That’s Not Fair, Thank God!
Scripture Reading: Matthew 20:1-16
1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire
laborers for his vineyard. 2 Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he
sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing
idle in the marketplace, 4 and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is
right I will give you.’ So they went. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and
did likewise. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and
said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no
one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will
receive.’
8 “So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the
laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ 9 And when those
came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. 10 But when the
first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a
denarius. 11 And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, 12
saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have
borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ 13 But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I
am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what is yours and
go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do
what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’ 16 So the last will be
first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”
Whenever I hear that phrase ‘the Kingdom of Heaven is like’, my ears perk up. As
believers in Yeshua our Messiah, it should be important to us. The Kingdom is the
prize we should all be striving to achieve. So what it is, what it’s like should be an
important thing. The first thing I get from this parable Jesus gave us is that the
Kingdom of Heaven is not fair. Right? The guys that only worked an hour got he
exact same pay as the guys that got up early and worked hard all day. That’s not
even close to being equitable, is it? But let’s step back and analyze this a bit
deeper. If the Kingdom of Heaven were fair, none of us would make it in.
Remember, any sin separates us from the Father, so we all have our own sin. Plus,
since the sins of the father pass down to the children to the third and fourth
generation, no one is exempt from that separation. That means it should be great
news for us to find out that getting into heaven is not based on some fair scale.
Okay, so that’s the first bit of good news. What’s next?
Well, there’s a very key piece of information in this parable, very early on. The
landowner went out very early in the morning to hire laborers. I don’t know if any of
you have ever had to work as a day laborer but it’s not fun. I’ve never had to but
there have been times when Jeff has had to get up really early, usually earlier than if
he had a permanent job. Ed knows what I’m talking about because he’s been there
too. He had to get dressed, get to the place where he might be able to get work, and
hope he was one of the few that would get chosen. The last line in this scripture is
that many are called but few are chosen. That definitely rings true. Some times the
temp services would call and say we may have a job for you in the morning. Jeff
would go and still not get work. What the service would do if they got called by a
company that needed ten people, would be to call twenty people to make sure they’d
have enough. They knew some people would say they’d come and not come so they
were covering themselves. Not fair, huh?
So, why am I taking the time to share all this with you? Well, these guys had gotten
dressed, they’d gone out early, gathered at whatever place they went to try to get
work, and they’d been chosen. That was a good thing. They weren’t going to have
to go back home to their wives and tell them that there was no money for food. And
if you look at the language in verse 2, they had named the wage for the day. It says
that the landowner had agreed with the laborers for the denarius. It sounds like he
said how much do you want for a days work and they said, a denarius. So, let’s
analyze, shall we? These early birds got exactly what they wanted out of the day;
they got a job, for the money they asked for. So, what was their complaint, really?
The denarius was enough to be paid for the work they had done, what they were
really saying was, don’t bless these other guys.
Whenever I’ve read this passage in the past, I’ve always wondered why the
landowner didn’t just hire all the laborers he’d need in the morning. Would that have
made the job go much more smoothly? The Holy Spirit gave me something different
this time. The others weren’t available early in the morning. Maybe there were some
that woke up late or had some delay on the way to the place in the market where the
laborers wait. They probably thought they were too late. They thought they had
missed out but then the landowner came to give them work too. Then you had some
that had gone to the wrong place. Maybe someone told them they should go to one
place to wait for work and they’d realized it was the wrong place. They just showed
up before noon and were sure that they had missed out for the day but hoped
maybe they could get something by at least coming. At least they would know the
right place to come tomorrow. Then he comes and says, I’ve got work for you. The
last group has likely given up completely. This man has come out four times and
somehow they’ve missed it. Maybe they’d gone to the restroom for one of the times.
Maybe they were looking in the wrong direction we he came, distracted by something
trivial that had seemed important at the time. Low and behold, the landowner comes
and says even you can come and work.
Well, right now, this morning, there are those who are waking up with an
unbelievable hangover from partying all night. Yet they’re destined for the
Kingdom. Some are cutting out another line as they continue a binge that’s been
going on since Friday night, and they are Kingdom bound as well. There are even
some who are engaged in unspeakable acts of perversion but God has a plan for
them too, in the Kingdom. Their time just hasn’t quite come yet. But it will. Matthew
9:37-38, 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are
few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” That’s
who this parable is really about; the LORD of the harvest, who is looking for
laborers.
I know people who have been Christians since they were young children. Who, like
Cameron, accepted Christ as their Savior early in the morning of their lives. H was
just six years old but he got it, he made his profession, believed in his heart , was
saved and was promised his wages; eternal life. Then you have those like Kristen
who came in the third hour of life, she was almost nine and she got it, she came and
got the promise of her wages. Dwayne and Jason and Wesley in the sixth hour, me, I
feel like I came in the ninth hour because I had just about given up on life. And there
are those who will come in their eleventh hour; on their deathbeds even a moment
before they take their last breath. And guess what? We all get the same wages;
eternal life. Praise God! Is it fair? No, but it’s not about fair. It’s about the Kingdom
of Heaven. It’s about the Harvest. It’s not about who worked harder or who feels
they deserve me. Like John the Baptist said, I must decrease and He must increase.
You know, Mom came to faith in Messiah in her fifties, and the LORD has poured out
His Spirit so much on her that all those around her are completely overwhelm by the
overflow. I came to Jesus at thirty-one and God has given me so much revelation it
amazes me. Now, let me just clarify, anything God gives me lines up with the Word of
God. Some might come before you and say that God has given them some new
revelation but if it doesn’t line up with the Word, there’s something wrong with it.
Even Jesus didn’t come with some new revelation. He may have clarified some
things but if you read the Law and the prophets you will see the concepts Jesus
taught. Although, many perceive it as something new, if you do your research you’ll
find that Jeremiah spoke of this new covenant long before that glorious night in
Bethlehem. So, anyway, some might get offended that God has revealed some of
the mysteries to me and they don’t feel He has to them. Maybe they’ve been faithful
since they accepted Christ at age six. Is that fair? Again, I say no but it’s not about
fair, it’s about the Kingdom. Ironically, I remember when I first got saved and started
reading my Bible and praying, my mother told me that I could ask God to give me
revelation everyday so I would come to understand what I was reading. I remember
doing that because I wanted to understand. Jesus told us that if we ask diligently, we
will receive. James says that we do not have because we do not ask. We already
know we’re getting our wages so lets start asking for what we need to get the job
done.
I just recently started a new job so everything is still pretty exciting for me. First of
all, I appreciate that I have the job.. The people around me have had the job for a
while so they’ve started to complain about the job. I enjoy talking to the people that
call in, I know if it weren’t for all the people calling in the company wouldn’t need so
many people and I wouldn’t have a job. Many times they get irritated with the callers,
they’ll call them names after they hang up because they interrupted their day. I had
an imminent danger call on Friday and I was thrilled to do it. Basically, a driver was
driving like he was impaired, crossing the center line into oncoming lanes, drifting
onto the shoulder and the person said they thought they might be drunk. That’s like
a magic word. When we hear certain words we’re supposed to take the report and
call the company immediately so they can take action. That was awesome to me.
What if that driver was going to have a tragic accident in 20 minutes but because we
contacted his boss he was able to get him off the road. I felt like I was performing an
important service. But those around me have become complacent. They dread calls
like that because they have more work to do. As laborer for the LORD in this very
important harvest, we can not become complacent. It can not become just some
routine which I think that those who come into the harvest early like Cameron and
Kristen have to be very aware of. But not just them, anyone can get into a routine of
religion and end up completely off track. This is an awesome job we have been
given. We need to stay excited like when we first got the job. Stay appreciative so
we can not lose the value of how blessed we are to have gotten the job.
We all have a purpose. Jeremiah 29:11-13, 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward
you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then
you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me
and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. God is not a respecter of
persons, which means that He doesn’t have a purpose for one and no purpose for
another. He has a purpose for us all, even the wicked. For all those who come to
Messiah it is clear what our job is. It’s to get out into the field and work it. Let’s not
focus on who got where when. The harvest is plenty so let’s get busy.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: October 15, 2006
Scripture Reading: Matthew 20:1-16
1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire
laborers for his vineyard. 2 Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he
sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing
idle in the marketplace, 4 and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is
right I will give you.’ So they went. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and
did likewise. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and
said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no
one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will
receive.’
8 “So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the
laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ 9 And when those
came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. 10 But when the
first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a
denarius. 11 And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, 12
saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have
borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ 13 But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I
am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what is yours and
go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do
what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’ 16 So the last will be
first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”
Whenever I hear that phrase ‘the Kingdom of Heaven is like’, my ears perk up. As
believers in Yeshua our Messiah, it should be important to us. The Kingdom is the
prize we should all be striving to achieve. So what it is, what it’s like should be an
important thing. The first thing I get from this parable Jesus gave us is that the
Kingdom of Heaven is not fair. Right? The guys that only worked an hour got he
exact same pay as the guys that got up early and worked hard all day. That’s not
even close to being equitable, is it? But let’s step back and analyze this a bit
deeper. If the Kingdom of Heaven were fair, none of us would make it in.
Remember, any sin separates us from the Father, so we all have our own sin. Plus,
since the sins of the father pass down to the children to the third and fourth
generation, no one is exempt from that separation. That means it should be great
news for us to find out that getting into heaven is not based on some fair scale.
Okay, so that’s the first bit of good news. What’s next?
Well, there’s a very key piece of information in this parable, very early on. The
landowner went out very early in the morning to hire laborers. I don’t know if any of
you have ever had to work as a day laborer but it’s not fun. I’ve never had to but
there have been times when Jeff has had to get up really early, usually earlier than if
he had a permanent job. Ed knows what I’m talking about because he’s been there
too. He had to get dressed, get to the place where he might be able to get work, and
hope he was one of the few that would get chosen. The last line in this scripture is
that many are called but few are chosen. That definitely rings true. Some times the
temp services would call and say we may have a job for you in the morning. Jeff
would go and still not get work. What the service would do if they got called by a
company that needed ten people, would be to call twenty people to make sure they’d
have enough. They knew some people would say they’d come and not come so they
were covering themselves. Not fair, huh?
So, why am I taking the time to share all this with you? Well, these guys had gotten
dressed, they’d gone out early, gathered at whatever place they went to try to get
work, and they’d been chosen. That was a good thing. They weren’t going to have
to go back home to their wives and tell them that there was no money for food. And
if you look at the language in verse 2, they had named the wage for the day. It says
that the landowner had agreed with the laborers for the denarius. It sounds like he
said how much do you want for a days work and they said, a denarius. So, let’s
analyze, shall we? These early birds got exactly what they wanted out of the day;
they got a job, for the money they asked for. So, what was their complaint, really?
The denarius was enough to be paid for the work they had done, what they were
really saying was, don’t bless these other guys.
Whenever I’ve read this passage in the past, I’ve always wondered why the
landowner didn’t just hire all the laborers he’d need in the morning. Would that have
made the job go much more smoothly? The Holy Spirit gave me something different
this time. The others weren’t available early in the morning. Maybe there were some
that woke up late or had some delay on the way to the place in the market where the
laborers wait. They probably thought they were too late. They thought they had
missed out but then the landowner came to give them work too. Then you had some
that had gone to the wrong place. Maybe someone told them they should go to one
place to wait for work and they’d realized it was the wrong place. They just showed
up before noon and were sure that they had missed out for the day but hoped
maybe they could get something by at least coming. At least they would know the
right place to come tomorrow. Then he comes and says, I’ve got work for you. The
last group has likely given up completely. This man has come out four times and
somehow they’ve missed it. Maybe they’d gone to the restroom for one of the times.
Maybe they were looking in the wrong direction we he came, distracted by something
trivial that had seemed important at the time. Low and behold, the landowner comes
and says even you can come and work.
Well, right now, this morning, there are those who are waking up with an
unbelievable hangover from partying all night. Yet they’re destined for the
Kingdom. Some are cutting out another line as they continue a binge that’s been
going on since Friday night, and they are Kingdom bound as well. There are even
some who are engaged in unspeakable acts of perversion but God has a plan for
them too, in the Kingdom. Their time just hasn’t quite come yet. But it will. Matthew
9:37-38, 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are
few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” That’s
who this parable is really about; the LORD of the harvest, who is looking for
laborers.
I know people who have been Christians since they were young children. Who, like
Cameron, accepted Christ as their Savior early in the morning of their lives. H was
just six years old but he got it, he made his profession, believed in his heart , was
saved and was promised his wages; eternal life. Then you have those like Kristen
who came in the third hour of life, she was almost nine and she got it, she came and
got the promise of her wages. Dwayne and Jason and Wesley in the sixth hour, me, I
feel like I came in the ninth hour because I had just about given up on life. And there
are those who will come in their eleventh hour; on their deathbeds even a moment
before they take their last breath. And guess what? We all get the same wages;
eternal life. Praise God! Is it fair? No, but it’s not about fair. It’s about the Kingdom
of Heaven. It’s about the Harvest. It’s not about who worked harder or who feels
they deserve me. Like John the Baptist said, I must decrease and He must increase.
You know, Mom came to faith in Messiah in her fifties, and the LORD has poured out
His Spirit so much on her that all those around her are completely overwhelm by the
overflow. I came to Jesus at thirty-one and God has given me so much revelation it
amazes me. Now, let me just clarify, anything God gives me lines up with the Word of
God. Some might come before you and say that God has given them some new
revelation but if it doesn’t line up with the Word, there’s something wrong with it.
Even Jesus didn’t come with some new revelation. He may have clarified some
things but if you read the Law and the prophets you will see the concepts Jesus
taught. Although, many perceive it as something new, if you do your research you’ll
find that Jeremiah spoke of this new covenant long before that glorious night in
Bethlehem. So, anyway, some might get offended that God has revealed some of
the mysteries to me and they don’t feel He has to them. Maybe they’ve been faithful
since they accepted Christ at age six. Is that fair? Again, I say no but it’s not about
fair, it’s about the Kingdom. Ironically, I remember when I first got saved and started
reading my Bible and praying, my mother told me that I could ask God to give me
revelation everyday so I would come to understand what I was reading. I remember
doing that because I wanted to understand. Jesus told us that if we ask diligently, we
will receive. James says that we do not have because we do not ask. We already
know we’re getting our wages so lets start asking for what we need to get the job
done.
I just recently started a new job so everything is still pretty exciting for me. First of
all, I appreciate that I have the job.. The people around me have had the job for a
while so they’ve started to complain about the job. I enjoy talking to the people that
call in, I know if it weren’t for all the people calling in the company wouldn’t need so
many people and I wouldn’t have a job. Many times they get irritated with the callers,
they’ll call them names after they hang up because they interrupted their day. I had
an imminent danger call on Friday and I was thrilled to do it. Basically, a driver was
driving like he was impaired, crossing the center line into oncoming lanes, drifting
onto the shoulder and the person said they thought they might be drunk. That’s like
a magic word. When we hear certain words we’re supposed to take the report and
call the company immediately so they can take action. That was awesome to me.
What if that driver was going to have a tragic accident in 20 minutes but because we
contacted his boss he was able to get him off the road. I felt like I was performing an
important service. But those around me have become complacent. They dread calls
like that because they have more work to do. As laborer for the LORD in this very
important harvest, we can not become complacent. It can not become just some
routine which I think that those who come into the harvest early like Cameron and
Kristen have to be very aware of. But not just them, anyone can get into a routine of
religion and end up completely off track. This is an awesome job we have been
given. We need to stay excited like when we first got the job. Stay appreciative so
we can not lose the value of how blessed we are to have gotten the job.
We all have a purpose. Jeremiah 29:11-13, 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward
you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then
you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me
and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. God is not a respecter of
persons, which means that He doesn’t have a purpose for one and no purpose for
another. He has a purpose for us all, even the wicked. For all those who come to
Messiah it is clear what our job is. It’s to get out into the field and work it. Let’s not
focus on who got where when. The harvest is plenty so let’s get busy.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: October 15, 2006
