It is a real delight to be worshiping with you on the Lord's Day and to be with you here in Center City, Philadelphia. As you can probably imagine, I have heard and known of Tenth for many, many years, and we have many people in our congregation all the way in Michigan, and yes, our snow is finally gone, all the way in Michigan who have benefited so much from the ministry of this church. So many people who at one time or another studied here or lived here, did an internship here, and it seemed like they all went to 10th. People still using Jim Boyce's fine commentaries and reading Phil Reichen's books and now benefiting too from Liam's ministry. Just a few weeks ago, had a young woman from our congregation who was here at a conference and she said, do you know any churches I should check out while I'm in Philadelphia? I said, yes. You should go to 10th." And she just absolutely loved her time here. In fact, I said, I know Liam, so why don't you go up to him and do a very American thing and take a selfie with him? And so she did, and he was very nice to take that. So I am honored and glad to be with you and most of all to be worshiping with you and to have the same Lord and the same God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and to worship with you, this great God of ours. So I hope you will put up with an accent for this morning as I preach and invite you to have your Bibles open to Matthew chapter 20, the passage that has already been read One of the very first things that we learn to say as children is this great and terrible phrase. It's not fair! I have six children. Yes, not sure why. I think someone once asked Bill Cosby why he had four children, and he said, because I didn't want five. So we have six, and my wife is amazing, and we have heard many times from their lips, it's not fair. My children somehow are growing up with the sense that When Thomas Jefferson spoke of those inalienable rights, dessert was one of them. So they are just chagrined when we might have a meal and not have a dessert, and immediately they cry out, it's not fair. If they're eating at the dinner table and the portions are too small. They say it's not fair, or if it happens to be with vegetables and they're too big, the portions, they say, it's not fair. Kids instinctively say this. You don't have to teach it to them. I've never seen a parent now, here, now, when he takes that from you in the sandbox, repeat after me, it's not fair. You don't have to teach them. They know it. They say it. And when they get older, they don't like their curfew. They don't like some of the rules you have. Then they become teenagers. They don't like any of the rules that you have. It's not fair is one of the first things we learn to say on this planet. And though when we become adults, we maybe learn to have more socially acceptable outbursts, we feel it, don't we? It's one of the things we can feel most strongly. We feel like my job isn't fair. My boss isn't fair. The level of taxation isn't fair. You get scammed into a timeshare and then you never get out of it. That's not fair. you get hung up on by customer service, or you try to make it through that labyrinth of beeps and automated prompts to just finally talk to a human being who could possibly understand you, and you think, this is not fair, just the smallest things even, if your food isn't right. Liam took me out for a steak this week, and he said, how do you like the steak? And I know this would be very scandalous to some of you, but I said I want it medium well. I don't want any pink. I don't want it mooing when it comes out. And sure enough, I got the thing, and it was, I think there was still ice in the middle of it, just absolutely, and I thought, we're paying a lot for this steak. And by we, I mean Liam paying a lot. for this stake and this little thing comes up the back of your neck. This isn't fair, we deserve better service than this. Now of course there are real injustices in life and I'm not at all minimizing those or saying that you never pursue justice or you never pray for justice or you never have the law behind you. Yes, we absolutely must do those things. I'm talking about a whole way of looking at the world, some of us. Whether our experiences of unfairness have been real or not, look at the whole world through these lenses of fairness. What are the glasses you put on in the morning? I have to put on these glasses. It's not a fashion statement, believe me. I wore big honking glasses before it became the hip thing to do. I can't see without them. Calvin said that the scriptures are spectacles for us. C.S. Lewis once said he believes in God like he believed in the sun. Not only because he could see it, but because by it he could see everything else. Do you wake up in the morning and put on these lenses of fairness, always assessing what you deserve or what you think you deserve? Always aware of other people's successes or failures. Always cognizant of whether you're recognized or whether you're ignored. And you see your whole life this way. You're always sizing up, always calculating, always feeling like you're owed something by your family, by your friends, by God himself. There's another way to walk through life. And that's to wake up each morning and instead of these lenses of fairness, these goggles, you put on the glasses of grace. I have a friend who whenever you ask him, how are you doing? His standard reply is, I'm doing better than I deserve. Which is true every day, even the hard days. You have the good days and you say, praise God, what a glorious day. You have the hard days and you say, you know what? I bet somehow, somewhere, sometime I will see that even this hard day God is using for my good. When you see people succeed, you smile. Instead of experiencing life as a series of disappointments and one occasion after another when you are not treated as you deserve, you experience life as a gift and you see grace all around you. And you see it in their life and you say, God, you've been so gracious, and you see it in your own life. It's a profoundly different way of viewing the world. And let's be honest, some of us, though we have been to church for eons and though we love songs of grace, we love to talk of grace, we don't see the world that way. It's all about fairness and it's always with a big gigantic chip on our shoulders. When you look at life with these fairness goggles, you will always feel like you've been put in last place when you deserve to be in first. But when you look at life through the glasses of grace, you will know the joy and the freedom of feeling like you've been given first, even though you deserve last. Next week's the last week of school for my kids. And so the last day of school, they have field day. And they do all these activities and, you know, get ribbons. And probably everyone gets a ribbon just for being there. I don't know how they do it now. But when I was young, I remember we did the long jump. And I was, you'll find this very hard to believe, but I was not a tremendous athlete. But we did the long jump, and somehow I got in front of a person, or I got switched up with another guy, and they were just going down the sheet marking, and had maybe people in alphabetical order. So I was very surprised at the end of the day, after my jump, when I got this big blue first place ribbon, I thought, oh my, I didn't know I had jumped so far, but I guess, yes, I've been working out, you know, fifth grade. And then later my friend said, you know you cut in front of me in line and they gave your score to me and my score to you. I said, well I got a ribbon. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. Do you go through life feeling that way? Do you go through life feeling like somebody just cut in front of me? Or do you think I just cut in front of somebody? Look at what I got that I don't deserve. By grace. Look at this text in front of us. Jesus tells a story to illustrate what the kingdom of heaven is like. He says it's like, it's like this landowner who goes out to hire workers for his vineyard. Jesus is trying to tell us what the kingdom is like. The kingdom is God's reign and rule. What it means to be a part of God's team, to be on God's side, to be a part of God's business, to be a part of God's kingdom. And so he tells a story, there was a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers. This was very common. You would have a landowner, and he would need work to be done. He would need plowing, or he would need harvesting, or he would need tending to the vine and to the grapes. And so he would go out, six in the morning is when the day started, before the sun would get high in the sky and the heat. And so he would go out and there would be men there standing idle in the marketplace. And he would say, I need five people. And he would give them a denarius for the day. A denarius was a standard wage for a day laborer. You certainly weren't going to get rich on it, but you could eke out an existence, maybe minimum wage or better than that. A denarius, and so he would get a few workers, and then this landowner came out again. And so he comes out at the third hour, now at nine in the morning, and then at the sixth hour at noon, and again at 3 p.m., and strangely enough, he comes out at 5 p.m. He comes out one hour before quitting time, and he says, yeah, I need more workers. And so when 6 p.m. rolls around, and the whistle blows, and they're lining up to get their checks for the day, and he starts with the men who had come at the 11th hour at 5 p.m., and you can imagine the men who had been there all day, and they're covered in sweat and dirt, and they've been there for 12 hours, and they're watching. Get a load of this. And so they come up, they've worked one measly hour, and the landowner says, a denarius. And I just wonder if those who had been there for 12 hours started elbowing each other. Oh, would you get a load of this? They got a denarius. And they're maybe doing some math on their fingers. Okay, they were there one hour, we were there 12 hours. That means they got one, we get 12, we're gonna get it, this is gonna be great, we're not gonna have to work for two weeks. And they go up there. One denarius. This is the same as you gave everybody else. You can understand why Jesus says they began to grumble. This is an eccentric employer. What sort of employer pays the same wage to the person who does one hour work and the person who does 12? They work 12 times as long, 12 times as hard, and they got paid the same measly denarius. Well in reply to their grumbling the master asks three questions. Three questions which tell us a lot about God and may reveal a lot about our hearts. Look at verse 13. Here's the first question. Friend I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius. Didn't we agree on this? Haven't you received what we had worked out? The workers who came at the crack of dawn think the landowner is being unfair because he gave the latecomers as much as the early birds. And if we're honest, we can see their point. This is what Jesus does in the parables. Very tricky. He gets us reading them and we start to side with the wrong people. Kind of like the prodigal son, you get to the end of that and you think, oh, really? He's never even had a fattened calf. Can't you throw him a party? He's been there all along. Well, I get to the end of this, and even now, you may be familiar with this story, but isn't there a part of you that says, they really have a point. I would be pretty upset if I did this. You know, we have to have babysitters all the time because our babies need to be sat on, so. People come and sometimes they bring their friends and then you pay multiple people and they would be furious. She just came when all of the kids were already in sleep. That's the fun part. You just get to watch TV and just, you know, lock their doors. And you paid the same thing and I've been here for 12 hours of the day. We understand these men are thinking, look, these loafers got here at the 11th hour, why should they get as much as us? It's not fair. Have you ever been with a large group of people and you try to order pizza? We were with some folks from the New Jersey parish, a very good pizza, and there was plenty of it. I remember particularly when I was in college, I would always try to take charge of these things because I am absolutely maniacal about getting enough pizza. I could eat pizza every meal. Some weeks I do. I mean, I just eat just terrible. I was at a doctor not too long ago and he's doing some tests and he said, well, has your diet changed? And I thought, not since I was four. pretty much gummy bears, pizza. So in college, you know, you get all these people together and I would try to take charge. Okay, we're going to take orders, we're going to order some pizza. How much do you want? Because I'll pay my $5 for my Little Caesars hot and ready, and you can thank Michigan for those. But I want all the pizza that I'm paying for, and I don't want moochers to get more than their fair share. Because, you know, there's always in this group of pizza, there's always, it's usually a young lady who says, I'm not very hungry. No, I'm not going to eat anything. Maybe just one piece of spinach, tofu, kale pizza. I'm just gluten-free. I won't eat anything. And then what happens? Later, you see her with three pieces of Meat Lovers, just, what are you doing? I don't know, I got hungry, it looked good. So I have a lot of issues with this, because this would always happen, and I would say, I'm willing to pay for it, but I want a whole pizza, especially when I was in college, and you can eat just a ton. I want all of this, and I would go around and make sure, now look, you gave $1, what are you doing? Eat your crust, no wonder why you're not full. Eat them. I put in $5, you put in one, you don't get as much as I do. We'll throw it away, you don't know, you don't get that. Because I wanna have my fair share. See, I grew up in a family, every Friday we had pizza. There were six of us in the family and we got four pizzas because it was a great sin to ever run out of pizza. And so it was with shock when I married into my wife's family. And one of the first times I was visiting and they knew that I loved pizza so much, And they said, Kevin, we're gonna have some pizza. Oh, that's great, thank you, that's very kind of you. And it was me and my wife and my mother-in-law and father-in-law, and I think my wife's brother and his wife, and there were six or seven of us there. One pizza? Talk about family structure differences. They said, well, we have salads and yogurts and things with our pizza. Well, that's a lot of wasted space. So I was so excited, I felt like I hadn't eaten in three days. And then there was the pizza here and it came out of the oven, one pizza. I just want my fair share, pay for it, give it to you. And go around and kind of be the pizza police. That guy, you get more than you deserve. You get more than you deserve. Listen, some of us are like that with the Lord's blessings. The Lord blessing you, what's he doing? He didn't bless me like that. Why do you deserve that? Why are you gonna live in that kind of house, huh? Why are your kids so sitting still? What's with your blessings? And we go around and we're making sure that nobody gets more than anybody else. Listen, stop trying to figure out whether God is doing too much for someone else. The issue is has he been faithful to you? The landowner was eminently fair for this reason. He was fair because he was true to his word. And so if I put in $5 for pizza and I get $5 of pizza, that's fair. And if there happens to be leftover and some other people get a gift full as well, well, I got what I paid for. He promised them a denarius for a day's work. That's the question. Did you not agree for this? I'm giving you exactly what we agreed to. The issue is not, well, is God doing too much for someone else? Has he been faithful to you? Has God delivered on the promises he's made in your life? Has he proved true with his word? God is not unfair so long as he gives us what he promises. I heard this story once from R.C. Sproul talking about when he was teaching a class and he told everyone clearly in the class, your papers are due Friday morning. I won't accept any late papers. If your paper is not here on Friday morning, you are going to fail this paper. And so somebody sure enough said, oh, I I couldn't get it in, please. Could I have over the weekend? Could I turn it in? I just couldn't get it done. The dog ate my iPad or whatever. I couldn't get this. And so, okay, you can have till Monday. Next week, papers are due on Friday. I'm telling you, if you do not turn it in first thing on Friday morning, you will fail. So then a couple more people, we just couldn't get it done, and please, please, please, last week you gave him, could we just have through the weekend? And okay, you can have through the weekend. And then it happens again, and he tells them, listen to me plainly, if you do not turn in your paper Friday morning, you will fail. And so what happens? A few more people say, please, we just couldn't get it done. Can we have through the weekend to get this paper done? And he says, no, you'll fail. And you know what they say? That's not fair. But it is fair, of course. And how often we can be like those students, presuming upon the Lord's grace, presuming upon his kindness. God is fair when he gives to us what he promises. God promises to give wisdom to those who ask. Has God given you wisdom? I bet he has over the years. One of the things I've learned in low these many years is that when I get into a situation where I don't know what to do and I'm very perplexed and I pray for wisdom and I claim the promise of James 1 I say Lord you said that if I if I ask in faith without doubting you'll give me wisdom so. Figure this out. And what I've realized is the Lord doesn't usually just figure it out for you. What he does is say, you prayed for wisdom, that's where I'm putting you in this situation and you have no idea what you're doing. So that you'll gain wisdom and you'll learn. He's always true to his promises. Romans 8, 28, it gets a hard time. Don't say that when people are suffering. And I know we can say it in a sort of trite kind of way. Oh, cancer, God works all things for good. But when you get to the end of your life, I mean, don't you look back and you see even the hard things, especially the hard things, God was using. And you have stories you think I never would have gone through it. I never would have wished for it, and I'm so glad it's passed, but I can tell you that's when God taught me so much. When you look back on your life at the times of greatest spiritual victory and growth, it's not going to be the vacation to Disneyland. No, it is trying for parents, yes. And nothing wrong against vacations, we need them. But it will be walking through those valleys of the shadow of death when the Lord taught you to fear no evil and you learn that His rod and His staff are with you and they comfort you. Hasn't He been true to His word? to forgive you when you repent, to draw near to you when you draw near to Him? What undeserved blessings has He given to you? I know even if you look at your life and you think, I've had so many disappointments, I have had so much pain, can't you recollect as well so many undeserved kindnesses from the Lord? Have you considered your kindness that you get to be here and you have the Bible in a language you can understand and you get to hear preaching that honors Christ and explains the word of God? Have you considered your great privilege? How do you look at life? Is it with these goggles of fairness or is it with the glasses of grace? A few years ago I was speaking in Montreal and I met a church leader there, a very godly man, Francois. I remember that was his name because everyone I met there was Francois. And I think he was in his early 60s and his wife had just passed away. And I was so struck talking with him that here was a man who was seeing life through the glasses of grace. He said, even at times with tears, he said, God has been so kind to me, he's blessed me. He said, I never thought I would even get married. And then in my 40s, I met my wife and we fell in love and we got married. So kind of the Lord. And we were old, and we never thought that we would have children. And the Lord blessed us with one child, my wife, he said, had our child when she was 48. And now his son was there, and he's 12 or 13 or something, and he said, and now I get to see this young man growing up, and he loves the Lord, and he's walking with the Lord. And we had 13 years together as a family. The Lord has blessed me. And I thought, how many of us would reach the exact opposite conclusions? We would say, I had to wait forever to get married? Then when I got married, it was so hard to have children. All my friends had three or four, and we had one, and then that's not enough. And then the Lord takes my wife away from me when I'm in my 60s, and I have to finish raising this child all by myself. God, what kind of God are you? And we feel that. That's looking at your whole life through the lens of fairness instead of the glasses of grace. The landowner says, have I not given you what we agreed upon? I promised you a denarius and I've given you a denarius. Here's the second question, verse 14. The landowner says, take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give this last workers I give to you. Here's the question, am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? What belongs to me? They were complaining about their rights. We worked all day. They worked one hour. We were here in the heat of the day and the bright burning sun. Don't we have a right to more than these men? And you see what the landowner does? He says, you want to talk about rights? You have a right. to what I've promised you and I've given you that. You can read in James I mean the Bible is very serious in warning landowners who would not give what they had agreed upon. That's what the Bible usually means by injustice is you agree for this and then they work for you and then you cheat the poor from their wages. That's ranks in. This landowner says, I promised you a denarius, I gave you a denarius. And then he kind of flips his argument against him. He says, you want to talk about rights? Okay, let's talk about rights. Don't I have a right to do what I want with my money? God is in debt to no one. He gives according to His grace. It is only out of His inexhaustible riches that He has given us anything. You look at your money, your gifts, your talents, your opportunities, your home, your resources, your connections, your career. Do you suddenly think to yourself, well, I mean, I do deserve it. I know I can't earn heaven, but I do I mean, this is mine. It's not. It's the Lord's. That's why we're called stewards. Because God says, I'll entrust this to you for a time. Just for a time. If you have anything, it's grace. Do you really believe that? Do I really believe that? You have anything, any blessing this morning. You woke up and you had cereal in the cupboard. You had milk in the refrigerator. You woke up and you could breathe because God was gracious. Hebrews says that it is by the word of his power that the universe is held together. The reason that these molecules and these beams and these arches don't come crashing down is because the Lord Jesus Christ wills them to be so by his grace. Do you see your life as one of constant undeserved grace? The kingdom operates not according to our labors but by God's mercy, not by our accomplishments but by God's generosity. Do you remember this warning from Deuteronomy chapter 8? Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes as I've commanded you today. Lest when you have eaten and are full, all the pizza you could want. and you have built good houses and live in them. And when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground, brought you water from the rock, led you in the wilderness, fed you with manna. Beware lest you say in your heart, my power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth. Oh, it is so subtle and it is so deadly when we begin to think that the blessings we have are ours because of our deserving And we get into this IRS relationship with God where we think, if I do enough good things long enough, then God will owe me some kind of back taxes. Look, it's a very bad idea to base your life upon the IRS owing you things. And it's a very bad idea to think that God owes us anything. Well, God, I've been a pretty good follower for a while. I'd like a bigger house. I think I've endured this trial long enough. I've been going to church long enough. And that's living life through these fairness goggles instead of the glasses of grace. It's God's grace, and he has a right to apportion it however he pleases. The point of this parable in Jesus' day was that the sinners and the tax collectors and the Gentiles were coming into the kingdom. The vineyard is a common Old Testament metaphor for Israel, for God's people. See Isaiah 5, for example. And so what he's saying is, look, I know that you children of Israel, the Jewish people, you have followed me, you have been with me since six in the morning, and you can understand that some of them would be grumbling. Look, we've been here since six in the morning through slavery in Egypt. and through the exodus, and through wandering in the wilderness, and through having to defeat our foes to inherit the promised land, and through the Babylonian captivity, we've been through it all. And now you're saying that these sinners, these tax collectors, these Gentile come latelies, they can come and they can receive the same denarius when we've been here for two millennia, Lord. And Jesus is saying that's exactly it. because whatever you have from my hand was by my grace. So I think that the denarius here is really a picture of eternal life and coming into the kingdom as God goes out into the highways and the byways. And it's not about earning it, but it's about saying, yes, you can come in. Yes, you can come in. You've been here since six. You've been here since noon. It's the 11th hour. You can come in. One of the applications for us may be to consider how well new people. feel like this church can be their church too. Now, you probably do this very well, but every church is a church, and every church has its own struggles. And every church can struggle with this delicate balance of honoring those who have gone before, honoring people who have put in their time and given so sacrificially, and yet not being possessive. You don't want this sort of attitude, look, I'm very glad that you can come and be a part of my church. I'm happy to have people at my church, just so you know where I sit, and I could show you where the offering envelopes are. But it's my church. Of course, it's not your church, not the pastor's church, it's Christ's church. And any who come here, faith and repentance in his name, this is their church, our church, your church, together. But isn't it an easy thing? Well, I've been here since the beginning. Well, none of you have been here since the beginning. You can say that at my church, not at your church. You say, I've been here through one of the bees. Well, I've been here through two of the bees. I was here for three of the bees. No, you weren't. Are you willing to have new people come, and not just be friendly, but make friends. That was so helpful, someone said that to me early in ministry. People aren't so much looking that they find a friendly church as they are to find a church where they can meet friends. It's one thing to have a few seconds after the service and say, hey, you're visiting, nice that you can be here. It's quite another to actually get to know people. Because when you've been in a place for a while, you think, I don't need any more friends, I don't have time for more friends. I can turn around and say hi to you, And in a big church like this, probably some of you think, well, I don't say anything to people because I might meet somebody who's, you know, welcome to our church. Oh, I've been here for 55 years. Well, just have the humility to do it anyways and say, 55 years? I've been here 45 years. How have we never met? And you just go out on a limb and take a chance. Say, I got here at 6 in the morning. They got here at noon. You got here at 5 p.m. right before quitting time, but we're so glad you're here. Our church, being near a university, we have a number of internationals. I remember a Japanese woman, dear sister, saying, really broke my heart, she said, you know, the thing about Americans, they're very friendly, but they really don't need to be our friends. They're very nice, but then they go back and they have their families and they have all their connections and all the people they went to school with and they don't know, we need to know people. And I thought that's what the body of Christ should be doing, thinking this is not my church, but our church. And no matter what time you come here, now come on time to the actual services, but no matter what time you come into the life of the church, you think we're all worshiping the same Lord, we're all serving the same master, and we all want more workers in the vineyard. So come, come. You see this last question in the end of verse 15? Or do you begrudge my generosity? Let's get down to the real issue, the landowner says. At the heart of the matter, this isn't about a denarius or your hard labor under the sun. It's about your hard heart. You are upset because I'm generous. It could be translated, is your eye evil because I am good? Look, are you the type of person who marvels at the Lord's generosity or gets jealous over it? You think, I wouldn't be so unhappy in my life except that I see so many other people who are happy. You kind of go around and say, why is the Lord doing that? Why is the Lord being so kind to them? And you look and you can think, why does he have such a great job? Where did she get children like that? My kids are tethered to a pole running around. Kids are there. I remember seeing one of my wife's friends one time post on Facebook, what a blessing this morning. Our kid, my children surprised me in bed singing hymns. I'll just pack it in. My children have never done that, never. They surprise us in many other ways early in the morning. You can look and you think, why is that? And now, in this age of social media, you know what everyone's doing. Oh, what a blessing the Lord gave us this trip to Hawaii. All that stuff is just terrible, and I'm on all of it. Because you either look and you say, well, that person's really bad, I feel better. Or boy, I didn't realize my life was so terrible. And you start to get jealous and think, why is the Lord being so generous? Why does he get that job? Why do they have that money? Why do they have that opportunities? Why does he get those career options? Why does she get those looks and that ability, those connections? And we live life with these fairness goggles. Instead of thinking, I love it when God is generous and I love it just as much when he's generous to somebody else. You want to know how to make your children unhappy in about two seconds. Give one child a toy and give the other child a better toy. I mean, if I come home from this trip with souvenirs, which I'm not because I'm a bad father, but I said, look, son, I got you a Phillies hat. Oh, he loves baseball and puts it on. Oh, thanks, dad. This is great. Gives me a hug. To my next son, son, I got you an iPad mini. I have ruined the first son's..." He was happy for three and a half seconds. Oh, a hat, dad. Oh, shucks. Thanks. Then, this hat doesn't do anything. There's nothing happening here. Why is he upset? He was happy for a moment. He got something he didn't deserve. Terribly unhappy the next because someone else had gotten more. Some of us haven't grown up very much. Do you really want God to be in the fairness business? You ever you ever find yourself God for once would you just give me what I deserve. It's not a good prayer because he may he may answer it. Let God be God, and let Him be good, and let Him be good on His own terms. He's been good to you, let Him be good to others. As good as He wants to be, none of us would get a denarius if God didn't go out into the streets, hire us, promise His goodness, and then deliver on His promise. So let Him hire as many and pay them whatever He wants. A mark of mature Christianity is that we root for each other. I realized because I was always praying for revival, revival, awakening. It occurred to me some years ago, I don't really mean that prayer unless I'm just as fine for that revival to start at the Baptist Church down the road and not mine. Is it just really about me, my church? Listen, the vineyard needs so much tending, the more workers, the merrier. May the Lord bless you and may he bless all others to whom he will call into his kingdom. And do you see the very last words here in verse 16? After these three questions, Jesus finishes with this summary idea. The last will be first and the first will be last. And don't get caught up trying to figure out, well, exactly how does this work? Because the first workers actually got the same as the last worker, so it's like the first and last are the same. It's not like the first are less and less. It's not a math problem, thankfully. The parable is simply trying to tell us that the kingdom of heaven is not like the world. It's upside down. It's inverted. It's not based on seniority. It's not first come, first serve. God allows for rolling admissions. And once you're in the kingdom, God is not keeping track of when you got there or how much you deserve. Are you prepared to be last? Or do you have this attitude of first? Think about what is so great? Jesus says this several times in the gospel. What is so important that the first will be last and the last will be first? Well, here's the point. The last will be first because they know they are last, and the first will be last because they think they are first. How do you leave the house each day? Some of you don't leave the house because you have these things called children. What glasses do you put on? Sort of, I gotta prove myself? I gotta show myself my worth and who I am and what I'm doing and nobody mess with me, I'm first. That's a good way to make yourself miserable and a lot of other people too. You go through and you think, here's another day where the Lord is better to me than I deserve. You know, we can pay lip service to grace, we can sing great hymns of grace, we can come to the table of grace, and yet deep down we all feel like, I want fair grace. And we think, well, I do deserve a little bit more because of my history. Because of my suffering, because I'm so orthodox, or because I'm not so persnickety like she is, or because of my obedience, or my attendance at church, or the behavior of my kids, or the job my husband has, or because of my supposed status. And you go through life and you have all these things. And you know how you can tell when they're idols? When they get taken away and you feel like your life is over. because you've been worshiping the wrong God. Jesus is not telling this to us to make us miserable, but to make us the happiest people on earth. You'd be last, and He'll make you first. You have no right to God's goodness, and if we go through life thinking we do, we're bound to make ourselves miserable and everyone else around us, but if we realize I have sinned and I come to the foot of the cross where we are all the same, We're all in Adam, we all need to find grace in Christ. Then we can begin to trust this eccentric employer and trust him for the first place ribbon later. Let's be a humble, confident people, wonderfully unimpressed with ourselves. You all have such a rich heritage. People all over the world have heard of 10th Presbyterian Church. People all over the world get invited, get directed here. Wouldn't it be wonderful if people come in here and say, you know what, I was expecting the music to be good, that was good. I was expecting the preaching to be good, it was. But you know what I found that was so surprising? Such an utter humility that these people, with all of this, It had such an attitude of lastness. It was attractive. Nobody talked to me like they were first, but last. That will draw people. That will invite people. That will help people not just visit, but stay and find a home. Don't be so concerned with your due, your order, your rank, your fair share. God is generous and good, and he sovereignly dispenses his blessings how he sees fit. So do yourself a favor, and do everyone else a favor, and take off these fairness goggles, and put on the glasses of grace. And according to God's word, I can tell you that the world will begin to look like a much better place, and you'll begin to smile a bit more, and most importantly, you'll begin to see God and worship God for who he really is in all of his amazing undeserved grace. Let's pray. Our gracious Heavenly Father, would you for these dear people most of whom I don't know and most of whom do not know me, but not because of anything I have said, but because of your word and together with your spirit, would you bless them? Not only with grace to forgive sins, not only grace to sustain them, not only grace to keep them in the love of God, not only grace to bind them together in the spirit of love and fellowship, but grace that they and we might go through this world seeing things as you see them. And would you help us of all people who have known such rich undeserved favor to see the world in the same way? Help us, Lord, to be true to your word. Help us, none of this is to say that you don't have standards and you don't have wrath, but it is to say that you want us to have eyes to see all that you have done, all that you are doing, and to believe all that you have promised will come to pass. We pray this in Christ's name, amen.