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"For faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." ~ Romans 10:17

The Vineyard of Grace

2/18/2025

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Septuagesima Sunday
Matthew 20:1-16
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
February 16, 2025
 
The kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who hires laborers for his vineyard. The vineyard is the Christian Church on earth. The laborers are Christians, who are called into the vineyard to work. If you are a Christian, then you are a laborer in the Lord’s vineyard. So, here’s the question. On what basis will the Lord pay the laborers in his vineyard? The master said to those whom he hired throughout the day, “You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.” But what is right? Will the master base what is right on how much work the laborer accomplished or on how many hours he worked? Are Christians rewarded based on their works? The clear answer from the parable is no. The laborers in the vineyard are rewarded based on the master’s generosity. And so, Christians are rewarded, not based on their works, but based solely on God’s grace. This is the meaning of Jesus’ statement, “The last will be first, and the first last.”
Very quickly Jesus’ parable departs from what you would expect of an earthly vineyard. Hiring laborers early in the morning with an agreed upon wage, we would expect. But going out throughout the day to hire more, to promise them whatever is right, that is unusual. And what is the point of hiring workers for just the last hour? How much work can they get done? And to turn everything completely upside down, the master instructs his foreman to call those who came last to be paid first, and he paid those who worked one hour the same as those who worked twelve. The only conclusion we can draw from this is that the master is not paying any of the workers based on their input, their labor, their efforts, their work, but solely on his own generosity. Whatever is right is not whatever they’ve earned, but rather what is right is based on the master’s grace.
And this is the consistent teaching of Holy Scripture. God saves us by grace. “For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift from God, not a result of works, lest anyone may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) The master said, “Whatever is right, I will give you.” The word right is the same word as righteous or just, and is related to the word righteousness. To be justified means to be declared righteous. Most believe that a person is justified based on his works, just as most people believe that the right wage for a worker is based on how much he has worked. But it is not so in the kingdom of God. Rather, it is the one who does not work, but trusts in Him who justifies the ungodly whose faith is counted for righteousness (Romans 4:5). St. Paul writes in Romans 3, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received through faith.” Paul consistently teaches that a person is justified, that is, declared righteous by faith apart from works of the Law. He writes in Galatians 2, “Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” (vs. 16) And Paul always pairs faith with grace, because as he says in Romans 4, “That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace.” Faith is the act of receiving a gift. Grace is a gift from God.
The three Gesima Sundays before Lent focus on the three Solas. This Sunday is Grace alone. Next Sunday, with the parable of the sower, is Scripture alone. The Sunday after that, with Jesus’ healing the blind beggar, who believed in Him is Faith alone. But the focus of this sermon is grace. But what is grace? Grace is God’s undeserved love for us. For God to save by grace means that God saves as a free gift. However, not everyone defines grace that way.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that grace is a divine help, which God gives. They teach that God infuses us with grace to enable us to do what we need to do to be justified. They teach that at first, God will reward a work, not based on the value of the work, but on God’s generosity. But then after the person has received more grace, that is, help, the person begins to truly earn a reward based on the value of the work. So, instead of a sinner receiving a reward based purely on God’s generosity, the sinner receives a reward based on his work, which God helped him to do. And there are many variations of this teaching in Christianity and in other world religions. “Sure, God will help you. That’s his grace. But you still need to earn the reward.”
But that is not grace. Grace is not a help that God infuses into you. You don’t find grace in yourself at all. You find grace in God. God’s grace is God’s generosity, God’s attitude, God’s work. This is why the acronym, God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense (GRACE) is a helpful tool. Where do you find God’s grace? You find it in the crucifixion of Christ Jesus, whom God sent to make atonement for your sins. You find it in the preaching of the cross, in your Baptism, and in the Lord’s Supper, which declare Christ’s work of salvation to you. On what is the reward given to the laborers based? The reward is based on Christ’s Work. It is at Christ’s expense that you are paid in the kingdom of heaven.
God is not unjust. He is righteous. That is why He does not ignore sin. Yet, He declares us sinners just. He pays those who do not earn the wage. How can He do this? Because Christ has earned the wage for us. Christ is our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30; Jeremiah 23:6). He paid for our sins on the cross. That is why St. Paul writes in Philippians 3 that he considers all of his own righteousness and merits as rubbish, so that he may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of his own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness of God that depends on faith (Philippians 3:8-9). The master did not pay the laborers counterfeit money when he paid them what they didn’t earn. He gave them real money from his own purse. Likewise, God does not lie when He declares us righteous. He declares to us real righteousness, bought and paid for by the perfect obedience of Christ and His holy labor on the cross for us. And so, you do not find God’s grace in your measly works, but in the labor of Christ Himself.
The proper understanding of grace is so important, for two reasons. First, it gives proper honor to Christ. Christ has completely satisfied the Law in your stead and taken away all your sins. The baptized put on Christ as a holy garment, having washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. To say that Christ’s righteousness is not enough is to dishonor Jesus. Second, the proper understanding of grace is important, because it gives you certainty of your salvation. If grace were just God’s help so that you could earn what is right, then you would always be in doubt of whether you have employed his grace well enough.
The Bible never tells us to trust in our works. Rather, Jesus says that when you have done all that was commanded of you, you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ (Luke 17:10) It was not only the laborers who worked but one hour who did not earn their denarius. It was also those who had worked twelve hours who had not earned it. As long as we labor in the vineyard, we receive by God’s grace alone. We never consider our works as meriting our salvation.
So, does this mean that we do not work? Should we continue in sin, so that grace may abound? “By no means!” St. Paul says, “How can we who died to sin still live in it!” When the master called the men, who were standing idle in the marketplace into his vineyard, he did not intend for them to stand idle in his vineyard. He intended for them to work in the vineyard. And so, you, who have been called into the Lord’s vineyard, that is, into the Holy Christian Church, you are expected to work! You are called to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This means that you worship Him. You are called to love your neighbor as yourself. This means that you serve your neighbor, beginning with those of your own household, and then of your congregation and community, considering the needs of others before your own. As laborers in a vineyard prune unhealthy branches, so you labor in the Church by repenting of your sins and putting off the old self and putting on the new self. This is hard work. This is a battle between the spirit and the flesh within you. Christ has called you to cultivate fruit in His vineyard. A person who refuses to do this work should not consider himself a Christian. One who continues in hatred, laziness, and impenitent sin cannot honestly claim to be a laborer in Jesus’ vineyard, but is still standing idle in the marketplace.
We are not saved by our works. We are saved by grace. But you are still called to work. However, some get confused by Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9, where he says that we should strive to win the prize, comparing the Christian life to that of an athlete. Does this not teach that we are saved by our works? No. Rather, St. Paul is telling us how to live a faithful life. He gives the Israelites as an example. They were all baptized into Moses when they passed through the Red Sea, and they all ate and drank the spiritual food and drink of Christ, as we do today through the Word and Sacraments. Nevertheless, most of them did not reach the promised land. Why? Because they fell into unbelief. Instead of continuing to trust in the Lord who redeemed them, they fell into grumbling, idolatry, and sexual immorality. To use the analogy of the Vineyard, they put their pruning hooks down and left the vineyard!
The enemy of your saving faith is your old sinful flesh, which does not want to do the work of the Lord. The way you battle your old sinful flesh is through faith in God’s grace shown in Jesus Christ. St. Paul admonishes the Galatians in chapter 3, “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” It is foolish to believe that you will be perfected by your works. Rather, Paul’s call for us to work like athletes is a call to have an active faith in God’s grace. Be joyful laborers, who trust that your Good Master will pay you what is Right, because Christ Jesus has made it right.
Jesus is the Good Master who invites you into the vineyard. He says, “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) Jesus’ yoke is easy and His burden is light, because He has already accomplished your salvation. Your work is light in His vineyard, because your pay is already secured by His blood. And whatever additional reward God lavishes on you, He gives not based on your merits, but on His own generosity.
So, work diligently in this Vineyard. Train yourself like an athlete to subdue your sinful flesh under you, so that it does not drive you from this work. In the Lord’s vineyard, your labor is never in vain and your pay is always secure. Amen.  

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Is Salvation Easy or Hard?

1/31/2024

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Epistle: 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:5  
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.  
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.  
 
Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16 
1 [Jesus said] “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.” 
Septuagesima Sunday 
Matthew 20:1-16 
Pastor James Preus 
January 28, 2024 
 
 Is Salvation easy or hard? Is it difficult to be saved or is it effortless? Scripture appears to give two answers! In our Gospel lesson, we see that those who worked but one hour received the same wage as those who worked twelve, showing that our salvation does not depend on our works, but on God’s grace. Yet, in our Epistle lesson, St. Paul exhorts you to “run that you may obtain” the prize. On the one hand, Jesus says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) Yet, on the other hand Jesus says, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:12-13) On the one hand, St. Paul writes, “For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) Yet, on the other hand, St. Paul writes, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12)  
So, what is the answer? Yes! Salvation is easy and Salvation is hard. Being saved is effortless and being saved is the most difficult thing in the world. Salvation is incredibly hard work, yet Salvation does not depend on your work whatsoever. But how can this be? To explain this, first, we must make a distinction between how Salvation is gained, and how Salvation is given and received.  
Salvation is gained, that is, earned and won in no other way than through the hard labor and bitter sufferings and death of Jesus Christ. It is impossible for you to earn your salvation by your own works, because you are by nature a poor miserable sinner. Poor miserable sinners can only sin. They cannot please God. This is why Scripture proclaims, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12, quoting Psalm 14:1-3) and “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) The wages of sins is death, so the only wages you have earned from your labor is eternal death in hell. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, which is received through faith (Romans 6:23). This is why St. Paul argues in Romans chapter 4, “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” (vss. 4-5)  
When we consider the labor of those workers in the vineyard, we can think of it as sacrifices. Work is a sacrifice offered up by the worker. Now, in the kingdom of heaven, there are two types of sacrifices: the sacrifice of atonement, which pays for sins and sacrifices of thanksgiving, which give thanks to God for His grace. There is and always has been and always will be only one sacrifice of atonement, and that is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross to make payment for the sins of the whole world. Only the blood of Jesus can satisfy God’s wrath against sin. Only the death of God’s Son can forever pay our debt and set us free. Therefore, all other sacrifices offered in the kingdom of heaven are sacrifices of thanksgiving.  
That is why these laborers are all paid the same. Their work is a sacrifice of thanksgiving, not an atoning sacrifice. They are paid for the sake of the atoning sacrifice offered by Christ. That is why they all get paid the same. They all have the same Christ. They all benefit from the same sacrifice. And this sacrifice wins salvation for them whether they have worked a lot or a little. Those who grumbled showed that they had lost their faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ, because they thought their sacrifices of thanksgiving were taking away their sins and winning salvation for them. They replaced Christ and His work with themselves and their own work as the object of their faith.  
So, we see by how our salvation is gained, that it is the most difficult work imaginable. In fact, no one can accomplish this work except Jesus Christ alone. Yet, He has accomplished it for us! It is finished. Your sins are atoned for! You are forgiven. Now salvation for you is easy. It is a free gift received by faith alone.  
Yet, here we encounter another problem: how salvation is given and received. Is salvation easily given and received? Well, in one sense, it is given and received very easily. Salvation is given through the Word and Sacraments. When the Gospel is preached and the Holy Sacraments of Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper are administered, the Holy Spirit works through God’s promise to create and sustain faith in the hearer, so that the hearer is saved. How difficult is it to hear? How difficult is it to believe? How difficult is it to receive a free gift?  
Well, as a matter of fact, it is incredibly difficult! First, we have false prophets and false teachers, who pervert the Word of God and proclaim lies, so Jesus must warn us to beware of false prophets, who come to us in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves (Matthew 7:15). Yet, even when you hear only the pure Gospel from a faithful preacher, there still stands an insurmountable obstacle between you and saving faith. The prophet Isaiah speaks of it in chapter 6, “Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” (vss. 9-10) This is why Jesus says to his disciples, “Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.” (Matthew 13:16) Their eyes and ears are blessed, because God has opened them. “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given,” Jesus told his disciples (Matthew 13:11). This is why Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” (John 6:44) And St. Paul writes to the Corinthians in his first epistle, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14) and “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except in the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3)  
So, according to your sinful nature, not only are you incapable of pleasing God and earning your salvation by your own works, but you are also incapable of believing and accepting the Gospel, even as it is preached in its purity. Rather, the Holy Spirit must convert you, open your eyes and ears and heart to understand and accept the Gospel. This is what St. Paul refers to in Ephesians 2, when He says that God “made us alive together with Christ, even when we were dead in our trespasses.” (Ephesians 2:5) It is the Holy Spirit, who creates faith where and when it pleases God. So, to be given and to receive salvation is greatly difficult, beyond our ability. Yet, it does not depend on our ability, but on God’s grace, who gives and grants faith as a gift.  
Okay, so I think we’ve got it. Salvation is difficult, yea, impossible for us to gain, yet God gains it for us through Christ Jesus. Salvation is hard, yea, insurmountable to give and receive, yet God gives and grants faith to receive it by grace. So, salvation is difficult, yet it is easy. Yet, why then does Jesus tell us to strive to enter the narrow door (Luke 13:24), and call the way hard, which leads to life? And why does St. Paul tell us to run, that we may obtain the prize (1 Cor. 9:24) and to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), if it is God’s work, and not ours, which will accomplish it?  
Because we are not robots. God saves us monergistically, that is, only God accomplishes our conversion. Yet, God does not save us independently of the human will. He regenerates the human will, so that you do indeed feel remorse over your sins and choose Christ as your Savior. You cannot take credit for this work, but you certainly are going to experience the work being done in and through you!  
I’m sorry, I took a passage earlier out of context. I quoted St. Paul from Philippians 2, saying, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (vs. 12) What he actually wrote is, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (vss. 12-13) Now, in context, that says quite a different thing, doesn’t it? It is God who works in you! You will to do Christ’s will, because God is working in you. You work the works of Christ, because God is working in you to accomplish them. You are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works (Ephesians 2:10), so that you can say with St. Paul, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20)  
So, when Jesus tells us to strive to enter the narrow door and when St. Paul tells us to run, that we may obtain the prize, they are not telling us that we will enter or obtain by our own strength, merits, or works. Rather, it is God who begins, sustains, and completes our salvation. Our salvation does not depend on our own works, but continuing in impenitent sin can destroy saving faith and lead a believer into damnation. St. Paul warns that the children of Israel  who were baptized into Moses and ate and drank the same spiritual food and drink as us, were overthrown in the wilderness, because they chose idolatry, fornication, and grumbling over faith. So, Scripture exhorts us to keep working. Do not let your new self lie dormant, so that your old self takes control. Don’t stand in the marketplace idle all day, but get into the vineyard, and offer those sacrifices of thanksgiving. And you have this wonderful promise, that although you are called to work and strive, your salvation does not depend on your working and striving. Your salvation depends on God’s grace through Christ Jesus, who earned your salvation for you. And your faith remains secure by the power of the omnipotent Holy Spirit, who creates and sustains faith through the preaching of the Gospel and the Holy Sacraments. Through faith, your yoke is easy and your burden is light, because Christ promises you salvation, which does not depend on your works.  So, is Salvation easy or hard? It is easy, only for those who have faith in Christ and continue to run race with hope. Without faith, it is impossible. Amen.  


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Working in the Vineyard by Grace

2/6/2023

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Picture
Johann Christian Brand, "Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard," 1769. Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna.
Septuagesima
Matthew 20:1-16
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
February 5, 2023
 
Jesus’ parable for this Sunday teaches us of the first conflict in the Christian Church. As you know, God chose Abraham, Isaac, and Israel out of all the people in the world to make for Himself a special nation, which would be called by His name. God made a covenant with Abraham and gave him and his descendants after him the sign of circumcision. God called Moses and the children of Israel out of Egypt and brought them to Mount Sinai, where He gave them His Law. God sent Israel into His vineyard, so to speak, with Sabbaths and Festivals to observe, plus 613 commandments. Israel labored hard in God’s vineyard, bearing a heavy load and at times scorching heat. Many of them were killed for transgressing God’s Law. Their temple was destroyed. Their people were taken exile. God accused them of producing wild grapes, when He had given them the choicest vines (Isaiah 5)!
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Yet, Israel kept laboring. She bore the history of her exile with pride. The more the nations hated her, the more proudly she labored under the sun in the vineyard. When her sons were hated for their mark of circumcision, they became even prouder of it. When the nations stuck up their noses at their sacrifices and mocked their restricted diet, she became more zealous in offering up sacrifices to the Lord and abstaining from unclean meats. And all this Israel did, waiting for the Messiah to come and give to her her wages.

Yet, when the Messiah came, He invited those of the nations to join them in the vineyard in the last hour! The people of the nations, who sat idle in the market place all day, refusing hire and mocking and ridiculing Israel as she labored in the hot sun, came in the last moment. What is worse, they were paid the same wage as Israel, who labored in the hot sun!

This is the first conflict in the Christian Church. Christ made the Gentile Christians, who came at the last hour, equal with the Jewish Christians, who had borne the burden of God’s Law. So, Judaizing Christians begrudged Christ’s generosity. They insisted that Gentile Christians needed to be circumcised, and to abstain from eating unclean meat, and to observe the Sabbath and the festivals, and the entire book of Moses. In short, they wanted the Gentiles to labor as hard as they did before they could be paid the same wage.

But that’s not the way Christ pays His laborers. The fact of the matter is, Christ does not pay His laborers according to their works, but according to His own mercy; that is to say, Christ deals with us by grace. Grace is God’s undeserved love for us. Grace is a free gift.  St. Paul, a former Pharisee, wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “For there is no distinction (that is, there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile): for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:22b-24)

This grace is received through faith alone. St. Paul further writes in Romans 4, “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”
Therefore, when the Judaizing Christians tried to force the Gentile Christians to submit to the Law of Moses, St. Peter responded, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us, and He made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (Acts 15:7-11) This again is why St. Paul says in Romans 10, “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all.” (Romans 10:12) and “There is neither Jew nor Greek, … for we are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28)

Yet, the importance of this lesson goes beyond the relationship between Jewish and Gentile Christians. This concerns all Christians, everywhere. We are not saved by our works. In fact, our works in and of themselves are always riddled with sin. So, what do we deserve according to our sins? Scripture tells us that the wages of sin is death! But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:23). So, we do not earn eternal life by working in the vineyard, rather we are place in the vineyard, because Christ has earned that eternal life for us.

And we should not ever grumble about others in the vineyard. Jesus tells us that we should simply answer, “We are but unprofitable servants, we have only done what was our duty.” (Luke 17:10) We should simply be grateful that we are permitted to labor in the vineyard.

St. Paul warns the Gentile Christians that if the Jews, who were the natural branches, were cut off to make room for them, the wild branches, so too the wild branches could be cut off! (Romans 11:20-21) He who thinks he stands, take heed, lest he fall! (1 Corinthians 10:12) It is by grace that we enter the vineyard. It is by grace that we receive a reward. If others prove unfaithful, we should not boast in ourselves, because it is only by the grace of God that we remain faithful. And if others should join the work in the vineyard at the last hour, we should not begrudge the grace God shows to them, but rejoice in the generosity of our Master.

The reason salvation is by grace as a free gift is for two reasons. First, you are incapable of earning your salvation. Scripture says, “Those who are of the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:8). Yet, you are born according to the flesh! (John 3:6; Ephesians 2:3) A sinner can do nothing of himself to please God. To put it bluntly, a sinner can only sin. So, if all your works are stained with sin, how can you please God with your sin? It is like a child trying to wipe the mud off his mother’s clean Sunday dress with hands covered in mud. He can only make the muddy mess worse! So, we cannot remove our sins by sinning more.

Second, only Jesus can take our sins away. Only Jesus is true God and true man, anointed by God to make satisfaction for all sins. Only the blood of Jesus can wash our sins away. This is why everyone in the vineyard gets paid the same. They all receive the same Christ. My Jesus cannot be greater or lesser than your Jesus. So, my Baptism cannot be greater or lesser than your Baptism, nor can the body of Christ I eat in the Supper be holier or mightier or closer to God’s right hand than the body of Christ you eat in the Supper, nor can the blood I drink cleanse less sins than the blood you drink. We all receive the one and the same Jesus. There is one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one God and Father over all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:5-6)

This is why God makes all the workers in the vineyard equal, because they are not getting paid according to their own works, but according to the work of Christ, who is one and the same for everyone.

Yet, if Jesus has done all the work necessary to save us, so that our works do not earn for us salvation, then why work at all? Why not do as we please and enjoy life? Because one who lives such a way is a slave of sin and will not receive a reward from the Good Master. As clearly as Scripture teaches that our works do not save us, so clearly does Scripture teach us that our work is still necessary. St. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

If you have faith in Christ, you will do good works. If you have faith in Christ, you will labor in the vineyard. But if you remain outside the vineyard, you will not receive the wage Christ earned for you..

As Christians, we should be happy laborers. The paradise we will inherit was prefigured by the paradise once lost in the fall of Adam and Eve. Before the fall, what did Adam do? God put him in the garden to work (Genesis 2:15). Work, before sin or death or suffering entered the world. Adam worked in paradise. Work does not equal pain and suffering. This is why St. John tells us that God’s commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3). God’s commandments are that we believe in Christ Jesus His Son and that we love one another (1 John 3:23). Our faith in Christ is a gift from God. And the love we show to one another is a fruit produced by that faith.

Our works serve our neighbor and supply the proof that faith is living. And God then uses the good works he harvests from us to strengthen our faith, because the love we have for our neighbors combats the temptation of the devil and our sinful flesh. And the love we have for God draws us to continue to receive His grace by hearing His Word and receiving Christ’s body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. And through faith our good works are pleasing to God. For one thing, they are produced by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. And, God looks over our faults and sins for the sake of Christ’s shed blood for us.

Scripture uses those who fell before us as examples to us. We should not desire evil as some of them did, nor grumble, nor commit sexual immorality. They were destroyed by God for their apostasy, that is, for their falling away, but this was recorded in Scripture to teach us! Why did they fall? Because they did not have faith (Romans 9:32). They did not trust in God to provide for them and instead trusted in their own works and ideas. Above all, this is what we must guard against. Without faith, even the grace God gives us becomes labor, as we see with so many who find it too much of a chore to come to church to receive God’s grace and forgiveness. Yet, when faith is strong, even the labor in the vineyard is like Adam working in Eden in the cool of the day.

So, when the work in the Lord’s vineyard does become burdensome, turn your eyes to Jesus who labored for you on His cross. See the grace God shows you for Christ’s sake. This alone will give you the strength to labor joyfully. This alone grants you an eternal reward. Amen. 

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The Last Will Be First

2/15/2022

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Picture
Salomon Koninck, Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, 1647-49. Public Domain.
Septuagesima  
Matthew 20:1-16 
Pastor James Preus 
February 13, 2022 
 
In this parable, our Lord Jesus simply teaches us how God rewards his laborers in the kingdom of heaven. You shouldn’t get hung up trying to figure out what the denarius symbolizes, but simply recognize that God does not save us based on our works. Those who worked for twelve hours under the hot sun and those who worked just an hour in the cool of the evening received the same wage, because the master was not paying them according to their work, but according to his own generosity.  
​


This is how the kingdom of heaven operates. In Luke 17, Jesus teaches his disciples, “When you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” Unprofitable servants. That is what we are. That is, we are not earning our keep. Those who labored longer or harder should not begrudge those who labored fewer hours, because they got paid the same as if the master is taking from the hard workers to pay the lazy ones. No, everyone is getting paid according to the master’s generosity, from the master’s purse. They are not making a profit for the master. The late-comers are not stealing from the early-comers. Everyone receives a gift that he doesn’t deserve.  


Those who made a deal with the master at the beginning of the day grumbled, because they thought they had earned more than the others. That is how the works-righteous think. The works-righteous are those who think they can become righteous before God by their own works. Yet, Scripture says in Romans chapter 3, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in God’s sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”, and “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Scripture makes clear that no one will save himself by his own works, because everyone is a sinner.  


The works-righteous want to make a deal with God. They’ll do their part if God does his part. But this places them under the law. And this causes them to reject God’s generosity in the Gospel. St. Paul says that Israel did not succeed in reaching a righteousness by the law, because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works (Romans 9:30-32). Again, St. Paul teaches us that whatever does not proceed from faith is sin (Romans 14:23). So, the works-righteous proceeding without faith can only sin. And the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). So, by insisting on be rewarded by their works, they lose the gift. But what does Scripture say, “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” (Romans 4:4-5) 


Now this does not mean that Christians should not do good works. St. Paul does not mean that the one who believes in him who justifies the ungodly does not also do good works, but rather, he does not trust in his works to save him, but in God alone, who forgives the ungodly apart from their works. Even those who went into the vineyard in the eleventh hour worked. But their work did not contribute to their salvation. Christians do good works, because God commands them to and by doing good works, they give glory to God, their generous master (Matthew 5:16). Christians do good works to help their neighbor, because, having been loved by God, they also love one another.  


And Christians do good works to confirm their calling. St. Peter writes, “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities, you will never fall.” (2 Peter 1:5-10) So, good works do not earn your salvation, but you can lose your salvation if you continue in sin without repenting. So, being busy in good works and learning God’s Word can keep you from backsliding into wicked sins, which lead to unbelief. As the saying goes, “Idol hands are the devil’s workshop.”  


But your good works do not earn your salvation. Salvation is a free gift earned for you by the merits of Christ Jesus. This is God’s generosity! That he sent his only begotten Son to die for our sins. The generous master says, “Whatever is right, I will give you.” What he is saying is, “I will give to you for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of my beloved Son. So rich is my generosity.”  


This is why, in the parable, each laborer received the same denarius. Although, working in the Lord’s Vineyard, we have various tasks. There are pastors, teachers, elders, trustees, and musicians; there are husbands and wives, fathers and mothers. Some have the task of teaching and preaching God’s Word, others in caring for the elderly, others in caring for children, others in supplying for the needs of the church. Some work is noticed by all, while other work is often ignored. The labor of the vineyard includes the caring for souls and the changing of diapers, the labor of fathers and mothers, and the chores of even little children. Yet, all of these workers in the Lord’s Vineyard receive the same Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:11)! They worship one Lord, hold on to one faith, have been washed in one Baptism (Ephesians 4:4-6). All laborers in the Lord’s Vineyard receive their prize by the merits of the one and only Christ Jesus, so none can receive a greater Christ than the other, as Scripture declares, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) We all put on the same Christ Jesus in our Baptism; that’s why we each receive the same denarius.  


So, Jesus concludes this parable by saying, “So the last will be first, and the first last.”  Here again, Jesus teaches that we receive our eternal reward through faith and not by our works. The last are those who consider themselves last, who acknowledge that they are unprofitable servants. For this reason, the last trust not in their own works or how much they’ve earned, but rather they trust solely in the generosity of the Good Master found in the sacred suffering and death of Jesus Christ. St. Paul summarizes this perfectly in his letter to the Philippians in chapter three, “But whatever gain I had, I count as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” (vss. 7-9) 


So, it is not that the last have done no good works, or that they have worked less than the first, but that they do not consider their works worth mentioning. They do not trust in an award based on their works. They trust solely in the Lord’s generosity.  


The first are those who consider themselves worthy of a reward from God and who do not trust in God’s generosity through Christ. They often grumble and despise those whom they consider last. As with the last, to be first is the condition of your heart. How do you consider yourself? Are you better than others? Are your works better? Do you deserve your seat in heaven? It’s easy to feign humility and claim that you don’t think you’re better than others, but unless you hold Christ alone as your righteousness, you consider yourself first.  


But the last will be first. Those who repent of their own sins and trust in Christ alone for their salvation will be saved. They will receive a reward not equal to their work. And the first will be last. Those who refuse to acknowledge their own sins and repent, who trust in their own goodness and works, they will be put last, that is, they will be condemned. They’ll receive whatever earthly reward they get, and will be forever shut out of the Lord’s good Vineyard.  


We are unprofitable servants. We cannot earn our way to salvation. We don’t make a profit for our master. In this world, that is a precarious situation to be in! No one wants to be unprofitable! But in the kingdom of heaven, this is the best situation to be in, because it means that you depend on Christ. If you found an owner of a vineyard here on earth, who would pay you a day’s wage for showing up for an hour, that might be a pretty sweet situation. Until the foolish man ran out of money. But our God will never run out of his generosity, because he pays us by the merits of Jesus’ precious blood. The man who died for our sins is our God. In his blood is infinite forgiveness, endless grace and mercy. There is no more certain ground you can stand on than on God’s promise for Christ’s sake.  


Those who consider themselves first in their hearts live in a delusion. They are confident that rubbish is worth its weight in gold. Their situation is dire, unless they can be convinced to let go of their own vanity and rejoice in the generosity of God. But those, who place themselves last, who trust not in their own works, but rely solely on God’s generosity for Christ’s sake, they cannot lose. Jesus cannot fail them. He will never run out of his grace and forgiveness. And, you will find, and it may surprise you on the last day, that those who were last actually did produce more beautiful fruit by their labors than those prized by the world. Amen.  
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Equality under the Law; Equality under the Gospel

2/1/2021

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Picture
Lucas Cranach the Younger, The Vineyard of the Lord, 1569, Public Domain.
Septuagesima 
Matthew 20:1-16 
January 31, 2021 

 

 

The first thing we need to realize about this parable of our Lord Jesus is that he is not teaching us what a master of a vineyard is like or how a vineyard is run. Rather, he is teaching us what the kingdom of heaven is like by comparing it to a master and vineyard unlike any you would find on earth. No employer would pay his workers, who worked one hour the same as his workers, who worked all day in the hot sun. In fact, no employer would go out in the last hour of the day to hire workers for that day! Yet, this is the way God works. The grumbling of those workers who worked all hours of the day is the grumbling of the works-righteous against God and his kingdom.  

The laborers who agreed to a denarius a day grumbled when those who worked just an hour got paid the same as them, who bore the burden of the day and the scorching heat. “He made us equal,” they complained. And this of course, teaches us about the kingdom of God. It makes us equal. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, no male and female, but we are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). The reason we are all equal, is because we all receive the same gift: the same Jesus, the same Baptism, the same Lord’s Supper, the same forgiveness and salvation. This greatly upsets those who are proud of their great labor and think they deserve more than others. Instead of seeing the master’s generosity as a sign of great love, they resent him for it.  

The term works-righteous refers to people who think that they are righteous before God by their own works. In other words, they think they deserve a reward from God. In several places, Jesus preaches against works-righteousness. In Luke chapter 17, he says, “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” Would that we could say that! Would that we had done our duty! Yet, we know that we have not even done that. We have not done what was commanded of us. It was commanded of us that we love the Lord God with all our heart, soul, and mind. None of us has done that. It was commanded of us that we love our neighbor as ourselves. None of us can claim to have reached such a level of selflessness. This is why St. Paul writes in Galatians 3, “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’”  

So, while the works-righteous grumble against God, because they see that God’s grace makes everyone equal, they fail to realize that God’s Law has already made everyone equal, by condemning one and all as a sinner! Again, Scripture declares, “None is righteous, no not one;” and “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:10, 23) Yet, if you do not realize that the Law has condemned us all, then you will not recognize how wonderful it is that the Gospel saves us all. Again, Scripture says in Romans 11:32, “For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.” In other words, God has convicted everyone of sin, so that he might save them by his grace, as a gift. Just as all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, all “are justified by God’s grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” (Romans 3:24-25) 

The Law condemns everyone. No one can be saved by his own works. No one can claim to be righteous before God by his own works. No matter how good you think you are or how much better you think you are than others, the Law condemns you the same. Everyone deserves to go to hell.  

The Gospel saves everyone. There is no one that the Gospel does not offer free forgiveness of sins and salvation. No matter how bad your sins are, how undeserving you are of the kingdom of heaven, the Gospel offers it to you freely for Christ’s sake.  

Although the Gospel offers salvation to everyone freely, not everyone receives it. This is because it can only be received through faith. Faith is how the gift of eternal life is received. What is faith? Believing and trusting in the promise. When you believe that God is gracious to you and forgives all your sins for Christ’s sake, then you receive his grace and forgiveness. And nothing, not your sins or Satan himself can take that grace and forgiveness away from you. That it is by faith makes it clear that it does not depend on your works. Your works are riddled with sin. Your works put your salvation into doubt. But faith clings to Jesus alone, which makes your salvation trustworthy and sure.  

“Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” (Romans 4:4-5) It can’t possibly get any clearer than that. Your works do not earn for you righteousness. Faith makes you righteous before God by trusting in him who declares the ungodly righteous. Just so, the master of the vineyard gave a full day’s wage to those who had hardly gotten to the vineyard, because they trusted in him.  

Some might accuse this of cheap grace. There is nothing cheap about it. The master didn’t hand out counterfeit money. He paid those who worked for an hour a full day’s wage, just as he paid all the works for a whole day. He gave away his money to those who trusted in him. This is how the kingdom of heaven is like. Christ Jesus paid the debt for our sins. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:13-14) 

Grace is not cheap. It is given to us at the cost of the precious blood and innocent suffering and death of God’s own Son Jesus Christ. There literally is no price higher, no treasure more precious. The fact that it is given away freely to those who do not deserve it does not make it any less valuable. The denarius the last workers received was worth just as much as the denarius the first workers received. It bought just as much food and clothing. Yet, if someone were to treat faith as a cheap thing, as if the grace it receives is not expensively wrought, then that would not be faith. If a sinner were to interpret faith as a license to sin, he would not have true faith. It would be like someone hearing the call to come to the vineyard, but not entering the vineyard at all. He would not receive the denarius.  

The vineyard is the Holy Christian Church on earth. One enters the Holy Christian Church through faith. Yet, in order to have faith, you must be called, just as the workers did not enter the vineyard until the master went out and invited them in. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17). This is how this free forgiveness and salvation is given: through the proclamation of the Gospel, so that it can be received through faith.  

Because it is a matter of faith and not works, the master will not stop calling until the very end. Think of it. Who calls day laborers at the very last hour of the day? They hardly have any time to work! Yet, God calls until the sun goes down. Christ may return this afternoon for all we know. Yet, until then God will still be calling. He continues to send out his ministers to preach the free forgiveness of sins for Christ’s sake. And so, this parable not only teaches us that we will receive our reward from our heavenly Father by grace through faith and not on account of our works. But this parable teaches us that God is still calling more people to come to his vineyard and see that he is good and generous. Today there are people outside the vineyard we are currently laboring in. They are outside, but God wants them inside. He doesn’t want them standing around idol. He calls them as he calls you. He desires their salvation, even as Christ Jesus poured his blood for them. And this should be our desire too. We should not be ashamed of the Gospel, but desire all to believe it as we do, because it is the power of salvation to all who believe.  

Jesus uses a parable about workers to teach us about grace, which is salvation without work. We are not saved by our work, but we are called to work. Yet, the work we are called to do is not like the work, which weighs down the works-righteous. Jesus calls to us, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30). This might sound strange, when we recollect the great labors Christians bear for the sake of the kingdom: persecution, mockery, hatred, and the like. Yet, Jesus calls these yokes easy. Why? Because we bear them through faith in Christ. We do not labor under a heavy-handed master, who wants to make sure that he gets what he pays for. We labor freely under him, who desires to give his kingdom to us as a gift. We do not box as one beating the air. We do not labor in vain. We know we have a reward stored up for us, because Christ Jesus has earned it for us. If the world lays on persecution and hatred, this cannot take away our reward from Christ, rather, it gives us greater confidence that we bear his name! 

Yet, those who think they must earn their way resent every pound they must carry and every minute they must labor. They resent those who get paid the same as them, because they think they have earned more. So, in their act of proving to themselves that they are righteous, they prove to God that they are not by hating their neighbor whom God loves. The Law lays on a heavy burden and only God’s grace and forgiveness can lift its weight from your back.  

Those who wanted to be paid the wages of their labors were told to take their payment and go. And they left the vineyard. It is like the hymnist puts it,  

“But they who have always resisted His grace 

And on their own virtue depended 

Shall then be condemned at cast out from His Face,  

Eternally lost and unfriended.  

Have mercy upon us, O Jesus! (Magnus Landstad, Lo, Many Shall Come from the East and the West, TLH 415:2)  

But those who received the gift through faith remained with the kind master. This is how we remain in the vineyard of our Lord: through faith in his grace and forgiveness for Christ’s sake. And through faith in God’s grace, we will be content to labor in his vineyard until we are welcomed into the heavenly eternal vineyard. Because, through faith in Christ we know our labor is not in vain. Amen.   


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    Rev. James Preus

    Rev. Preus is the pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ottumwa, IA. These are audio and text of the sermons he preaches at Trinity according to the Historical Lectionary. 
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