Matthew 20:1-16

Wages of Christ

            I always hated group projects when I was in school. There was a common groan from the class whenever a teacher announced we were required to work with a partner or partners. As soon as it was mentioned, everyone started glancing around the room to figure out who would be willing to team up so not to get stuck with… that person. You know, the one who says they want to help, who says they’ll pull their weight but doesn’t contribute anything and piggybacks off of the hard work of everyone else. It was inevitable that every group had someone who took advantage of being graded as a group. They knew there were others who wouldn’t let the team get a bad grade and would do whatever necessary to secure it, even pulling double labor. For there were always cries about group projects being unfair. One or two people would do all the work and everyone else would reap the reward. Or worse yet, everyone would suffer for the lack of effort of that one person. Of course, this is why many teachers started using surveys for group work. We got to grade our partners so that everyone was incentivized to help and contribute. If one person was lazy, they would face the consequences. For the group could succeed together, or the individual would suffer alone. There was no more hiding behind the work of another to excuse laziness or lack of care. We all wanted to be treated fairly in grading. We didn’t want to suffer for something we didn’t do, nor did we want others to be rewarded for our hard work.

            In our Gospel lesson, a master calls workers to work together in his vineyard. There are some who definitely work more than others. There are some who definitely work much less. Yet, when the time comes to pay them, they all receive the same. As a group, they all reap the same reward regardless of their effort. For so we shall learn concerning God’s kingdom: 

IN OUR LORD’S GENEROSITY, HE GRANTS US THE WAGES OF CHRIST!

I.

            If we know we’re all paid the same, then why are we willing to put in more work? If the first hour laborers knew that they could’ve shown up at the end of the day and been paid the exact same as having worked an entire day, do you think they still would’ve jumped at the opportunity to work? It’s really no different a question when it comes to faith, and one I’ve heard many people contend. Some people say they can “party-it-up” for their entire life, enjoy all the things that God calls evil, and then at the end of life repent and receive the same reward. Consider our text though; The master goes out to find workers early in the morning and sends some into the vineyard. He comes back at the third, the sixth, the ninth, and eleventh hour to bring some more (Matthew 20:3-7). The master chooses to come back multiple times… but the workers could never count on him coming back again. Every time the master comes could have easily been his last. There was no societal standard that said masters came out so often. There was actually no standard at all for coming more than once! 

            Yes, we all desire fairness in society. We want fair and just laws. We want to be treated equally. But we will always cry foul if we think someone else is benefiting more than us. It’s exactly as the first workers say, “And on receiving [their pay] they grumbled at the master of the house, 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,” Matthew 20:11-12. It’s not fair! Indeed, life isn’t fair. There will always be someone who benefits more than us. What’s sad is that our natural reaction to someone else’s success isn’t defending them, congratulating them, or speaking well of them, but coveting, complaining, and crying foul. So long as sin remains in the world, every person will try to tip the scales in their own favor. No matter how fair we try to make society, someone will always benefit more. Someone will always take advantage of another. We, as sinful human beings, will always complain.

II.

            Yet, don’t think of fairness with God as with man. If God were fair with us, as we count fairness, we’d get exactly what we deserve. God would pay only what the law demanded. And the law demands hell. God would pay us the due reward of our sins. Indeed, it’s to our benefit that God isn’t fair with us. God is unfair. He pays us not what we’ve earned, but out of his generosity, he pays the last as the first. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts,” Isaiah 55:8-9. God is generous to call people from all stages of life into his kingdom. But even so, don’t count yourself as first among God’s workers. For so God has called before you the patriarchs, the kings, the prophets, and apostles who have born the burden of the day. Yet, as great as they all are, God has chosen to grant you the same reward. 

            God isn’t fair to us… he’s gracious. He gives us far more than we’ve ever deserved. For we’re not paid according to our works, but God has chosen to pay you the very wages of Christ! For Christ was the first worker. He was the one who went out to work the ground, plant the vineyard, grow the fruit of his labor. Jesus is the one who bore the burden of our sin on the cross, suffered the scorching heat of God’s wrath, and even gave himself up to death and the grave on our behalf. Jesus fulfilled the full demands of the law so that we may receive his reward. By the cross, God is generous to give to all who believe the salvation which Jesus had earned. Just as the master said, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” Matthew 20:15. This is what God has chosen. He chose to give you faith, to call you into his vineyard, his church, that he may lavish you with his grace. God has tipped the scales in your favor on account of Christ. And so shall we share God’s generosity with others, giving to them the forgiveness, love, mercy, and grace that Christ has earned for them!

            How much greater a group can we have for the project of salvation? As our Lord calls us into his vineyard in the last hours, he is generous to give us far more than we could ever hope. For he has made us equal with Christ, bestowing upon us the righteousness, holiness, and perfection that Christ has merited. And what do we hear from Christ? Not grumbles or complaints… but cheers of joy as God gives to us eternal life! In Jesus’ name! Amen!