September 20, 2020 ~ Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Sermon

                                                                          09/20/20—Highland—Meute

“Mercy Not Money: The Scandal of Generosity”

Exodus 16: 2-15; Matthew 20: 1-16

Pearl: Value and worth that surpasses money.

Function: To free worshippers from small, human categories of value to appreciate the surpassing value of the generosity and grace of God.

There’s a story of a man who walked through a neighborhood on the first Monday of the month and stopped at the first house.

He knocked at the door and explained to the homeowner, “I’ve come into some money, and I want to share my good fortune. I’d like to give you $100 if that’s okay?” The man handed over a crisp bill.

“Okay?!! Yes, it is okay!” The flabbergasted homeowner thanked the man and the mysterious man walked away.

The next week, the same man appeared again and the homeowner once again received a new $100 bill. Each Monday that month the man with the money knocked at the door and the delighted and overjoyed homeowner received a crisp, brand-new Ben Franklin.

On the first Monday of the next month, however, the mysterious philanthropist walked down the sidewalk and passed by the first home and went to the door of the second home on the street.

“Hey!” yelled the homeowner of the first house, “Where’s my money?”

–Rev. David H. Andrew IV, Interim Pastor, Beaverhead River Cowboy Church, Dillon, Montana.

That brings us to the Parable of the Vineyard which Jesus told and which appears only in Matthew’s Gospel.

1. In the “read-through” of Matthew in the Adult Sunday School class when it was running prior to the pandemic, as usual, people were uncomfortable with this parable.
   1. We tend to be so fixated on the notion that some have worked all through the day, that is, all through their lives at being good and righteous and fair, and faithful, and so the idea that others would be rewarded in the same manner who “got it together” at the last minute should receive the same reward is just not right!

The Kingdom of Christ concept for today is “mercy not money, grace not grit, welcome not worth.”

Everything about God and God’s plans and intentions with humankind and this world are far better than you can possibly imagine!

1. As evidenced by this parable which is a “kingdom parable,” the owner of the vineyard is a God figure.
   1. This vineyard owner went to the town to hire workers for his vineyard. He went early in the morning at about 6 AM. I would have been one of the ones hired at that time because I am an early morning person and I am one who puts in the time on the job.
      1. Interestingly, I have a hunch that most of us see ourselves as the ones who were hired at the beginning of the day. Why don’t we see ourselves as the ones hired at the end of the day? Isn’t that interesting?!
   1. And he returned to the marketplace to hire more workers throughout the day to work in his vineyard. He went again at 9 AM, at Noon, at 3 PM, and even at 5 PM.
   1. At the end of the day he paid those hired last, first. He paid them a full day’s wage! Wow! That was generous!
      1. Those who were hired earlier in the day got excited! Imagine how much they were going to get since they worked all day long through the heat of the day! Their mental calculations were so satisfying imagining how much they would get.
      1. When even those who were hired first thing in the morning received the same amount as those hired at the end of the day they were incensed!
         1. Even though they were paid exactly what they negotiated with the vineyard owner, they were incensed at the unfairness!
         1. Do you think it was appropriate? Do you think it was fair?
         1. Honestly, I get those who were hired first!
         1. But technically, it was fair. Those hired first were paid what they were told. It was just.
         1. The issue is that the owner of the vineyard was generous. He was merciful and he was gracious! THE SCANDAL OF GENEROSITY!
2. The Way of Christ, God’s kingdom, is full of reversals of our sense of how things should work. The whole “last will be first, and first will be last” notion does not align with typical ways of thinking.
   1. The whole “turn the other cheek” idea is not very realistic.
   1. Love your enemies is hard to stomach.
   1. That which you give away is what you really keep seems odd.
   1. Pray for those who persecute you seems nice but…really?!
3. Honestly, everything about God and God’s plans and intentions with humankind and creation are far better than we can possibly imagine!
   1. And isn’t this God’s prerogative? Who are we to say what is right and fair?
   1. “God’s thoughts are not our thoughts; God’s ways are far above our ways” (Isaiah 55: 8, 9).
   1. And thanks be to God for this!

We worship the Lord who “wants everyone in the vineyard, everyone paid a living wage, no one left out on the streets” (Jill Duffield).

1. “Mercy not money; grace not grit; welcome not worth!”
2. Do we followers of Christ feel the same? Do we believe the same? Do we want the same?
   1. After all, we also are the recipients of oceans of grace!
   1. None of us deserve all of the goodness that God gives to us!
      1. If it was a matter of being given what we deserve, that is, paid what we earned, our cup would not be so very full.
      1. But we receive oceans of goodness and grace; so much more than however much of a portion we earned!
3. Those workers hired at the end of the day did not really deserve a full day’s pay. But the owner of the vineyard was certainly permitted to do as he wished.
   1. One time Nancy and I had a yard sale. We advertised in the local paper the times of the yard sale one Saturday morning.
   1. Of course we were up earlier and setting things up prior to the start of the sale.
      1. Someone came early and I told them it didn’t start for another half hour or forty-five minutes. They said, “But what about the pre-sale?” They insisted that I should hold a pre-sale.
      1. My thought was, “Isn’t this my yard sale? Can’t I do my yard sale the way I want? I will do this the way I planned to do it!”
         1. Sorry, no pre-sale today! Ha-ha!
4. The vineyard owner was well within his rights to pay as he had negotiated and to bless and be generous to those hired at the end of the day. There was no injustice. Only generosity.
   1. When confronted about it he even said, “Are you envious because I am generous?” The literal Greek translation of that question is, “is your eye evil because I am good?”
      1. That gives an interesting shade of meaning. We talk about the evil eye. Usually it is shone to someone who is really out of line. Can you imagine giving the evil eye to someone who is extravagantly generous and gracious?!

“Mercy not money; grace not grit; welcome not worth.”

What determines your worth?

1. Is it what you accomplish?
   1. Is it the list of your achievements?
   1. Is it the hours you put in?
2. Maybe, just maybe your value is something much deeper and of far more worth.
   1. Tracy Chapman sings a song with this refrain, “All that you have is your soul.”
3. God is the owner of the vineyard! God wants everyone to be in the vineyard and he wants everyone to be well and whole.
4. Here is the answer to the question, “What determines your worth”: The Lord wants to give everyone the full wealth of his kingdom, no less than the full wealth of his reign! That’s what you are worth to the Lord God!
   1. Go ahead and try to quantify that!
   1. Praise be to God!

“Mercy not money; grace not grit; welcome not worth.”