Grace Has No Bounds – March 30, 2025, Fourth Sunday in Lent
Psalm 89:1-6, Matthew 20:1-16
March 30, 2025
“That’s not fair!” Do you remember saying that when you were kids? We did! When we didn’t think we were being treated fairly, or when we didn’t get what we deserved, or sometimes when we just didn’t get what we wanted! We’d say, “That’s not fair!” That was our outcry! Well, I’ll bet the people who heard Jesus tell this parable were thinking the same thing!
By this time in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus was drawing ever closer to Jerusalem, and of course, the destiny that awaited him there. He was having more and more encounters with his nemeses – his adversaries in the religious leadership. And he was beginning to fall out of favor with the people. We saw that several weeks ago when we looked at John chapter six. Once wildly popular, Jesus was starting to say and do more unpopular, more unexpected, and more “un-Messiah-like” things. And he was talking more and more of his impending death and resurrection.
The Gospel writers also give us the sense that Jesus’ own disciples were having more and more problems understanding him. Think about it. He was on his way to Jerusalem – and all that meant, and what were they doing? They were arguing among themselves as to who was the greatest. We read that story last week. And then, just after this story for today, we find James and John asking to sit beside him in his kingdom.
I remember one of my seminary professors giving as lecturer on the book of Mark. And he pointed out that the last half of that book shows that the disciples just didn’t get it! The closer he got to the end of his ministry, the more problems he had with them and their understanding!
Well, into the context of all that we find Jesus telling this parable. And this was another teaching that was hard to understand. This is the story of the man who went out in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
I was at my brother’s place in Tucson Arizona several years ago. And while we were driving around town one morning, I noticed several groups of men standing together in parking lots. And my brother told me that those were people who were hoping to be hired to work. Anybody who had work to be done would go to those places and say, “I need three men for the day.” Or “I need eight men.” Bill said that’s how some people make a living out there. (Although there doesn’t seem to be much security in it.)
When I saw that, I remember thinking about this parable. This man went to where he knew there would be workers, and he hired them to work in his vineyard. And he agreed to pay each of them a denarius. If you remember my sermon last week, a denarius was a standard day’s wage.
So, as Jesus tells the story, the vineyard owner apparently needed more workers, so he went back to that place “at the third hour” – which is our 9:00. He did the same thing at the sixth hour and the ninth hour – that’s noon and 3:00. And then he went back one more time at the eleventh hour, and he found more men. And this time Jesus adds a little dialogue to the story. The man asked them, “Why are you standing here doing nothing?” And they said, “Because no one hired us.” So the man sent them into the field, too. But in their case, it was only for one hour.
Now, at this point, I’m sure the people listening to this story were wondering why Jesus told it this way. And they were wondering what the vineyard owner was going to do. Maybe they thought it was going to be a lesson that those who work the hardest have the greatest reward in the kingdom. But no! There’s often a twist to Jesus’ parables. He told them that the man had his steward call the workers and pay them. That was probably a good move as the story goes. Because he had him start with the ones who were hired last. And each of them were paid a denarius – a full days wage!
Well, the other workers thought they were going to get more. Because they had worked all day! But when it came their time, they too got the same thing. And they made the same outcry we started with today. “That’s not fair!” And the vineyard owner said, “Didn’t I pay you what we agreed?” “And aren’t I entitled to do what I want with my money?” Then the story ends with the statement we’ve heard Jesus say in other places, “So, the last shall be first, and the first last.” That’s said as almost like a footnote here!
But again, I have to wonder about the people listening to this parable. I’m thinking they too were ready to yell, “That’s not fair!” Because I’m sure it didn’t seem fair to them. And I’ll bet it doesn’t seem fair to us either!
What Jesus was trying to teach them – which they still didn’t get – was that, yes, in his kingdom the first shall be last and the last first. And he was trying to tell them – yet again – who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. But I think you’ll agree that one of the big things he was trying to teach them about in this story was Grace. Grace, being “the unmerited favor of God.”
That was his mission here on earth. He was here to show God’s Grace. He was here to say that all are welcome in his kingdom. And like the workers in this story, there will be those whose time in that kingdom would start from their earliest days! And there will be some who would miss out on that kingdom until much later in life. Remember what the father said to the indignant older brother in the Prodigal Son, “You have been with me always! And I love you.” The father honored that!
I think that’s a great perspective on this. All along, Jesus tried to tell the people that the kingdom was where? It was in their midst. It was in the here and now. The kingdom is not something that we start being part of when we die! C. S. Lewis once said, “For those who end up in heaven, it will have been heaven all along.”
Think about that! Being part of the kingdom doesn’t start at the end of our lives, it starts in this life, now! If you see it that way, then maybe you can start to see how the eleventh hour workers missed out on being part of the master’s world until then. If you think about it in the sense of Jesus’ understanding of the kingdom, you almost feel sorry for them! Don’t you?
I play golf with some friends who start to get “antsy” after about four hours. We’ll be out on like the 14th hole and they’ll say, “This is taking too long! Do you want to go?” And we’ve got four more holes to play! I don’t get that! I see the extra time out there as a bonus! Not a burden! I feel like I’m getting more than I paid for! Being part of God’s kingdom longer is a good thing – like those workers who started early. It’s not something to be put off, while we’re doing everything else we’re doing in this life!
All that is part of the nature of Grace. Because in the end, Grace is not fair! Because no matter how long we’re a part of God’s kingdom – or not – we don’t get what we deserve! Because what we deserve is not to be part of God’s kingdom! That’s what we deserve! None of us is good enough to earn our way into God’s kingdom – to earn God’s favor. But God gives it to us, anyway! And that’s Grace. And it comes through Jesus. Paul said, and you know this, that “It is by Grace we are saved, through faith, and not by works.” It is not by anything we do to try to earn it.
And it doesn’t come to us just by status, either. I was thinking that the message about Grace actually started with John the Baptist. He’s the one who said to the Pharisees and Sadducees, “Do not presume to say ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up sons of Abraham!”
No. Grace is the unmerited, undeserved favor of God. As Paul said, “It is while we were yet sinners that Christ died for us.” It was not because we deserved it, but because we needed it. Jesus came to tell us that. And I think it’s no coincidence at all, that one of the last things he did on this earth, was tell the thief, dying on the cross next to him, that he would be with him in paradise. You can’t get more eleventh hour than that!
So, where do we stand in all this? That’s a good thing to think about, especially during Lent. As I’ve titled this sermon, Grace has no bounds! That’s why it’s so “Amazing!” Grace is free to all who will accept it. So be sure that you have, this Lenten season. Because in this life, we can know for sure that we are part of God’s kingdom – now. But only when we know we don’t deserve it!
Prayer
Eternal God, we are amazed at your Grace. And we thank you that it was while we were yet sinners that Christ died for us. Help us to know we are part of your kingdom, even though we don’t deserve to be. And help us to live our lives – all of our lives – in the joy of your kingdom. For we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.