Amazing Grace- or is it?
Matthew 20:1-16
Rev. Frank Schaefer

Today is all about God's grace and we think as Christians that it is pretty amazing not least because of the song Amazing Grace right? But is it really that amazing? That's our question today.

Let me start off by saying when I worked in Lebanon, PA at a mental hospital I ran into a woman who who told me during a service I was conducting there where I announced that we're gonna do Amazing Grace, because everybody knows that song. She said: "you know we sing that here a lot, Amazing Grace, and after a while it's not that amazing anymore."

So that's what I want to start with today, the question whether God's grace is not that amazing to begin with. Jesus started his parable off by saying the kingdom of heaven is like....

What would you fill in that into that blank? What would you say the kingdom of heaven is like? A beautiful sunset? A strong castle? A sandy beach?

But, to our surprise, Jesus likens the kingdom of God to a land owner a land owner's operation. This land owner goes out early in the morning-mind you this land owner does his own managerial work- he goes out at six o'clock in the morning and goes to the labor market and hires ten day laborers.

Now it just so happens that yesterday, I parked my car on Yonoyan street, which is where our day laborer market place is here in Santa Barbara. I saw all the day laborers lined up and waiting for someone to hire them, There must have been dozens, maybe a couple of hundred of waiting to make some wages and live another day. It's so strange to see this kind of thing still going on in today's world. It's actually sad and doesn't speak highly of our country's economic or immigration policies.

And so this is the the kind of scenario of our land owner In the parable; he goes to this kind of labor
market and hires ten people early in the morning. Then he goes back at coffee break and hires ten more and then at lunch time ten more. And then as it becomes clear that the harvest just can't be brought in with those thirty laborers, he goes out and hires another ten at tea time and then another ten at around dinner time, even though there was only an hour of daylight left at that point.

And of course by that time all the strong and abled workers are all gone and the ones that are there now, they waited all day to get hired, still holding out hope to be able to bring in at least some money for the day. Imagine their joy as they get hired. And so they are happy to work for just an hour.

Then, at the end of the day, when they all receive their day wages, everybody gets the same pay. The men who have been working since six o'clock in the morning get the same as the men who were just hired an hour prior.

Now if you were one of those early birds and you saw that the guy next to you got the same paycheck than you for doing only one hour of work after you put in a hard day's work and sweat, how would you feel? Honestly how would you feel? Well, wouldn't you feel angry and cheated?

You could have slept in and still gotten the same paycheck. It's just not fair! And there it is, God's grace is not fair. It's not right!

Sometimes it helps us understand a parable better, if we take different perspectives.
Let's indulge in that, shall we?

Let's take the perspective of the early workers. So, obviously, these people worked hard all day they, labored hard. They feel like they deserve better; they feel unappreciated.

They might have thought: "nobody saw how much work I did and how hard I worked. It just didn't make a difference to them. If it did, they would give me more instead of giving me the same as everybody else."

First of all, these workers agreed to be paid a denarius and that's exactly what they got paid. Just because the land owner was generous and gave the others more, doesn't mean he did anything wrong or offensive.

I think that kind of attitude is what's wrong with the world today. It's a human tragedy that we always look at those who have more and compare ourselves to them and and feel entitled to the same kind of blessing that they have, the same kind of income the same kind of wealth.

And if we are fortunate in life and we get there one day, we look to like those who have even more and compare ourselves to them. Instead we should be looking to those who are less fortunate and have less than us and we should be trying to figure out how we can help them. Now that's what Jesus would do! No, that's what Jesus did do; he led by example.

This attitude of feeling entitled, this attitude of greed is responsible for at least half of the world's trouble. If we could only adjust our attitude and look to those who have less than us; if we could only have our hearts moved with love and compassion for them and help them out, I feel this world would be a much better place.

So, let's take the perspective of those who came later to the field, the workers that got hired for just an hour. How would you feel? I would actually feel very fortunate and very grateful that finally somebody understands my situation and gives me a break.

I would feel really blessed by receiving more than I expected. Maybe there would be a part of me that felt badly for the others and, perhaps, I would even think it is not fair to them. But I wouldn't feel angry or disappointed, I would feel blessed and grateful.

And then, of course, there is the perspective of the land owner. This is God's perspective as Jesus made it made clear. Jesus really has some interesting news for us today. Jesus is trying to tell us something with this parable and here is the good news: God is not fair!

Wait did you just say that's good news? How is that good news? God is not fair because God is more than fair. God is gracious, God is generous. God is compassionate. God sees those who have been standing at the market all day long in the hopes of getting hired, God knows they have to feed their families, just like everybody else, God gives them generously out of compassion and love exactly what they need and not what they deserve.

Woa hold on….doesn't that sound a lot like socialism? Are you saying God is a socialist? Honestly, I wouldn't call it socialism, Jesus doesn't say God's kingdom is socialistic (well, that term didn't even exist back then), but if socialist countries incorporate some of the aspects of the kingdom of God, then...good for them! Jesus isn't saying that you cannot own more than others, that hard work shouldn't be paid fairly (remember, even the early workers were paid what they agreed on). But Jesus is saying that all God's children should be paid a living wage, no matter their abilities. And that's what makes God's Kingdom a happy place. Nobody has to be homeless or go hungry in God's kingdom. Would you want that to be any other way?

The very definition of grace is that it is unmerited-that it is undeserved! Thank God that God is not fair. Or else we'd all be in trouble. Just look at today's society. Have you noticed how many people die of hunger or are homeless and without hope of a good future? God's grace is based on God's generosity and it's based on God's great wonderful never-ending unconditional love for us. God gives us according to what we need and not just what we deserve. And that's how EVERYBODY can live happily in God's Kingdom. That's what God's amazing grace looks like, that's what it means. So let's sing about it this morning...