You Don’t Want to be First
Matthew 20:1-16
January 31, 2021 anno Domini
You don’t want to be first. The world says, “Be first. Look out for number one. You’re the important one.” God’s Word says “you don’t want to be first. “ Consider the Exodus from Egypt. The first Israelites to be free of slavery, grumbled along the way, were not happy with God’s arrangements, complained about water and food, and most of them, 99.9 percent of them, didn’t make it to the promised land. Only 2 of the 600,000 men that left Egypt made it in to Israel. Moses didn’t even make it. The first will be last and the last will be first.
So Paul warns us in today’s Epistle. (1 Cor 9:24) Paul isn’t saying you should set your heart on first place – only one gets first, but nonetheless if you are to finish the race of the Christian life, you’d better run for first, even if you’ll never be first. Paul uses the Israelites as an example, (1 Cor 10:5)
The first and the last are the contrast in the parable Jesus preaches to us this morning. The vineyard owner told the first to be hired, “Take what belongs to you and go.” The vineyard owner is God and the last words you want to hear from God is “take what you’ve earned and go away,” What you have earned is death and hell, temporal and eternal punishment. All your works add up to a big pile of sin and the wages of sin is death. Without Jesus, all you have is sin. Even if you were considered the #1 dad or #1 husband or #1 nicest guy anyone ever met, you won’t be first. You’ll be last, actually least than last. You won’t finish the race. You won’t win the prize. Your bones will be left in the wilderness of death and hell.
What is the great distinction between the first and the last in the parable of the vineyard owner?
It might be found in a little word in verse 2 that didn’t catch our ears. (vs. 2) That word “agree” is the word συμφωνήσας, our English word “symphony.” A symphony is when all the instruments are in accord, in agreement, in tune with each other. Those first workers, called their union representative, and had a collective bargaining agreement in place. The Master agreed with them – a denarius for a day’s wages.
This is where the problem with the first workers comes and why they are sent away at the end. They thought they were worthy of their wages. They were industrious. They got up early in the morning. They were outside the Central Israeli Workforce Center before the sun came up. That’s the way the world works. They remembered what their dad told them. Show up on time. Dress normal. Don’t get tattoos. Don’t pierce your face multiple times. Work hard at whatever you do, and you’ll succeed. Oh, and one more thing, don’t have children until after you’re married. You do that and you’ll be middle to upper class, no problem.” But there is a problem with those instructions. Those instructions are great in the world, but they won’t work in the vineyard, because the vineyard isn’t about the world. It’s about kingdom of heaven. (vs. 1)
None of the workers hired later in the day made an agreement. They didn’t conduct a symphony with the Master. Those hired were simply promised a wage – no agreement. (vs. 4b&5). Three hours and six hours later, the exact same thing happened. The Master said, “Whatever is right, I will give you.” That word “right” should catch in your ears. To our thinking “right” means fair, but take your Bible sometime, read the book of Romans, and underline the words right, righteous, justify and justification. You’ll probably need to sharpen your pencil or get a new highlighter. Right is God’s Word. Right is the reason God the Father sent His Son. Christ Jesus died for us sinners and rose again so that we could be declared righteous before God. And this righteousness is a gift. It’s grace. That’ why the front of your bulletin has highlighted this Sunday’s theme as “grace alone.”
Grace is why we get ticked off at those guys hired last in the parable. These are the guys that live in their mother’s basements. They played video games late into the night, drank all their dad’s beer, and passed out. About noon mom balled them out and said they should do something with their lives. “Get a job.” So halfheartedly these man-boys stumbled over to the hiring agency, knowing full well no one would hire at this late hour. They’d be back in the basement in an hour (or so they thought.)
But then Mr. Vineyard Owner comes along. Initially He regarded them just like mom (6b). Then they lied to him. (7a) And then comes the unthinkable. (7b) He invites them to the vineyard, late in the day, with the promise of doing right by them. They don’t deserve anything but now they are on the payroll.
What happens at the end of the day? Judgment day? The day when God’s righteousness will be completely revealed and handed out. The guys who had it all worked out with God, who looked to Him to be fair and give them what they were owed were sorely disappointed. If your faith expects God to be fair and to reward you for being good. If you think you’re first, or at least better than 90 percent of the schleps out there, that you’re Central Minnesota above average and God should notice, God will send you away. Your faith have no room for His gifts and grace. He’ll tell you, “Take what is yours and go.”
But those who looked to grace alone, who had no expectation of a full wage, but who simply relied on the Master’s word, they left payday with joy. This is what Christ does for sinners. This is what happens when faith alone receives grace alone, when sinners know they are last, but look to God to do what He does.
The Vineyard Owner isn’t fair. He is gracious. No matter how long your day has been, no matter how long you labored or didn’t labor, no matter if your newborn daughter died or all your children turned out better than your neighbors, no matter if you got cancer in your 30s or lived to 97, no matter if your journey has felt like the highway to hell, or the high road to heaven, no matter if you wrestled mightily with sin or managed to beat some of them back, God is still gracious and He has still done right by you in Jesus. Saint Paul tells us in 2 Cor 4:17. Beyond all comparison – that is what God does for you in Christ.
Christ Jesus died for sinners. He died for you. That isn’t fair. That is gift, mercy. Forgiveness won’t run a business successfully. Forgiveness doesn’t make a profit. Forgiveness costs because sin indebts us to death and hell. God pays the price of our forgiveness with His Son’s flesh and blood. God doesn’t run His Kingdom for a profit, for success, or even to be fair. He runs His Kingdom on love that sacrifices. He runs His Kingdom for you. Everything that is offered at Redeemer is given as gift. And you never know what God will give you. He could call you to faith in the last hour of your life. He might be gracious to you when you’ve grumbled and complained through the wilderness of this world. He might forgive you even as you’ve asked Him to be fair and give you what you deserve. Because that’s who the God of Holy Scripture, the Holy Trinity is. He is gracious and merciful, even if you’ve slept away the whole day in sin and darkness.
The first workers hired went away with their wages. The last workers rejoiced in the gift. They were given a full day’s wages for nothing, for the last hour of work. They did not think ill of the Vineyard Owner. They thought He was weird, perhaps foolish, but certainly gracious. They knew they were last, but He made them first – first to be paid, most to be paid.
That’s what God does for you who are last, for you sinners. He pays you what is right (not fair), but right by grace. He forgives you richly all your sins in the name of Jesus. Amen.