for our sins? If he chooses to forgive others as well we have no reason to be upset, but all the more reason to rejoice in our salvation. When it comes to forgiveness, grace and mercy and celebration of Grace in the heavenly feast, well then it is true, the more the merrier.