Subtle Idolatry

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

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

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

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.

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.

And he said to them, You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you. So they went. Going out about the sixth hour, and then 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?

And 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.

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.

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.

But he replied to them, Friend, I'm doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what

I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first, and the first last.

This is the gospel of the Lord. In the name of Jesus. What are we to do with this gospel text?

It's a little complicated. It was actually kind of fun doing the sermon prep for this, taking a look at how the church fathers have handled it, how

Luther handled it, how Johann Gerhard and other Lutheran pastors have handled it. And let's just say there's a lot of discussion about the denarius.

But Martin Luther, in his sermon on this text, actually says don't focus too much on that. That's kind of to miss the point.

The real action is in the attitude of those grumblers, those people who are upset at the generosity of God.

And so that being the case, I'm going to see if I can work this properly, I need to set it up this way.

When I was a kid, when I was three years old, I was given a tricycle.

And remember those old ugly metal tricycles? You know what I'm talking about? This is the days before they had that form plastic kind of stuff.

But that can only get me so far. I outgrew my tricycle pretty quick, and then

I upgraded. Now you've got to understand, the year is 1971, 72,

I got a big wheel. If you know what that is, you know what a big wheel is, that's a big deal.

Now my brother, he got a green machine. Now the difference between a big wheel and a green machine, the green machine rather than having handlebars, it had these little things that you would do, and you could really skid out with that thing.

But my brother and I, this is the days before they made kids wear helmets for everything, we would be in my driveway, and we would circle around, and we would do crash -em -up derbies.

And it was glorious. We would come in bruised and bleeding, and it was like, yeah!

There's nothing better than smashing your big wheel into your brother's green machine while he's on it.

It's like, yeah! But then my dad came up with this idea, as I was starting to get a little bit older, got to be five years old, the year is 1973, and my dad decides it's time for your first bicycle.

Bicycle, it was a big deal. So what did he buy me? An avocado green Schwinn with a banana seat.

You know what I'm talking about if you're old enough, okay? And why? I have to ask why.

The people, why did the boomers pick avocado green as a color? I just don't get it, okay?

Anyway. But I didn't care, and they had those really weird kind of stupid girly tassels coming off the handlebars.

You know what I'm talking about here, okay? But I didn't know how to ride a bike. And so my dad thought, all right, let's get you your first bike, and it had training wheels.

And you know what? I preferred my big wheel. I did not like my bicycle at first, and being on a bike on training wheels, you're always kind of going like this and like this.

And so my dad decided, it's time for Chris to learn how to ride a bike.

And I don't know if you've noticed this about men, sometimes we can give like really unhelpful pep talks, okay?

Let me explain. So I am having like total panic about riding my bike. My dad is saying, you're going to learn how to ride a bike today.

And I'm terrified at it. And so my dad says something like this, Chris, you just need to be a man.

You know, stop being afraid and go do the man thing. I have no idea what he's talking about. Okay, dad.

All right. And so his solution, and remember, I'm not wearing a helmet. Okay, his solution was, take the training wheels off, pop me onto the banana seat, and then with a big old heave and a ho, he threw me down the street.

And here's the thing, as soon as the gyroscopic effect of the wheels started to do its thing at that speed, all of a sudden it clicked.

I knew how to ride a bicycle. But here's the thing, my dad didn't tell me how to stop it. So there

I am flying down the street, and I don't know how to stop this. He's all, hit the brakes, hit the brakes.

I didn't know where the brakes were. So what did I do? I crashed into my neighbor's trash can. All right. And boy, was that a mess.

All right. But there was this big aha moment. And I went from having a big wheel and a tricycle to now having the freedom of being on a bike.

I could actually travel places. I could visit friends down at the end of the block. I can visit friends who live two blocks over.

I can, well, take some glass bottles to the local mini mart, trade them in for nickels, and get myself a

Snickers bar. There was freedom here. In fact, from the time I was five until the time

I got my driver's license, my bike became my primary form of transportation if I wanted to do something, and I had freedom.

I remember one time when I was right between seventh and eighth grade, my friend Sam and I, we went on a fishing trip.

Now, we lived in Southern California. I lived in Monrovia. He lived in Duarte. So I rode my bike at five in the morning to his house with my fishing tackle, picked him up, he rode his bike, and we biked all the way out to the

Santa Fe Dam, and we did some fishing. But here's the thing. When you kind of smell the water and stuff like that, you don't want to eat that fish.

But we caught fish, and we released them, and it was big freedom. But here's the thing. We can all relate to this.

We can all relate to that freedom, learning how to ride a bike, having that experience, that aha moment, and then progressing to the point where we have more and more and more what?

Independence. But Christianity is not like this.

It's not like you can hit a part in Christianity and go, you know, I kind of feel like I've got this sin thing worked out.

Thanks, Jesus. It's just like riding a bike. And Jesus is off in the background somewhere while you're out there doing it all on your own, your own steam, your own power, and independence.

And here's the thing. It's really easy to deceive ourselves along these lines, and worse, when you start engaging in that way of thinking, in has rushed into your faith self -righteousness.

And over and again, you can always tell when you're dealing with some kind of latent form or insipid form of self -righteousness, because the thing you care about is the reward.

You don't care about the one who gives it. You don't care anything about Christ.

In fact, one false teacher, it was really interesting, yesterday I was having a conversation with somebody who used to attend a very, very well -known megachurch down in Australia, Phil Pringle, you know, one of these false teachers, heretics.

He legitimately did a sermon telling people that they need to start right now figuring out the blueprints for their mansion in heaven.

And he said that he wanted to have a seven -bedroom mansion that was near a dock and that he would also have a yacht associated with it.

He was encouraging people, you've got to start thinking about what you want to do with your mansion when you get to heaven.

Hearing something like that, I can't help but do this and pray that lightning doesn't strike that fellow, right?

Because this gospel text flies right in the face of that insipid, really kind of under -the -surface self -righteousness, which is really a form of idolatry and this false belief that we are independent from Christ.

And it shows up in strange ways. Think of it this way, this is like a litmus test.

And let me ask you, have you ever had a conversation with somebody about a person that you had heard, had on their deathbed or maybe a few weeks before they died, came to faith in Jesus?

Have you ever heard those stories? And when you tell the story to somebody, they go, you know, let's not be too excited about this.

All right? Because, you know, I know they said that they believed in Jesus. I know that you think that they repented, but we can't really be sure.

And then they'll say something like this. I mean, it's kind of odd to think that somebody can just live and enjoy a life of sin and then on their deathbed believe in Jesus and then enjoy eternal life.

And when somebody talks like this, they don't even recognize what they're doing, but they're revealing a lot about themselves.

Enjoying a life of sin? Do you know anybody having come to faith in Christ, looks at their life prior to Christ and goes, it was the best thing ever.

I was a formal caboodle later, I was on drugs, I was just completely strung out all the time.

You know, it was, my life was awesome. Does anyone talk this way? I don't know anybody who does.

And the reason is this, sin isn't freedom. Sin is slavery.

And when somebody comes to true penitent faith in Christ, even on their deathbed, they recognize that they have sinned against God and they are receiving from Christ salvation by grace through faith apart from works.

And here's the best part. Somebody who's done that, who has a deathbed conversion, there's no way for them to rack up a bunch of brownie points.

It's kind of scandalous if you think about it. In fact, isn't that exactly what happened to that thief on the cross?

I mean, this guy, he's a thief. He's being punished for his thievery. And he, on his deathbed, which is a cross, mere hours before he dies, and he had the luxury of having his legs broken in order that he could die a little bit quicker, right?

He says to Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom. And Jesus sits there and goes, well, you know, you can't expect to get into heaven now.

I mean, you've lived an entire life enjoying sin. I can't expect, you can't expect me to do anything for you here.

What does Jesus say? Today you'll be with me in paradise. And that's kind of the issue here.

So in our gospel text, if you think about what's going on here, the vineyard is the church, and there are people who come to faith in Christ at different times of their life.

Some as children, some as adults, some is in midlife, and some people as the sun is getting ready to set.

And you're going to note here that in Christ, we are all equal. There is no such thing as super salvation, you know what

I'm saying? There's salvation, and we are all receivers of salvation by the graciousness, the kindness, the generosity of Christ.

So here's the parable. The kingdom of heaven is like a master, Jesus says. And note the emphasis, it's like a master.

Who's this about? This is about Jesus, because Jesus is the master. It's like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

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.

And to them he said, and listen to the words, you go in the vineyard too, and whatever's right I'll give you.

Give, give, salvation is a gift. So they went, and 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?

This is the idleness of sin, right? And so he said to them, well, because no one's hired us?

And he said to them, you go into the vineyard too. Now, those guys showing up at the eleventh hour.

Now we have to note that if this parable were told today, they didn't actually work a full hour because union rules make it clear they get a five minute smoke break before they get started.

You know, I just want to make that clear. So they only work for 55 minutes. So all of that being said, all of that being said, those guys who came in at the eleventh hour, are they expecting a full day's wage?

No, they're not. And so what they receive from the master, it truly shows up then as what?

A gift. And so when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to the foreman, you call the laborers and pay them their wages because beginning with the last and up to the first.

The guys who come in at the eleventh hour have only worked 55 minutes. When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius, a full day's wage.

No way. And you can hear the guys all over the back of the line, the guys who came in first, they're going, dude, the master's paying a denarius an hour.

No, he's not. There's no such thing as super salvation. There's salvation. And we're all equal in Christ.

So they received a denarius that the guys worked for 55 minutes and on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house.

Those who are hired at the eleventh hour came, got it. Now when those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them received a denarius.

And on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house saying, these last worked only one hour, you've made them equal to us.

And we've borne the burden of the day in the scorching heat. Let me ask you a question.

Coming back to that statement, that person has lived a life of sin. How many of you have not lived a life of sin?

This week, yesterday, this month, last month, last year. You'll note that I have it on authority.

Good record here. In fact, we can even check the video. Every week here, you guys say these words.

I confess that I am by nature, sinful and unclean. Sin against you in thought, word and deed.

Are we not all equal in Christ? We are.

And when we recognize that, then we have the ability to do what the angels do when any sinner repents, and that's to rejoice.

Rejoice when any sinner is brought to repentance in Christ. But rather than being joyful, slack -jawed, exuberant, glorifying the master, saying, wow, you are so generous, you are so kind.

They're upset because they feel like they've been cheated. We're better than them. What's your point?

And you can see here that this is not talking about the rewards that Christ gives to people.

This is talking about salvation. And if salvation were by works, for real, then you would expect a different amount of pay for each of the different workers.

But in salvation, it's all the same for everybody. So he replied to them, hey buddies,

I'm doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give this last worker as I gave to you.

Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?

Or do you begrudge my generosity? And then we hear these words, the last will be first and the first will be last.

This is always pointing out to that insipid arrogance and conceit that runs within our sinful natures.

This is a warning against that way of thinking, of thinking independently, of somehow thinking, you know what?

I've got myself together here. I've figured it out. I don't really need you, Jesus, anymore.

And thanks, Holy Spirit, for explaining to me how it's done, but I don't need your help anymore.

I'm good. This is a person who then takes the fruit of the Spirit and the obedience that Christ works in us through the

Spirit by giving us the ability to mortify our sinful flesh, bear fruit in keeping with repentance, and then us glorifying ourselves and taking credit for it.

And then even worse, we start working on our mansion in heaven and the floor plan and the interior and all that kind of stuff.

As soon as you do this, Christ is warning you, the first will be last, the last will be first.

In fact, a good way to think about it, yeah, it's true, Christ says I go to prepare a place for you.

I have no idea what my place would look like. But I can tell you one thing for certain, absolutely certain,

I don't deserve a newspaper and a park bench in Jerusalem, in the new city, at all.

What I deserve is an eternity in hell. Same with you and same with me. So for me to somehow start working out my reward and just kind of thinking all about that shows that what have

I done? I'm trusting in myself to save myself. I'm falling back into works righteousness.

It's here then that the words of our epistle text would do well to give us warning and pause.

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul writes, I don't want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and they all passed through the sea, and they were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and they ate the same spiritual food, they all drank from the same spiritual rock, and the same spiritual drink they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was

Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them, God was not pleased. They were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us so that we might not desire evil as they did, and we need to pay close attention to this, because when we think about evil, we think about, okay, sex, drugs, and rock and roll, right?

As long as I just avoid that, I'm good. Yeah, those are on the list for sure.

That's in Galatians 5. But evil, desiring evil, if you really want to talk about the heart of evil,

Satan is the ultimate egotist. He's a narcissist. He's all about me, myself, and I, me, me, me, me, me,

I, I, I, I, I, right? We are most like the devil when we desire that same self -focused conceit and self -glorification.

Beware then. So he says, do not be idolaters.

And it's really scary because our sinful nature wants to be the focus, wants to be in charge, wants to dethrone

Christ. And self -idolatry is a real thing, and everybody who is self -righteous is a self -idolater to the core.

It's, well, they're little Satanists, if you would, and I know it's hard to think that way, but it's true. So don't be idolaters, as some of them were, as it is written.

People sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. We must not indulge in sexual immorality, as some of them did, and 23 ,000 fell in a single day.

We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and they were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.

Now these things happen to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come.

Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed, lest he fall.

You never get to say, I got it figured out, I worked it out. In fact, I'm no longer down here with you mere

Christians, I'm now a glow -in -the -dark Christian. All right? As soon as you start thinking this way, you have fallen hard.

Let anyone who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall.

So brothers and sisters, as we begin our journey towards Easter, you'll note that we had that fancy Latin name for today's

Sunday, Septuagissima, right? But basically, roughly translated, we're 70 days out from Easter.

But you can see that we've already begun to make the turn, to begin to think about our own need for repentance.

So search your heart, and ask yourself, am I self -reliant? Am I in love with the reward, rather than loving the one who bled and died for me, so that he can give me the reward?

Am I high on my own self -righteousness? Have I become independent?

This is always the problem. This is idolatry. So let us again humbly confess our sins to God.

Let us come to him and say, with the Apostle Paul, this is a trustworthy saying, Christ died for sinners, of whom

I am the chief. Chief of sinners, though I be, Jesus shed his blood for me, shed his blood for you.

So let us repent of that really sneaky, satanic, subtle self -righteousness, because that will send us to hell, every bit as much as drunkenness, sexual immorality, and just fornical mutilating like you wouldn't believe.

It's all the same thing. And yeah, we are all equal. We are all equal to Christ, even if we come to Christ while we are getting ready to breathe our last breath.

But sin is not something that we get to enjoy. Sin is something that is horrible, something that we are ashamed of, something that Christ has bled and died for.

I think you get the point. The last will be first, and the first will be last.

In the name of Jesus, Amen. 1 -59 -50, 470th

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