Exodus 17:1-7/1 Corinthians 9:24-10:5/St Matthew 20:1-16
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
You made them equal to us! Complained the disgruntled worker as he spat in the face of the Lord of the vineyard. Equality, or rather, superiority, is something we desire. It is written, The heart is wicked above all things, and desperately sick (Jer 17:9). The heart is twisted by envy. Beholding the good things that others receive fills our hearts with discontent, dissatisfaction.
But it is not only over material things, but often the intangibles fill your heart with envy: a neighbor’s reputation and status, his seemingly happy life, a better family, a different wife. And in your twisted reality, your utterly self-centered soul grumbles and complains: “I deserve better!” And in this complaint, you are really complaining about God.
For the food that you have to eat is a blessing from Him. The house that keeps you warm and safe is a blessing from Him. The job that gives you money is a blessing from God. The family you have is a blessing from God. Yet you are not satisfied with them, and so your complaining, grumbling, and bitterness is that of a spoiled child who has no comprehension of the incredible kindness her Father shows her.
As it is for you, so it was for Israel in the wilderness. For the people’s grumbling was not against Moses, but against the Lord. Against the mercy He had showed them, against His redemptive love, against the provision He had bestowed. In their envious and covetous hearts they presumed they deserved more from Him. This is the twisted lunacy of sin; the illogical rationale of a false god. Of creatures grumbling about their Creator. It makes us less than human.
But the history of Israel is the history of a people upon whom the Lord shows mercy and kindness to the undeserving and the unworthy. He calls them out of darkness into His marvelous light. He marks upon on them His Name and bestows unto them His promise. He leads and guides them through the wilderness by the visible presence of His cloud and fire. He will bring them into His Promised Land, defending them from all danger, guarding and protecting them from all evil.
And though they don’t deserve it, though they put the Lord their God to the test and quarrel about His steadfast love, though they hate Him in their hearts, still He feds and nourishes them, still He stands before them and gives them water to drink from the Rock at Horeb.
Now, that which was written in former days was written for our instruction (Rm 15:4). As it is written, Do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance (Rm 2:4). Repent, therefore. Repent of your envy and covetousness, which is idolatry. Repent of your presumptuous heart. Repent of your misplaced longing for that which belongs to another. Do not put the Lord your God to the test.
Despair of your own self-righteousness and receive with humble hearts the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and His Word of forgiveness. Believe that it is the Lord who blesses you in all things out of His fatherly divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in you; and learn from Him to receive your daily bread with thanksgiving.
For the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a Man who hired laborers for His vineyard and paid the last first and the first last, each the same wage. The kingdom of heaven is like a Man who is extravagant with His wealth; lavishing His generosity on failures and losers, wash-outs and deadbeats, giving to men who do almost no work a full day’s pay. This is what the kingdom of heaven is like: like a Man who gives not according to what you justly deserve, but for the sake to His own boundless mercy and the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, bestows precisely what you need.
For the kingdom of heaven is like the Lord bringing Israel up out of the land of Egypt and despite their grumbling and complaining, miraculously supplies water for them from the Rock at Horeb, from which they all drank, writes St Paul. And the Rock was Christ. Does the Psalm not call Him the Rock of our Salvation? Does He not say of Himself that upon the Rock of Peter’s confession He shall build His Church, the gates of hell defenseless against Him? (Mt 16:18). And does He not say to the Canaanite woman at the well, Whoever drinks of the water that I will give Him will never be thirsty again. The water that I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life (Jn 4:14).
Indeed He is the Rock of our salvation who was struck with the staff of the Law in His death, pouring out His life blood for you in mercy and love. While you were enemies and haters of God you were reconciled to Him by the death of His Son (Rm 5:10). You have all passed through the cloud and sea of the font and are baptized into Christ. This is your entrance into His vineyard, His kingdom.
For there, He took what belonged to you - sin, death, the condemnation of the Law, the wrath of the Father - and bestowed upon you what belonged to Him - mercy, love, salvation, forgiveness of sins, eternal life. Is He not allowed to do what He choses with what belongs to Him? He who was first made Himself last in order that you who were last - indeed outside the kingdom - might be made first and given the gift of heaven itself! The Kingdom is yours! By grace! Let not your eye be evil on account of His goodness shown not only to you, but to all.
There is one last thing to note in the readings for today; namely, the Lord calls you to work. Not for your salvation, nor to remain in it, but there it is in the Gospel: The kingdom of heaven is like a Master who went out to hire laborers for His vineyard. The grace of our Lord is sufficient for your salvation (sola gratia), but there it remains: He calls you to work. And as the Church enters the season of Lent with these three Sundays of Pre-Lent - these three -gesimas that focus on the three solas of the Reformation - you are being prepared to observe a good Lent and reminded that being a Christian will mean work.
What kind of work? As St Paul preached before King Agrippa at the end of Acts, Repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with repentance (Acts 26:20). Or as he writes to the Corinthians in the Epistle: Run the race as to obtain the prize; discipline your body and keep it under control. Turn away from your false gods, cease your envy and your covetousness; rather fear, love and trust in the one, true God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - above all things. Call upon His Name. Give attention to His Word. Honor your father and your mother. Help your neighbor with his physical needs. Turn from sexual immortality and show honor to your spouse. Stop grumbling and speak good things to one another and of each other. In short, do not let your eye be evil on account of His goodness.
These are the fruits borne in keeping with repentance (Mt 3:8). I remind you again - By grace you have been saved through faith. And this faith is not your own doing; it is a gift of God, not a result of works. But you are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that you should walk around in them (Eph 2:8-10).
And so during this Lenten-tide you are presented with the fruitful works commanded by our Lord, the Master of the vineyard: the good works of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Practice these things, not that you may earn your salvation - for that could never be, it is by grace alone - nor to remain in His favor, for He has loved you with a boundless mercy, but to exercise your faith in the working of love toward your neighbor.
And above all, come, receive the wage promised, not for the work you have done, but for the work that Christ has accomplished for your benefit, received here by faith. The fruit of His vineyard, His Body and Blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of your sins, life and salvation.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
You made them equal to us! Complained the disgruntled worker as he spat in the face of the Lord of the vineyard. Equality, or rather, superiority, is something we desire. It is written, The heart is wicked above all things, and desperately sick (Jer 17:9). The heart is twisted by envy. Beholding the good things that others receive fills our hearts with discontent, dissatisfaction.
But it is not only over material things, but often the intangibles fill your heart with envy: a neighbor’s reputation and status, his seemingly happy life, a better family, a different wife. And in your twisted reality, your utterly self-centered soul grumbles and complains: “I deserve better!” And in this complaint, you are really complaining about God.
For the food that you have to eat is a blessing from Him. The house that keeps you warm and safe is a blessing from Him. The job that gives you money is a blessing from God. The family you have is a blessing from God. Yet you are not satisfied with them, and so your complaining, grumbling, and bitterness is that of a spoiled child who has no comprehension of the incredible kindness her Father shows her.
As it is for you, so it was for Israel in the wilderness. For the people’s grumbling was not against Moses, but against the Lord. Against the mercy He had showed them, against His redemptive love, against the provision He had bestowed. In their envious and covetous hearts they presumed they deserved more from Him. This is the twisted lunacy of sin; the illogical rationale of a false god. Of creatures grumbling about their Creator. It makes us less than human.
But the history of Israel is the history of a people upon whom the Lord shows mercy and kindness to the undeserving and the unworthy. He calls them out of darkness into His marvelous light. He marks upon on them His Name and bestows unto them His promise. He leads and guides them through the wilderness by the visible presence of His cloud and fire. He will bring them into His Promised Land, defending them from all danger, guarding and protecting them from all evil.
And though they don’t deserve it, though they put the Lord their God to the test and quarrel about His steadfast love, though they hate Him in their hearts, still He feds and nourishes them, still He stands before them and gives them water to drink from the Rock at Horeb.
Now, that which was written in former days was written for our instruction (Rm 15:4). As it is written, Do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance (Rm 2:4). Repent, therefore. Repent of your envy and covetousness, which is idolatry. Repent of your presumptuous heart. Repent of your misplaced longing for that which belongs to another. Do not put the Lord your God to the test.
Despair of your own self-righteousness and receive with humble hearts the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and His Word of forgiveness. Believe that it is the Lord who blesses you in all things out of His fatherly divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in you; and learn from Him to receive your daily bread with thanksgiving.
For the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a Man who hired laborers for His vineyard and paid the last first and the first last, each the same wage. The kingdom of heaven is like a Man who is extravagant with His wealth; lavishing His generosity on failures and losers, wash-outs and deadbeats, giving to men who do almost no work a full day’s pay. This is what the kingdom of heaven is like: like a Man who gives not according to what you justly deserve, but for the sake to His own boundless mercy and the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, bestows precisely what you need.
For the kingdom of heaven is like the Lord bringing Israel up out of the land of Egypt and despite their grumbling and complaining, miraculously supplies water for them from the Rock at Horeb, from which they all drank, writes St Paul. And the Rock was Christ. Does the Psalm not call Him the Rock of our Salvation? Does He not say of Himself that upon the Rock of Peter’s confession He shall build His Church, the gates of hell defenseless against Him? (Mt 16:18). And does He not say to the Canaanite woman at the well, Whoever drinks of the water that I will give Him will never be thirsty again. The water that I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life (Jn 4:14).
Indeed He is the Rock of our salvation who was struck with the staff of the Law in His death, pouring out His life blood for you in mercy and love. While you were enemies and haters of God you were reconciled to Him by the death of His Son (Rm 5:10). You have all passed through the cloud and sea of the font and are baptized into Christ. This is your entrance into His vineyard, His kingdom.
For there, He took what belonged to you - sin, death, the condemnation of the Law, the wrath of the Father - and bestowed upon you what belonged to Him - mercy, love, salvation, forgiveness of sins, eternal life. Is He not allowed to do what He choses with what belongs to Him? He who was first made Himself last in order that you who were last - indeed outside the kingdom - might be made first and given the gift of heaven itself! The Kingdom is yours! By grace! Let not your eye be evil on account of His goodness shown not only to you, but to all.
There is one last thing to note in the readings for today; namely, the Lord calls you to work. Not for your salvation, nor to remain in it, but there it is in the Gospel: The kingdom of heaven is like a Master who went out to hire laborers for His vineyard. The grace of our Lord is sufficient for your salvation (sola gratia), but there it remains: He calls you to work. And as the Church enters the season of Lent with these three Sundays of Pre-Lent - these three -gesimas that focus on the three solas of the Reformation - you are being prepared to observe a good Lent and reminded that being a Christian will mean work.
What kind of work? As St Paul preached before King Agrippa at the end of Acts, Repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with repentance (Acts 26:20). Or as he writes to the Corinthians in the Epistle: Run the race as to obtain the prize; discipline your body and keep it under control. Turn away from your false gods, cease your envy and your covetousness; rather fear, love and trust in the one, true God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - above all things. Call upon His Name. Give attention to His Word. Honor your father and your mother. Help your neighbor with his physical needs. Turn from sexual immortality and show honor to your spouse. Stop grumbling and speak good things to one another and of each other. In short, do not let your eye be evil on account of His goodness.
These are the fruits borne in keeping with repentance (Mt 3:8). I remind you again - By grace you have been saved through faith. And this faith is not your own doing; it is a gift of God, not a result of works. But you are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that you should walk around in them (Eph 2:8-10).
And so during this Lenten-tide you are presented with the fruitful works commanded by our Lord, the Master of the vineyard: the good works of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Practice these things, not that you may earn your salvation - for that could never be, it is by grace alone - nor to remain in His favor, for He has loved you with a boundless mercy, but to exercise your faith in the working of love toward your neighbor.
And above all, come, receive the wage promised, not for the work you have done, but for the work that Christ has accomplished for your benefit, received here by faith. The fruit of His vineyard, His Body and Blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of your sins, life and salvation.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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