Pennies from Heaven

June 14, 1987

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Scripture: Matthew 20:1-16

Do you know what I almost wish? Not really, I guess, but I almost wish there were some things Jesus had never said. They’re so hard to understand, and hard to explain.  

Why couldn’t He have just left them out, and made our job easier? 

I suppose preachers shouldn’t talk like that, and I trust you won’t tell the Bishop, but I bet you’ve thought it, too. SOME KEY OMISSIONS CERTAINLY WOULD FACILITATE INTERPRETATION. 

Some of the things Jesus said ARE hard to explain, let’s be honest... 

How much easier it would be NOW, for example, if we didn’t have to justify that back THERE He said, “‘The poor ye have with you always.’ Did he really say that? 

Or, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 

Or, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” 

Could Jesus really have made those statements, OUR Jesus, the one who talked about lambs, and lilies, and love? 

Was he serious? There are some things I almost wish He had never said. 

And maybe this parable here, the one I read a moment ago from Matthew, is in the same category. Remember it? The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, we call it. 

Surely Jesus didn’t say this.... Could He have said it? 

Tell me it’s a translator’s error. 

Tell me a scribe in the Middle Ages misread it and garbled the message. 

Tell me they’ve found a new manuscript now that straightens it all out. 

ANYTHING---Surely Jesus didn’t really mean to imply that God deals with people the way this householder, as he’s called, treated his employees. 

It’s not fair, that’s all...it’s not fair. Simple justice is not being observed here. 

How can a worker who works all day in the vineyard get exactly the same wage as this clod who starts to work an hour before quitting time? 

There’s something wrong about that. It doesn’t matter whether you’re management or 

labor, whether you’re a grove owner or a picker, whether you’re George Steinbrenner or a rookie outfielder, there’s an imbalance here. 

THAT’S NOT THE WAY YOU DO BUSINESS. 

And yet, it’s exactly what Jesus says happens...He even says it approvingly---That’s 

what makes it so disturbing.... 

Everybody who comes to work...some at daybreak, some at 9, some at noon, some at 3, and some at 5:00 in the afternoon, after the first workers have worked 11 hours...everybody right down the line gets a check for the same amount. 

No wonder the early birds were miffed. I think I would have been, too. Is that any  way to run a railroad? Why, if.... who is the player representative for the NFL?... if Gene Upshaw ever heard about it, he’d have apoplexy right on the spot. 

Surely Jesus didn’t say this. It goes against every standard of justice, and decency, and fair play, and the American way of life ever been taught since we were three. 

You couldn’t operate a business like this a week without kicking up such a ruckus that the whole economic order would be disrupted. 

Which of you would agree to work for a boss so whimsical and capricious?.... UNLESS, 

OF COURSE, YOU WERE GUARANTEED THAT YOU COULD BE ONE OF THE 5:00 WORKERS. 

Could it be that this is not a parable about economics at all? 

Could it be that we need to see it from a different perspective entirely? 

Could it be that there’s a good bit more here than meets the eye at first glance? 

THIS IS A REMARKABLE STORY. I’ve come to believe it’s one the greatest parables Jesus ever told. It’s not a simple story, frankly, as much of the New Testament is not. 

Someone with keen insight has pointed out that the so-called “Simple Gospel” is not nearly as simple as some people seem to think. 

Here’s a perfect example. Jesus did tell the story, and I’m convinced it’s been  recorded and transmitted accurately. Don’t blame its difficulties on scribes of typographical errors. It may not be easy to understand, but when the key IS found, what a treasure! 

May I express it this way? The key to understanding this parable is to remember that it is a parable of the KINGDOM. The vineyard is the Kingdom of God, where a different standard of values operates. 

Jesus here is telling us something very, very wonderful: GOD DOESN’T DEAL WITH US ON THE BASIS OF MERIT. HE DEALS WITH US ON THE BASIS OF HIS OWN, GENEROUS, SOVERIGN GRACE. 

The whole point of this disturbing story is to express what still comes to us as a  

disturbing truth:  We don’t earn salvation...Nobody does. 

There are no wages in the divine economy… or at least there’s only one wage. 

God doesn’t treat us on the basis of what we’ve done, or how many bushels we’ve picked, or how many coon skins we have tacked up on the wall. The whole approach is different. 

To continue to think we must do something to merit God’s favor, to earn our way into His good graces is to mistake the whole point of what Gospel means, just as Simon Peter did when to set the 

stage he said, “Lord, now that we have left everything for you, what do we get?” 

Can you believe that? What an arrogant statement for a fledgling disciple to make. It’s a wonder the others didn’t laugh him out of town, except that they were even less perceptive, if that’s possible. 

But can you hear him? Lord, what’s in it for us, your “good ol’ boys”, your favorites, your special co-workers, who have been knocking ourselves out so long and hard? WHAT’S GOING TO BE OUR REWARD? 

This story says NO to all that. You’ve got it all wrong, Simon. 

It’s a story about GRACE, It’s a story which with more power, more force, more oomph than anything Paul or Luther ever wrote, cuts across the notion that somehow we are in competition with each other to get good grades from God. 

It’s a story which stands in absolute contradiction to the deeply imbedded idea that somehow there must be some way to gain celestial “brownie points”, as we do in school, as we do in business, as we do in seeking promotion.... 

It’s a story which repudiates any kind of religious legalism, that bane of the  spiritual life, which from the time of the Pharisees until today has kept us from knowing the joy of Christian freedom. 

Jesus is saying God doesn’t do business that way. God’s economics are not based on production. 

They’re not based on earning or merit at all. God gives the way He chooses to give, freely, generously, spontaneously, and in response, not to achievement, but to simple availability. 

Equality of output in the Vineyard? Of course not. 

Equality of work? Of course not.  

Not all the workers performed the same, but all were equal in their willingness to respond when the call came. Whether it came early, or whether it came late, all answered wholeheartedly, and it’s on that basis that the paycheck is written. 

The truth is---and it sort of gives you shivers---it gives me shivers.... the truth is God pays only one type of wage because He possesses only one type of wage. He doesn’t carry around loose change in His pocket... With God it’s all or nothing. 

Indeed, IT SEEMS ONE ENTERS OR DOESN’T ENTER ETERNITY, as the case may be, ACCORDING TO WHETHER ONE HAS CONSENTED OR REFUSED. 

Paul has a word for it. He called it “Justification by Faith”.... It’s the same thing He got it from Jesus. He got it right here. It’s the Gospel concept that God is not best served by deadening conformity to a set standard, even a high and lofty standard. 

God knows we are not equal in ability, nor are we equal in opportunity. 

What He’s concerned with is that we make the best of the capacities and the chances we’re given. NOWHERE DOES GOD DEMAND UNIFORMITY EXCEPT IN THE REALM OF FAITHFUL RESPONSE.  

You see, this is exciting. It means that I don’t have to be Billy Graham.  I don’t have to be Norman Vincent Peale. I certainly don’t have to be Jim Bakker...Thank God for that deliverance. BUT WHAT I DO HAVE TO BE IS TOM PRICE... a responsible steward of my limited gifts and talents. 

It’s not achievement God asks of us, not accomplishments, not performance.... That comes later, and that will vary. 

What He asks, rather, is something more simply, but more all-encompassing.  

HE ASKS THAT WE BE READY.... that we be on GO, that we be available, that He may send us out when He is ready, and when the fruit is ripe. 

This is the parable of the laborers in the vineyard.... Pennies from Heaven. 

Now, don’t get your hopes up yet. I’m not through. Will you indulge me a little more? I never cease to be astounded at the fullness of these Biblical stories. They are wonderful stories. There is always more in them than you can mine. Allow me to suggest, really without enough elaboration, 3 corollaries that I think are pertinent, and that grow out of the central thrust of the story. 

1. The first has to do with REWARDS. Peter wanted a reward and misunderstood. There is a reward in the vineyard, in the Kingdom, in the Christian life, but it’s not in the wage. The real reward is the privilege of serving in the vineyard. THAT IN ITSELF IS THE REWARD. 

The whole thing begins to glow with meaning when you see this. 

When you remember that the vineyard is the Kingdom, it’s not the latecomers who get 

the good deal, it’s the early birds. They get to be in the vineyard longer. 

The latecomers are really penalized, not because they can do less, but because they 

miss so much of the fun. 

Religion has ceased to be a burden, and become a boost, It’s not a load any longer, but a lift, not a pressure, but a privilege. It’s not something any more you HAVE to do, but something you GET to do. 

Isn’t it really what’s so sad about deathbed confessions? Those people don’t have the best of both worlds, as some claim. That’s nonsense. A deathbed confession may be perfectly legitimate----the thief on the Cross--- 

He got his full wage, but what a waste of all that precious time. 

How sad he couldn’t have also known some of the vineyard life. 

I’ll never forget old Forrest Creech in my first appointment. What a rounder he had been in his early days, they said. If there was ever any hell being raised in Micanopy, Forrest Creech was in the middle of it.... Not only was he a liar, and a cheat, and a bar room brawler, he was a Republican....Can you imagine sinking to a lower level? He was the most unmitigated reprobate in that corner of the county. 

And then he met Jesus. Do you know who introduced him? His little granddaughter, a cute, dimpled, blue-eyed child. He had defenses against everything else, but not against her trusting innocence. That was the opening wedge. 

When I was there, he had been a Christian about 5 years, and he used to say, “Preacher, why didn’t somebody tell me before? I’ve never been happier than I’ve been since this 2nd birthday. I wish to God I could have started sooner.” 

The reward is not the pay. 

The reward is not the promise of future remuneration. 

The real reward is the sheer privilege of being in the Vineyard. 

HOW WONDERFUL WHEN IT CAN BE ENJOYED THE ENTIRE DAY THROUGH. 

2. Now, a second Corollary here is maybe a warning.... a warning to those on the inside. Jesus may have told this story in part for those Jews of His day who were so sure they were God’s people and resented having to share His love with Gentiles. 

The warning--now directed to the Church---BEWARE OF FEELINGS OF JEALOUSY TOWARD OTHERS. 

Isn’t it easy to begrudge the goodness of God when it’s directed toward somebody else? 

I don’t mind getting my share of it....I know God’s been good to me, I know I’ve been blessed beyond my deserving.... AND I’M READY FOR MORE. 

If God wants to lay it on me, let Him lay. I’m strong, I can carry a whole load of blessing. 

But it’s a little different when I see Him blessing my competitor, my neighbor, my colleague, even my friend.... THEN I begin to question the way benefits are distributed. 

I mean, why should I have to work so hard in school when John’s so smart and gets it like a breeze? 

Or, why would Rosie be able to spend so much time going to bridge parties, or having her hair done, or zipping off to the Mall to shop, when I can’t even afford a maid one afternoon a week? 

Or, why should ol’ Bob who was with me in seminary, be at FIRST CHURCH now, when I’m still out here in the suburbs... not even preachers are immune.... maybe especially preachers are not immune. 

Why should my neighbor get a BMW, when I have to drive an old, beat-up Plymouth Reliant? 

You’re not fair, God. You ain’t handling it right! Have you ever felt your self entertaining thoughts like that? I guess we all have. AND WE EMBITTER MANY HOURS OF LIFE THAT WAY. GOD’s goodness comes to the wrong person, because it doesn’t come to ME. 

The laborers were perfectly satisfied with the householder as long as they were dealing 

with him alone---one on one. It wasn’t until the others arrived that the haggling broke loose. 

They didn’t begrudge his generosity except when they didn’t get it. THEN the comparisons, and the jealousy, and the thickening of the plot. 

How do you deal with jealousy? What do you do when it strikes, as it will even in Church groups. It may even be an especially churchly affliction. 

Well, when you begin to feel the grip of jealousy tightening around you, it may help  to ask yourself if you’d really want to change places with that other person... IN EVERY RESPECT..... 

Your college roommate, who had so much on the ball, your aggressive, successful business competitor, your rich neighbor, your friend back there, who has gone so far.... WOULD YOU REALLY WANT TO BE IN HIS SHOES, OR HER SHOES....ALL THE WAY? 

Would you change not only your bike for his sports car, but also your home life for, perhaps, his deeply hidden marital trouble? 

Would you change not only your meager bank account for his stocks, but also your health for, perhaps, his chronic illness? 

Would you change not only your imperfect features for her beauty, but also your security for, perhaps her beneath-the-surface anxiety? 

You see, we don’t always know. We really don’t always know. I’m not sure we’d really like to fling down everything, the total product of our lives, and say, “See, God, you’ve blown it.... You’ve cheated me and given all your goodness to those others.” 

There may be more there beneath the veneer than we’d like to be responsible for. If we knew the total picture, I suspect not many of us would want to change places at all. 

The Norwegians, I am told, have an old fable that everybody in the world once had to bring their problems and troubles to a big field and stack them up in a huge pile. When they were equally divided and redistributed, everybody quickly agreed to return home with the load he had brought in the first place. 

The jealous eye blinds us to the goodness of God. That’s the tragedy of it, and that’s the warning Jesus is issuing. YOU CAN NEVER BE TRULY FREE WHILE YOU’RE TRYING TO KEEP SCORE. 

3. Now one final Corollary and I’m done. There is a word in this brilliant parable not only to those on the inside, but also one to those on the outside. As always with Jesus, it’s an evangelistic word. Simply this: IT’S STILL NOT TOO LATE. 

Even if you have wasted some daylight hours...and maybe I’m talking to somebody here...Even if you have wasted some daylight hours, even if you have forfeited some wonderful opportunities for fellowship with the householder, there remains, even to sundown, the invitation to come and work in the vineyard.....IT’S STILL NOT TOO LATE. 

God wants you to come. I promise. There was never a more sincere invitation ever issued. He wants you to know the joy of doing something for somebody else, the joy of harvesting, the fulfillment of participation. 

You don’t have to meet a quota, you don’t have to be certified, you don’t have to be skilled..... isn’t that wonderful, and best of all, it doesn’t matter what your previous credit rating is. 

What is past is superfluous, if you WANT to belong and be accepted. 

For this is our Gospel--GOD DOES NOT LOVE US FOR WHAT WE DO. He loves us, miraculously, graciously, for Jesus’ sake, just because He loves us... and every one of us is included, even YOU and ME. 

Sure its more than we deserve, but it’s there, it’s true, and it’s still not too late to claim. 

John Newton, who was the captain of a slave ship before he became a Christian, once said, “When I get to heaven, I shall find 3 wonders. The FIRST will be to find many persons I did not expect to find. The SECOND will be to miss many persons I did expect to find. BUT THE GREATEST WONDER OF ALL WILL BE TO FIND MYSELF THERE.” 

And so he wrote a great hymn. Sing the first stanza with me:  “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.” 

Claim it if you haven’t done it before.... claim it. Don’t let it get away.

Pennies... no, more than that---the full, overflowing, uncountable treasure of heaven is yours and mine for the taking, with the gracious compliments of the householder... who offers it through Jesus Christ our Lord.