First Shall Be Last

Greatness. God gives greatness. God grants greatness. He gives us great gifts to steward according to his will. Nietzsche's Ethics says, you go and get all you want with your own great power and determine your path to greatness. Jesus says, come unto me and I will give you rest and treasure beyond your greatest dreams.

We live in a world of confusion of these two values, and we try to mix these two values. Jesus is teaching his disciples the values of his kingdom right before he's about to go into Jerusalem, the last time, in the last week of his life. He's seeking to implement, help them see again, his kingdom is not of this world. It is not like this world. Our text is tied to last week's text. We have that common refrain, the last shall be first and the first shall be last. We look back, Jesus has taught his disciples not to keep the little children from coming to him. And that is, don't keep those that you do not think are worthy of me.

All humans are worthy of coming to him, the Savior. He then taught it's very difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. How difficult? Like squeezing a camel through the eye of a needle, the largest beast they would have had common knowledge of into the smallest opening.

The kingdom is for those who come humbly and not self-sufficient. The kingdom belongs to those who come open-handed and even empty-handed. The kingdom is not for those who insist they will worship their own God in their own way. The kingdom of heaven does not let the kings of this earth The lowly are lifted up, greatness is found in serving and sacrificing.

In short, Jesus' teaching, he came to seek and save sinners. His mission is not to help those who are healthy or self-diagnosed as healthy, he's coming to save sinners. That difficulty of salvation is possible only with God. And then he taught, whatever you give up, On this earth, you'll gain a hundredfold in heaven. He taught again that storing treasures up in heaven is how you should be living now, longing for the kingdom of heaven. And again, the summary statement, the first shall be last, the last shall be first.

The kingdom of heaven is counterintuitive to the consumer lifestyle. It's counterintuitive to our pragmatism. It's counterintuitive to our secular way of thinking ourselves as individuals. It's the upside down kingdom we're serving is greatness. This morning, the first shall be last, the last shall be first is actually going to challenge another specific focus. What is our sense of fairness? He's going to seek to change the way we value fairness. The way we look at justice and mercy. The way we see fairness and generosity. Jesus teaching us to trust the great God, the owner of all that he created, the king of the kingdom, our good master. He is good and he is generous. He is good and he is generous.

The laborers called

I want to look at the parable in four different parts here. The laborers called, the laborers paid, the laborers grumble, and the laborers corrected. First, the laborers called. We see that we're there for, he is continuing the same teaching. He's establishing his same principles and he's going to give this simile. The kingdom of heaven is like a master, an owner of a household who has a vineyard. And he goes out and he calls laborers.

It's important. He goes up early in the morning to call the first laborers at 6 a.m. And this is just common knowledge. This would be a parable of common understanding that a master would go and get day laborers, and they agree to a day's wage, which is the denarius.

He then goes out again and says, I will pay you a fair wage at the third hour. And he does that again at the sixth hour. He does that again at the ninth hour. He even does that at the 11th hour. OK, so he goes out at 6 AM, calls a whole day's work, He goes out at 9 a.m. to work. He goes out at noon, asks for more labors. He goes out at 3 p.m., and then he goes out at 5 p.m. We don't normally think of hours this way, so I'm trying to give you those calculations. He goes out different times and calls for labors. And he does ask, why are you idle?

The owner's good, he's giving people work to do. Work is good. Work is in the good, original creation of God. Now, we have to wrestle with this. It's a 12-hour workday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunrise to sunset. We got to do a little bit of a changing of understanding here.

It's a 12-hour workday that's expected, and a 12-hour workday would have an agreed-upon understanding won denarius, but he calls others to come and work less hours. Well, the story continues, and this is where it starts getting a little more complicated, a little more interesting.

The laborers paid

The laborers paid. Okay, so at the end of the day, the owner of the vineyard, he calls the foreman, go and pay the laborers. And here's where we need to pick up verse eight.

And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to the foreman, call the laborers and pay them their wages.

Beginning with the last, those who only worked one hour and then three hours and so on,

Began with the last up to the first, and then those hired about the 11th hour came, and each of them received a denarius.

Again, the denarius is the understood day labor wage. So we picture this, those who come and only worked one hour, they get paid as if for a whole day. And the next group, they get paid as if they worked the whole day. And the next group, they get paid as if they worked the whole day. What stands out is the first group had an agreed upon wage, the denarius, and each other group, they weren't had, there was no stated agreement, but they kind of got a bonus. They did not work the whole day, but got the whole day wage. What word would come to mind if you're one of those laborers who did not work the whole day for the master? How would you describe the master? I think you'd say he's generous. You got more than you worked for. You got more than you worked for.

Now, I confess, for this next part, I used AI. And I'm not convinced I used it properly, so we'll see how this works out. To try to translate this, our minimum wage is $12.77. Pretend you worked minimum wage for eight hours, that would be about $102. Somebody check my math and you can correct AI, not me. All right, if you worked eight hours shift at minimum wage, you're getting $100. Imagine if you worked one hour and your boss gave you $100. Or you worked the 12 hour day, that's $150 for one hour. For one hour, you're supposed to get $12, but instead, you're getting $150 if you're these guys.

The only way you could possibly describe this owner is he's generous. The only response for those guys who worked one hour, and then three hours, and then six hours, and nine hours, he's generous. And the only proper response is gratitude. Now you might think I worked more than them, and I want to get that same bonus, $100 an hour sounds great, but they got more than they deserved. This owner would have a great approval rating, but not 100%. Most, most, four-fifths of his labor force would have to say, objectively, he's generous.

The laborers grumble

Well, this is where we see the laborers grumble. We don't know how the others responded. All we're worried about now is that first group, the guys who worked the full 12-hour day and who received what they agreed upon. Very important, we go back and we see there was an agreed upon wage in verse two. The laborers grumble. Verse 10, now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more because they seen him be generous. But each of them also received the day's wage, agreed upon, but in areas.

And on receiving it, they grumble at the master of the house.

That's a significant word in scripture we're gonna think about. Grumble.

Saying, these last workers worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.

So they're grumbling at the owner who has agreed upon a wage and given that wage. And the key aspect of that grumbling is you've made us equal when we worked more. You treated us as equal when we worked more. They've been working 12 hours in the burden of the sun.

They're hot, they're sweaty, they're tired, they've seen the generosity, they're hopeful to get that generosity, they're expecting that generosity and instead they get fairness. Each of them also only received that one denarius promise. And we're just trying to put ourselves in that position. It's been a long day. You've seen these guys work less than you. They've gotten that one reward. You're hoping you're going to get more because you work more. We would all think this. which is why Jesus gives the parable. Verse 11, they received what was promised and they grumbled.

They take it personally because they're not thinking my proper first relationship is with the owner, which is what this is about. They're comparing themselves to the other laborers. They're seeing their value not in what the owner has promised and done, They're actually considering themselves more with those who are next to them, and they don't believe they're being treated equally. They take this personally.

At the heart of this, they're saying we're better than them. We work 12 hours. You should pay us better. We did more work, you should pay us more. Justice requires equal payment for the hour. If we did more work, we should get more payment. They're demanding equity. It must be exactly equal. But this owner, he has not done that. He paid some more. And here we hear that cry out, it's not fair. They grumble.

Grumbling in scripture is usually tied to idolatry. Grumbling in scripture is usually tied to idolatry. We see it while God is giving his command for how to worship on Mount Sinai and the people begin to grumble that he's taking too long. After being delivered from slavery, they decide they're gonna grumble because God isn't working in their time frame. And they build an idol and give that God, false God, credit.

Grumbling is telling the superior you could do better. You're not doing your job. A grumbling to God is to say, you could be doing better, God. You could be distributing your blessings and your gifts better. I think I can stand over you, God, and tell you how you should be doing your work. That's what the grumbling is. We have to realize how dangerous grumbling is. Because there's something you can't do while you're grumbling.

You can't be grateful. And the one thing Christians must always be is grateful. Because God sent his son to die for you. The one thing the Christian must always be is grateful. And you cannot practice gratitude if you're grumbling. You cannot practice the constant refrain of, thank you, God, for all that you've given to me.

You've called me into work. You've given me work. You've given me all that I need. You can't be grateful if you're grumbling. We're all honest. We're all prone to it, which is why the Bible constantly calls us to be thankful. They're grumbling. We all have this problem, and this is why we sing songs like Come Thou Fount.

I encourage you to meditate on the first two lines of that song, because they're profound.

Come thou fount of every blessing.

That's God. Come thou source of every blessing.

Tune my heart To sing thy grace.

It's not tune my heart to sing thy glory. Tune my heart to sing thy grace. Give me the grace to thank you for your grace.

That's how twisted we are. Those of us who are old enough to remember that old radio dial, you need tuning. And you can't even tune it yourself. You know, sometimes the radio comes in with some static and you gotta do a little adjustment. Sometimes you're just on the wrong station. Sometimes you're playing the wrong playlist for those who are younger. You've got the wrong songs playing regularly in your own heart.

The song that I deserve better. I've done more. God could do better. The prayer. Tune my heart. effectively pour out your grace that I can sing of your grace. That I can enjoy the fullness of your blessing because the only way to really fully enjoy the blessing is to be grateful for the blessing. Grumbling keeps you from enjoying the blessing. Verse 13, our last section of the Terrible.

I have done you no wrong

The labor is corrected. But he, the master, replied to one of them. So they're grumbling at him, and maybe they're kind of just walking along, and maybe they're saying something directly, but it's an earshot. He hears them. The owner replies to one of them. So we just see this one-on-one confrontation. Friend. Friend, while being grumbled against, he simply says friend.

It's polite. He doesn't say servant. He doesn't say boy. He doesn't say doofus. He says friend. It's a polite, professional way of addressing it. He's not declaring we're now best friends. He's being polite. He's being courteous. He's trying to bring light without heat.

Friend, I've done you no wrong.

The charges you're making against me, they're not true. You're saying it's not fair that I've made you equal, that I made a promise, I've kept that promise. I have done you no wrong. He's addressing the way they feel with the truth in a kind way. He clarifies the basis of this claim with a rhetorical question.

I've done you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

I made a promise, you agreed. I've kept the promise. The master is making clear he's just and he's true. He made a promise, he kept the promise.

The errors in the labor is that they expected him to do more than he agreed to. They're trying to bring a charge to him for not doing something they thought he should do. Verse 14 gives the laborers an instruction.

Take what belongs to you and go.

Now in English, sometimes we have to kind of like add some words to make it make more sense. It's actually just pretty short, take yours and go. He's wanting them to take what he's promised them, what he's paid them and move on. But the second time in 14, he continues to reason with them.

I choose to give this last worker as I give to you.

It is my desire, it's my will, it's my choice to pay whatever worker I have employed what I want to pay him, but I'm not ever paying less than I promised. I paid you what I promised and I can pay them more than I promised you if I want.

Is it not my right? 15 gets even more pointed with a question.

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

Other translations use the word, is it not lawful? Am I not being righteous by doing with what I have according to what I want to do? He's claiming to be sovereign here. Do I not have the authority to do with my goods as I will?

He's insisting he's done what's right and he has the right lawfully to be more generous when he wants to be generous. There's some things we can just pull back from this owner. He's true, he's kept his word. He's good and generous and he's sovereign. He has the right to do with what he wants with what he has. That last question in verse 15,

do you begrudge my generosity?

That's a good translation. A more literal translation is your evil eye, is your eye evil because I am good? You hear that contrast even more.

Is your eye evil because I am good?

Do you begrudge my generosity? He's good. As an employer, he's been generous with all that he has. He's given a fair wage and he's been generous, but yet these folks who have gotten what they deserve are begrudging those who got the same. Their eyes, he says, are evil. They're looking at this selfishly, self-centered.

Jesus is already given a clear principle in Matthew 6.22. Is your eye healthy or is it bad? The way you see things, the way you're perceiving things, is it according to God's will or your insistence? It could be more literal, though.

Maybe they're giving him the stink eye. They're looking at him with evil thoughts. He's really doing here what Jesus just did to the rich men. He's putting a finger on their sin. You're insisting I have to do something that I don't have to do. Jesus, the narrator, then gives the final lesson.

The first shall be last, the last shall be first.

God is good and true and generous

This is the emphasis in the upside down value of the kingdom. God lifts up the lowly. Those who give up everything or humble themselves like a child, they get to enter the kingdom. And those who give up everything, they're great. Those who serve are great. That is the upside down kingdom. The first shall be last, the last shall be first. Those who receive the grace to come into the kingdom all receive the same great reward of the king. That's true.

Whatever you think gives you more merit on earth, more pointedly here, whatever you think gives you more merit on earth, whatever you think gives you a higher position here on earth, it does not transfer over to the heavenly kingdom where he gives all the blessing. Insisting on our long labor and what we say we've done or why we think we're better does not give us a better standing in the kingdom. He who gives all grace is sovereign and free to give all according to what he wants. The master, our creator and savior, gives us all we need according to his own will.

So one of the disciples might think it's really unfair that Jesus would tell that thief on the cross he gets to come into the kingdom that day. Peter, who's going to suffer. Paul, who's gonna be beaten and mocked. They're going to give up everything for the kingdom. They could think that that thief on the cross, who did not suffer for the kingdom, he suffered for his own sins. He never served anyone. He never professed and preached the gospel to anyone. He entered the same kingdom because Jesus Christ promised him he would receive the exact same blessing.

The disciples could think, I deserve more. And there is a greater abundant blessing. He's already told them they're going to have thrones. for those apostles that suffer much. He has promised that if whatever you give, you'll receive a hundredfold, but the whole point is, it's not what you think you've done in this world that will give you blessing, because he don't merit it. God gives generously according to his own will. He's generous. The first thing we really need to think about here is how God is good and true and generous. I mentioned this last week.

I need to say it regularly because we need to hear it regularly. The most significant temptations we will all face on a regular basis is, is God really good and does he really have power? Those are the first two temptations Satan has in the garden. Those are the two most basic temptations we will always face.

Is he really good? And does he really have power to fix what's wrong? Does he really have all this goodness and does he really have the authority to use it? Christian, you must be convinced he is perfectly powerful and always good and uses his authority for our good. You must be convinced he's perfectly powerful, he's always good, and he uses his authority for our good.

Christian, you should regularly be asking for more grace. That sounds selfish, but God's okay. He promises it, James 4, 6.

He gives more grace.

You know what's amazing about the God who gives more grace, he never has less when he gives you more. He's rich. It's abundant. He will never run out of grace. I dare you to try. He never has less even though he gives you more and more and more. Ask him for more grace. He promises to give you more grace. even the grace to help you sing of his grace and ask of his grace and rejoice in that grace.

The most basic starting point for this parable is the master is sovereign, the master is good, and the master is generous. Now that four in verse one of chapter 20 is significant because the last thing he just taught the disciples is Peter's asked, we've given up everything, what will we receive? And he said, you'll get a hundredfold for whatever you've given up. There's an assurance here.

God is going to bless you generously. God is going to bless you generously. Whatever you think you've lost, God is going to give you more. Whatever you have abandoned, whatever you've sacrificed, he will generously give you all that you could imagine and more. God is going to give us all that he promised. So we can pull back and think about this text. Who is God? First, he's true. We can think about that declaration. God is just. Whatever he does is good, true, and right. He will repay according to what is lawful. He is perfectly good. And to be very clear, the last thing we want is to receive God's justice. He will never punish anyone for sin they have not committed. But if we ask for justice, that means God will have to punish us for our sin. He is just, He is true, He is right.

He will do whatever He wills, and what He wills is always good, true, And write, it is his will that some will pay for their own sins and that will be just. He does will that some will pay for their own sins and there will be wrath. Praise be to God that he also wills that his son would pay for the sins of all who believe in him.

That's mercy. And there's no measure of that mercy. There's no shortage of that mercy. It's not a haphazard decision. God is just. He will bring wrath upon sin. He will judge it justly. And the only way he can forgive us is that he sent his own son to die for us. We must constantly look up to him who is true and gives mercy upon mercy. He is the absolute sovereign of his authority to show mercy and pour out mercy. Christian, if you are one of the few folks I'm thinking of right now that are in the midst of a trial, is God really gonna be generous? James 4, 6 is a good verse for you, but I actually want you to meditate on Romans 8, 32.

He did not spare his own son. What good thing will he withhold from you?

That's a greater, lesser argument. He's given you his son. He's given you forgiveness. He's given you his love. He's given you all that you need. Do not doubt he's going to give you the things that you want that are less than that. He has given you the best gift, His own Son. He will not withhold anything good from you. He calls you to good work. He calls you to receive His generosity. He calls you then to be generous. So what does He call us to do?

We come empty handed

I think if we're honest, if we want to put ourselves in the story, We too often think like that first 12-hour worker. We think about all the things we did and how much we deserve. God sees us as that one-hour worker. I'm gonna give you so much more than you deserve. The more we can realize we have received grace upon grace abundantly, the more we will be that grateful worker. The more we'll actually enjoy the work.

The comparison of the 12-hour worker to the one-hour worker, that never works out. If we go back to Genesis again, that's the problem with Cain and Abel. Cain was more worried about his relation with Abel than he was with God. So he ended up murdering his brother because God accepted Abel's offering and not his own.

That comparison game, that looking across and thinking, I wish I was blessed like this person, or God should be giving me those blessings. I've always thought God should give me the ability to sing. He hasn't. There's ways we should think. God should be blessing others or me like others. This is a way of coveting. Grumbling is always associated with idolatry, and it normally has something to do with coveting what God is doing for our neighbor. This is why we look at this whole section and we think, what does it mean the first should be last, the last should be first? God calls us to be humble, like children.

To come unworthy, but to come because he's graciously invited us. We come empty handed, not with something that we're boasting of that we think we've earned it or merited it. We come open handed, ready to receive anything that God has for us and ready to give anything of our own. We come ready to work knowing that the work is good. We come hoping to grow in the grace of God to be grateful.

Thanks and praise be to God. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you for The way you've made promises that are good and generous and costly to you. We thank you that you are rich and abundant in grace. Lord, help us to receive it. We pray for anyone here who does not know Jesus Christ and the grace you give to save. You would tune their heart to believe. We pray that we would all have our hearts tuned to ask you to complete in us the good work you've begun in us, to truly change us in what we love, desire, and value. Lord, transform us from grumblers to worshipers. May we go out grateful. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.