By the Grace of God Go I

Text: Matthew 20:1-16

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Matthew 20:1-16

Jonah Albrecht
Septuagesima Sunday
February 16th, 2025
Matthew 20:1-16
By the Grace of God Go I

Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.

“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

INJ who is the procurer and distributor of God’s endless grace and mercy to us, DFR:

I saw a video the other day of a group of people before the gates of heaven. In order to enter, they had to submit a binder with all their life’s works in it and step on a scale to see if it was good enough to enter heaven. A lady steps to the front, hands her binder to the judge and says, “I know I have done some pretty bad things, but I tried to do enough good to balance it out.” “Step on the scale,” the man said. The arrow flipped to the “not good enough side.” The next man who stepped up had an impressive record including building wells in Africa and starting an orphanage. He said, “I just wish I could have done more to leave the world a better place.” When he stepped on the scale, the arrow likewise flipped “not good enough.” Finally, a man stepped forward whose file on his life was filled with terrible things and every knew he would not be good enough either. Before he could step on the scale, the man judging was given another file, by Jesus. When he opened it, it said, “Child of God.” The judge said, “step on the scale.” But before the sinner stepped on the judge said, “Not you, Jesus.” When Jesus stepped on the scale, the arrow pointed to good enough and the man entered heaven with Jesus. The others who were standing by started shouting, “That’s not fair! He was way worse than I was!” The judge simply said, “That’s why it is called grace.”

Grace is something that the world will never understand because it goes completely contrary to its natural philosophy. The world says, “I do this or that, I should get something in return.” Grace says, “You have done nothing to earn God’s favor or forgiveness, but because of Jesus Christ, God forgives you anyways.” Grace is God’s greatest gift and it is something He desires to shower generously on all people. The parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard is really about grace. It shows the generosity of the Father in calling workers to His kingdom and the rich reward He offers them even though they don’t deserve it. But it also tells of a warning and the consequences of despising that grace – ultimately being excluded from the Kingdom of God.

The theme I would lay on your hearts this morning is By the Grace of God Go I. It is God’s grace that has called you to be His child, and not just His child, but a worker in His kingdom. Whether you have been a Christian your whole life or more recently, the work is the same: Share the Gospel message of God’s grace through Jesus with all people. And yes, there will be a reward for the work you do in this Spiritual field. But the ultimate reward you receive is the crown of eternal life and that is a gift of God’s grace.

The parable Jesus gives to His disciples is really in response to Peter’s question that we read in our Gospel Lesson this morning: “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” (Matt. 19:27) Though Jesus did give the disciples an answer, He knew they still did not have a proper understanding regarding the reward of grace.

In parables it is helpful to remember that this is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. There are points Jesus uses that make no sense in the “real world.” But He uses these on purpose in order to illustrate the heavenly meaning. It is also good to remember that some parts of the story do not need to be interpreted.
Jesus said, The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for His vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.” The Jewish workday ran from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. A denarius was equivalent to a day’s wages, about $200.00. So, the proposition was absolutely fair. The workers agreed and off they went.

Then the landowner went out at 9:00, at 12:00, at 3:00, and finally at 5:00 to find more workers. This time he did not contract with them for a fixed amount, but simply said: Whatever is right, I will give you. They probably expected less than a denarius — and the later in the day they were hired, the less they expected to receive. At quitting time, the master said: Call the laborers and give them their wages. This is when the fun began because the last ones hired were the first ones paid. The first in line was an eleventh-hour worker, who had barely broken a sweat. He opened his pay envelope and found ten twenty-dollar bills. He rushed off, but not before word trickled down the line.

So, what do you suppose the rest of the workers in line were thinking? They were thinking, $200 an hour. And so, one by one they stepped up, rubbing their hands together, expecting the biggest single payday of their lives. But in all their figuring, they hadn’t counted on one thing. In this vineyard pay is based on the owner’s goodness, not on the workers’ merit. And in his goodness, he hands out a denarius to everyone, regardless of how much or how little they worked. As the line of workers got shorter, the faces got longer. “Not fair,” grumbled those hired first. We’ve borne the heat of the whole day, and these men worked less than an hour. But this isn’t about fair. This is about grace. To our way of thinking grace is outrageous, incredible, and unbelievable.

They felt slighted against the landowner because it was right, or just for them to get more. But the landowner chastises them. 1. He addresses them as friend, gently reminded them of their contract, that they had agreed to. He had not wronged them in any way. Then He reminds them that they have no right to control how the He disperses what belongs to Him. If His generosity was evil in their eyes, then they could take what they earned and leave, never to work for that owner again.

Who do the characters in this parable represent? The landowner is God. He is the one who personally calls people to faith by His grace and brings in workers for the advancement of the Kingdom of God – His ruling activity in our hearts. He dispenses His grace not based on the merit of the work done, but by the merit won by Jesus on the cross.

The workers are divided into two groups: Those with a mercenary spirit and those who took the owner at His word. Those who play by the world’s rules and those who rejoice in the rules of God’s Kingdom – the rule of grace.

That first group of workers Jesus references earlier in His ministry when He talks about hypocrites who give to the needy, but make sure everyone knows they are doing it, that they may be praised by others. Jesus says, Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

They are the ones you might find in churches, but they aren’t seeking the heavenly reward of eternal life. Their desire is for the temporal reward from the eyes of man – glory, recognition, and approval. The Pharisees in Jesus’ day were guilty of this. Even Peter stumbled with this sin. What about you and me? Do you engage in a relationship with God in hopes of a meritorious reward? “I will only work in the church if I get my dues paid. I’m the better Christian because I have done more, I deserve more. I want to be higher in heaven because of all the things I have done here on earth.”

This is a heart of pride that directly despises God’s grace. One the one hand, it despises when God shows His grace to what we deem as unworthy recipients. Why do they get to be given grace from God, but I am stuck enduring the pains and distresses of life as a Christian? It’s not fair!

On the other hand, this heart of pride despises God’s grace when He comes to you with a word of warning over your sin. “I don’t deserve to be chastised. I’ve done so much work for you God and this is how you repay me?” This is the same heart of pride that led to Belshazzar mocking God and, despite warning over his sin, led to his death and the fall of the Babylonian empire. It is the same heart of pride that led so many of Jesus’ people to despise Him and crucify Him, missing out on salvation. And it is the same heart of pride that can take you and me from being the first in the kingdom of God, to being dismissed by God forever.

Sure, you might gain a reward even if you have a heart of pride, but at what cost? Is the reward of the praise of men really worth despising the grace God offers? Are you going to stand on judgment day and say, “God, this isn’t fair!”? Jesus will reply: ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

That is the result of seeking a meritorious relationship with God rather than one by His grace. But that is not the relationship God wants with you. He wants to shower you with His grace.

The owner of the vineyard willingly gave every worker a full day’s wage. Not because they earned it, but because he is good and he is merciful. That is exactly how God wants to deal with you. He doesn’t offer you the forgiveness of sins and eternal life because you earned it, but because His Son, Jesus did. You want to talk about fair: Was it fair when God placed your sin and mine on the shoulders of His innocent Son? Was it fair that Jesus had to die so that a world full of sinners had an opportunity for life? Of course not! What Jesus endured was meant for me and you. That would have been justice, us suffering for our own sins.

Instead, God’s justice fell on Jesus and all that He has left to give is His mercy. Your entire relationship with God is predicated on that mercy and grace. From before you were born, He called you to be His own child so that you could spend eternity with Him in heaven. Every day of your life, He offers you His grace in the forgiveness of your sins, in deliverance from Satan and his demons, in providing daily food, clothing, house and family. None of that God has to do. He does it because of His grace, His goodness, and His love.

By the grace of God go I. It is a simple phrase and yet it serves as the perfect reminder for your life in service to the LORD. If you had to stand on a scale before the gates of heaven, how will you approach it? Will you stand on the merits of your own righteousness? Then be prepared to be excluded from the kingdom of heaven. Instead, stand under the shadow of God’s grace. Let your merits be in Jesus your Savior who earned eternal life in your place. Seek not the reward that is temporary and fading, but rejoice in the reward that is yours by the grace of our gracious God: Eternal Life with Him. Amen.