WHEN GRACE DOESN’T ADD UP
Matthew 20.1-16
Outlook is such a powerful thing. The lens through which we see our world leads us toward gratefulness and wonder… or grumbling and worry.
Through parables, Jesus keeps pressing us: Are you seeing with your eyes, or are you seeing with kingdom eyes?
Mark 8.18 (NLT) "You have eyes — can’t you see? You have ears — can’t you hear?"
Jesus tells a story in Matthew 20 about workers in a vineyard. Some worked all day, some for an hour, but at the end… everyone got the same wage.
Matthew 20.13-16 (ESV) But he replied to one of them, "Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?" So the last will be first, and the first last.
Grace is not “paycheck theology.” Grace is a gift. Literally, that’s what the Greek word “Charis” means... free gift.
You want God to operate based on the paycheck theology? Consider this: Romans 6.23 (ESV) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Grace says, “You’re not saved because of how long you’ve been here, or how much you’ve done. You’re saved because of what Jesus did on the cross.”
Ephesians 2.8-9 (ESV) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
The biggest trust fund in the world is a piggy bank compared to what we have in Jesus.
But, too much grace will make believers lazy, right? That’s NOT how it works.
"Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone.” ~ Dallas Williard
1 Corinthians 15.10 (ESV) By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
4 TAKEAWAYS:
1. Grace is not a paycheck. It’s a gift.
2. Comparison is a thief of joy. Count your blessings... not your grievances.
3. Grace levels the playing field. All stand shoulder to shoulder at the foot of the Cross.
4. God’s “unfairness” is our hope. If He gave us what we deserved, we’d be sunk.
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