Don’t forget the End (or the beginning)
Matthew 20:1-16
January 28, 2024 anno Domini
Today is Septuagesima Sunday. Septuagesima is the Latin word for Seventieth. Seventy days from now will put us in the Octave of Easter. What does octave mean? If you ever took any music lessons you know what an octave is – it’s eight notes. In the church it’s the same word but we pronounce it as it appears. Octave. We use that word to label the 8 days that begin with a Feast Day. 70 days from now will be the Saturday after Easter.
Eight days. Eight notes in music. Eight is the Lord’s number of completion 7, plus 1 more. How can things be more than complete? Well, once we get to heaven we’ll know. That’s what eight is pointing us toward — the end. Good music takes us to heaven. The Church celebrates from Feast to Feast – every 8 days. 8 is one more than 7, just as heaven is an eternal day, added to the end of your days.
That’s what our readings today teach us – keep the end in mind.
The Israelites didn’t keep the end in mind in today’s Old Testament reading. God had saved them by their baptism in the Red Sea. They came through the water alive, but their enemies were drowned. They were free. They were on their way to the land flowing with milk and honey. The Red Sea baptism is Exodus 14. In Chapter 15 Moses sings a hymn of praise for God’s salvation, but as puts the amen on his hymn the people complain about water. In 16 they complain about food and God sends manna from heaven. 17 is the text and they complain about water again.
Saint Paul gives us a somber warning from God’s people Israel in the Epistle. The Lord saved His Israel. He baptized them. He fed them. He kept them alive with water from the Rock and that Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. The math is depressing. 600,000 men left Egypt. Only 2 of those 600,000 entered the promised land.
What does this mean for you, sitting in these pews 70 days before the Easter octave? It means life with God is a long and arduous pilgrimage and you will be tempted to despair, to complain, and to give up. Don’t forget the beginning your faith – the saving work of Christ on the cross, the forgiveness and faith given to you in your baptism. Don’t forget the end. You’re heading to the resurrection. Your body will be raised in glory. The Devil will be locked away in hell. You won’t be tempted. You won’t sin. You won’t die. You will see your Savior face to face, and you will know love and you will love like never before. The Lord has worked a great beginning and promised a great ending and now you’re in the great and difficult in-between.
That reminds me of the sign on my office door about the secret of a good sermon. Have a good beginning and a good ending and have the two as close together as possible. That advice could also apply to the Christian life. If you want an easy life have the beginning and ending as close together as possible. Die shortly after you are baptized. Or if you can determine the exact moment of your death, have a good time until about an hour beforehand, then repent, confess your sins, and cling to Jesus. Good luck with that.
That brings us to the parable Jesus tells in today’s Gospel reading. Who had it the easiest? Those slouchers who slept in, played video games all morning, took a nap after lunch, woke up and realized they were out of money, and showed up at the temp agency after hours. Fortunately for them the landowner still had grapes to harvest, and time was of the essence. He hired them at the 11th hour. Then comes payday. What do they get? The landowner pays them a full day’s wage, a whole denarius, when they should have got whatever 1/12 of a Denarius is. Instead of getting the $8.85 for their hour of work (that’s minimum wage in outstate Minnesota) they get almost $110.
Jesus didn’t tell the parable to encourage you to goof off all day and hope there is an opening in the kingdom at the last hour of the day, as if you could know your last hour.
He’s telling us because if you’re here this morning you’re among the workers in the vineyard for a full, long, and hard day’s work. Jesus wants you to remember two things.
You’re in the vineyard because of the Master. At the end of the day, He’ll give you what He promised.
The Master comes out of His house and calls the workers to work. It’s His vineyard. It’s His grapes. It’s His harvest. If He didn’t come to call you you would have nothing. So, the Father comes. He comes through His Son. You’re in because Jesus gets you in. Your sins are forgiven because of Jesus. The Father is on your side because of Jesus. You can pray anytime, anywhere because of Jesus. It’s gift from the very beginning. If He did not call you to faith through water and the Spirit you would have no place, no work, no reward. The guys who got jobs the first hour and the third hour and the sixth hour would have nothing without the Master. Remember Who got you in and repent when you think you deserved it or when you grumble about it like the Israelites.
He’ll give you what He promised. He gave those first hour guys exactly what He promised. It was the union price for one day’s work – one denarius. Don’t forget. They would not have received a penny if He had not called them to work. When you grumble about your job or employer be careful – you wouldn’t have a job or a paycheck without them choosing you and giving you work.
If you stay in the vineyard, if you endure the heat of the day, if you believe in Jesus Christ for forgiveness, receive His gifts, confess His name, work for Him and against the Devil, you will get what He promised – the resurrection of your body and life everlasting. You’ll join in the harvest festival of all those who believed in Jesus. You’ll get to drink of the wine of life, the end of all that Christ worked on earth. You’ll have great joy forever.
But what about those who goofed off all day, who lived their lives in willful sin, having a blast with the Devil, while the rest of us worked for Christ against sin and our fallen passions? And then, at the last hour, they get called into the Kingdom. The end of this parable is unfair. The all day workers thought so when they got paid. “They thought they would receive more” which makes sense.. If a guy works one hour and gets 1 denarius, the guy who works 12 hours should get 12.
Except they forgot what I told you to remember – you’re in the vineyard, in the Kingdom because of the Master. No one deserves to be in. No one is without sin. Fair would be if He left you out. Fair would be you suffering and dying for all eternity. But He is not fair, He’s generous. He gives Jesus for you. That’s not fair, but it’s good, really good. He also gives Jesus for all the other sinners in the world. You should be cheering for those 11th hour workers. You should pray for everyone to come to Christ, even if it is in their last breath. Don’t be jealous. Don’t grumble. You’re in because of the Master and He’ll reward you with exactly what He promised, and it will be far more than you imagined, because it will be that 8th day of all eternity. In the name of Jesus. Amen.