Sunday Sermons
Grace in the Parables
Matthew 20:1-16
People often are confused when reading the parable of the laborers, and as one writer noted, “Significantly, many Christians who study this parable identify with the employees who put in a full day’s work, rather than the add-ons at the end of the day. We like to think of ourselves as responsible workers” (What’s So Amazing About Grace? Philip Yancey, p. 62). Nevertheless, compared to the apostles, especially, who suffered so much as well as the early Christians, we are more like the workers who receive the same reward. The point of the parable is not that we should run our business like this story, or expect to be paid for eight hours but only work one. The story is not about economics – rather it is about grace. “None of us gets paid according to merit, for none of us comes close to satisfying God’s requirements for a perfect life. If paid on the basis of fairness, we would all end up in hell” (Yancey, p. 63). This story would not make economic sense and that is the point, grace is not like economics. Grace cannot be calculated like a day’s wages; it is not “so much effort for so much grace”. Rather, grace is always undeserved. The above parable equally makes it clear that anyonecan be saved, for the workers who only worked an hour receive the same reward. God deliberately presented the gospel message in a way that everyone could be saved if they would only accept it. “For this reason it is by faith, that it might be in accordance with grace, in order that the promise may be certain to all the descendents” (Romans 4:16). “More much did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many” (Romans 5:15). “…the grace which is spreading to more and more people” (2 Corinthians 4:15). In light of such passages, people should be ashamed to say that the path to eternal life is too narrow. These passages emphatically argue that God made it as wide as He could. He put together a plan of salvation that all men could understand, and conditions that all men can meet. There are many passages that stress the truth that we have received and abundance of grace:
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“For of His fullness, we have all received, and grace upon grace” (John 1:16)
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“And abundant grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33)
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“The abundance of grace” (Romans 5:17)
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“Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20)
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“Even so grace might reign through righteousness” (Romans 5:21)
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“God is able to make all grace abound to you” (2 Corinthians 9:8)
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“For the surpassing grace of God in you” (2 Corinthians 9:14).
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“My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
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“To the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6)
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“According to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7)
“Grace Upon Grace”
Even though the grace that each one of us has received cannot be calculated, allow me to remind you of some glorious elements of God’s grace:
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The Existence of the Bible
Instead of taking the Bible for granted, we need to remind ourselves that we did not earn the right of God’s communication to us. We certainly do not deserve a communication from God, rather, the Bible is a manifestation of His grace, “The word of His grace” (Acts 14:3). Although the Bible reveals and discusses the grace of God (Acts 20:24; Colossians 1:6 “Since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth”), the Bible itself is likewise an example of an undeserved blessing.
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The Opportunity to Just Hear the Gospel
“He helped greatly those who had believed through grace” (Acts 18:27). Just the mere opportunity to hear the gospel presented is an undeserved chance. We also see this in the parable of the marriage feast (Matthew 22:1-14) when the King commands His servants to go out and invite everyone (22:9). These people had not earned the right to be invited to such a lavish banquet, and yet they were. People need to realize that when a Christian asks them for a Bible Study they are being invited to an undeserved feast. In fact, this is the perspective we should have toward personal work. Sharing the gospel with someone should never be viewed as a chore or “duty” – rather it is a privilege. “Hey, I received this undeserved invitation and the King said that I could invite others as well, would you like to come with me?”
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My Gifts
Every talent I have, every area of service that opens up to me, and even my ability to think and make a living are all undeserved. I know that we must work hard, but the mere ability to work, the ability to think, the environment in which to learn are all manifestations of God’s grace, not to mention such basics as sunshine and water (Acts 14:16-17; Luke 6:35 “For He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men”; Matthew 5:45 “For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous”. Did you catch the phrase, “His sun”? That’s right, the sun belongs to God and so does the earth (Psalm 24:1). That is “His sunshine” that is shinning on my face, “His rain” that waters my yard, and “His air” that I breathe.
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“…we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us” (Romans 12:6).
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“Called me through His grace” (Galatians 1:15)
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“Recognizing the grace that had been given to me” (Galatians 2:9)
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“As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10)
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“But to each one of us grace was given” (Ephesians 4:7)
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“If indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me” (Ephesians 3:2).
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“To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given” (Ephesians 3:8).
Notice how Paul lived the task that Jesus gave Him. He was an apostle because of the unmerited favor of God. He had not deserved to be an apostle, and He had not earned the right for this office. Paul stands amazed that God would even allow him to preach the gospel. And preaching to the Gentiles was exceptionally difficult for a man who had been a former Pharisee (Ephesians 3:8). Yet Paul does not view this as a grueling task, but as an unmerited chance. Paul did not feel this task was overwhelming, but instead felt that he was undeserving. He also says that all of us have received the same type of grace, “You are all partakers of grace with me” (Philippians 1:7).
Applications
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It is tempting and easy to murmur about a job, but we need to remember that whatever we do for a living is linked with God’s grace. We did not earn this position all on our own. This does not mean that we did not work hard to get where we are, rather, without God’s blessings, without the simple blessings of life, health, a growing body, sunshine, rain, and time, we would not have been able to accomplish anything.
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Parenting may seem overwhelming at times, but never forget that the children we parent are undeserved blessings.
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Marriage problems may equally seem overwhelming, but the marriage itself is undeserved. Peter reminds Christian couples that both of them, husband and wife, are undeserving heirs of heaven (1 Peter 3:7). Instead of thinking that “I deserve better”, we need to say, “I don’t deserve to be loved, but I am”. No, we do not “deserve” to be happy 100 percent or even 50 percent of the time in our marriages; rather, every moment of happiness is an undeserved blessing.
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If one feels that being an elder, deacon, preacher or teacher is a hard task, let all who serve in these capacities remember that such are “gifts”.
Being an apostle brought Paul many hardships (Acts 9:16), but I never find Paul complaining about the “stress” of being an apostle. Rather, here is the attitude that I find that Paul had concerning what many would call a very stressful occupation:
1 Corinthians 15:10
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me”
I know that Paul worked hard in school and he equally worked hard at being the best apostle he could be, but the overall picture, the big picture was, “Everything that I am or have become that is good – is undeserved. Without God’s mercy I would not have been able to do or accomplish anything”. “At the center of Jesus’ parables stands a God who takes the initiative toward us: a lovesick father who runs to meet the prodigal, a landlord who cancels a debt too large for any servant to reimburse, an employer who pays eleventh-hour workers the same as the first-hour crew, a banquet giver who goes out to the highways and byways in search of undeserving quests” (Yancey, p. 91).
