God Isn't Fair

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:10

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

00:18

Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

00:25

And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the 20th chapter.

00:41

Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

00:49

And after agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace.

00:59

And to them he said, you go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.

01:04

So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 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?

01:17

They said to him, because no one's hired us. And he said to them, you go into the vineyard too. 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.

01:31

And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius.

01:41

And on receiving it, 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?

01:53

But he replied to one of them, friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

01:59

Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you.

02:05

Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?

02:11

So the last will be first, and the first last. This is the gospel of the Lord. In the name of Jesus.

02:19

It's not fair. Any of you who've raised kids or been kids, you've heard those words before.

02:27

And boy, the things that are not fair. It's not fair. He got more ice cream than I did.

02:33

It's not fair. She never has to wash the dishes. Why do I always have to wash the dishes, right?

02:39

It's not fair. And you just hear it in this voice, and every one of us knows exactly what this is all about.

02:46

This is how the world operates. And you'll note that this carries over into the working world.

02:53

Now, one of the things I find fascinating about social media is the artificial intelligence behind it and the algorithms that are created.

03:01

They've nailed me. I never took out a questionnaire, things that I'm interested in.

03:07

But somehow the algorithm knows. And if you know me, I've spent some time in the corporate world.

03:13

I have an MBA from Pepperdine University. I'm a former CEO of a healthcare management company.

03:18

And all of that being said, I get pushed into my social media feed videos regarding HR.

03:27

Now, I know the algorithm thinks I'm interested in corporate things, but I must say this here.

03:34

I believe that HR is the Office of Antichrist. That's a whole other story.

03:40

But all of that being said, I saw a video this past week, and I thought, boy, that would just fit perfectly into the sermon.

03:46

And it was a guy who, on his social media, what he does is he evaluates emails sent to bosses by employees.

03:57

And what had happened is that this fellow went and had a meal with some of his fellow employees.

04:03

And it turns out that this particular employee, among all of those who had the same title and position that he had, he was the best performing.

04:11

He managed more accounts, brought in more money. And after having some conversations with some of his fellow employees, found out that he was making 13 % less money than they were.

04:21

And people who had been at the same job the same amount of time that he had been there.

04:27

That being the case, you can hear, it's not fair, right? Because what do we expect?

04:32

What's the big mantra nowadays? Equal pay for equal work, right? That's what we want.

04:38

This is how the world operates. This is what we're pushing for. And so the guy sent an email to his boss and let him know that he was aware of the disparity, and he expected his boss to fix it.

04:48

And the boss making a boneheaded move. And I mean, just because you're a manager doesn't mean you're smart.

04:54

I just want to put that out there. Just because you're in management doesn't mean you know what you're doing. So his boss fires back an email and says, it is against company policy for employees to discuss their pay with other employees.

05:07

And I can hear my alarm bells going off because in my MBA, we have to pay attention to things like this.

05:12

It is against the law to forbid your employees to discuss their pay with each other. When a corporation has a policy like that, it's because they're ignorant and they don't know the law.

05:23

The guy didn't do anything wrong. And he says, if you continue to ask me questions along this line, we will have to bring you up and consider some disciplinary action against you.

05:34

But then a couple weeks later, what did the guy do? He tendered his resignation. He says,

05:39

I'm officially giving my two weeks notice and I'm expecting because I have so much PTO and I have some vacation time to take care of these things, that you will not see my face, but I'm officially gone as of two weeks from now and I expect to be paid the end.

05:53

And you sit there and go, yeah, stick it to the man, man, what a boneheaded thing. And the thing is, this is how the world operates, okay?

06:00

Everything has got to be fair and everything measured out, equal pay, equal work. This is how everybody thinks.

06:06

But that's not how the kingdom of heaven operates. And it's important for us to keep this in mind so that we do not grumble against God.

06:17

Let me kind of give another example here. I'm assuming that you all read your

06:22

Bibles, right? Some of you maybe read your Bibles more than others. How many of you are praying every day? I'd like to show a hand.

06:30

That being the case, how many verses have you been reading in your Bible? And maybe what we should do is rather than me giving a general absolution,

06:37

I as a called and ordained servant of the word, I forgive you all of your sins. I will say this week, Stephen Elliot, David Fagerlund, and the

06:45

DeBoer family, their sins are forgiven. The rest of you, try harder next week.

06:52

I don't think that would go over very well. But Fagerlund's happy that for once I've said something positive, right?

07:02

So you'll note the kingdom of God doesn't work like that. And that's the point that Jesus is getting at in part.

07:11

And so there's wonderful layers to this particular parable. But partway through the sermon, what

07:16

I'm going to do is I'm going to back up into the context. So I'll put the thesis out here first. This is about salvation by grace through faith alone apart from works.

07:26

This is how the kingdom of God operates. Now I know this because of the context. But let me take the passage at face value apart from the context and you'll still see how this works.

07:36

So Jesus says, 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.

07:46

Now you'll note that beginning of the sentence, for the kingdom of heaven is like, for the kingdom of heaven is like, that means that there's something else going on.

07:53

The context comes into play. So here we've got this master who goes out early in the morning to hire laborers for the vineyard.

08:01

Now, since this is about salvation by grace through faith apart from works, that does not mean that we

08:06

Christians do not have works to do. Again, Ephesians 2, 8, 9, and 10, for by grace you have been saved through faith.

08:13

This is not your own doing. This is the gift of God so that no one may boast for we are

08:19

God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. And I want you to know this, that God has prepared those good works in advance for us to do.

08:29

And we are saved unto good works. We are not saved by our good works. Anybody who thinks they're saved by their good works is a self -righteous person who does not rightly understand the proper distinction of law and gospel.

08:44

And the self -righteous are inherently haughty, arrogant, and on top of it they grumble, grumble, grumble, grumble, grumble, grumble against God because they always think that they're in the right.

08:56

Think of them like spiritual Karens, okay? This is what we're talking about here. So here we've got this master of the house.

09:02

Now consider this scenario, and the scenario goes something like this. Who planted the vineyard?

09:08

The master did. Who made sure that those vines were doing their business, pruned them and all that kind of stuff, and made sure that they were producing fruit?

09:17

The master did. So the guys who were hired, all they had to do is come and pick the fruit that was all the work done by the master.

09:26

Keep that in mind as we work our way through this. So he went out and hired laborers in the morning, and after agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them out into the vineyard, and going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace.

09:40

This is important when you kind of consider the greater meaning of this. And that is that when you do not trust in Christ, you are not doing the good works that God has called you to do because Hebrews says without faith it is impossible to please

09:57

God. It's not difficult, it's not hard, it's not a challenge, it's impossible.

10:03

So that being the case, you'll note that the unbelievers are likened as those who are sitting idly, not doing the works that God has called them to, whereas those who trust in Christ are doing the good works that God has prepared in advance for them to do, and they are busy about the work of doing the business that Christians do because they're

10:21

Christians. So you'll note this master is dead set on getting as many people into this vineyard as humanly possible, working in his vineyard, and so he goes out the third hour, he goes out the ninth hour, and he says to the people, you go into the vineyard too, whatever is right

10:37

I will give you. So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same, and about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he said to them, why do you stand here idle?

10:53

They said to him, well because no one's hired us. And he said, then you go into the vineyard too. These guys are going to work a bonafide hour, that's it.

11:01

It's not the heat of the day, things are cooling off, they're only going to work an hour. But watch the generosity of the master because this isn't about how this world operates, this is about how the kingdom operates.

11:14

So when those hired, the text goes on to say, when the 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, and when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.

11:29

And you can just hear the buzz in the line, right? The guys at the back of the line who were hired first in the morning, they're sitting there going, he's given out a denarius an hour.

11:40

All right, we're going to be rich, this is going to be awful, this is going to be awesome, right? And so when they came to the front of the line, they also received a denarius.

11:54

And then they grumbled at the master of the house. As if the master of the house had done something wrong.

12:01

As if this, it's not fair, yeah, right?

12:06

And here's their complaint, these lads, they only worked one hour, you've made them equal to us who've borne the burden of the day of the scorching heat.

12:16

Equal. Hmm, are we not all equal in Christ? God shows no partiality.

12:23

And so here I think it would be a good idea to back up into the context so that you can see how this is connected, because there's something really important going on.

12:32

So if you have your Bibles, go to Matthew chapter 19, starting at verse 16, and you'll see that this forms the context of this parable.

12:42

It is the story of the rich young ruler. It says, Behold, a man came up to Jesus saying,

12:48

Teacher, what good thing must I do to have eternal life?

12:54

And Jesus says, well, you know, don't dance, drink, smoke, chew, make sure that you have your devotions twice a day, and be sure to tithe, and all that kind of stuff, and do charitable things, and no, he didn't say that, right?

13:07

You're going to note that the question itself shows the problem. And this is a loaded question.

13:12

It assumes something. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. My wife is like a master of the loaded question.

13:19

And the loaded questions that she asks are not safe to answer. So if she asks a question like this, you're going to mow the lawn today, aren't you?

13:28

No, that's a question. But I would be foolish to think that it was anything less than a command, okay?

13:36

Because you're going to note that there's some assumptions going on here. And the answer to that question is, yes, ma 'am, and don't make any eye contact.

13:44

Keep your head down, mouth shut, okay, and just get the lawnmower running, okay? But you get the idea.

13:49

So note the question, Teacher, what good thing must I do to have eternal life?

13:56

Are we saved by our works? Is there something you can do? Must I travel to Rome and do a pilgrimage to Jerusalem?

14:05

Must I give all of my money to somebody else? What must I do, right? And so Christ answers his question, but he ignores the answer.

14:16

He says, why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. There is only one who is good, and it ain't you.

14:26

It's definitely not me. So if you would enter life, then keep the commandments.

14:32

And Jesus isn't saying that you're saved by your works. He's now going to use the law to show this guy his sin.

14:38

So he said to him, well, which ones? And Jesus says, all right. And what Jesus does next is fascinating. He goes into the second table of the law.

14:45

First table of the law has to do with our relationship with God, right? Second table has to do with our relationship with others.

14:51

And he says, all right, you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness.

14:56

Honor your father and mother, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And the young man said to him, all these

15:01

I've kept, what do I still lack? And each and every one of us hearing his answers, just sit there and go, really?

15:10

Seriously? I mean, are you married? Let me talk to your wife. I mean, we'll get this sorted out pretty quick, right?

15:17

I mean, who talks this way? I'll be blunt, the only people I've ever heard talk this way are those delusional enough to believe that they can somehow achieve sinless perfection in this life.

15:30

And that's a heresy. The church actually condemned it as a heresy when Pelagius leered his ugly head in church history.

15:38

You cannot, nobody has achieved sinless perfection. In fact, what does 1

15:44

John say? If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

15:53

But if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

15:59

There is not a single person on planet Earth alive today who doesn't sin daily and sin much.

16:06

This guy thinks he's pulling off the law. So Jesus, not really playing along, but really pushing the point in a very polite way.

16:16

He says, all right, if you would be perfect, go sell what you possess and give it to the poor and you'll have treasure in heaven. And then come follow me.

16:24

And the text says, when the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. That's a first commandment issue, isn't it?

16:34

And I would note this, a funny thing, self -righteousness and a love of money oftentimes goes hand in hand.

16:40

It's a weird thing. Okay, the whole word of faith movement, it's a completely legalistic system.

16:46

And it's entire focus is on what? Having prosperity, and health, and wealth, and things like this.

16:53

You can tell that you're really blessed from God because you have that private jet. Okay, I have a private jet, it's about this big, and it fits on my desk.

17:03

And I have it in a box somewhere in my, but I have a private jet, too. And I have now four Aston Martins.

17:08

Of course, you have to cremate me and put my ashes in the thimble in order for me to drive those things, but that's a whole other story, right?

17:16

So you'll note that in the self -righteous way of thinking, I know that I'm obedient and I am being blessed by God because I have money,

17:26

I have wealth, I have power, I have influence, I have affluence. And those who are cursed by God, what do they have to do?

17:34

They struggle to put food on the table. They have to eat spam and things like this.

17:40

And they buy their clothes from secondhand stores and things. They're truly cursed from God.

17:47

The two go hand in hand in the way of thinking of people who are self -righteous. But you'll note this, this is no indicator of whether or not you are blessed of God.

17:57

Those who are blessed of God who have their sins forgiven by Christ, because Christ has bled and died for the ungodly.

18:05

So Christ points this out, he runs away sorrowful. And at this point, the disciples are just looking at this going, what's going on?

18:13

So Jesus said to his disciples, truly I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.

18:20

And so Jesus takes some C4, puts it up against the self -righteous beliefs of the

18:26

Pharisees, and just goes, boom, blows the whole thing up. And he then says, and again

18:32

I tell you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. And when the disciples heard this, they were astonished greatly.

18:41

Who then can be saved, is their question. What do you mean, the rich aren't blessed of God?

18:48

Who can be saved? And then Jesus says, with man, this is impossible. Salvation is impossible apart from God, but with God, all things are possible.

18:58

And then Peter legitimately starts to add a few things up, and he asks a very interesting question.

19:04

He says to Jesus, we've left everything and followed you. In fact, we don't even have anything now.

19:11

They don't even have a house to stay in. They are living off the charity of others, traipsing about the Judean wilderness and going to village to village, listening and supporting

19:20

Christ's preaching and teaching. We've left everything to follow you. What then will we have?

19:26

Jesus said to them, truly I say to you, in the new world, note the emphasis, in the new world, when the son of man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones.

19:39

And you who have followed me, you will judge the 12 tribes of Israel, and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, they will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.

19:56

But many who are first will be last, and the last first. And here's, note the emphasis here.

20:04

Everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, who's sacrificed, has paid the price for their confession of Christ, whether they be rich or poor.

20:15

Whether they be male or female, whether they had great health or they were infirmed for most of their life.

20:22

Everyone will receive from Christ a hundredfold. Note that we all will receive that, and we are all equally then given by Christ in mercy, in forgiveness, in grace, and in inheritance in the world to come.

20:38

And I can gladly say that we are all equals. This is how the kingdom of God operates.

20:44

This is why then verse one of chapter 20 begins, for the kingdom of heaven is like a master who went out early in the morning.

20:51

Jesus is punctuating the point. And then we hear the parable. And then we hear the guys grumbling.

20:58

They're grumbling, saying, you've made us equal with them who bore the heat of the day. But listen, master says, friend,

21:06

I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

21:12

And then you'll note that this is important for our thinking, this. Because we can legitimately say as Christians that somebody is saved and has received from Christ as a gift eternal life.

21:24

Whether they are baptized as an infant, and they have been a Christian their entire life, or whether they confess

21:31

Christ on their deathbed. And for the first time in my life,

21:36

I have legitimately heard of a fellow who confessed Christ in the last days of his life.

21:44

And I can tell you this, it showed in his good works as well. And I'm humbled by the thought.

21:51

And I'm really looking forward to the day that that man as my equal will be with me in heaven and in the new earth, and we are all equals.

22:04

And if you sit there and say, it's not fair, you're right, it isn't fair.

22:11

It isn't fair, because God isn't fair in the kingdom. Think of it this way.

22:19

What sin did Christ commit? What wrong did he do that he was crucified?

22:31

Not one. He was the only sinless man in all of human history.

22:38

And yet, God gave him something he didn't deserve. Your sin, my sin.

22:46

As Isaiah said, God has laid on him the iniquity of us all. You want fair?

22:57

Then you want hell. But in Christ's kingdom, it isn't fair. And thank

23:03

God it isn't fair, because it says that Christ died for the ungodly. That's me, and that's you.

23:11

And God laid on him the iniquity of us all. God made him to be sin who knew no sin.

23:17

It's not fair that Christ was hanging on the cross in order to give you something you do not deserve.

23:26

The wages that he won in his sinless, spotless, perfect life, and in his sacrifice, he gives to you because he is generous.

23:40

Who would you be to grumble against such generosity, against such love, against such grace?

23:48

And it is true that we all in Christ, we have work to do.

23:53

And some of us do that work for longer than others. And some of us do more of it than others. So what?

24:00

Work is freedom in the kingdom of God. It isn't slavery. Work is a blessing, not a curse in the kingdom of God.

24:08

Obeying God's laws and his commandment is freedom. Disobeying them is slavery. If you are grumbling, you still have not yet understood how the kingdom operates.

24:20

So let us thank God that he is not fair. Not fair to save sinners like you and I.

24:30

And that he, that Jesus, he bore the scorching heat of God's wrath on the cross so that we can be forgiven.

24:39

It says, Christ says to those grumblers, am I not allowed to do with what I choose with what belongs to me?

24:45

Salvation was won by Christ and it belongs to him. And you know what? He gives it to you freely.

24:51

Out of his great love and compassion, out of his great mercy and kindness, God gives it to you and he can do whatever belongs to him and that's what belongs to him.

25:01

Salvation belongs to our God and he only gives it away for free. So do we begrudge

25:07

God's generosity? May it cultivate, may it never be. Let us not begrudge

25:12

Christ's generosity and let us rejoice in the one who isn't fair, the one who makes sure that the last will be first and the first last because in that, we have true hope of salvation.

25:25

In the name of Jesus, amen. If you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, you can do so by sending a tax -free donation to Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th

25:46

Avenue Northwest, Oslo, Minnesota, 56744. And again, that address is

25:54

Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th

26:00

Avenue Northwest, Oslo, Minnesota, 56744. We thank you for your support.

26:07

All of our teaching messages may be freely distributed as long as you do not edit or change the content of the message.