WEBVTT 00:00:11.479 --> 00:00:20.640 You ever been paid for something you really didn't 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:23.559 do? I'm not talking about a little oops on your 00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:25.820 paycheck, an extra hour of overtime the boss 00:00:25.820 --> 00:00:29.960 didn't catch. I mean, in full, paid in full. 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:33.820 For work you barely touched. If that's ever happened 00:00:33.820 --> 00:00:36.200 to you, you know that strange mix of relief and 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:38.380 guilt that settles in. One voice says, thank 00:00:38.380 --> 00:00:41.840 God. The other side says, don't look too happy. 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:46.659 Someone's going to notice. Now, flip that feeling 00:00:46.659 --> 00:00:50.659 around. Imagine working from the crack of dawn. 00:00:51.460 --> 00:00:56.179 Hands blistered. Shirt stuck to your back. And 00:00:56.179 --> 00:00:58.780 then finding out the new guy, the one who clocked 00:00:58.780 --> 00:01:03.299 in at 4 .55, is getting the exact same wage. 00:01:04.920 --> 00:01:08.120 It's not just a knot in your stomach. That's 00:01:08.120 --> 00:01:11.700 a heat that crawls up your neck. That's where 00:01:11.700 --> 00:01:14.280 Jesus takes us tonight in Matthew chapter 20. 00:01:14.340 --> 00:01:17.480 A master of the house keeps going back to the 00:01:17.480 --> 00:01:22.840 hiring square all day long. Early, late, last 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:26.859 minute, and every time. He calls more folks into 00:01:26.859 --> 00:01:31.799 the vineyard. And at sundown, he pays them all 00:01:31.799 --> 00:01:37.219 the same wage. Now, depending on where you're 00:01:37.219 --> 00:01:40.659 standing in that line, it's either the best news 00:01:40.659 --> 00:01:44.280 you've ever heard or the kind of thing that makes 00:01:44.280 --> 00:01:46.200 you want to throw your coin back at the foreman 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:49.920 and walk off. But here's the twist. We're not 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:52.180 going to just talk about wages and money tonight. 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:55.060 We're going to walk into the vineyard. Feel the 00:01:55.060 --> 00:01:57.500 heat, watch the master's eyes, and wrestle with 00:01:57.500 --> 00:02:00.040 the truth that's been humming underneath the 00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:03.900 whole day. God's grace does not require your 00:02:03.900 --> 00:02:09.319 consent. Not to start, not to keep going, not 00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:14.500 to finish. So, lace up or kick off your sandals. 00:02:15.219 --> 00:02:17.960 Let's step into the square and see what happens 00:02:17.960 --> 00:02:20.960 when the kingdom starts handing out coins in 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:24.090 a currency our ledgers. can't seem to balance. 00:02:24.969 --> 00:02:29.370 I'll see you on the other side. And tonight we're 00:02:29.370 --> 00:02:32.590 going to begin a journey in where we look at 00:02:32.590 --> 00:02:37.330 the parables. And a parable is a type of storytelling 00:02:37.330 --> 00:02:43.069 that teaches a moral lesson. All parables are 00:02:43.069 --> 00:02:48.949 stories, but not all stories are parables. Stories 00:02:48.949 --> 00:02:52.280 clearly point to a moral lesson. to the moral 00:02:52.280 --> 00:02:54.900 of the story. That's the point of the story. 00:02:55.080 --> 00:02:59.740 Parables are more complex. The hero or the moral 00:02:59.740 --> 00:03:04.259 of the parable is not always, not necessarily 00:03:04.259 --> 00:03:09.780 evident. Sometimes the one we think is the villain 00:03:09.780 --> 00:03:14.039 in the parable is actually the hero. And one 00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:16.400 other thing I'd like to point out as we begin 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:20.000 this journey in the look of parables. is parables 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:26.879 only have one meaning. There might be other things 00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:31.020 that we can glean from parables that are God's 00:03:31.020 --> 00:03:35.599 truth, but when Jesus, Jesus, the guy we like 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:38.879 from the Bible, when he tells stories, he doesn't 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:43.439 tell stories, he tells parables. Because he doesn't 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:47.300 want you to just digest the information in your 00:03:47.300 --> 00:03:50.150 head. He wants you to feel the truth of the story 00:03:50.150 --> 00:03:54.189 in your heart. And Jesus also knows us well enough 00:03:54.189 --> 00:03:57.449 that if he throws six or eight or ten things 00:03:57.449 --> 00:04:01.090 at us in a story, we won't remember any. So Jesus 00:04:01.090 --> 00:04:03.770 makes a point. And in the parables, there's only 00:04:03.770 --> 00:04:08.729 one meaning to the parable. One of the ones I 00:04:08.729 --> 00:04:11.990 love to illustrate is the one most people know. 00:04:12.629 --> 00:04:16.370 The guy with the... bags the coins, and he gives 00:04:16.370 --> 00:04:18.930 one slave a bunch, and then he gives another 00:04:18.930 --> 00:04:23.029 half of that, and then one, the one. And the 00:04:23.029 --> 00:04:26.990 guy that returns double, the slave, gets rewarded. 00:04:27.750 --> 00:04:30.790 And we have been taught that that means that 00:04:30.790 --> 00:04:35.490 the meaning of the parable is that if we don't 00:04:35.490 --> 00:04:39.410 use the things God has given us, then we can 00:04:39.410 --> 00:04:42.930 be punished. We won't actually be worthy of our 00:04:42.930 --> 00:04:46.370 blessing. Okay, now all of that flies in the 00:04:46.370 --> 00:04:50.269 face of the nature of God. We're not talking 00:04:50.269 --> 00:04:52.029 about that parable tonight. That's for another 00:04:52.029 --> 00:04:55.589 night, right? The guy who gets thrown out, the 00:04:55.589 --> 00:04:58.629 one who buried the coins, is actually the hero 00:04:58.629 --> 00:05:02.209 in that story. So you have to have ears to hear 00:05:02.209 --> 00:05:05.129 to actually get it. And we'll take them slow. 00:05:05.629 --> 00:05:08.389 Also, welcome to, I'm calling it Bible Story 00:05:08.389 --> 00:05:11.879 now on Wednesday nights. Instead of Bible study, 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:14.339 and I think it's because the more I've been trying 00:05:14.339 --> 00:05:17.220 to tell stories, the more I've realized, I think 00:05:17.220 --> 00:05:19.120 I'm actually a better storyteller than I am a 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:23.660 preacher. So I think I'll just lean into the 00:05:23.660 --> 00:05:26.139 storytelling for a while and give me your feedback, 00:05:26.220 --> 00:05:29.319 but don't hurt my feelings. So like, if you think 00:05:29.319 --> 00:05:31.319 I'm not a very good storyteller, you could just 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:33.139 say, hey, pastor, I think you're a better preacher 00:05:33.139 --> 00:05:36.800 than storyteller. Or the other way around. If 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:38.519 you like the storytelling, say, hey, man, I dig 00:05:38.519 --> 00:05:40.879 the storytelling. Because that tells me I could 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:42.839 go back to the boring preaching stuff if you 00:05:42.839 --> 00:05:46.000 guys want. I think this is a lot more fun. So 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:48.279 I don't want to assume you know the story. We're 00:05:48.279 --> 00:05:51.620 going to always begin these stories with the 00:05:51.620 --> 00:05:53.480 scripture, the whole thing that we're going to 00:05:53.480 --> 00:05:56.839 be talking about, okay? So tune your ears to 00:05:56.839 --> 00:05:59.939 the reading of the word. Matthew chapter 20. 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:03.120 We're looking at verses 1 through 16 this evening. 00:06:04.060 --> 00:06:07.959 This is Jesus speaking. For the kingdom of heaven. 00:06:08.519 --> 00:06:11.060 is like a master of a house who went out early 00:06:11.060 --> 00:06:13.639 in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 00:06:14.300 --> 00:06:16.959 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:20.920 a day, he sent them into the vineyard. And going 00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:24.040 about the third hour, he saw others standing 00:06:24.040 --> 00:06:27.500 idle in the marketplace. To them he said, You 00:06:27.500 --> 00:06:29.959 go into the vineyard too, and whatever's right 00:06:29.959 --> 00:06:34.740 I will give you. So they went. Going out again 00:06:34.740 --> 00:06:37.939 about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did 00:06:37.939 --> 00:06:42.300 the same. And about the eleventh hour, he went 00:06:42.300 --> 00:06:46.100 out and found others standing. He said, Why do 00:06:46.100 --> 00:06:48.879 you stand idle here all day? They said to him, 00:06:48.899 --> 00:06:52.199 Because no one has hired us. He said to them, 00:06:52.220 --> 00:06:55.379 You go into the vineyard too. When the evening 00:06:55.379 --> 00:06:57.720 came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:00.019 Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning 00:07:00.019 --> 00:07:03.529 with the last up to the first. And when those 00:07:03.529 --> 00:07:05.930 were hired, about the eleventh hour came, each 00:07:05.930 --> 00:07:10.329 one of them received a denarius. Now, when those 00:07:10.329 --> 00:07:12.990 hired first came, they thought they would receive 00:07:12.990 --> 00:07:17.850 much more, but each of them also received a denarius. 00:07:18.850 --> 00:07:22.790 And on receiving it, they grumbled at the master 00:07:22.790 --> 00:07:25.790 of the house, saying, These last worked only 00:07:25.790 --> 00:07:28.730 one hour, and you made them equal to us, who 00:07:28.730 --> 00:07:31.420 have borne the burden of the day. And the scorching 00:07:31.420 --> 00:07:35.959 heat, he replied to one of the friend, I'm doing 00:07:35.959 --> 00:07:40.819 you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a 00:07:40.819 --> 00:07:46.500 denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I 00:07:46.500 --> 00:07:50.139 choose to give to the last worker as I give to 00:07:50.139 --> 00:07:54.759 you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with 00:07:54.759 --> 00:07:59.040 what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? 00:08:00.469 --> 00:08:04.050 Jesus ends with this truth. So the last will 00:08:04.050 --> 00:08:09.350 be first, and the first will be last. They say 00:08:09.350 --> 00:08:12.610 it's the darkest before the dawn, right? So it's 00:08:12.610 --> 00:08:16.949 the blackest part of night. Somewhere past the 00:08:16.949 --> 00:08:19.629 rooftops, a rooster tests his throat like a trumpet 00:08:19.629 --> 00:08:23.329 warming up. Men are already gathering in the 00:08:23.329 --> 00:08:26.990 hiring square. They don't shout. They stand in 00:08:26.990 --> 00:08:29.720 knots as if... Heat might grow from being close, 00:08:29.939 --> 00:08:33.379 hands tucked inside sleeves, shoulders rounded 00:08:33.379 --> 00:08:35.799 against the chill that is both weather and worry. 00:08:36.440 --> 00:08:39.799 The hiring square is not new to them. Their feet 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:42.580 know the ruts, the places where the cobbles are 00:08:42.580 --> 00:08:45.340 loose, the groove where a cartwheel catches, 00:08:45.500 --> 00:08:47.679 the corner where you might catch a blink of first 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:50.240 light before it peeks over the eastern wall. 00:08:51.240 --> 00:08:53.740 They don't say it out loud, but it lives under 00:08:53.740 --> 00:08:57.240 every breath. If you're still standing here, 00:08:57.669 --> 00:09:01.669 After the first hour of sun, this day will pass 00:09:01.669 --> 00:09:06.370 you by. You watch all of this because last night 00:09:06.370 --> 00:09:09.649 you slept poorly and woke early. The dark felt 00:09:09.649 --> 00:09:13.590 heavy. You drifted towards the square, the way 00:09:13.590 --> 00:09:16.909 folks drift towards a porch light, half hoping, 00:09:16.990 --> 00:09:20.950 half afraid. There you are now, back against 00:09:20.950 --> 00:09:24.009 the cool stone, watching hope run its fingers 00:09:24.009 --> 00:09:26.779 through the crowd, touching one face. and not 00:09:26.779 --> 00:09:31.720 the next. And he comes like he always does, the 00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:35.559 master of the house. Not hurried, not slow, he 00:09:35.559 --> 00:09:38.019 walks in the way of a man who knows the shape 00:09:38.019 --> 00:09:41.460 of his day before it starts. The leather of his 00:09:41.460 --> 00:09:44.200 sandals is new enough to squeak when it bends. 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:47.440 His eyes work like hands, weighing shoulders, 00:09:47.659 --> 00:09:51.100 measuring grip, reading the story written in 00:09:51.100 --> 00:09:53.019 the knuckles and the posture and the set of the 00:09:53.019 --> 00:09:56.320 jaw. of those that have learned to keep quiet. 00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:00.980 He names his price clean, no bargaining, no sermon, 00:10:01.100 --> 00:10:05.500 a denarius for the day. It's just, which is just 00:10:05.500 --> 00:10:08.059 another way of saying it won't buy luxury, but 00:10:08.059 --> 00:10:12.220 it'll keep a table honest. Bread, oil, a little 00:10:12.220 --> 00:10:16.419 wine if the day has any mercy. No one argues 00:10:16.419 --> 00:10:19.059 because argue is what men do when they have options. 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:25.590 And he points and says, you, you. And when his 00:10:25.590 --> 00:10:29.429 fingers land on a man, that man's breath loosens 00:10:29.429 --> 00:10:34.690 a notch. Sandals whisper on the dust. Chosen 00:10:34.690 --> 00:10:37.070 fall in behind him, their silhouettes cutting 00:10:37.070 --> 00:10:39.590 across the square like mercy drawn in thin black 00:10:39.590 --> 00:10:43.429 lines. You follow in your mind as they pass through 00:10:43.429 --> 00:10:46.409 the vineyard gate. The morning there is still. 00:10:46.950 --> 00:10:49.409 A hush right before the day makes its demands 00:10:49.409 --> 00:10:53.279 upon you. Vines stretch out in careful rows, 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:58.639 each planted, trellised to a stake that leans 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:02.419 like a man who has learned to pray. New growth 00:11:02.419 --> 00:11:05.200 makes a green smell that rises up like a song. 00:11:05.720 --> 00:11:09.320 The earth gives when you step on it, dew beads 00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:12.240 on the edge of leaves and slowly lets go, dripping 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:15.059 down to the ground, drop by drop, hitting the 00:11:15.059 --> 00:11:18.779 dirt. First hired begin as first hired do, with 00:11:18.779 --> 00:11:22.000 quiet confidence. The master's word was good, 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:24.399 the contract clear, and that clarity puts a certain 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:27.299 strength in their hands. They don't hurry, but 00:11:27.299 --> 00:11:30.299 they don't stop. Their work is a long string 00:11:30.299 --> 00:11:34.080 of small obediences, a twig clipped here, a line 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:38.299 tightened there, a steady carry of pruned vine 00:11:38.299 --> 00:11:41.919 is tossed onto piles that we later burn down 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:45.259 to their ashes. The sun is still gentle in the 00:11:45.259 --> 00:11:48.500 morning when the first hem of sweat appears on 00:11:48.500 --> 00:11:53.000 your neck. Back in the square, the light along 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:55.659 the eastern wall is turning from blue to gray, 00:11:55.820 --> 00:11:58.740 that pale yellow that means decisions are being 00:11:58.740 --> 00:12:03.340 made in rooms you cannot see. The men who remain 00:12:03.340 --> 00:12:09.039 there are now thinning out. And shame starts 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:13.220 to hiss under their ribs. Not yet. Maybe today. 00:12:14.539 --> 00:12:20.230 Maybe never again. But no man says a word. And 00:12:20.230 --> 00:12:26.610 then, mercifully, he returns. The master of the 00:12:26.610 --> 00:12:29.250 house steps back into the square. The third hour, 00:12:29.370 --> 00:12:32.450 with the sun now riding high enough to gild the 00:12:32.450 --> 00:12:35.649 stones, the men straighten. He doesn't lecture. 00:12:35.830 --> 00:12:39.789 He doesn't ask for excuses. He just says what 00:12:39.789 --> 00:12:42.850 he has said before. You go into the vineyard, 00:12:42.870 --> 00:12:45.330 too, and whatever is right, I will give you. 00:12:45.990 --> 00:12:50.110 Right. That word sits on the tongue like bread 00:12:50.110 --> 00:12:55.570 and like a riddle. Right according to whom? Right 00:12:55.570 --> 00:13:02.009 as in enough? Or right as in righteous? Does 00:13:02.009 --> 00:13:04.669 a man who could pass you by without a word know 00:13:04.669 --> 00:13:07.509 what right tastes like when your children you 00:13:07.509 --> 00:13:10.490 know are waiting at your door, counting the sound 00:13:10.490 --> 00:13:15.509 of your steps? That word, by the way, is diakion. 00:13:16.059 --> 00:13:19.220 Diakion, in the Greek word, diakion means right. 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:22.720 It means the right thing to do. It's just. But 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:25.500 diakion actually has a religious connotation 00:13:25.500 --> 00:13:28.120 to its meaning. And the implication actually 00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:30.639 with the word diakion here is it doesn't just 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:34.919 mean the word fair, but the word implies according 00:13:34.919 --> 00:13:39.659 to God's justice. So not just fair, but according 00:13:39.659 --> 00:13:44.980 to God's justice. Okay? Still, men go. Because 00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:47.139 nothing is sure in the square and everything 00:13:47.139 --> 00:13:51.379 is possible in the field. In the vineyard, though, 00:13:51.980 --> 00:13:54.799 the first hired look up and catch the sight of 00:13:54.799 --> 00:13:57.399 new hands moving down the rows. There's a particular 00:13:57.399 --> 00:14:01.220 way a late comer walks. Shoulders still rested, 00:14:01.419 --> 00:14:05.440 hands still clean. A little eagerness that hadn't 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:09.500 been knocked out yet by noon. No one says anything, 00:14:09.620 --> 00:14:12.580 but the older hands feel a small tug. Where were 00:14:12.580 --> 00:14:17.299 they? when the morning was so heavy. The tug 00:14:17.299 --> 00:14:20.480 is not yet a resentment. It's just a question 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:25.620 of a very sharp edge. By the sixth hour, the 00:14:25.620 --> 00:14:30.299 light now has weight to it. Heat stands up in 00:14:30.299 --> 00:14:34.259 waves you can see. Shimmer over the dust, a veil 00:14:34.259 --> 00:14:37.620 over vision. Tunics begin to cling with sweat. 00:14:38.220 --> 00:14:41.320 Dust makes a paste out of sweat and skin and 00:14:41.320 --> 00:14:46.820 grip. Lips taste like salt and soil. In the low 00:14:46.820 --> 00:14:49.059 places of the vineyard where the breeze forgets 00:14:49.059 --> 00:14:51.580 to go, men work with their heads down, choosing 00:14:51.580 --> 00:14:54.559 obedience over complaint because that is the 00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:57.399 only choice that will pay the end of this day. 00:14:58.600 --> 00:15:03.860 Then a sound. More footsteps. Not hurried, not 00:15:03.860 --> 00:15:07.419 slow, but fresh. Another small group threads 00:15:07.419 --> 00:15:10.419 into the rows. They're flushed, but not from 00:15:10.419 --> 00:15:14.169 the labor. There's a clumsiness to them, the 00:15:14.169 --> 00:15:16.350 way they put their hands to the vine, the way 00:15:16.350 --> 00:15:18.470 the knife looks like it doesn't quite belong 00:15:18.470 --> 00:15:22.049 yet where it's asked to go. And you could begin 00:15:22.049 --> 00:15:26.210 to feel the quiet shift in the air around the 00:15:26.210 --> 00:15:29.809 first hired. If tension had a smell, it might 00:15:29.809 --> 00:15:32.769 smell like hot iron with a touch of vinegar. 00:15:34.289 --> 00:15:38.289 By the ninth hour, three in the afternoon, if 00:15:38.289 --> 00:15:41.019 you're keeping time that way. The light changes 00:15:41.019 --> 00:15:43.960 from the harsh glare of power to the long shadow 00:15:43.960 --> 00:15:49.639 mercy of almost over. And again, more walking 00:15:49.639 --> 00:15:53.720 in. Another little procession of the unexpected. 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:59.080 You could taste the word enough sitting crooked 00:15:59.080 --> 00:16:02.899 in the mouths of the first hired. Doesn't get 00:16:02.899 --> 00:16:08.039 spoken, but it hangs in the air there. Isn't 00:16:08.039 --> 00:16:12.110 there a line? Isn't there a point where right 00:16:12.110 --> 00:16:15.409 is no longer right if it keeps getting stretched? 00:16:16.889 --> 00:16:21.429 There are glances now. Not hostile exactly, but 00:16:21.429 --> 00:16:25.909 tallying, counting, assigning. As if eyes could 00:16:25.909 --> 00:16:27.929 make columns of men and numbers of hours and 00:16:27.929 --> 00:16:31.970 solve them with arithmetic. The 11th hour now. 00:16:32.610 --> 00:16:36.409 Five o 'clock. This particular gold that only 00:16:36.409 --> 00:16:40.679 late afternoon knows. A soft, slanting light 00:16:40.679 --> 00:16:43.320 that puts long shadows between the rows paints 00:16:43.320 --> 00:16:48.659 every leaf with a last kindness of the day. The 00:16:48.659 --> 00:16:52.720 vineyard looks tired in a beautiful way, like 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:56.740 a grandmother's hands, lying, capable, honest. 00:16:58.139 --> 00:17:02.159 If you had money, you'd bet the day is done, 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:07.059 but the master goes out again to the square. 00:17:07.710 --> 00:17:10.430 to the place where men no longer even pretend 00:17:10.430 --> 00:17:14.009 to look up when sandals scuff the stones in front 00:17:14.009 --> 00:17:16.950 of them. You can almost hear the question before 00:17:16.950 --> 00:17:21.509 he asks it. Why do you stand here, idle all day? 00:17:22.529 --> 00:17:26.690 And there are a thousand answers a man could 00:17:26.690 --> 00:17:32.650 give. Defense, bluster, blame, shame. But the 00:17:32.650 --> 00:17:36.299 words that come are the plainest. Because no 00:17:36.299 --> 00:17:41.619 one has hired us, sir. Not laziness. Rejection. 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:48.019 Not refusal. Invisible. The day has called other 00:17:48.019 --> 00:17:52.099 names, but never once called theirs. Dawn passed. 00:17:52.380 --> 00:17:55.660 Noon passed. Afternoon went by like a cart you 00:17:55.660 --> 00:17:58.059 can't run down, and they stayed right where hope 00:17:58.059 --> 00:18:01.500 leaves you, on the curb, inside your own bones, 00:18:01.579 --> 00:18:06.319 not moving, because where else can you go? And 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:09.079 the master says what he's been saying all day 00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:12.180 long, like a bell that refuses to go silent. 00:18:12.259 --> 00:18:16.839 You, go into the vineyard too. And it floats 00:18:16.839 --> 00:18:20.359 across your mind like a rumor from a better country, 00:18:20.539 --> 00:18:23.559 not shouted, not preached, just left out there 00:18:23.559 --> 00:18:27.059 on the breeze. God's grace does not require my 00:18:27.059 --> 00:18:33.920 consent. It's not a gavel. It's a gunshot. It's 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:36.759 a bell tone that lingers beneath the noise, soft 00:18:36.759 --> 00:18:39.759 enough to ignore now if you want to, but strong 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:44.779 enough to find you again right at sundown. The 00:18:44.779 --> 00:18:48.319 11 -hour men step into the rows with caution 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:51.759 of the newly blessed. They watch the others, 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:54.160 imitate the motions, learn how to hold a vine, 00:18:54.299 --> 00:18:58.400 how to make a knife seem a little bit more like 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:02.869 a tool and less like fear. Their bodies are tense 00:19:02.869 --> 00:19:05.710 with the old ache of being unwanted, an ache 00:19:05.710 --> 00:19:09.849 that needs a minute to believe it's of worth 00:19:09.849 --> 00:19:13.170 anymore. The day tilts and the world cools enough 00:19:13.170 --> 00:19:17.930 to begin to think again. Evening comes on like 00:19:17.930 --> 00:19:21.069 a benediction. The foreman's voice carries down 00:19:21.069 --> 00:19:23.390 the slope, the tone of a man who has said these 00:19:23.390 --> 00:19:25.769 words a hundred times and means them every time. 00:19:25.869 --> 00:19:32.109 Call the laborers and pay their wages. And the 00:19:32.109 --> 00:19:36.269 pay line forms. But then comes the odd instruction. 00:19:36.829 --> 00:19:43.269 A sort of small, peculiar thing that can rearrange 00:19:43.269 --> 00:19:49.170 a whole world. Begin with the last up to the 00:19:49.170 --> 00:19:53.230 first. It's not a test if you already know the 00:19:53.230 --> 00:19:57.309 answer. It's a lesson if you don't. The 11th 00:19:57.309 --> 00:19:59.349 hour men shuffle forward. Some stare at their 00:19:59.349 --> 00:20:01.789 sandals because... This is where your eyes go 00:20:01.789 --> 00:20:05.109 when they're used to being disappointed. The 00:20:05.109 --> 00:20:08.210 foreman's hand moves. The coins drop one by one 00:20:08.210 --> 00:20:12.250 into newer palms. A denarius. A full day's wage 00:20:12.250 --> 00:20:14.190 for men who've only made friends with a vine 00:20:14.190 --> 00:20:19.569 for one small hour of light. Down the line. The 00:20:19.569 --> 00:20:22.369 first hired are doing the math. That math that's 00:20:22.369 --> 00:20:24.990 never failed them. An hour brings a denarius. 00:20:25.390 --> 00:20:29.910 Then a day brings what? Twelve? Ten? At least 00:20:29.910 --> 00:20:34.569 more than one. For the first time since morning, 00:20:34.730 --> 00:20:37.589 a small bright thing flares in their chests. 00:20:38.130 --> 00:20:44.589 Finally, a rightness that favors me. And you 00:20:44.589 --> 00:20:48.730 could forgive the thought. They have, after all, 00:20:48.970 --> 00:20:51.950 right, borne the burden of the day and all of 00:20:51.950 --> 00:20:54.690 the scorching heat. They carry the vineyard in 00:20:54.690 --> 00:20:59.690 their muscles. Now. They smell like obedience. 00:20:59.990 --> 00:21:03.170 The line advances. Ninth hour men, sixth hour 00:21:03.170 --> 00:21:06.289 men, third hour men. Coin after coin, the same 00:21:06.289 --> 00:21:10.150 coin falling with the stubborn same rhythm of 00:21:10.150 --> 00:21:12.690 a truth that will not move for anyone's preference. 00:21:14.769 --> 00:21:17.630 The bright thing in the first hired flickers. 00:21:18.609 --> 00:21:22.569 Surely there is another pile of coins somewhere. 00:21:22.990 --> 00:21:28.549 A first crew. a bag marked merit that has simply 00:21:28.549 --> 00:21:33.529 just not been untied yet. Then they step forward. 00:21:34.150 --> 00:21:37.450 The foreman's hands move again. A denarius drops 00:21:37.450 --> 00:21:40.809 into each callous palm and sits there, heavy, 00:21:41.049 --> 00:21:49.529 honest. Somehow wrong. There's a heat that rises 00:21:49.529 --> 00:21:52.089 from the throat when grief and anger get married. 00:21:53.869 --> 00:21:57.089 These last only worked one hour, a voice says, 00:21:57.150 --> 00:22:00.430 trying to keep the wobble out of it. And you've 00:22:00.430 --> 00:22:02.789 made them equal to us who have borne the burden 00:22:02.789 --> 00:22:07.329 of the day and the scorching heat. Made them 00:22:07.329 --> 00:22:13.730 equal. These words are a storm all by themselves. 00:22:16.009 --> 00:22:20.210 Equality is easy to bless on a poster, but it's 00:22:20.210 --> 00:22:24.289 harder when it touches your pay. The complaint 00:22:24.289 --> 00:22:31.869 is not about less. It's about equal. I'm cheated, 00:22:32.089 --> 00:22:38.829 aren't I? But the master doesn't flinch. He looks 00:22:38.829 --> 00:22:41.049 at the speaker the way a father looks at a son 00:22:41.049 --> 00:22:43.950 when the son has run the same loop of anger so 00:22:43.950 --> 00:22:46.269 many times the father knows where the sharp corners 00:22:46.269 --> 00:22:52.450 are. Friend, he says. Not worker, not man. Not 00:22:52.450 --> 00:22:57.430 you there, friend. He puts a balm on the wound 00:22:57.430 --> 00:23:02.089 even as he names it. I'm doing you no wrong. 00:23:03.369 --> 00:23:08.269 Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Every 00:23:08.269 --> 00:23:14.769 laborer nods their head. He's not wrong. The 00:23:14.769 --> 00:23:17.390 first hired had exactly what they were promised. 00:23:18.190 --> 00:23:20.630 And that promise does not tremble just because 00:23:20.630 --> 00:23:24.509 goodness is spilled over its rim. The master 00:23:24.509 --> 00:23:28.829 continues, steady as shade. Take what belongs 00:23:28.829 --> 00:23:34.630 to you and go. I choose to give to this last 00:23:34.630 --> 00:23:40.089 worker as I gave to you. There's a divine stubbornness 00:23:40.089 --> 00:23:45.410 in that sentence. Stands like an oak. I. God 00:23:45.410 --> 00:23:48.130 says, the master says, God is the master in the 00:23:48.130 --> 00:23:52.549 story. I choose to give. The master does not 00:23:52.549 --> 00:23:56.170 borrow his will from our comfort. He does not 00:23:56.170 --> 00:24:01.049 ask the foreman to pull the crews. He does not 00:24:01.049 --> 00:24:04.309 dress his kindness in clothes just for our categories. 00:24:04.589 --> 00:24:08.369 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what 00:24:08.369 --> 00:24:16.029 belongs to me? He says. I will have mercy on 00:24:16.029 --> 00:24:19.230 whom I have mercy. And I will have compassion 00:24:19.230 --> 00:24:23.329 on whom I have compassion. The kind of sovereignty 00:24:23.329 --> 00:24:26.250 that makes the proud nervous and the desperate 00:24:26.250 --> 00:24:31.309 begin to breathe again. Then the last knife slice 00:24:31.309 --> 00:24:34.470 of the question, the one that lays open the secret 00:24:34.470 --> 00:24:39.710 everyone hoped would stay hidden. Or, he continues. 00:24:41.319 --> 00:24:45.920 Do you begrudge my generosity? In the language 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:48.680 of the alley, it's, is your eye evil because 00:24:48.680 --> 00:24:52.079 I'm good? In the language of the heart, it's 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:55.019 what happens inside of you. When grace finds 00:24:55.019 --> 00:24:59.539 someone you'd rather it miss. Silence lands like 00:24:59.539 --> 00:25:02.900 a bird that means to stay a while. The foreman 00:25:02.900 --> 00:25:05.700 clears his throat. The line breaks apart. Slimes 00:25:05.700 --> 00:25:08.140 do when the coins are counted and the truth has 00:25:08.140 --> 00:25:12.480 been told. Men drift back home. Some carry their 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:16.619 day with the light step of astonishment. Some 00:25:16.619 --> 00:25:19.779 walk home heavy under the same wage because their 00:25:19.779 --> 00:25:22.539 arithmetic came to a different conclusion and 00:25:22.539 --> 00:25:27.519 they cannot forgive the math. Someone will say 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:32.940 at their table tonight, we were wrong. Some will 00:25:32.940 --> 00:25:41.170 say we were not wrong. And both will sleep. And 00:25:41.170 --> 00:25:44.109 both will wake and come back and need that vineyard 00:25:44.109 --> 00:25:50.470 again. Because that's how work days work. But 00:25:50.470 --> 00:25:52.390 the story isn't done until the master speaks 00:25:52.390 --> 00:25:55.250 the sentence Jesus meant to wedge under every 00:25:55.250 --> 00:25:58.670 ribcage that still worships spiritual ladders. 00:25:58.750 --> 00:26:02.589 So the last will become first and the first last. 00:26:04.779 --> 00:26:07.460 You can take that as a threat if you want to. 00:26:08.299 --> 00:26:13.279 Some do. You can take it as a promise. Some of 00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:18.859 us must. But it is, in any case, an accurate 00:26:18.859 --> 00:26:23.299 description of the kingdom of God. It is what 00:26:23.299 --> 00:26:26.240 happens when the king is not obligated by our 00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:30.400 sense of order. In this field, achievement is 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:33.039 not a lever strong enough to move the heart of 00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:37.799 God. This is not an economy we built. This is 00:26:37.799 --> 00:26:42.619 an economy that outlives our own. And I can hear 00:26:42.619 --> 00:26:46.200 someone whispering on the inside, but is it fair? 00:26:47.019 --> 00:26:51.700 I know. I felt it too when the line first looped 00:26:51.700 --> 00:26:55.599 around my heart. We think we want fairness until 00:26:55.599 --> 00:26:59.559 we remember our own ledger. Because if God gives 00:26:59.559 --> 00:27:05.180 us what we deserve, none of us get supper. If 00:27:05.180 --> 00:27:07.779 God gives us what is right in our mouth, but 00:27:07.779 --> 00:27:13.720 not in his mercy, we all go home hungry. Fairness 00:27:13.720 --> 00:27:17.259 is a useful tool for wages. It is very poor for 00:27:17.259 --> 00:27:21.180 the God of salvation. This is where the earlier 00:27:21.180 --> 00:27:25.920 bell tone swells into a chorus. The master does 00:27:25.920 --> 00:27:29.710 not ask permission to be good. The father did 00:27:29.710 --> 00:27:32.789 not hold a town hall meeting to see if the cross 00:27:32.789 --> 00:27:37.470 was proportionate enough. The spirit does not 00:27:37.470 --> 00:27:40.130 wait on a quorum before she blows through closed 00:27:40.130 --> 00:27:43.869 rooms and locked up lives. So let me again say, 00:27:44.009 --> 00:27:47.529 in case it needs saying, God's grace does not 00:27:47.529 --> 00:27:51.910 require your consent. Not to begin, not to continue, 00:27:52.109 --> 00:27:55.730 not to finish. It can find you on the curb at 00:27:55.730 --> 00:27:58.789 5 p .m. with your head down. It will pay you 00:27:58.789 --> 00:28:02.210 in a currency you cannot counterfeit. It will 00:28:02.210 --> 00:28:05.150 spend extravagance on the underdeserving because 00:28:05.150 --> 00:28:09.690 that's the only kind of person there is. And 00:28:09.690 --> 00:28:12.789 some of you know just what I mean. You prayed 00:28:12.789 --> 00:28:17.549 for healing and got forgiveness first. You wanted 00:28:17.549 --> 00:28:19.750 God to fix that other person and he reached across 00:28:19.750 --> 00:28:22.609 the counter and put a coin in their hand while 00:28:22.609 --> 00:28:28.430 you watched. It felt like theft at first. Then 00:28:28.430 --> 00:28:30.829 months later, it sounded like music to your ears. 00:28:30.910 --> 00:28:32.890 Music you didn't even know you could dance to. 00:28:33.470 --> 00:28:35.990 Because that's how grace works. Scandal first, 00:28:36.289 --> 00:28:40.450 sense later. Because the kingdom's order is all 00:28:40.450 --> 00:28:43.089 the way out of order until it becomes your home 00:28:43.089 --> 00:28:46.230 address. There's another layer, though, before 00:28:46.230 --> 00:28:50.250 we close, we need to name. Because you've lived 00:28:50.250 --> 00:28:54.210 long enough to see it. Sometimes the 11th hour 00:28:54.210 --> 00:28:59.119 worker isn't a stranger. Sometimes it's you. 00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:02.839 You're the one who spent a decade in the square 00:29:02.839 --> 00:29:05.019 pretending to be busy so no one would see the 00:29:05.019 --> 00:29:07.720 ache in your heart. You're the one who passed 00:29:07.720 --> 00:29:10.259 on a dozen invitations because righteousness 00:29:10.259 --> 00:29:13.660 made me nervous. You're the one who walked to 00:29:13.660 --> 00:29:15.680 the vineyard gate at five with nothing to recommend 00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:19.240 you but the honesty of your need. And the master 00:29:19.240 --> 00:29:22.299 saw you and didn't ask for your resume. He just 00:29:22.299 --> 00:29:25.819 asked for your working hands. Sometimes the first 00:29:25.819 --> 00:29:27.920 hired isn't a stranger either. Sometimes it's 00:29:27.920 --> 00:29:31.279 us. You learned how to pray when the feeling 00:29:31.279 --> 00:29:35.559 didn't. You have the scars to prove a long day 00:29:35.559 --> 00:29:39.660 of work. Hear me. You weren't duped. You weren't 00:29:39.660 --> 00:29:43.720 used. You were brought into the joy of a field 00:29:43.720 --> 00:29:47.519 that belongs to a good man. And today, in the 00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:50.099 last light, he's not trying to take from you. 00:29:50.740 --> 00:29:54.759 He's trying to give to someone else. Because 00:29:54.759 --> 00:29:57.779 in God's economy, it is possible to bless that 00:29:57.779 --> 00:30:01.440 without losing what you've been promised. And 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:03.640 if you want a tidy conclusion, the kingdom will 00:30:03.640 --> 00:30:06.420 frustrate you. If you want the truth, it can 00:30:06.420 --> 00:30:12.539 save you. Scandal here is not who gets in. The 00:30:12.539 --> 00:30:16.980 scandal is that anyone does. That we all, at 00:30:16.980 --> 00:30:20.259 the end of the day, are with a coin. that we 00:30:20.259 --> 00:30:23.019 could never mint on our own at a table that feeds 00:30:23.019 --> 00:30:27.279 us like we belong. So the last will be first 00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:30.519 and the first last. That's not a threat. It's 00:30:30.519 --> 00:30:33.200 a weather forecast for a kingdom where the sun 00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:36.539 rises on people we wouldn't pick, sets on people 00:30:36.539 --> 00:30:40.799 we can't believe still stand. It's the old promise 00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:43.980 running like current under every day. The father 00:30:43.980 --> 00:30:46.420 is better than you ever feared and freer than 00:30:46.420 --> 00:30:49.750 you ever hoped. He hires early, he hires late. 00:30:51.049 --> 00:30:54.529 He pays like the prodigal father does, throws 00:30:54.529 --> 00:30:57.509 a party, full measure, pressed down, shaken together, 00:30:57.750 --> 00:31:01.970 running over, and offensive to anyone who mistook 00:31:01.970 --> 00:31:06.849 bookkeeping for holiness. So now I'll say the 00:31:06.849 --> 00:31:08.750 part you already know by heart. By the way, if 00:31:08.750 --> 00:31:10.390 you guys haven't figured out, I'm going to hammer 00:31:10.390 --> 00:31:14.230 home the main point of the parable every time. 00:31:14.779 --> 00:31:16.700 So if you didn't catch, what is the main point 00:31:16.700 --> 00:31:23.779 of tonight's parable? God's grace does not require 00:31:23.779 --> 00:31:29.440 your consent. You can withhold your voice. You 00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:32.019 can withhold your vote. Grace will still carry 00:31:32.019 --> 00:31:36.579 on with its mission. You can fold your arms and 00:31:36.579 --> 00:31:40.220 the music will still play. You can stand in the 00:31:40.220 --> 00:31:43.119 square rehearsing your rules, or you could step 00:31:43.119 --> 00:31:45.099 into the field where the rules have been translated 00:31:45.099 --> 00:31:49.420 into love. So come on in. The lamps are lit. 00:31:49.480 --> 00:31:52.819 The table is set. Foreman's whistle is done for 00:31:52.819 --> 00:31:56.339 the day. And there are enough coins to buy joy 00:31:56.339 --> 00:32:00.900 for every last one of us. Amen? Amen. Thanks, 00:32:01.119 --> 00:32:13.299 guys. Now we've walked it. We've felt the dust, 00:32:13.460 --> 00:32:16.539 the heat, the shift in the air when those 11th 00:32:16.539 --> 00:32:20.400 hour folks showed up. We stood in that line and 00:32:20.400 --> 00:32:22.119 listened to the coins hit their hands, coins 00:32:22.119 --> 00:32:25.180 that didn't earn in any math we'd ever approve. 00:32:26.779 --> 00:32:29.160 And maybe we caught ourselves doing the same 00:32:29.160 --> 00:32:32.720 math as the first hired. Counting hours, comparing 00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:35.759 calluses, wondering why that master's generosity 00:32:35.759 --> 00:32:39.650 towards someone else feels... Like it came out 00:32:39.650 --> 00:32:43.950 of our pocket. But here's the thing about the 00:32:43.950 --> 00:32:48.950 kingdom. It doesn't run on scarcity. There is 00:32:48.950 --> 00:32:52.009 not a single coin in your hand that is any smaller 00:32:52.009 --> 00:32:57.309 because somebody else got one too. The master's 00:32:57.309 --> 00:33:00.410 table is not a potluck where your slice shrinks 00:33:00.410 --> 00:33:05.470 if the guest list grows. This isn't about economics. 00:33:06.069 --> 00:33:10.059 It's about grace. Grace doesn't ask you who to 00:33:10.059 --> 00:33:13.880 vote on who gets it. That's the part that still 00:33:13.880 --> 00:33:17.759 gets under our skin even now. God's grace does 00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:22.680 not require your consent. You can fold your arms. 00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:24.619 You can rehearse your arguments. You can glare 00:33:24.619 --> 00:33:28.160 down the line all you want. He's still going 00:33:28.160 --> 00:33:31.420 to hire, still going to pay, and still going 00:33:31.420 --> 00:33:35.299 to love. So, if this story stirred something 00:33:35.299 --> 00:33:37.920 in you today, if it made you shift in your seat, 00:33:38.410 --> 00:33:40.849 Breathe a little easier. Don't keep it to yourself. 00:33:41.490 --> 00:33:43.789 Send it to a friend who thinks it's too late. 00:33:44.549 --> 00:33:46.390 Share it with the one who's still standing in 00:33:46.390 --> 00:33:50.529 the square. You never know which hearing of the 00:33:50.529 --> 00:33:53.109 invitation will be the one they finally use to 00:33:53.109 --> 00:33:56.910 step through the gate. And if you want to keep 00:33:56.910 --> 00:33:58.769 walking through these stories together, make 00:33:58.769 --> 00:34:00.750 sure you follow the Semi -Seminarian Podcast 00:34:00.750 --> 00:34:03.210 wherever you're listening. Hit the subscribe 00:34:03.210 --> 00:34:05.690 button. Leave a review. Share the link. Not because 00:34:05.690 --> 00:34:08.789 it helps the algorithm. but because there's someone 00:34:08.789 --> 00:34:10.809 out there who's starving for the good news, and 00:34:10.809 --> 00:34:13.750 you might just be the one who gets it into their 00:34:13.750 --> 00:34:18.130 hands. The line is still forming. Lamps are being 00:34:18.130 --> 00:34:21.030 lit, and the Master, oh, the Master is better 00:34:21.030 --> 00:34:35.679 than you ever could think. Amen. Therefore, leaving 00:34:35.679 --> 00:34:38.420 the principles and the doctrines of Christ, let 00:34:38.420 --> 00:34:39.019 us go on.