First Lutheran Church of Little Rock

Text: Hebrews 11:17–31 (32–40); 12:1–3
Theme: Faith in the midst of trial

A. In the Name of the Father…Amen.
B. The Epistle lesson serves as our sermon text for this morning.
C. Grace, mercy, and peace from God our heavenly Father and from our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ.
D. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
→ All praise to God, who reigns above,
the God of all creation,
the God of wonders, pow’r, and love,
the God of our salvation!
With healing balm my soul he fills,
the God who every sorrow stills.
To God all praise and glory!
From <
www.bing.com/search?q=all+praise+to+god+who+reigns+above&form=ANSPH1&refig=06acd5ef22c24487b970d56498df5d51&pc=U531&sp=1&qs=SC&pq=all+praise+to+gof+&sk=PRES1&sc=10-18&cvid=06acd5ef22c24487b970d5649…
>

Introduction

A. “One of the noblest and most precious virtues of faith is to close one’s
eyes to this, ingenuously to desist from exploring the why and the
wherefore, and cheerfully to leave everything to God. Faith does not insist
on knowing the reason for God’s actions, but it still regards God as the
greatest goodness and mercy. Faith holds to that against and beyond all
reason, sense, and experience, when everything appears to be wrath and
injustice” Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 43: Devotional Writings II,
ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 43
(Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999), 52.
B. In our text today from Hebrews, everyone who lives by faith endures in
order to reach the “finish line,” where we are joined together with Christ
Jesus, who gives us each his victory.
1. Throughout this temporal pilgrimage, God’s people receive blessings upon
blessings:
A. his providence and protection for our bodily needs,
B. the forgiveness of sins,
C. answers to our prayers,
D. his peace and comfort,
E. and his fatherly guidance.
C. But we reach that finish line only through adversity, and it’s in that
adversity that our text would encourage us.
D. You are to Consider Those Who Endured Suffering, So That Your Faith Will
Prevail.

I. THE EXPLANATION OF FAITH (11:1–3, 6)

A. Its nature (11:1–2)
1. “It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to
happen” (11:1a).
2. “It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see” (11:1b).
A. “If anyone wants a distinction between faith and hope, we say that the
object of hope is properly a future event, but that faith is concerned with
future and present things. Faith receives the forgiveness of sins offered
in the promise in the present.” (Apology V 191)
B. Its necessity (11: 3, 6)
1. With it people in the Old Testament were approved by God (11:2).
2. With it we are able to believe the power of God (11:3):
A. This is especially true in regard to his creative power.
3. Without it we are unable to please the person of God (11:6).
A. “Only justified people, who are led by the Spirit of Christ, can do good
works. Without faith and Christ as Mediator, good works do not please.”
(Apology V 251)
B. “From this it is evident that in theology the work does not amount to
anything without faith, but that faith must precede before you can do
works. For “without faith it is impossible to please God, but whoever would
draw near to God must believe” (Heb. 11:6). Therefore the writer of the
Epistle to the Hebrews says that the sacrifice of Abel was better because
he believed. But because Cain was an ungodly man and a hypocrite, he
performed a work that was moral, or rather one that was reasonable, by
which he sought to please God. Therefore the work of Cain was hypocritical
and faithless; in it there was no faith in grace but only a presumption
about his own righteousness.” Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 26:
Lectures on Galatians, 1535, Chapters 1-4, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton
C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 26 (Saint Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 1999), 264.

II. THE EXAMPLES OF FAITH (11:4–5, 7–40)

A. Who they were and what they did
B. Sixteen people of faith are named, and many others are referred to
as well.
1. Abel (11:4a)
a) Abel gave the Lord an acceptable offering (11:4b).
b) The Lord accepted the sacrifice and the one who offers the sacrifice.
2. Enoch (11:5a)
a) Enoch left the earth without dying (11:5b).
3. Noah (11:7a)
a) Noah survived the great Flood (11:7b).
b) Through the ark, Noah showed that God’s threat of destruction was real.
4. Abraham (11:8a, 9, 12, 17–18)
a) Abraham inherited a land (11:8b).
b) Abraham believed that God could raise the dead (11:19).
5. Sarah (11:11a)
a) Sarah bore a son through a barren womb, in old age, and began a nation
(11:11b).
b) Chrysostom: “While her laughter indeed was from unbelief, her fear was
from faith…when unbelief had been cleared out, faith came in its place.”
6. Isaac (11:20a)
a) Isaac and Jacob both predicted the future (11:20b, 21b).
7. Jacob (11:21a)
8. Joseph (11:22a)
a) Joseph anticipated the Exodus long before it happened (11:22b).
9. Moses’ parents (11:23a)
a) Moses’ parents defied the king of Egypt (11:23b).
i) They feared God more than the evil Pharaoh.
10. Moses (11:24, 27a, 28a)
a) Moses forsook the pleasures of sin (11:25).
b) Moses left the land of Egypt and was not afraid of the king (11:27b).
i) He fled in faith, intending to return when the time was right.
11. The people of Israel (11:29a, 30a)
a) The people of Israel kept the Passover (11:28b).
b) The people of Israel crossed the Red Sea (11:29).
c) The people of Israel shouted down a city (11:30).
12. Rahab (11:31a)
a) Rahab protected some Hebrew spies (11:31b).
b) The Lord brought about change in Rahab:
i) repentance,
ii) faith,
iii) and action.
C. Not enough time to talk about the rest of the list:
13. Gideon (11:32a)
14. Barak (11:32b)
15. Samson (11:32c)
16. Jephthah (11:32d)
17. David (11:32e)
18. Samuel (11:32f)
19. All the prophets (11:32g)
A. The prophets and judges subdued kingdoms,
B. shut the mouths of lions,
C. quenched flames,
D. escaped the sword,
E. exchanged weakness for strength,
F. put enemy armies to flight,
G. and a few even raised the dead (11:33–35a).
D. What they endured (11:35b–38)

1. Terrible torture (11:35b)
A. They would have been released if they denied the faith, but they
refused.
2. Ridicule (11:36a)
3. Cruel flogging (11:36b)
A. a punishment in which the victim is hit repeatedly with a whip or stick:
4. Imprisonment (11:36c)
5. Stoning (11:37a)
A. a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person
until the subject dies from blunt trauma.
B. Example: Stephen
a) Attempts: made on Jesus’ life and the woman caught in adultery.
6. Being sawn in two (11:37b)
A. Some ancient writers believe this happened to the prophet Isaiah.
7. Death by the sword (11:37c)
8. Extreme poverty (11:37d–38)
A. The world truly despised all of God’s saints then as they do now, even
though they were truly worthy of praise.
B. Only God counts them worthy through faith to receive His promises.
E. Why they endured (11:10, 13–15, 16b, 26, 35c)
1. They saw the invisible City of God (11:10, 13–15, 16b).
2. They believed that suffering for the sake of Christ was better than
having all the riches of this world (11:26).
3. They looked forward to their own resurrection (11:35c).
F. What they received (11:16a, 39–40)
1. In the past (11:16a, 39):
A. The earthly and temporary approval of God.
2. In the future (11:40):
A. The heavenly and eternal approval of God.
G. Many think that pain is the exception in the Christian life.
1. When suffering occurs, they say, “Why me?”
2. They feel as though God deserted them, or perhaps they accuse him of not
being as dependable as they thought.
3. In reality, however, we live in an evil world filled with suffering,
even for believers.
4. But God is still in control.
5. He allows some Christians to become martyrs for the faith, and he allows
others to survive persecution.
6. Rather than asking, “Why me?” it is much more helpful to ask, “Why not
me?”
7. Our faith and the values of this world are on a collision course.
8. If we expect pain and suffering to come, we will not be shocked when
they hit.
9. But we can also take comfort in knowing that Jesus also suffered.
10. He understands our fears, our weaknesses, and our disappointments (see
Heb_2:16-18; Heb_4:14-16).
11. He promised never to leave us (Mat_28:18-20), and he intercedes on our
behalf (Heb_7:24-25).
12. In times of pain, persecution, or suffering, we should trust
confidently in Christ.

Transition to chapter 12:
→ The author compares a godly life to a great race and explains to his
readers the reasons behind God’s discipline.
→ He again warns against the sin of unbelief.

III. THE CONTEST (12:1–4)

A. The race (12:1):
1. We are to faithfully run the spiritual race God has marked out for each
of us.
B. The role model (12:2–3)
1. Who he is (12:2a):
A. We are to fix our eyes on Jesus, the start and finish of our faith.
C. What he did (12:2b–3):
1. He endured the opposition of sinners and died on the cross.
D. Why he did it (12:2c):
1. Because of the joy he knew would be his.
E. Where he is now (12:2d):
1. At God’s right hand, on our behalf.
F. The reassurance (12:4):
1. We are informed they have not suffered as Christ suffered.
2. Hebrews 12:4 (ESV) In your struggle against sin you have not yet
resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Conclusion

A. “Some were tortured. . . .
1. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
2. They were stoned,
3. they were sawn in two,
4. they were killed with the sword.
5. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted,
mistreated . . . wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and
caves of the earth” (11:35–38).
6. And those were the most faithful ones!
B. The Lutheran Fathers wrote in the Formula of Concord:
1. “We receive in this life only the firstfruit of the Spirit [Rom 8:23].
2. The new birth is not complete, but only begun in us. . . .
3. At one time he [the Christian] is joyful in spirit, and at another
fearful and alarmed. At one time he is intense in love, strong in faith and
hope, and at another time he is cold and weak” (FC SD II 68).
C. Luther once wrote:
1. “Faith is that foundation of the apostles and the prophets on which, as
the apostle writes in Eph 2:20, we are built and the ‘foundation that has
been laid,’ of which he speaks in 1 Cor 3:11.
2. Thus Christ himself says in Matt 16:18: ‘On this rock I will build My
church,’ that is, on the firmness of faith” (AE 29:229; emphasis added).
D. The Divine Service brings the worshiper into the gracious presence of
God, who serves his people, strengthening their faith in ancient evidence
of witnesses who endured trials and even death and who were sustained in
faith in the blessed hope of life eternal with Christ.
E. The ancients believed God’s promise though they didn’t receive the
fulfillment of the Messiah’s mission.
1. We who’ve seen Christ’s work of salvation fulfilled have even more
reason to continue through trials and difficulties.
2. The entire body of evidence points us to the Author and Perfecter of our
faith: in the midst of our strife, Christ Jesus is the proof of our eternal
hope.
3. He who endured the suffering of the cross and God’s wrath on our sin has
won for us the promise of life everlasting—regardless whatever Satan throws
at us.
F. Yes, the Christian life involves hard work.
1. It requires us to give up whatever endangers our relationship with God,
2. to run with endurance,
3. and to struggle against sin with the power of the Holy Spirit.
4. To live effectively, we must keep our eyes on Jesus.
5. We will always stumble if we look away from him to stare at ourselves or
at the circumstances surrounding us.
6. We should be running for Christ, not for ourselves, and we must always
keep him in sight. Amen.
G. Let us pray:
913 O Holy Spirit, Enter In (Stanza 3)
O mighty Rock, O Source of life,
Let Your dear Word, in doubt and strife,
In us be strongly burning
That we be faithful unto death
And live in love and holy faith,
From You true wisdom learning.
Your grace and peace
On us shower;
By Your power
Christ confessing,
Let us see our Savior’s blessing.
Text: Public domain
H. The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
I. In the Name of the Father…Amen.

9th Sunday after Pentecost

Text: Luke 20:9–20

Theme: Vine Grifters

1. In the Name of the Father…Amen.

1. The text for our final sermon in this series of “Parables for
Pentecost Season” is the Gospel of Luke, chapter 20.

1. Verses 1 and 2 are included for the sake of context:

One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the
gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said
to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who is it that
gave you this authority.” (Luke 20:1–2)

1. Grace, mercy, and peace from God our heavenly Father and from our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

E. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:

554 O Jesus, King Most Wonderful

1

O Jesus, King most wonderful!

O Conqueror renowned!

O Source of peace ineffable,

In whom all joys are found:

3

O Jesus, light of all below,

The fount of life and fire,

Surpassing all the joys we know,

All that we can desire:

Introduction

1. As we have explored several of Jesus’ parables this summer, we have
learned several things:
1. When sowing seed, be reckless.
2. We too are the weeds amongst the wheat.
3. Oftentimes, doing more work does not mean we will get paid more.
4. When it comes to God’s grace, there seems to be a double standard.

1. We now turn to the text for today and the theme: Vine Grifters.

1. You may be wondering what is a “vine grifter”?
1. A “grifter” is someone who is a con artist; someone who pulls
games with someone else’s confidence.
2. A grifter is a person who swindles you by means of deception or
fraud

From <www.askdifference.com/conman-vs-grifter/>

1. What does all this have to do with the text from Luke 20?

3. Jesus’ parable of the vineyard asserts his authority to give the
Vineyard to those who honor the son.

1. Jesus answers his would-be exterminators in his interpretation of
Isaiah’s vineyard song (Isaiah 5:1–7) and Psalm 118’s cornerstone.

1. And [Jesus] began to tell the people this parable:
1. ‘A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants [vine growers]
and went into another country for a long while’ ” (verse 9).

1. It was a long time since this vineyard had been planted—since the
owner had dug all around it, removed its stones, and planted it with the
choicest vines.
1. And he had built a tower in the middle of it and hewed out a wine
vat in it (cf Isaiah 5:2).
1. Even Isaiah the prophet referred to it in the distant past—so long
ago that the vine growers forgot that they were tenants but imagined
they were the owners.
2. Ever do that?

1. So this parable was Jesus’ answer to those same tenants who asked:
1. “Who do you think you are? Where do you get the authority to
preach this ‘gospel’?” (cf 20:2).
1. The story Jesus told them would be too incredible to believe had we
not known it actually came true:
1. When the time came, he sent a servant [slave] to the tenants [vine
growers], so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.
But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent
another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent
him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third. This one also
they wounded
and cast out. (verses 10–12)

1. Has anyone ever heard of an owner like this, realistically?
1. This is way beyond patient!
2. In today’s day and age, invasion with tanks might take place after
the first servant was beaten.
3. Sometimes we fancy ourselves as patient with people, patient with
sinners, even patient with fellow sinners, not realizing that all
that time it was we who was trying the Lord’s patience.
4. He has put up with me, and put up with you, and put up with his
people Israel.
1. Stephen asked, “Which of the prophets did your fathers not
persecute?” (Acts 7:52).
2. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with
the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute,
afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not
worthy—wandering about in
deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. (Hebrews
11:37–38)
3. The evil tenants aggressively exploit the owner’s patience, and
the atheists among them imagined there was no owner. And instead
of receiving fruit, the owner receives the opposite: his prophets are
abused, reviled, disregarded. Why? Peter said, “The Lord is
not slow to
fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient
toward you, not
wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach
repentance” (2
Peter 3:9).

1. Just when you think the royal patience surely has run out, and the
owner should cut his losses:
1. “The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my
beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the
tenants saw him,
they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the
inheritance may be ours’ ” (verses 13–14).

1. It’s bad enough that they killed the owner’s son, but they knew he
was the owner’s son and still killed him!
1. And Jesus knew that they knew, and he let it happen!
2. Again, drones and nukes should have been sent in before ever
sending the son of one’s own substance!
1. Jesus already told them, “You have taken away the key of knowledge.
You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering”
(Luke 11:52).
1. They knew he was the Messiah; this wasn’t ignorance, like the Romans
or the Greeks. This was insidious.

1. Follow the logic for a minute.
1. Oh, wait, there isn’t any.
2. Because sin is insanity and it makes us do insane things, like
attempting to muscle the Supreme Being.
3. What ludicrous fairy tale did Jesus’ contemporaries live that they
believed they could kick the Lord out of his own world?
1. “Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.”
4. The very same lies proposition us:
1. Let’s strip every mention of Christ from our land and the
country will be ours.
2. Let’s strip every mention of Christ from our conscience and our
lives will be ours.
3. Let’s strip every mention of Scripture from our movies about
Christ and we can retell his story to suit our audience.

1. But history bears out that it never works.
1. “And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then
will the owner [the lord] of the vineyard do to them? He will come and
destroy those tenants. And [he will] give the vineyard to
others.” (verses
15–16a)
1. History proves that generation did not pass away without seeing
Jerusalem fall in AD 70.

2. The work of the Lord’s Vineyard is authorized by Jesus’ crucifixion.

1. “When they heard this, they said, ‘Surely not!’ [‘May it never be!’] ”
(verse 16b).

1. That’s the kind of talk that comes from those who will throw away
their own brothers if it comes down to that.

1. Joseph was the ruler of all Egypt because the Lord was with him, and
when he planted his cup in the possession of his brothers, who had sold him
into slavery, and tested them with an accusation of stealing, they replied:
1. “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your
servants to do such a thing!” (Genesis 44:7).

1. The temple officials of Jesus’ day:
1. “May it never be!” as if they didn’t recognize the history Jesus
was recounting.
2. They acted shocked as if they had never read Isaiah 5, about the
Lord who expected his Vineyard to produce good grapes but it
produced only
worthless ones.

1. So what gives Jesus the authority to rip the Vineyard away from the
rulers of Israel and give it to those whom he named apostles?
1. The same thing that gives him the authority over all history: his
crucifixion.
2. And while we receive the body and blood of Christ (which we will
receive very shortly), the Lamb of God will be praised as He was
in John’s
Revelation:
1. “they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the
scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your
blood you
ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and
people and nation’ ”
(Revelation 5:9).

1. Worthy by the very authority of his crucifixion.
1. Those who threw him out of the Vineyard and killed him were the
unwitting instruments of God to give the Vineyard to the ones he
made holy,
precisely by that murder.
1. “So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify
the people through his own blood” (Hebrews 13:12).

1. The work of the Lord’s Vineyard, the preaching of the Gospel, is
authorized by the very crucifixion of Jesus that is preached.
1. Paul declares: “For I decided to know nothing among you except
Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).
1. The cross is the only power we have in our work in the Vineyard,
given to the children of God and joint-heirs with Christ, and taken from
the tenants, who said, “May it never be!”

1. They played stupid, but they knew.
1. But giving them a look, the “who’s kidding who?” look, Jesus said:
1. “What then is this that is written, ‘The stone that the
builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? ” (verse 17).

1. The building of the Lord’s Church stands on the authority of Jesus’
rejection.

1. When we read “cornerstone” in the Bible, it’s not the same thing as
the modern decorative cornerstone with the date etched on it or documents
sealed in it.
1. This is about the square, straight block that the first two walls
rest on and rise from.

1. By what authority does a rejected stone become the support for the
whole building?
1. By the authority of Jesus’ rejection itself.
2. Jesus becomes the cornerstone by being rejected, because he was:
1. “appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a
sign that is opposed” (Luke 2:34).

1. Opposed when Peter healed the man at the Beautiful Gate and was
interrogated by the same rulers that threw the Son out of the Vineyard:
1. “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘. . . By
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised
from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well [in
good health].
This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has
become the cornerstone’ ” (Acts 4:8a, 10b–11).
1. Jesus was the cornerstone that held up that persecuted Church.
2. He is the cornerstone who joins the two together, the Jews and the
Gentiles, so that one building and one house is the result.
3. Christ is the cornerstone because, in the Church, he brought the
Gentiles and the Jews, who were mortal enemies, together.
4. He is the most solid of all things; he is what our lives are built
on, like houses built on a rock (Matthew 7:24–27).

1. “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; and when
it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” The scribes and the chief priests
sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he
had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. (verses
18–19)

1. The risen Cornerstone said: “All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given to me” (Matthew 28:18).

1. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight
of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being
built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him
will not be
put to shame [disappointed].” So the honor [value]is for you who believe,
but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders
rejected has
become the cornerstone.” (1 Peter 2:4–7)

1. So says Peter, the first living stone built on that Cornerstone, on
that Rock.
1. We do not bear him. He bears us.

1. And when they got their hands on him, they threw him out of the
Vineyard and killed him and thought they were rid of him.

1. But Jesus’ Authority Comes from His Rejection and Crucifixion.

1. He was supposed to come from outside the Vineyard in order that they
would give him from the fruit of the Vineyard.
1. But his joint-heirs instead go out to him—outside the camp—bearing
his reproach (cf Hebrews 13:13):
1. the reproach of the rejected Jesus,
2. the crucified Jesus,
3. where the real wine is waiting.

1. And what a nice tidy history lesson that was.
1. But what is the lesson for us, here and now?
2. Have we learned it?
3. Do we really believe that Jesus’ authority comes from his
rejection and crucifixion?

1. Then why the tolerance for modern vine grifters, purging the Church
of both Jesus’ cross and rejection?

1. Jesus said:
1. “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life
that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay
it down of
my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to
take it up again. This charge [command] I have received from my Father”
(John 10:17–18).

1. It’s in losing his life, being rejected, crucified, risen, all the
while being the Son of the Owner, wherein lies all Jesus’ power and
authority. This is why St. Paul said:
1. “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him
crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

Conclusion

1. The modern vine grifters have:
1. kidnapped the people of God,
2. just like those who killed the prophets,
3. killed the Son,
1. corrupted the Church in the Middle Ages in Luther’s day.

1. They say now as they did back then:
1. Let’s get rid of the cross and any notion of rejection, and grow
and prosper and get rich in the process.
2. And in so doing, the Church is robbed of Jesus’ authority. Robbed
of Jesus.

1. People want to be “woke” now, so they will be thought well of by the
world.
1. Many churches will “do good” in the community—as the world defines
“good” and as long as they don’t have to bear the reproach of Jesus.
2. And they’ll preach anything except the offensive, scandalous
message of the cross, which both brings to light sin and sets God’s grace
as all in all, leaving no room for spiritual pride.
3. But if the cross and sharing in Jesus’ rejection is obliterated
from the Church, her purpose, power, authority, reason for existing are
gone.
4. The bride’s husband is gone.
5. She is nothing but a whore, used and abused by lying shepherds who
get rich at her expense, while she clings to the lie that she is good.
6. She is blind.
7. The light within her is darkness, and how great is that darkness!

1. And what does she say to this?
1. “Are you saying that we who are righteous are blind?”
2. Nothing new under the sun.

1. But the Owner’s Son still has wounds.
1. He gives his body for bread.
2. He gives his blood for wine. Alleluia!
3. Forgiveness flows without a reason except that God is love.
4. Rejected, crucified love, risen to find those who didn’t want him.
5. There is his authority.
6. That’s the unmistakable Jesus-brand that ever lives in the true
Church.
7. To repent to Jesus’ authority is to take the love and live.
8. May this be rejection we all can live with.
9. Amen.

1. Let us pray:

4

May ev’ry heart confess Your name,

Forever You adore,

And, seeking You, itself inflame

To seek You more and more!

5

Oh, may our tongues forever bless,

May we love You alone

And ever in our lives express

The image of Your own!

Text: Public domain

1. The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

1. In the Name of the Father…Amen.

8th Sunday after Pentecost

Text: Matthew 20:1–16

Theme: Denarius and the evil eye

1. In the Name of the Father…Amen.

1. The text for this morning is from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 20,
verses 1-16:

Matthew 20:1–16 (ESV)

1“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out
early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

2After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them
into his vineyard.

3And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the
marketplace,

4and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is
right I will give you.’

5So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour,
he did the same.

6And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And
he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’

7They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You
go into the vineyard too.’

8And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,
‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to
the first.’

9And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them
received a denarius.

10Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more,
but each of them also received a denarius.

11And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house,

12saying, ‘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.’

13But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did
you not agree with me for a denarius?

14Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker
as I give to you.

15Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do
you begrudge my generosity?’

16So the last will be first, and the first last.”
– This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

1. Another text for our consideration is from Matthew 19:27–30

27Then Peter said in reply [to Jesus}, “See, we have left everything and
followed you. What then will we have?”

28Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the
Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will
also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or
mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold
and will inherit eternal life.

30But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
– This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

1. Grace, mercy, and peace from God our heavenly Father and from our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

1. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:

826 Hark, the Voice of Jesus Crying

1

Hark, the voice of Jesus crying,

“Who will go and work today?

Fields are white and harvests waiting—

Who will bear the sheaves away?”

Loud and long the Master calleth;

Rich reward He offers thee.

Who will answer, gladly saying,

“Here am I, send me, send me”?

Introduction

1. What does all this mean?

1. “For the kingdom”?
1. What triggered this parable?
2. Well, that whole episode of the rich young man, who couldn’t
get into the kingdom because he wasn’t free enough to turn
his back on his
money and his importance.
3. He had Jesus right in front of him with open arms, and that
didn’t free him up to leave it all and run with Jesus!

1. What is with this parable that we hear about today?
1. That certain householder went out early in the morning to hire
laborers for his vineyard.
2. “After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent
them into his vineyard.”
1. Boy, for a holy man who only cares about us going to heaven, Jesus
sure talked a lot about money!
1. “And going out about the third hour he [the landowner] saw others
standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You
go into the
vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they
went. Going
out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.”
(verses 2–5)

1. Okay. Now the householder is starting to sound a little impractical.
Where’s he going with this?
1. “And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others
standing.
2. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’
3. They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ ”
4. Ever get picked last for a sandlot baseball game?
5. They were still hanging out where day-rate workers hung out
because no one saw any use for them.
6. “He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ ” (verses 6–7)

1. (Oops) The Lord of the vineyard wanted to see that what the 6-a.m.
guys got was the same as the latecomers and vice versa.

1. One hour to quitting time.

1. By the time the guy punches in and gets his apron and tools it’s
going to be time to knock off!

1. The householder was either stupid or was intentionally out to make a
point, and we know he’s not stupid.

1. So here it comes:
1. “When evening came, the owner [lord] of the vineyard said to
his foreman [steward], ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages,
beginning with the last, up to the first’ ” (verse 8).
2. Notice how the lingo changes all of a sudden?
3. What happened to the “master of a house” [householder]?
4. Now he’s “the ‘owner’ [lord] of the vineyard.”

1. By changing the title of the employer, Jesus is telling them and us
what the parable is about.
1. He’s not pushing communism.
2. This isn’t a parable about how we’re supposed to run our
vineyards.
3. It’s a parable answering Peter’s question:
1. “What do we get?”
2. “Pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the
first.”
3. The lord of the vineyard wanted the 6-a.m. guys to see what
the latecomers got paid.
1. “And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of
them received a denarius” (verse 9).
1. A denarius!

2. (Ugh) Look at what he gave those guys! They just got here!

1. “Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive
more” (verse 10a).
1. Look at what he gave those guys!
2. They just got here!
3. This guy is generous!
4. If that “loafer” got a denarius, can you imagine what we’re
gonna get?
5. I am about to do something I normally don’t do:
1. Leave the pulpit during the sermon.
2. Make my way out into the congregation.
3. Ask a few people a question or two to make a point, to put
ourselves into this parable.
4. Give each person a “denarius” (dime)
5. Return to the pulpit.
1. “But each of them also received a denarius” (verse 10b).

1. A denarius? A denarius!
1. They filed a grievance.
2. They were insulted!
3. I’m no Wall Street whiz, but at 6 a.m. they were thrilled to
work for a denarius, and now at 6 p.m. the denarius had devaluated
significantly.

1. And once you hear their complaint, you know the Lord Jesus is talking
about religion.
1. He’s talking about being a Christian, that is, being one of his
disciples.
2. Because it sounds so familiar!
1. “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” (verse 12).

1. In an effort to avoid the point, the Talmud retells the story with
the owner commending the laborer for doing more work in two
hours than the
others did in a full day.
1. But that’s not part of the parable.
2. The householder called the unwanted near the end of the day.
3. That’s the point.
4. They somehow got this idea that he came seeking them because he
needed them!

1. We may also assume the householder profited from the workers working
in his vineyard.
1. But that’s not part of the parable either.
2. That sounds familiar too.
1. A father started to have his son work with him in his
machine shop when he was thirteen years old.
2. The father didn’t do that for himself.
3. Things were harder for him with his son there, not easier.
It took longer to show his son how to do it than just to
do it himself, not
counting when he had to do it over after I made junk.
4. None of that was for him.
5. It was for his son, so he wouldn’t stand idle all day, like
those day-rate workers in the parable.
6. Perhaps you have seen this sign:
1. Shop rates: $30/hour
2. $50/hour if you want to watch
3. $75/hour if you want to help
4. This sign is cute and yet very true!

1. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, you sit here today as 6-a.m.
disciples of Jesus not because he needs your help.
1. This is all for you, so that you can know him here, you bear
the heat of the day, not idle, but with the Lord of the
vineyard, hearing
his words, which are spirit and life, speak to you, so you
can live the
life of the world to come with him, here and now, and go into the
marketplace with him to rescue those who are idle.

1. The lord of the vineyard didn’t raise up the 5-p.m. guys to be equal
to the 6-a.m. guys. He raised up the 6-a.m. guys to be equal to
the 5-p.m.
guys!
1. “The last will be first, and the first last” (verse 16).

3. (Aha) The denarius was a gift!

1. The denarius was a gift!

1. But they were insulted.
1. So he answered one of them and said, “Friend, I am doing you no
wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?” (verse 13).

1. He calls him friend, but it’s so sad here.
1. Because the Greek word used here for “friend” is not the
regular word translated “friend.”
2. The word is hetairos.
1. It means more than friend, it also means comrade.

1. This word occurs only two other sad times in the New Testament.
1. “And he [a king giving a wedding banquet] said to him [a
guest], ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding
garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants,
‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness.
In that place
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’ ” (Matthew 22:12–13).
2. The other occurence: “And he [Judas] came up to Jesus at once
and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, ‘
Friend, do what you came to do’ ” (Matthew 26:49–50).
3. “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for
a denarius?”

1. You were fine with that until you saw me being good to someone else.

1. So he told the 6-a.m. guys:
1. “Take yours and leave. I wish to give to the 5-p.m. guys as I
give you.”
1. I don’t ever want to hear my Lord say, “Take what belongs to you
and go,” like being thrown out of the wedding.
2. Or talking to us like we are Judas.
3. Sad and scary!

1. Then he said, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs
to me?” (verse 15).
1. And, we can translate, “Or is your eye evil because I am good?”
2. Remember the prodigal son’s older brother?
3. He had that same evil eye.
4. He didn’t believe in grace.
5. A party? For him? You’re kidding me, right?

1. This isn’t the first time Jesus talked about an evil eye.
1. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy
[sincere], your whole body will be full of light, but if your
eye is bad
[evil], your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the
light in you
is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matthew 6:22–23).

1. And here’s the worst part of having an evil eye.
1. All the blessing of God goes right by your eye and you don’t
even see it.
2. The lord of the vineyard says, “Friend, all that time it was you
and me:
1. you and me in church
2. you and me in the Word,
3. I in you, you in me,
4. you and me loving others.
5. Was it all nothing to you?”

4. (Wow) St. Luke’s story of the thief on the cross illustrates this
parable.

1. Being with Jesus Is the Denarius!

1. St. Luke’s story of the thief on the cross illustrates this parable.
1. “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

1. If anyone ever punched in right before quitting time, it was this
guy.
1. He lived out his own disaster, right up to that moment, and he
winds up with the big denarius!
2. And theologians like to call this a unique bestowal of
salvation.
3. But they all miss the point.
4. The salvation of the dying thief is not unique at all.
5. It’s just shows so clearly how it really is for everybody—that
everybody who goes to heaven steals heaven on her or his deathbed.
6. We’re all the ones who show up at 5 p.m.!
7. The denarius was a gift!
8. Jesus died on his cross for the privilege of giving it.
9. Jesus bore the heat of the day, the day that the Lord had made
and earned that denarius, that gift.

1. And those of us who have been so blessed that we’ve gotten to spend
more time in the Lord’s Vineyard, not alone, not careening
toward hell all
our lives, not lost and without hope and without God in the world
(Ephesians 2:12) but Christians all our lives, like you kids,
disciples all
our lives, not only workers in his vineyard but also branches in
him who is
the vine, kids,

1. Being with Jesus Is the Denarius!

1. Coming into his vineyard at 6 a.m.
1. This isn’t an insult.
2. It isn’t a burden.
3. It’s a bonus!
4. It’s a blessing!

5. (Yeah) And there’s a day coming when Jesus will remake all things.

1. And we won’t bear the heat of the day forever.

1. There’s a day coming when Jesus will remake all things.

1. When he began answering Peter’s question before the parable,

1. “Amen I tell you, that in the regeneration,” there’s this beautiful
word: regeneration.

1. It literally means “Genesis again,” beginning again, the new
creation.

1. When the Son of Man sits on his throne in glory, the twelve will also
sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “And
everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or
mother or wife or children or lands, for [Jesus’] name’s sake,
will receive
a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are
first will be
last, and the last first” (Matthew 19:29–30).

Conclusion
1. We will live to see the Son of Man sitting on the throne of his glory.

1. And we won’t care about first or last, because we’ll be so glad to be
remade as we were meant to be in him.

1. And we’ll be so glad for every hour, every minute we spent in this
vineyard with him while the day was still hot, this vineyard right here,
right now, burdens and all, while so many still stand idle in the
marketplace, waiting for us, on behalf of the Lord of the
Vineyard, to call
them to joy.

1. Amen.

1. Let us pray:

826 Hark, the Voice of Jesus Crying

4

Let none hear you idly saying,

“There is nothing I can do,”

While the multitudes are dying

And the Master calls for you.

Take the task He gives you gladly,

Let His work your pleasure be;

Answer quickly when He calleth,

“Here am I, send me, send me!”

Text: Public domain

1. The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

1. In the Name of the Father…Amen.