When Did You Get Here?

Here is my sermon from last week. My wife said it was the best yet... I'm not so sure. I'm still trying to figure out a way to get audio of these sermons posted. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

How many times have you heard the phrase, “That’s not fair!” If you have kids you’ve probably heard it many more times than you care to. And what is your normal response?

Life’s not fair.

It’s kind of one of those timeless themes. If you live long enough, life will treat you unfairly. It makes some great TV stories, too.

I used to be a big fan of The Cosby Show. I would be still, but it doesn’t come on anymore. I think the Huxtable family dealt with “fair and unfair” in about half of the episodes of that show. Especially the middle daughter Vanessa. It seemed like her favorite sentence. That’s not fair!

One of my favorite episodes dealt with fair vs. unfair. The Huxtable’s son, Theo, and his friend, Cockroach, wanted to go to a taping of a popular dance TV show, but tickets were impossible to get. Mrs. Huxtable, somehow, gets 2 tickets to the next taping. Theo is ecstatic. He tells Cockroach and the two of them head off to the taping. When they get there, the stage manager tells them there is only room for one of them. They are heartbroken, but decide one of them should go.

Cockroach, says, “Theo, your mom got the tickets, you should go.”

Theo responds, “No, it was your idea, you should go.” Cockroach, being a good friend, says “Ok” and takes off through the stage door.

Theo is, of course, devastated and jealous. He complains to his mom later, “It’s not fair!” Theo felt like he worked for those tickets, he deserved them. Cockroach swooped in at the last moment and took his spot.

These types of stories are not exclusive to our lives or to 80’s sitcoms. Jesus tells his disciples a similar story. It’s not exactly like Theo & Cockroach, but I think you’ll see the parallels.

Matthew 20:1-16

I’m a pretty easy going guy. There aren’t many things that really get me going. Not much that sets me off. Makes me so angry I have to scream or I feel like I’ll explode. But there are a few. One of them is highway traffic. I’m much better now than I used to be, but one situation still does it.

Imagine you’re driving in the right lane of a 4 lane highway. You see a sign that says, “Right lane ends 1 mile ahead.” So, what do you do? I merge left. Most cars will do the same; they’ll merge into the left lane. So, then traffic slows down in the left lane. A few cars speed by on the right. Eventually the left lane comes to a stop. A couple of cars speed by on the right. I can feel my blood pressure start rising. Now I sit creeping forward while cars speed by on the right. Finally I get close enough to see where the right lane ends and I see the problem. People in the left lane, those who merged early are stopping to let those in the right lane over. Now, I might yell. A little. NO!

I get closer the right lane is finally clear. I’ve been creeping the last half a mile for at least 10 minutes. Then another car goes by on the right. I’m almost to the spot where the lane ends. Just 4 cars back. The car on the right slows and turns on their blinker. I’ll probably yell again. No! Don’t let him over! Then the car in front of me stops and lets him in! That’s when I lose it. Scream, yell, beat on the steering wheel. Generally make a fool of myself. “It’s not fair! I’ve been sitting in bumper-to-bumper creeping traffic for 10 minutes because I followed the rules. Now this guy flies up to the front waits 2 seconds and gets right in line. It’s not fair!”

Sounds a little like Jesus’ story, right? A man goes out one morning to find some workers for his field. He’s looking for day workers. He hires some men, they agree on a wage. “I’ll pay you what is just.” They go to work. He goes out at noon. Hires more. “I’ll pay what is just.” Again at 3 pm. I’ll pay what is just. Again, he goes out at 5pm. There are still men there. “Why are you here?” “No one hired us.” “Go to the vineyard.”

An hour later it’s quitting time. Since these were day-laborers the owner asks his manager to pay the workers. Pay the last to arrive first through the first. He does. He pays those who worked an hour a denarius. A days wage for a day-laborer. So those hired first figured they would get more. After all, they worked all day in the hot sun! Then those who worked 3 hours, they got the same amount. Those who worked 6 hours, the same. Then those who worked all day came and they got the same. One of them does as all of us do at some point. “It’s not fair! We worked all day! They only worked an hour! And you’ve made them equal with us?”

That’s an interesting thing to say. He doesn’t complain about the amount paid, well he does, but then he betrays his true complaint. We were here first. We were better than them! We were more dedicated! And you’re acting as if they are as just as good as we are.

The first to arrive want to feel superior, they want privilege. We were here first. We deserve to be treated differently. To be treated better. Notice, they didn’t complain on behalf of those who worked 3 or 6 hours. Only for themselves. We were first! We’re better than them!

When the vineyard owner went out in the morning he went to hire workers. He didn’t hire people with jobs, he hired day laborers. People who look for odd jobs day after day. We used to live in Hoover, near Birmingham. When we lived there 10 years ago there was an area, the corner of Lorna Rd and Chapel Rd. where everyday, early in the day, probably hundreds of men would gather. They would wait there for work. People who need some help for the day pull up agree on a wage and how many they need and off they go. The land owner likely goes to a similar area.

Of course, the biggest and strongest go first. As the day goes by workers go to work. And like picking teams in the schoolyard, the best go first until those left are small and weak, maybe they look shifty or dirty. Those left are, for whatever reason, undesirable. That’s who is left when the vineyard owner goes back at 5:00. The people no one else wants to hire. The outcasts.

Now, he has put them on an even plane with those biggest & strongest, the best, who were hired first.

I wonder if Jesus told this story as a parallel of his own ministry. He took a lot of criticism for hanging around tax collectors, lepers, sinners. The outcasts. Remember just a couple of weeks ago we talked about the disciples arguing over which of them was the best. After all, they’ve been with him since the beginning. They were there first. Surely one of them would be the greatest in the Kingdom! Not one of these other people following along.

Matthew’s early readers were mostly Jewish Christians. I imagine they felt similar toward the Gentiles that were being added to the early church as the first workers in Jesus’ story did about the last. “You’re saying these uncircumcised dogs are equal to us? God’s chosen people?”

Is it any different today? Are we any better? Do we think we’re better? Those of us who have been in the church all of our lives. Grew up in the church. Put in hard hours cleaning, cutting grass, sorting cans of food, teaching Sunday school, going to seminary. Surely we’re better off than the former drug addict, convicted felon who decided he needed Jesus while he was in prison. He doesn’t even know Jeremiah from Isaiah, Exodus from Deuteronomy. And what about those who aren’t even in church; who haven’t “been saved.” We’re better than them, right?

According to Jesus, none of us are any better than that former drug addict, convicted felon. We came in first thing in the morning, or at noon, or at 3. He started just before quitting time. But all of us are given what is just. All of us are given the same Grace. Us, him…them?

What about those not in church? That is our call. I feel like I’ve driven this point past home, but I’m going to keep on. Our mission is to make disciples. We are called to those people. We are called to those who the rest of the world has called undesirable. The ones no one else will hire.

When we read of the landowner, who we may assume represents God, going out and seeking workers. Seeking out those who need “whatever is right” that is their pay. We see our mission.

That begs the question for us, “Who is deserving?” Who deserves “what is just?” That’s an easy answer. None of us deserve it. Not me, not you, not the former drug addict convicted felon, not those who have never stepped inside a church or those chased away from the church. None of us deserve it, but all of us are offered that gift. All of us are offered God’s grace. All of us are offered salvation. We’ve accepted that gift. Now it’s our turn to go out into the marketplace and find those who need what is just. Because that’s the question we need to ask. Not who deserves it, but who needs it. That’s who we seek. Again, it’s an easy answer. Who needs it, everyone! It’s not our job to determine who is worthy. It is our job simply to share God’s love, to invite everyone, EVERYONE, to experience God’s grace.

And what about the workers’ response? It’s not fair! No, it’s not. And I for one am glad. If it were a matter of what’s fair, I would have no chance. Instead it’s a matter of grace.