Preached at Markham Baptist Church, October 28, 2001

Do you have your passport in a safe place? I was reminded last week, as we had lunch with Dr. Darku, of how valuable a Canadian passport truly is. We have a great privilege of being Canadian citizens and I pray that we will never take it lightly.

But you and I also belong to another kingdom that not only stretches, not only from sea to sea, but from pole to pole, from universe to universe. As Christians, we are citizens of the Kingdom of God. In Philippians 3:20 we read that we have our citizenship in heaven. This means that you and I follow a different leader than the rest of the world. We citizens of the Kingdom of God belong to a different culture than the rest of the world. We have a different view of life than the rest of the world, our purpose, our reactions to events are all different than those of the rest of the world. We even have a different system of economics.

In the world's economic system the brightest and the best are rewarded. The famous and the wealthy sign the big book deals, go on speaking tours, and are given the attention in the press. In the world's economic system an employee is supposed to receive equal pay for equal work - at least that is the goal that is strived for.

Well, how does the economic system work in the Kingdom? What is the pay like in relation to the work? This is a question Peter asks Jesus one day - saying that he and the other disciples had left everything to follow Jesus! And indeed they had. We know that they left their jobs, their families, any kind of security that they had in order to follow Jesus. According to the world's standards they had left it all - and Peter asks, "What will we get in return?"

And Jesus says to Peter that he will be rewarded. In fact, says Jesus, anyone who has given sacrificially for God and to God will be rewarded. If you have left a house, or family, or fields, you will receive much more from God, says Jesus. (Matthew 19:27-29) God is no one's debtor.

And this is a great relief to all who serve in the Kingdom but then Jesus adds one last thing and says to not be deceived, "Many who are first will be last, and the last will be first." (Matthew 19:30) (NRSV)

What? That doesn't sound fair. Does that sound fair to you? What kind of kingdom is this? What kind of rules of fair play govern this kingdom? This is not fair, and it's certainly not what I'm used to. For instance, I stand in line at Tim Horton's to get my meal deal for lunch and the girl at the cash says, "Can I help whoever is next please?" That's me if I'm second in line. She doesn't say, "Can I help the last in the line please?" She'd have a riot on her hands if she did that. Have you ever experienced the idea that the first will be last and the last first? Not at Tim Horton's you haven't.

And what about at school? Do you see this principle at work there? No. Wouldn't it have been something if with my 56% math mark in my OAC year I got a call from the University of Western Ontario offering me a scholarship in their mathematics program. That's not how it works in the world; people with a 56 % average are not offered scholarships.

What do you mean. Jesus, that the first will be last and the last will be first? And, to explain it to us, Jesus tells us this parable, a parable told in Matthew 20:1-16.

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the labourers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o'clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to hem, 'You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o'clock, he did the same. And about five o'clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to the, 'Why are you standing here idle all day?' They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard.' When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the labourers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.' When those hired about five o'clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day the scorching heat.' But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?' So the last will be fist, and the first will be last."
(Matthew 20:1-16) (NRSV)

So Jesus says that here is how it works in the Kingdom of God. Let me picture it for you. Early at the start of the working day a landowner hires a bunch of workers to come and work in his fields. They agree that their wage for the day's work will be the usual day's wage. That is a denarius. It was the going rate for a day's work at that time. It was fair and it was agreed upon by both the workers and the landowner.

Perhaps discovering that he needed more workers to finish the job the landowner went to the marketplace, the place to hire help in those days, and hired some more workers. He did this at 9, 12, and 3 o'clock. He did this one more time at 5 o'clock, one hour before quitting time. He found some workers who were in need and he hired them also.

Then, in verse 8, we discover what happens when it is quitting time, time for the workers to get paid. The landowner pays the last first and he very generously gives them a full day's wage for one hour of work!

Well you can imagine the wide eyes of those who were hired first. You can hear the wheels turning. If the landowner gave that much to those who only worked an hour you can imagine how much he will give to us who have worked all day! And we read in verse 10 that when it comes to their turn to get paid they pick up their pay envelope with great anticipation and what do they see? A full day's wage. The same amount as the others.

"What's this?", they grumble.

"We've worked all day - in the blazing sun and the blistering heat of the day - and we get the same as those who only worked an hour? It's not fair. What kind of kingdom is this?"

And Jesus replies that it is a kingdom of grace. Is the landowner just? Yes, he gives a fair wage that was agreed upon. And, after all, he is the landowner - why be jealous because he is generous? It's his money and he can do as he pleases.

What kind of kingdom is this?

It's a kingdom where we are judged not by merit or length of service but by grace.

Yes, yes, yes, but it's not fair - those who worked in the fields for only an hour don't deserve a full days wage! Do they?

We've been talking about and studying grace for the last few weeks now. And, as we've studied, a thought has been brought home to me. It is that everyone likes the idea of grace. Everyone longs for grace in their lives - everyone wants grace to be practiced toward them, everyone wants a second chance. Everyone is in favour of grace when it applies to them.

When I was in University I didn't grumble when the professor didn't penalize me for handing in my paper three days late. When I stand in line at the grocery store I don't grumble when my line moves more quickly than the one next to me. And would anyone grumble at receiving a full day's wage for an hour of work? No.

But, let someone else get a three day extension after I've worked hard all week to get my paper in on time, then I cry, "foul". Let the other line move more quickly - "sigh". Let someone else in my office receive a full day's wage for an hour of work - I'm on the phone to the Ontario Board of Labour.

Everyone is in favour of the idea of grace when it's applied to themselves. But when it's applied to someone else - well that's a different story.

Jesus tells another parable that makes a similar point. It is a parable with which you are all familiar, the parable of the prodigal son. And you will remember that after the young renegade son is welcomed home by the father, with great rejoicing, he receives a ring and a robe, a fatted calf is killed, and a great party is thrown. But the older brother, who had been faithful to the Father all through the years, complains. He's outraged that his father would reward such irresponsible behaviour.

Fred Craddock, a wonderfully imaginative preacher, once preached a sermon on the prodigal son, and he tinkered with the details - he had the father slip the ring and robe on the older brother, then kill the fatted calf in honour of his years of faithfulness and obedience. And when he had finished telling the story like this a woman in the back of the sanctuary yelled out, "That's the way it should have been written!" ¹

Everyone is in favour of the idea of grace when it is applied to themselves, but when it is applied to someone else - well that's a different story. But it is the way of the kingdom of God, for in the kingdom of God the first become last and the last become first.

You see, this is a humbling parable for those of us who have been part of the Kingdom of God for a long time, some of us our whole lives. Some of us feel that we have left everything, well, if not everything, then at least something. We get to thinking that we are first, privileged, favoured by God. And those others who have lived a rebellious life, sure they can come into the kingdom, but they had better feel real sorry about the life they have led. And they had better realize that we are the privileged ones.

But Jesus says that that is not God's attitude. His grace extends to the last just as much as it does to the first - so much so that the last will be first and the first will be last. I think this is part of what Paul meant when he wrote, "Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more." (Romans 5:20) (NRSV) It is a humbling parable.

But more it is an awesome parable. And, to understand the wonder of it, to grasp the beauty of it, do not continually picture yourself in the position of the workers hired at the beginning of the day. (If you do picture yourself as a worker hired at the beginning of the day and find yourself grumbling against the grace of God offered to others then confess it; let the Holy Spirit transform you and move on.) Instead, picture yourself in the place of the workers hired at the end of the day. Put yourself in the place of those who were hired at 5 o'clock. And, as you go to open your pay packet from God and you expect to get an hour's wage - you instead discover that in his grace you have received a full day's wage!

Put yourself in the place of the workers hired at 5 o'clock and it makes all the difference. Then, we discover that we have received more of God's favour than we ever deserved. God is generous. We come into his holy presence seeking a few crumbs from the King of kings and we end up holding the whole pantry. We come looking for forgiveness and he gives it to us through faith - and then he says here is hope also, and peace, and love and acceptance and joy and super-natural strength and the reality of his presence every day of my life! And so we are made to realize the truth of Ephesians 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." (NRSV)

Put yourself with the workers who have been hired at 5 o'clock - because that's were we are - and we are made to realize that it is wonderfully unfair.

One last word. If we put ourselves in the place of the workers who have been hired at the last hour but who have received a full day's wage it enables us to answer an important question rightly. The question is, "Can we stress God's grace too much - can we push God's grace too far?"

Consider what many view as the big sins - although in reality there is no such thing - homosexuality, abortion, and sexual promiscuity. The argument goes that if we push God's grace too far then we are seen as being soft on these sins and perhaps even perceived as being accepting of them. We need to be aware of the dangers.

But, as I examine my life and realize sin in my life, I can tell you that I have never ever said to God, "Lord, what I need in my life is more of your judgement. What I need is for you to rain down your wrath in my life."

No, the Holy Spirit makes me aware of sin in my life and I turn to God saying, "Lord, forgive me. By your grace wash me clean and keep me from sin."

For me personally, there is no limit to the grace that I require, and receive; I need God's grace every day of my life. I am made to realize again that I am like a worker who has come into the fields in the last hour and been the benefactor of God's abundant grace.

God keep me, keep us, from being slow in offering that same grace to others. "What they really need is for God to slap them up-side the head to wisen them up!"

May we have the presence of mind, the spiritual awareness, that, just as we have received God's wonderful, unfair, grace, to offer that same grace to others.

No, we can never push the grace of God too far, for we live in a kingdom of grace where the first will be last and the last shall be first.