Hanningfield Green
Lawshall
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk
IP29 4QD
Matthew 19:25 - 20:16
Proverbs 16:16
I read this recently. “We should all mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long lost in bureaucratic red tape.
Common Sense will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies such as (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies such as (adults, not children are in charge).
Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realise that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, so when she spilled a little in her lap she was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parent’s "Truth" and "Trust"; his wife "Discretion"; his daughter "Responsibility"; and his son "Reason". But now he is survived by three stepbrothers; "I Know my Rights", "Someone Else is to Blame", and "I'm a Victim".
So, how do you determine common sense or logic? And how does our common sense and logic compare with Gods? Perhaps, we can consider this as we sing Teach me Thy way, O Lord, teach me Thy way!
How was school for you, was you a scholar or not. What were you good at and what did you learn. Was History or Geography your favourite subject or even Maths? I can remember what was then my future brother-in-law helping me to get my head around fractions, and I am still wondering what benefit they have given me!!
Seriously though what is your logic when it comes to maths? Are you a logic type of person guided by what you would see as common sense? Would you agree with proverbs such as ‘the early bird catches the worm’, or ‘look after the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves,’ or better still are you ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’ type of person.
How do you equate logic or common sense when you consider what Jesus teaches us, as surely it goes against all our logic and common sense! How does Gods maths work and what is the solution?
For example. Take the Widow with the two mites in Luke 21. There we see the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, which surely by using our logic and common sense we would be grateful for, as it covers the expenses and maintenance of the temple and then there is this poor widow with wording that would describe extreme poverty. She is desperately poor and should be a receiver of charity rather than a donor, yet she offers two mites, the smallest copper coins in use in Palestine at that time which were worth almost nothing. How can her offering be of greater value? Surely, our maths, our common sense and our logic do not understand this.
What about the parable of the Lost Sheep in Matthew 18, where he is telling us to leave the 99 sheep and go after the one sheep which is lost. The “what do you think” at the beginning of verse 12 invites us to reflect on the parable that follows.
Surely, common sense tells you to forget that the bird in the hand is worth two in a bush, as its 99 in the hand is worth much, much more than one which is lost. Let’s face it, its lost, so you will have to go out of your way and spend time to find where it is, let alone save it.
And while you are doing that, what is going to happen to the 99 that you have left, after all they are vulnerable sheep. Wolves, bears or other predators could kill them not to mention thieves stealing them! There again being sheep, they could wander off and get themselves lost, so you could come back with one or even no sheep to discover that you have lost the lot!! How on earth can you accept this, as your mathematical reasoning tells you that there are too many risks and too much to lose rather than gain.
Then in Matthew 20 we read of this Landowner who goes out early, (possibly 6 o’clock in the morning) and agrees to pay these men a denarius which is a very fair wage, for a full day’s labour in his vineyard. He goes out again at 9 o’clock and see’s other men standing idle in the marketplace as no one had hired them. They are so desperate for work they do not even negotiate a wage, so the landowner hires them and tells them whatever is right I will give you.
And again, he goes out at noon and 3 o’clock and does likewise. And finally, he goes out again on the eleventh hour which would be 5 o'clock and finds men who are so desperate to be hired that they have been standing there all day, waiting and hoping for someone to hire them. So, he said to them you also go into the vineyard and whatever is right you will receive.
The first ones hired knew that they had been offered a denarius for a full day’s work, but all the other’s had no idea as a wage had not been mentioned. So, it is interesting that at the end of the day that the owner said to his steward ‘call the labourers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first’. So those hired in the eleventh hour came forward and received a denarius even though they had only worked for an hour. What must they have thought, because common sense and logic tells us that mathematically speaking it must have cost the landowner more in expenses than the labour received?
What do you think were the thoughts of the other workers, what would our thought have been?? If they received one denarius for an hour surely we will get one denarius for every hour we worked. Wouldn’t that be our logic as we work out the sums and apply common sense.
But horror dawns on them as they each receive their one denarius!! How fair is that. Surely, they had every right to complain didn’t they, as they had worked longer, had borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day but ended up being made equal with each other. How would you feel? What would the unions say?
Notice that the landowner did not give the later workers more than the earlier workers, although he could have if he wanted to. And the landowner did not give the earlier workers less than he promised them. Everyone got the same. The landowner was perfectly fair with the earlier workers and incredibly generous with the workers who came in later. But instead of rejoicing with the later workers in their good fortune, the earlier workers are envious and feel that they somehow deserve more.
But take note of how the landowner responds to them. First, he reminds them that he is not being unfair to them as they had agreed to work for a denarius, and indeed he paid them the full amount.
Then he says, “I wish to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you.” It was not as though the landowner needed more workers at that point. Far from it. He saw that these workers were desperate and needed work. They had waited around all day in the hope for any opportunity to work, otherwise they were once again going to go back to their families empty-handed. The fact is that the landowner looked at these poor workers and had mercy on them and invited them to work in his vineyard for that final hour.
In the same way God looks at us and has mercy on us. God knows your needs. He knows your limitations. God knows your situation and all that you are going though. And God cares for you.
And here is the truly beautiful part of God’s mercy, Psalm 103:10 says: “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” God in his justice does not punish anyone more than they deserve. But God in his mercy treats us less than our sins deserve.
God is both merciful and just because the penalty for our sins does not go unpaid. Perfect justice and wonderful mercy meet together at Calvary’s cross where Jesus paid the penalty for our sins which we cannot pay.
God is not unfair to you when he is generous to someone else.
What a beautiful description of God’s character: “He wants to give.” That’s who God is. The landowner was incredibly gracious. He wanted all the workers to be able to bring back a day’s wage to their families, whether they had worked a full day or not.
And then he asks the first workers two questions. “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?” Of course, he has the right to do what he wants as after all it’s his money. And what he wants is to be generous. The only problem here is that the first workers are envious.
In the original language the expression is especially vivid. The landowner asks, “Or is your eye evil because I am generous?” Do you ever look badly at someone because God is generous to them? Do you ever think or say something like, “Lord, why is that person doing so well? They don’t deserve your blessing!” AS IF YOU DO!!
We read in Matthew 5:45: “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” The sun and the rain both represent good things here. You might think God only does good things for those who deserve it, but God does good things for both the righteous and the unrighteous, for both the evil and the good. Why? Because he is a God of grace and is incredibly gracious.
The first workers complained to the landowner, “You made them equal to us!” That’s right. We are all equal in God’s kingdom – equally sinners, equally loved, equally redeemed. So, that’s the first thing we learn about God’s grace from this part of the parable. God is not unfair to you when he is generous to someone else.
And then the second thing is this. God rewards us far more than we deserve. Remember what we said about God’s justice? God never rewards anyone less than they deserve. But God’s grace takes it even a step further. God doesn’t reward us less than we deserve. Instead, God rewards us more than we deserve.
Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 19:29: “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”
Aren’t you glad that God is more than just? Aren’t you glad that God is generous? He doesn’t limit himself. He pours out his grace and his gifts upon us every day, even the air that we breathe, regardless of whether we seek Him or not. He is the God who says, “I want to give.” Our God is such a generous and gracious God.
And then the final thing I want to share with you about grace is this: God graciously saves those who put their faith in Jesus. We read in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.”
People continue to believe the lie that if you live a good life and do enough good things you will go to heaven when you die. But the Bible tells us salvation is not by works but by faith in Jesus Christ.
In the parable the earlier workers boasted in their works. They said, “We bore the burden of the work and the heat of the day!” But that’s the problem. Those who trust in their works receive God’s justice, but they forfeit God’s mercy and grace. If you want justice, you will get justice, but if you want mercy and grace, then you need to put your faith in Jesus.
On the one hand we as Christians will all receive differing rewards depending on what we have done for Christ. But on the other hand, we all get the same reward in that we all inherit eternal life with God forever. Because once you have eternal life, what do all the other rewards really matter? I for one will eternally be grateful for just being there!
And so, Jesus ends the parable the same way he began it: “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” God’s kingdom works differently than what we are used to here on earth. Those who trust in their works will be disappointed. Those who trust in Jesus will be saved. How do the last become first? By grace. By God’s grace. By God’s grace alone.
So, what is the conclusion? This whole sermon has been based around three parables, two describing God’s love through His mercy, justice and grace and one that could be defined as the Pharisee’s and Scribes loveless acts which depicted how merciless, injustice and graceless they and their systems were and are still in existence today.
In the first parable we mentioned the widow and her two mites, which were in themselves quite worthless but to her they were everything that she had. And reading it on its own, it shows someone who is faithfully devotional as she offers her gift, but when you read it between the context of the passages before and after, one has to ask questions as to what is the meaning of this parable.
In fact, the last words of Chapter 20 are clearly words of judgement, "Beware of the scribes," warning the people about how dangerous they are. This is the Wednesday of the final week of our Lord's life.
On Monday He entered the city. On Tuesday He cleansed the Temple. All day Wednesday He has been teaching the multitudes in the Temple area and has been confronted by the false religious leaders of Judaism who have tried to trap Him in His words so that they might have some cause to have Him executed.
He has silenced them every time with His answers, so they're going to have to lie and fabricate a reason for the Romans to execute Him on Friday. They have finished with their questions. At this point after a long day of teaching, Jesus has no more to say to the crowds in general or the false religious leaders. He has denounced them and given them all His last invitation.
The parable therefore comes between the condemnation of the false leaders and the pronunciation of judgement that will last and has lasted for over two thousand years. It portrays a picture about a widow dropping two copper pennies into an offering receptacle in the Temple. The question is: What does this have to do with anything? How does this fit? Why does Jesus inject this moment of reflection on a widow giving an offering in the Temple into this section between a denunciation against false leaders and all the people that follow them and a pronunciation of judgement on the Temple, on the city, and on the nation? Universally, commentators tell us that our Lord is giving us a little glimpse of true worship in the middle of the false worship that dominates the Temple. But interestingly enough they can't agree what the lesson is.
Her outward action is all that you see. It is no more or less good, bad, indifferent, humble, proud, selfish, unselfish than anybody else's act. There is no judgment made on her act as to its true character. There is nothing said about her attitude or her spirit. Her actions could be out of devotion, out of love, out of guilt, or even out of fear. We simply don't know because Jesus doesn't say anything, and He doesn't say anything about the rich either. He doesn’t draw any conclusions, doesn't develop any principles, doesn't command anything, doesn't define anything. Why? Surely it’s because none of that really matters.
What He saw was a corrupt system taking the last two pennies out of a widow's pocket, who in desperation was hoping that maybe in that legalistic system her two coins would buy some blessing, as she is trying to be dutiful. We could conclude that this woman was part of a system that took the last two mites out of her hand on the pretence that this was necessary to please God, to purchase her salvation and to bring her blessing. She was being fearfully manipulated as we even see today, by a religious system that was corrupt and wealthy as the next verses tells us that the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and donations. They didn’t need her two mites! What she really needed was their merciful, gracious, caring and loving hand!!
On the other hand, in the second parable of the Lost Sheep, we see Gods love in action. As God explains His common sense and logic and points us to His mathematical solution. The “what do you think” at the beginning of verse 12 invites us to reflect on the parable that follows. Are our thoughts anyway near to God’s as this parable depicts the length and depth that He is prepared to go to in order to save each one of us who is lost. And the verse before this parable in Matthew 18: 11 states, “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.”
Jesus says in John 10:11: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” As the Son of God, Jesus is the Good Shepherd who not only looks for the lost sheep but lays down his life for the sheep. That’s the first way God is the good shepherd of the sheep He seeks you even when you wander. Jesus says if he finds it, he is happier about finding the one sheep that wandered than the ninety-nine who did not wander. Notice the word “if” there in verse thirteen – “if he finds it.” In the parable there is no guarantee that the lost sheep will ever be found or that he will be found in time. Fortunately, when we get to verse fourteen we will see that unlike the shepherd in the parable, God never fails to find His missing children and bring them home.
In Luke 15: 5-6, Jesus really emphasises the joy: “When he finds the lost sheep, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.” In the same way we are told that there is great rejoicing in heaven when the wanderer repents and is carried home.
Jesus says in John 6: 39-40 “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
God is perfectly just. He is wonderfully merciful, and He is incredibly gracious.
Some of us have sinned a little. Some of us have sinned a lot, but all of us have sinned. Some of us come to Jesus early in life. Some of us come to Jesus much later in life. But everyone who puts their faith in Jesus receives eternal life.
You are never too old to come to Christ. You are never too sinful to come to Christ. Come to Christ now, even in the eleventh hour, and he will gladly welcome you into his kingdom, just as He welcomed the thief on the cross to enjoy the full blessings of heaven alongside of all of His faithful servants.
Our God is a good and gracious and generous God who sent His Son to be that perfect sacrifice to take away our sins.. Furthermore, Jesus tells us “for apart from me you can do nothing”. So that’s it we finally come to the mathematical solution that we have been looking for because God’s maths go like this: Jesus + Nothing = Everything!
