CUI Chapel: November 9^th, 2017

Theme: Joy in all circumstances

Text: Psalm 66

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Psalmist declares:

Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
   sing the glory of his name;
    give to him glorious praise!

It’s easy to have joy in all circumstances life is going well

When you’re hanging out with your roommates or friends.

When you’re celebrating a Holiday with family, not that anyone is counting down to Thanksgiving break here, though, right?!

When a tough final or presentation is done and you’re celebrating a victory dance – it’s ok to admit it; we’ve all done a little happy dance at some point.

Yes, when life is good, it’s easy to join the Psalmist and shout for joy to God, to sing the glory of his name, and give him thanks and praise.

But, of course, we know that life isn’t always like the end of our favorite Disney movie. It’s much harder to have joy in all circumstances when circumstances in life seem about as far from joyful as you can get.

            When …it feels like hope and joy are gone. 

When the world – so broken, so full of disease, terror, tragedy, sin and death – seems to be crashing down upon you.

When we grieve the death of loved ones, and lament our own sin and guilt. 

Joy in all things? That doesn’t just sound hard to do; it sounds down right impossible.

And in fact, it is, if we’re only talking about our own joy. After all, if joy is like our feelings and happiness, it will come and go. If joy is something that is only in the stuff of this world, then it’s fleeting at best. And if joy is something we must search for within ourselves, we’ll always be left looking to our thoughts, desires, and actions instead of Christ, where, the Psalmist says, true joy is found.

And so, the Psalmist gives us a brief history lesson of Israel’s rescue at the Red Sea:

⁵ Come and see what God has done:
    he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.
⁶ He turned the sea into dry land;
    they passed through the river on foot.

Israel’s true joy was found in YHWH’s salvation. Our true joy is found in YHWH’s salvation in Jesus; in the awesome deeds he has done for us on the cross. And where there’s Jesus, there’s joy.

Joy in the Good News that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Joy in God’s gift of Baptism where he washes away our sin.

Joy in the Lord’s Supper where we are filled with the joy of sins forgiven.

Joy in Jesus’ crucified for you, where he took all our unjoyful thoughts, words, and deeds, our sin and death itself all upon himself on the cross for you.

True joy, - yes, even joy in all circumstances – is found in Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

And that means, as the Psalmist declares, that God will never remove his steadfast love from you – not when we’ve forgotten him in good times, or when we cry out to him in tough times.

Jesus’ cross and resurrection for you is your joy, today, tomorrow, and always.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Wedding Sermon for Don Jones and Addison Griede: "Sacrifice"

+ The Rite of Holy Matrimony – November 4^th, 2017 +

Donald Jones and Addison Griede

Genesis 2:7, 18-24 and Ephesians 5:1-2, 22-33

In the Name the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

At the heart of some of our favorite stories there is a sacrifice.

Harry Potter goes to the Forbidden Forest to face Voldemort and save the wizarding world from evil.

Against overwhelming odds, Matthias saves Redwall Abbey from Cluny the Scourge by putting himself in harm’s way.

Aslan lays down his life on the Stone Table to save Narnia from the White Witch.

Frodo and Samwise deliver the Ring of Power into the heart of Mordor, and at great cost to themselves and their friends.

Odysseus spends 10 years and endures countless dangers to get back to his wife Penelope.

Even our modern-day Superheroes (whether you prefer DC or Marvel) would have no story without sacrifice. Spiderman runs in front of a moving train to stop it. Superman sacrifices himself to save Metropolis.

And now you two know why I asked you earlier this week what some of your favorite books were…

Seems like all the good stories have a sacrifice at the center. The story of Christianity is no different. “Greater love has no man than one lay down his life for his friends,” Jesus says. “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many”…for you…for all. “God shows his love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Jesus’ death and resurrection is the center of the story of Christianity. Without Jesus crucified and risen, there is no story, no Christianity, and no hope. And yet through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we receive all good things: God’s gifts of daily bread, family, and home; true joy in life and death; forgiveness of sins; even God’s gift of marriage comes to us through the cross, for Paul says that Christ loves us, his bridegroom, in his sacrifice for us.

And while this story is like many other stories, there is one major exception. Unlike the sacrifice of Harry Potter, Frodo, or Superman, this story happens to be true. Christ’s sacrifice for us didn’t happen in a comic book, a fairytale, or in a galaxy far, far away, but in human history. Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate.

Right in the middle of Paul’s teaching on marriage in Ephesians 5, he points to Christ’s sacrifice:

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

What is Paul’s great secret to a Christian marriage? In a word, Sacrifice.

Marriage is about many things: daily chores and life-long goals, home and family, work and leisure, communication and finances, love and intimacy, and the list could go. What do all these have in common? Sacrifice. Denying ourselves for the sake of another.

And this is no small task. As one of my good friends said when he got married. “I never realized how selfish I was until I got married.”

Thankfully, marriage is sustained by Christ’s sacrifice for us, and not our own. Sacrifice in marriage only happens in, and through, and because of Christ’s sacrifice for you. You love because Christ first loved you. You sacrifice for each other because Christ first sacrificed himself for you. You live and care for each other each day because Christ lives and cares for you in his death and resurrection.

As husband and wife, be loyal to one another as were Samwise and Frodo. Cherish one another as Odysseus cherished Penelope. Befriend one another in thick and thin like Ron, Hermione, and Harry. And above all, live in Christ’s sacrifice for you. Pray together. Read and hear his Word together. Live in His forgiveness together.

And so, today, Don and Addison begin a new chapter in the story of their life together; Jesus’ sacrifice fills their marriage with his love and sacrifice.

Today is a certainly a happily ever after kind of day. But know that even when it doesn’t feel that way, you have true joy and contentment in Christ’s sacrifice.

Today, you may not know how your story will go – what twists and turns life will take - but you know the most important part: Christ died and rose for you.

As your married life together begins, know that Christ’s love revealed on the cross for you and for all, is the greatest, true, and never-ending story.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Reformation Sunday Sermon: "The Word Does Everything"

+ Reformation Sunday – October 29^th, 2017 +

Revelation 14:6-7; Romans 3:19-28; John 8:31-36

Redeemer Lutheran, HB

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In a sermon Martin Luther preached in Lent of 1522, he had this to say about the Reformation: “I opposed indulgences and all the papists, but never with force. I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept [cf. Mark 4:26–29], or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything.”^[1]

The Word did everything.

Luther spoke God’s word in the pulpit and pub; taught God’s Word in classroom and catechism; sang God’s Word in hymns and liturgy; illustrated God’s Word in the visual sermons of sacred art; translated God’s Word into language that people could read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest.

But in all of this, Luther was a servant of the Word, like John the Baptist, Luther wanted to man’s work to decrease, and for Christ crucified to increase. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

This Word, God’s Word of Good News – Christ crucified and risen for you – did everything.

And 500 years later, it still does.

In our preschool, music academy, and Sunday School; in the Bible studies, choirs, and Christian fellowship; some sing, teach, learn, or ring bells; others herd children, prepare food, or invite friends; some plant, others water, but God gives the growth.

As it was in the Castle Church in Wittenberg, so it is at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Huntington Beach: God’s Word does everything.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples…

God’s Word is our life. For man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your Faith in Christ is born of God’s Word. Your faith is fed by God’s Word. You’re sustained by God’s Word.

To be Jesus’ disciple is to be connected to his Word, to abide in the Word of him who is the Word made flesh; to hear Jesus’ Word and to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest it; to receive the Word made flesh weekly in his body and blood; to live in Jesus’ Word given to us at Baptism by daily dying to sin in repentance and rising again in Christ’s forgiving Word of absolution. And apart from God’s Word, our faith dies.

Imagine if we treated our daily eating habits like we do our hearing and reading of God’s Word: “I don’t want to eat today, I’m too tired. I ate last week, I don’t need to go and eat this week. I’m just so busy, I can’t seem to find time to eat.”

When it comes to food for the body, there is wisdom in moderation; it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. Not so with the daily bread of God’s Word. God’s Word isn’t meant to be read and heard in moderation. You can never receive, read, and hear too much of God’s Word and Sacraments. There’s no such thing as receive God’s forgiving, healing, saving, undeserved, grace and mercy too many times. We can’t hear enough the Good News all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and you are justified by his grace as a gift in Christ Jesus.

For as our bodies waste away without nutrition, and as a branch withers and dies apart from the vine, so too, our faith is starved and dead apart from God’s Word. But where Jesus’ Word abides, here in your Baptism, here in his body and blood for you, here in the forgiveness of sins proclaimed and given freely for you, you abide in Jesus’ Word.

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 

And yet, like Luther, we are not free; rather, we find ourselves captive to sin and death; and yet, continually try to free ourselves by something we say, do, think, or feel.

For Jesus reveals the truth that, “Whoever commits sin is a slave to sin.”

Are we slaves? That sounds rather harsh. But…what does God’s Word say? Do we fear, love, and trust in Him above all things? Do we call upon God’s name in every trouble; do we perfectly pray, praise, and give thanks? Do we gladly hear and learn God’s Word? Do we honor father, mother, and other temporal authorities? Do we help our neighbor in every need? Do we keep marriage pure and encourage others to do the same? Do we help our neighbor protect his property? Do we defend the reputation of others by putting the best construction on everything? Do we desire what doesn’t belong to us? Are we content with what we have?

No, truth is we are slaves to sin, just as Israel was enslaved in Egypt. We’re born enslaved, captive to Sin and Death. And we cannot free ourselves.  

Luther discovered that as well. Luther knew his sin. But he only saw Jesus as the righteous judge and taskmaster, not a righteous savior. And so, he sought comfort in every word of the Papal playbook: relics, prayers to saints, pilgrimage to Rome, endless torment. And yet, he found no word of comfort, only commands; no Gospel, only Law; no freedom, only tighter chains.

Thankfully, by God’s grace, Martin Luther discovered another Word of God in God’s own Word, Good News that had been long forgotten. Truth that had been buried in the pages of history, under piles of relics and stacks of indulgences. Luther found a Word that sets us free from the demands and punishments of the Law, from God’s wrath and judgment, and from sin, death, and hell forever. Luther found an eternal Gospel.

For we hold that man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 

This Word, God’s Word of Good News – Christ crucified and risen for you – did everything for Luther. And today, 500 years later, God’s Word does everything for you too.

By the Word Jesus created the heavens and the earth, calmed the wind and sea, and made the paralytic man walk again.

By his Word Jesus opened the deaf man’s ears, raised Lazarus from the dead, and he died and rise again, just as he said.

By his Word Jesus washes away our sin, clothes us in Christ, adopts us as his children, places his name upon us, buries us in his death and raises us in his resurrection, and saves us in Baptism.

By his Word Jesus forgives, absolves, and pardons all our sins freely, by grace through faith in Christ crucified for you.

By his Word Jesus gives us his body and blood in bread and wine to eat and drink forgiveness, life, and salvation.

By his Word Jesus declares righteous, holy, and without any stain of sin.

By his Word Jesus sends you as free, baptized Christians out into your vocations where you declare God’s Word of Good News and free grace in Christ to your family, friends, and neighbors.

Jesus took up our Sin and our Death and nailed it all to His cross. The Son became the slave so that the slave might become the son. And if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. By his Word Jesus sets you free, just as he did for Martin Luther 500 years ago.

That’s the Word of God that Luther preached, taught, and rejoiced in.

And so do we.

Lord, keep us steadfast in your Word, we pray and sing.

For this Word, this Good News – JESUS CRUCIFIED FOR YOU – does everything today and always.

A blessed Reformation Sunday to each of you...

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

---

^[1] Luther, M. (1999). Luther’s works, vol. 51: Sermons I. (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald, & H. T. Lehmann, Eds.) (Vol. 51, p. 77). Philadelphia: Fortress Press.

Sermon for Pentecost 20: "Rendered to God"

+ 20^th Sunday after Pentecost – October 22^nd, 2017 +

Series A: Isaiah 45:1-7; 1 Thessalonians 1; Matthew 22:15-22

Redeemer Lutheran, HB

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Just about everyone knows that if you want to have a polite conversation at dinner, over coffee, or with your neighbors, you don’t bring up politics. Apparently, the Pharisees they didn’t get that memo. They had no interest in polite conversation.

They saw the Palm Sunday crowds; heard “Hosannas” echoing in the streets of Jerusalem. Great crowds followed this teacher all over Judea to see his miracles and hear his teaching.

How ironic that all this happens during the Passover; Israel celebrates God’s redemption while the Pharisees reject God’s Redeemer.

The Pharisees had heard enough of Jesus’ teaching and parables. They had seen eating and drinking with sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes too many times. Jesus had to go.

But how do you turn the crowds against Jesus? Pull out one of the oldest tricks in the political play-book. Ask Jesus a “gotcha!” question. Have him spell potato, show you Russia from his front porch, or explain what a Berliner really is.

Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words.

That’s how the game works. It’s a trap! A lose/lose situation. Get Jesus to say something that could be used against him. Draw him into a debate on religion, politics, and taxes. And once he does, his approval rating and followers will vanish.

And just to make things fun, the Pharisees invited their political and religious enemies, the Herodians to their staged press conference at the temple. Now, the Herodians and the Pharisees weren’t exactly BFFs. The Pharisees despised the Herodians for their allegiance to Herod, a puppet of Rome and for their alliance with the Sadducees, who oversaw the temple and priesthood. And the Sadducees and Pharisees got along about as well as USC and UCLA fans at a rivalry game. But they agreed on this: Jesus had to go. So, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

 “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 

We’re not fooled. And neither is Jesus. Earlier in the Gospels, the Pharisees accused Jesus of having a demon and being allied with Satan. Solomon warns us about this in Proverbs 29:5: “A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.”  This is nothing more than another one of the Pharisees debate tactics: flood your opponent with flattery to disarm them, then move to attack.

Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

It’s the perfect lose/lose, gotcha question. If Jesus answers, “No, it isn’t lawful to pay taxes to Caesar”, the political Herodians can go after Jesus for being a traitor and a religious nutcase. And if Jesus answers, “Yes, it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar”, then Jesus is a blasphemer for supporting the Roman and a traitor to his people.

But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites?

Jesus knows their wicked hearts. The Pharisees’ spiritual bankruptcy is exposed. They claimed to have kept and followed God’s Law, but broke it failing to love God and neighbor (22:37–40). They were more concerned about the lawfulness of the temple tax than they were with God’s justice, mercy, and faithfulness. They were full of malice, not mercy.

Jesus calls them out on it. “You hypocrites”.

Jesus’ words expose the Pharisees’ hypocrisy and ours. Yes, we too are hypocrites. We thank God we’re not like other sinners, and yet we’re spiritually bankrupt. We claim to follow God’s Law, yet fail to love God and our neighbor perfectly. We spend far more time concerned with political debates and our earthly desires than God’s justice, mercy, and faithfulness. We are full of malice, not mercy.

Although, maybe the Pharisees were on to something. After all, it’s easier to spend our days arguing about taxes or politics, or anything other than repentance and forgiveness in Jesus’ name, isn’t it?

So, Jesus turns the tables on the us and the Pharisees.

Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.  And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”  They said, “Caesar's.”

There’s the answer. The coin bears the image and likeness of Caesar. It belongs to him. “Therefore,” Jesus says, “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's.”

Not exactly the answer the Pharisees were expecting. After all, Caesar was ungodly. Caesar expected people to worship him as divine. And yet, St. Paul writes that the governing authorities are God’s ministers, servants of God’s left-hand authority in the earthly realm. They’re given to punish wickedness and reward good. And so, Paul writes in Romans 13, we pay taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due; give honor to whom honor is due, and respect to whom respect is due.

We see a picture of this in today’s Old Testament reading from the prophet Isaiah. God used a pagan Persian, Cyrus, to return His people to the land so that in fulness of time His anointed Son could be born in Bethlehem of Judea to save the world. You see, God will use any Caesar we throw at him to accomplish his saving you in Jesus’ death and resurrection, even if it means being crucified under Pontius Pilate for you.

That is where this story leads us, to the cross. It’s not really about the legality of the temple tax or the things of Caesar, though we are to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. And yet, Caesar, Pilate, or any other ruler would have no authority if it weren’t granted to him from above. And that leads us back to the main issue at hand:

Render to God the things that are God’s. We know what Caesar wants. But what about the things of God? What does this mean? What does God want?

He doesn’t want your denarius. He wants you. You bear his image and likeness, or at least we did when Adam and Eve were first formed of dirt and rib. In the image of God, he created them…male and female he created them. So too, he creates you and loves you. He wants you, your undivided heart, soul, mind, and strength. He wants us to fear, love, and trust in Him above all things. He wants your faith in him as King, Redeemer, and Savior. But the Pharisees were so preoccupied with politics and power that they neglected the important things: God’s mercy and forgiveness. Same is true for us.

What does God want from us? To love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength; and to love our neighbor as ourselves. And while we may be able to render to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar, we are unable to render to God the things of God.

But there is one who has perfectly rendered to God the things of God, and he did it for you with his perfect life lived for you and laid down for you.

The denarius that the Pharisees and Herodians showed Jesus bore the image of Caesar on it. But, Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:2). 

In his birth, life, death, and resurrection, Jesus rendered to God what was God’s: our humanity, to restore the image of God to our flesh. He rendered to God the things that are God’s. And He did it “not with gold or silver,” not with the coin of Caesar, but with His holy and precious blood, and with His innocent suffering and death at the hands of the Pharisees and the Herodians and the Roman government, all of whom served as God’s instrument to reclaim a fallen cosmos from sin and death.

On the cross, Jesus throws the treasury of God’s mercy wide open for you. For while we were still hypocrites, Pharisees, and sinners, Christ died for us. Although we are unable to render anything to God, Jesus renders himself to the Father to reconcile us to him by his cross.

In Holy Baptism, God places his image and inscription on you. You belong to him. You are a new creation. In this world, you render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. But you don’t belong to Caesar. You belong to Christ, joined to him in his death and resurrection.

Here in the temple of bread and wine, Jesus renders to his own body and blood in the bread and wine given and shed for you for your forgiveness.

Through his Word and Absolution, Jesus gives his saving death to you, that you may be his own and live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. You are rendered to God in Christ crucified. This is most certainly true.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon for Pentecost 16: "God Isn't Fair"

+ 16^th Sunday After Pentecost – September 24^th, 2017 +

Series A: Isaiah 55:6-9; Philippians 1:12-30; Matthew 20:1-16

Redeemer Lutheran, HB

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We’ve all heard it (or said it) before. On the playground, in the classroom, or at the dinner table…that famous phrase, second only in our early childhood vocabulary to the word NO!

That’s. Not. Fair.

We say it at work, home, school. We say it when we watch news, sports, or our neighbors. We say it when we’re outraged, offended, or scandalized.

That’s not fair.

We hear the same complaint from the workers at the end of Jesus’ parable of The Laborers in the Vineyard.

‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ 

Did you hear it? We worked longer, harder, and accomplished more than those 11^th hour bums. That’s not fair.

This parable reveals yet another shocking, outrageous truth: the Kingdom of heaven isn’t fair. But that’s a good thing. Fairness is the Law – you get what you deserve. Grace is Gospel, Good News of outrageous forgiveness for undeserving sinners – you get what you don’t deserve. And that’s the Kingdom of heaven. If fairness is what gets us into the kingdom of heaven, then it’s all on us. But if God’s grace is what gets us in, then that’s Good News. Salvation is God’s gift for you. The last are first. The guilty go free. Sinners are justified.

When Jesus tells this parable, the fairness police, or the Law-hungry Pharisee within each of us, is offended by this parable. It doesn’t fit into our way of thinking. “You get what you deserve. You reap what you sow. A day’s work for a day’s pay.” That’s how we think. That’s the way of the world, we say. And we expect God to play by our rules. To be fair.

This parable reminds me of another story, C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. When the Pevensie children are in Narnia, having supper with Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. The dinner conversation quickly turns to Aslan, the true King of Narnia, who would come to defeat the White Witch. When Lucy Pevensie finds out that Aslan is a Lion, she asks, “Is he safe?” Mr. Beaver replies, “Of course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. And he’s the king, I tell you.”

So, what about the Landowner in this parable, is he fair? Of course, he isn’t fair. But he is good.

Listen to the way Jesus begins his story:

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. (Think something like 6 AM) Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,  and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went.

Whatever is right, our English translations say. Better said, whatever is good, righteous, or better yet…justified. Remember that word later.

Again, the landowner goes out and does the same thing at noon and 3 PM (the 6^th and the 9^th hour). He found some laborers still hanging around and hired them for some unspecified just wage. And they agreed. At 5 o’clock, as the sun was setting, there was still work to do. So, he goes to a local bar where some deadbeat losers were hanging out all day doing nothing because no one hired them.

He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’

6 PM finally arrives. It’s beer-thirty. The workers head to the steward to receive their money. And here’s where the fun begins.

The vineyard owner lines them up in reverse order, from last to first, from the eleventh hour losers to the first hour workers who agreed to work for a denarius a day. When they eleventh hour workers opened they pay envelope…surprise! A shiny denarius! Wow! One hour’s work and a full day’s wage.

Imagine what happens as the other workers start to hear the news. “He’s paying a denarius an hour!” The twelve hour workers at the end of the line are busy rubbing their hands together. Hmm…a denarius an hour. This is great! But as the workers are paid, reality kicks in. Everyone gets one denarius.

The workers are bumfuzzled at the Landowner’s behavior. But they’re also livid. “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. Imagine a youth soccer league where the last place team gets the same big trophy as the undefeated first place team, in that order. That’s crazy, ridiculous, not to mention…it’s not fair!

And then the vineyard owner pops the Gospel cork and pours a strong one. “Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius a day? Take what belongs to you and go. It’s my money and I do with it what I please. If I choose to give these last ones a full day’s wage, what’s that to you? Or do you begrudge my generosity?”

You see, this parable is a story of Judgment and grace. Judgment for those who resent and reject God’s grace. And God’s grace given to all who least deserve it.

Like the workers, we expect God to be fair. But here’s the rub. If we want God to be fair, to deal with us according to our works, our achievements, our accomplishments and all the things we do, then we will be condemned. That’s fair. Those are the terms of the Law. The wages of sin is death. We love to keep score and carry our spiritual punch cards around with us, always comparing and measuring ourselves to others, especially their faults and sins. Thank God I’m not like that murderer, adulterer, homeless guy, illegal immigrant, and so on down our list.

It’s not fair, we say. How can God forgive someone like that? But he does.

Think about it…if God was fair, we’d all get what we deserve.

Thank God that his thoughts are not our thoughts, Nor our ways his ways,” as the prophet Isaiah reminds us. Thank the Lord we don’t get what we deserve.

Thank God, he’s not fair. Because if there’s room in the kingdom of heaven for hookers, murderers, and tax collectors; for Peter the denier and adulterous David, for doubting Moses and faithless Israel, the thief on a cross and 11^th hour workers – then there’s room in the kingdom of heaven for me and you.

Like the 11^th hour workers in the parable, we live off of the work of another: the Landowner who was crucified at the 3^rd hour, who from the 6^th hour was hanging on the cross under the heavy burden of our labors, as darkness covered the land, and at the 9^th hour he cried out “It is finished” as he died to save you. By the 11^th hour Jesus was taken down from the cross and laid in the tomb for you, his work on the cross complete for you.

With God we receive equal salvation for unequal work. A denarius just for being there, regardless of what you did. Everyone receives the same death and resurrection, the same Baptism, the same Body and Blood, the same forgiveness. All by grace through faith for Jesus’ sake.

So the last will be first, and the first last.

With these words “The first shall be last” – Jesus takes away our pride, and then takes away our despair by promising “the last shall be first”.

We’re the 11^th hour workers, the last ones, the losers and failures, the broken sinners who make it into the kingdom by the skin of our teeth.

And this laborer, our savior Jesus, worked his hands to the bone and the nail for you. He worked himself to death for you. He rested from all the labors that he had done for you.

We who are the last ones are made first because He who was first became last for us. In his mercy, Jesus does not give us what we deserved – the wages of sin is death. And in his grace, Jesus gives us what we don’t deserve, the denarius of his forgiveness, life, and salvation. The Scriptures repeat this promise:

God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. Romans 4:5

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10

Is it fair? No. He’s not a fair God, but he is good and righteous and in Christ you are justified.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.