Parable of the Vineyard Workers (Matthew 19:16-20:16)

Welcome to Wednesday in the Word with Krisan Marotta. What the Bible means and how we know. For more talks and study materials, visit wednesdayintheword.com. Speaker 1: Well, good morning. We're going to talk about being good today. When my kids were in elementary school, they went to the Covenant School. And at the time, Covenant had this award they called the Fruit of the Spirit. I don't know if they still do that since I don't know if they do or not, but it was a big deal. They would alert you um the parents of the child who was going to win and ask you to come in for this all-school assembly, and then they would announce the child's name and and bring him or her up front, and then several of the child's friends or teachers would tell these glowing stories about the winner, usually how they were caught serving or performing some act of kindness that merited the award. Neither of my children ever won. But we carpouled with another family who had a boy the same age as my son and a girl the same age as my daughter. And I was picking up carpool one day and the little girl opened the van door and we'll call her Sarah. She whoops open the door and she says, Guess what, Mrs. Marotta? I won the Fruit of the Spirit Award today. And I was like, That's great. I'm so excited for you. And they all start piling in the car. And as they're jostling, you know, for the prime seats, Sarah's brother said, Hey, Sarah, could you please move so that I could sit next to Brendan, who's my son? And Sarah looked at him and says, No way, creep. The irony of that, just, you know, that's being good. That's how we're all good. Right. Done that. Don't need to do that again. Okay, so we're in Matthew, uh, we're gonna look at the in Matthew 20, we're gonna look at the parable of the vineyard workers, but we're gonna start back in Matthew 19, 16, because that's what that dialogue is what sets the stage for the parable, and I think gives us a lot of the clues as to what Jesus was trying to teach us. And as usual, we're gonna just, I'm gonna go through it section by section, we're gonna jump right in. So we're gonna start with Matthew 19, 16 through 22. And someone came to him and said, Teacher, what good things shall I do that I may obtain eternal life? And he said to him, Why are you asking me about what is good? There's only one who is good. But if you wish to enter eternal life, keep the commandments. Then he said to him, Which ones? And Jesus said, You shall not commit murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The young man said to him, All these things I have kept, what am I still lacking? And Jesus said to him, If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me. But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. Okay, so let's set the stage here. The rich man wants to know what he can do to inherit eternal life. And what Jesus is going to tell him is what you must do is impossible. That's what as we get into the next section. Now Matthew 1920 tells us the man was young, and in Luke 18-18 it tells us he was from the ruling class, and yet he had all these advantages, but he wanted something else. And he may not have known it yet, but he what he wanted was God. So he runs to Jesus with enthusiasm. He says, What must I do to herit eternal life? Jesus says, Keep the commandments and give him a list. And he says, Well, I've kept all these from my youth. And I don't think he's being hypocritical there. I think he sincerely believes that he was someone who was keeping the commandments, that he had cared about God all his life, and he'd kept the law to the best of his ability. So but so he asks, What am I still lacking? And he's clearly expecting that he's able to do this on his own by his own efforts and his own performance. There's some level, there's some standard of behavior that he would keep now that um will gain him eternal life. And Jesus says, in the first part of his answer, there's only one who's good enough, basically, is the idea of that. There's only one person or one person who's holy and righteous enough to keep the law, and that's God himself. So the rest of us aren't going to require to meet that standard. The standard is required to keep the commandments inside and outside, both the what you do, what you say, what you think. 24-7, and there's only one person who can do that, God Himself. So the ruler says, Well, which commandments should I keep? And Jesus gives him an assortment of ten. He says, Great, I've done that. Jesus says, Sell all your possessions and follow me, and he turns away grieved. So why did he give up so easily? Let's talk about that. The um Jesus is hitting at two of the primary values of his culture, which was your family and your home. So your family land, your estate, and your the family itself were considered your highest commitments. That's why in the marriage statements, uh, Moses writes, you know, if a man shall leave his father and mother when he gets married, commit to his wife. So the idea that was your highest commitment was your father and mother, your family, and your family estate. And so Jesus is saying, whatever that was, that highest commitment, now there needs to be something higher. You need to put me above your highest commitment. Remember, we saw how important family and the ins and the estate was in the parable of the prodigal son, how offensive it was to the whole, not just to the father, but to the whole community for the prodigal to break with his family and sell his inheritance. So what Jesus is asking him to do is not just give up his money because he's rich, but he's asking him to make following Jesus his highest priority. So he's saying, whatever was your highest priority, priority in your life, and typically for someone in that culture it would have been his family and the family estate, he's saying, I have to be higher than that. You have to put me above that. So the force of Jesus' words, I don't think, are just don't trust in money, although that's true, but he's not saying just because you're rich, give up your money. He's saying you have to have something higher in your life than your money, and that has to be me. And that's what the young man balks at. He says, I I can't do that. He loves his position, his estate too much. So I think what Jesus is trying to get him to do is see his need. So remember we talked about this when we studied Galatians last year, that God gave us the law to teach us that we're sinful. So he we wouldn't have known what the standard of righteousness was, how deeply and how fully it uh penetrated until God gave us the law. And once we got the law, we realized, oops, I can't do that, and it shows us we need a Savior. Paul wrote this same thing in Romans 7. This is 7 7. Indeed, I would not have known what sin was except to the law, for I would have not known what coveting really was if the law had not said, do not covet. So he's saying he thought he was doing okay, and then he runs into this commandment that says, Well, actually, here's the standard, and he realizes he fails it. And that's what Jesus, I think, is trying to do to this young man. He's saying, You think you've kept to the law, but let me show you what the standard really is. If you really want to keep the law, you need to love the Lord God with all your heart. You need to put him above everything else in your life, and that includes your riches. So sell everything and give to the poor and follow me is hitting right where this man is, is kind of lacking, where where he's trusting. So I just want to be clear on that. The New Testament does not teach that all wealth should be given to the poor. Uh instead, I think what's going on here is the the young man's money insulated him from seeing his need because he had all these advantages. He had wealth ruling class, he was then his money insulated him from a lot of the cares of the world. So he hadn't yet seen his need or his inadequacy. Now we have ways, I think, of giving without personally getting involved. You know, we can sell everything, we can write a check to some charitable organization and assume that the funds will be dispersed and we never actually have to meet a poor person. But in Jesus' time, what this man would have had to have done was sell everything and physically go to the poor and hand it out. There was no anonymous banking system where you could kind of transfer funds without getting your hands dirty. So for him, it was much more real, it was much more personal. He would have to go into a world he probably had known nothing about, and that's where it where he bought. So before we turn to the parable, and well, actually we're gonna hit the rest of the section, but notice before we go on how Jesus treats him. He responds to the man's question with tenderness, and he asks a question of his own to draw him out. In the parallel account in Mark 10, it says Jesus looked at him and loved him. So we even get that direct statement. That's Mark 10, 21. So many people have wealth and other advantages, and they never know if someone's looking at them to say, ooh, that's a rich person who can help me out. And do they like them because they're rich or do they like them just for who they are? And here's Jesus looking at him and uh with obvious compassion and he not caring about his riches, and then he instructs him. He tries to teach him where he's lacking, he asks him the question to draw him out, and then he hits him where he thinks he needs to see his need. Because he had everything. What could possibly tempt him to lie or to steal? He's rich. What could tempt him to to dishonor his parents who'd given him so much? So he would have little temptation to struggle, and his riches were insulating him from the cares of life. And Jesus says, You gotta get out of that cocoon and see your need. Okay. Let's uh we're gonna cover a lot, so we're gonna move kind of quickly. So let's go on to twenty-three and twenty-four. And Jesus said to his disciples, Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Okay, it's impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. You may have heard there's a story, it still circulates, and especially if you go to some older sermons, you'll still find it, that there was a gate called the needle's eye, and a camel could get on his knees and kind of squeeze through, so it was possible. That's totally made up. It was not true. It was first suggested in the 1800s by a man named Ferrar, and he later recanted and said he had no evidence for it. But so if you've heard that, it's not true. But what he was referring to is homes, especially wealthy homes, had these large double doors that were about ten feet high and twelve feet wide, and they would go into the family courtyard, and they required this immense effort to open them, so they would cut a smaller door into the big doors that they would use for their ordinary comings and goings. So when you had a camel loaded with goods, you had to open the big doors. And he proposed that that little door was called the needle's eye, and that a camel who was unloaded could get on its knees and kind of squeeze through. Not true. There's no evidence that that door was ever called the needle's eye. And as I said, uh the door does exist, but it's that it was never called the needle's eye, and um even the man that proposed it rejected the story later on. But you'll still see it cropping up. It kind of is just one of those urban legends that kind of goes goes around the internet now. So the point Jesus is making is this is impossible. A camel cannot go through a needle's eye. It's impossible for a rich man through his own efforts to enter the kingdom of heaven. And you notice that's how the disciples react to it. In 25, when the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, Then who can be saved? And what they're reacting to is that Jews believed at the time that wealth was a sign of God's blessing. And if you were wealthy, it was because God was favoring you and God was looking, was granting extra blessings to you. So if who were the righteous, they must be the rich people because God is is physically blessing them in this life. And for Jesus to say, the rich can't do it, it's impossible for them. They're going, well, what about the rest of us? Who could possibly be saved then? Because rich men can build synagogues, they can endow orphanages, they can offer alms to the poor, refurbish the temple, you know, they can fund all these worthwhile projects and do all these good things with their wealth. So they have all this potential to do good. Well, what about the rest of us? If they don't have any hope, then what about us? So they're um they're amazed. And what Jesus is saying is wealth can keep us from discovering the the truth about ourselves. So we can insulate ourselves from worldly cares, and if we have enough stuff, it's easy to assume that we're better off than we really are. Because money can solve a lot of problems. Not the most important ones, but it can solve a lot of problems. And wealth can mask our desire for the presence of God. So we have we get so complacent, we have so much stuff that we lose our hunger and thirst for righteousness. And I think that's what Jesus is pointing out. He's saying there's no advantage in being wealthy because wealth and your is not a sign of God's blessing necessarily. It's not a sign that you're better off or you're more righteous, and in fact, what being wealthy can hurt you and that you are less likely to see your need. I mean, all of us know when we get into the middle of a struggle or a trial, that's when we turn to God. But when things are going smooth, we tend to forget about Him. So the disciples react to that and say, Well, who can be saved? And in 26, Jesus answers, and looking at them, he's Jesus said to them, With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. In other words, salvation, whether you're rich or poor, is an act of God. It's a gift from God. It is not possible for us on our own efforts to enter the kingdom of heaven, but God can get us there. So no one enters the king kingdom of heaven apart from God's grace. No one earns salvation left of themselves, but God makes it all possible. So the text doesn't teach us that we should divest ourselves of all wealth, and it does not say that everyone who's poor automatically gets a pass into heaven. So that's not what he's saying. The poor can't get into heaven any more easily than the rich. They are they may be more likely to see their need quicker because of the the hardships of life, but they're we all come to God the same way. Salvation is a gift, and it's uh made possible by God. So without him, no one can do it. Alright, so Peter picks up on this and he says, Okay, you told that rich young man that he should sell everything and leave everything behind and follow you. Well, that's what we've done, so what about us? So let's look at 27 through 30. Then Peter said to him, Behold, we have left everything and followed you. What then will there be for us? And Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, that you have followed me, that you who have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you also shall 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 children or farms for my name's sake will receive many times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last and the last first. So he's saying, What's impossible for men is shown to be possible in the lives of the disciples by the grace of God. So Peter's statement, we've left what's ours, we've left everything as supplies, they've left their homes, they've left their family, they've put Jesus first, they're following him. So he's saying, Well, what about us? Are we going to get this greater reward? And that's what the parable is going to start to address. So that's that's where I want you to see the context. Um now, I think it's important to note that this doesn't teach that Peter and the apostles earned their place in the kingdom of God. They didn't earn it any more than anyone else. They were given a special role to play, but they did their salvation was just as much a gift. So let me give you an analogy. Suppose I make a deal with my kids that I will give them a million dollars if they take out the trash. And they do take out the trash and I give them the cash. Have they earned it? Not really. You can hardly say they earned a million a million dollars, and that's the position we're in. God has given us a million dollars worth of stuff, and all we have to do is trust him. So what we gain from him far so far surpasses what we give him or do in any act of obedience or anything we bring to the table that we can hardly say we've earned our reward. And I think that's the force of Peter's exchange here with Jesus in 28 through 31. Yes, we do obey. Yes, the apostles left everything and followed Jesus, an action which demonstrated their faith, but what they're receiving back is so much more valuable and so much more greater, so much greater than what they gave, that it's like they've taken out the trash and they're getting back a million dollars. Keep that in mind as we get to the parable. And then this statement that he repeats here, and he says here, the first will be last, the last will be first, and then you'll notice he comes back to that at the end of the parable. The idea is those who think that they're deserving of righteousness righteousness, those who are first, who think they've followed the law and they're doing it all right, are going to find out that they are actually more sinful than those they regard as sinners. So, like the Pharisee and the tax gatherer in the parable we looked at last week, those who think that they're doing it all right are going to find out they can't earn their way into the kingdom of heaven. And those who look the least deserving are actually going to be justified. Okay, follow me so far? Because the parable's part of the response to Peter's question, what will there be for us? And the answer is there will be eternal life because God gives to everyone who follows him what they need. And following, not merit, is the key. All right, so we better turn to the parable or we're going to run out of time. So let's look at I'm going to read through the whole thing. This is starting in Matthew 20, verse 1, and going to 16. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. And to those he said, You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right, or that could be translated just, I will give you. So they went. And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around, and said to them, Why have you been standing here idle all day long? Then they said to him, Because no one hired us, and he said to them, You go into the vineyard too. When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first. When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius. And when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, saying, These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day. But he answered and said to them, Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go. But I wish to give to this last man the same as you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own, or is your eye envious because I am generous? So the last will be first and the first last. Alright, now let's talk about some of the dynamics going on here. The first thing to recognize is the lay the workers need work more than the landowner needs them. There are plenty of workers to go around. So the first dynamic of the story is that the landowner does not need the workers in the same way the workers need their wages. The landowner is rich and independent. The workers are standing idle hoping for someone to hire them. And if the landowner doesn't employ them, they will have nothing. So the landowner is helping them by giving them a job. Verse 7 implies that there were plenty of workers available to hire. So the act of grace is the hiring. Now, a successful landowner would know at the beginning of the day how much work needed to be completed and how many workers would be needed to handle the job, and we would assume that that first pass through he hired the number of people that he needed. And he didn't need anyone else. So the others he was probably hoping would get hired by someone else. So one of the surprises of the story is why does he keep going back? Why does he keep going back to the marketplace every three hours? Because presumably he hired everyone he needed in that first pass. So a lot of scholars have speculated about a lot of motives. Why would he keep going back? But the one that makes the most sense to me is compassion. That he sees how many eager, unemployed there are at the beginning of the day, he hires those he needed, expecting the rest will find employment elsewhere, but then three hours later he checks and he says, Oh my gosh, all these people are still here. So he hires more and repeats that process. So he has compassion on them because they need the work. If they don't work, they aren't going to eat. So notice only the first group hired receives a contract, if you will want to call it that. He negotiates with them and they are promised the standard wage of one denarius for one day's work. The second, that's in 20 verse 2, and then the second group. Hired, he says, I will pay you what is just in 20 verse 4. So he doesn't promise to pay them a denarius, just what is just. And that same promise is given to the next two groups in 20 verse 5. And finally, one hour before sunset, he makes one final trip to the marketplace. He still sees people standing there waiting for work. Amazingly, why haven't they gone home and given up? And he says, Why are you still here? And they say, Well, no one hired us. In other words, we're willing to work, we're eager to work, but no one gave us a job, so he gives them a job. And he just, but there's no promise of pay. He just says, You go into the vineyard as well. But notice in 27, he doesn't actually promise to pay them anything. So by the end of the day, we have these five groups of hires. The first group had a contract, the first group was going to receive one denarius for one day's work. Three groups were told, I will treat you just or fairly, and the last group has no promise at all. So then here comes the second surprise of the story, and that is a steward appears in verse eight. Well, where's he been all day? It would have been his job to run back and forth to the marketplace and hire more workers if they were needed. So why is the manager doing all the heavy, hot legwork of going back and forth throughout the day to find these more workers? I think that's that's a clue that it's his compassion that's driving him. Because why else would he keep tracing back and forth from the field to the marketplace unless he just wanted to have compassion on these workers who desperately needed a job. And then the third surprise of the story is the order they're paid. I mean, why pay the last people first in full view of everyone? The expected order would be to pay the first hires first, give them their day's wage, they'd leave happy and proud, then the next group would be amazed at receiving the same thing, and they'd leave as well, and each group would leave without knowing what anyone else received, and everyone would be happy, and there would be no grumbling at the pay table. So why cause a ruckus? Why all this unnecessary fuss? I mean, he could have hid hidden what he was doing, and I think the answer is he wants the workers who worked all day to observe the grace he extends to others. Because what he's doing is he's giving each person what they need, not what they deserve. They need a denarius was a day's wage, and that's what you needed to buy enough food to eat. So if he pays them less than the denarius, they are going to go hungry. So he's giving them what they need, not what they earned. So we have this parable in which people are overpaid, not underpaid. The story focuses on the emotions of those who felt they earned more, but really they were justly and fairly paid. And it's just others were overpaid. So the landowner is providing for their needs regardless of the amount of service they offered him. And remember the context is what must I do can eternal to earn eternal life? The young man's question, and then Peter's question, and he's saying, part of what's going on here is he's saying, look, I'm giving you what you need, not what you earned. So let's look at 20, 11, and 12 again. When they received it, this is the first group, they grumbled at the landowner, saying, These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden in the scorching heat of the day. So they basically say, not fair, we should receive more. But that's they remember they're not underpaid. No one is underpaid in this parable. The complaint is from those who were justly paid, but they can't tolerate grace being given to others. You know, and grace is not only amazing, it's infuriating. unknown: You know. Speaker 1: Why should these Gani come lately receive the same grace as me? You know, what think about it's why should the Gentiles who never kept kosher a day in their lives receive the same grace as the Jews, who loved and studied the law for centuries? You know, why should Simeon, who held the infant Jesus in his arms, have the same grace as the thief on the cross who never knew Jesus until the last hour of his life? I mean, that's the attitude we slip in into. The grumbling is of those who worked all day reflects of I deserve something from God. I earned this. I started, I was a believer from my youth, so therefore I deserve better than someone who wasted their life and only came to Christ on their deathbed. And the point is we all get what we need, not what we deserve. Even if we work all day in the hot sun, we still don't deserve what we get. So look how the landowner answered him. This is 13 through 16 again. But he answered this is the master speaking, but he answered and said to them, Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for denarius? Take what is yours and go. But I wish to give to the last man the same as you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous? So the first shall be last. And so the last shall be first and the first last. So he basically says, Look, you have no complaint. I'm treating you justly and fairly. I have given you what I agreed to pay you. You're free to do as you like with what is yours, and I'm free to do with what I like with what is mine. So you can go home to your wives and children and announce that you worked and you can provide for them, and I have given that same privilege to the others. And if I want them to be able to go to their families and say, Look, we have food tonight, that's my choice. So I am not only just, I am merciful and compassionate. So he basically says, on what basis should the grace I show others irritate you? You want to take more for yourself, you want to be richer at the end of the day, but I have chosen to be poorer at the end of the day. And notice the parable stops there. We don't know how the first hires responded. I mean, just like some of the other parables we've looked at, we don't know. Do they stop shouting and leave? Do they ask for forgiveness and admit that they were treated fairly, or do they just keep arguing and negotiating? We're not told. This is we're not told how the older son reacts from the prodigal son or how the Samaritan was treated when he returns to the inn. Alright, so let's put all this together and try to work back into the context of what was Jesus trying to teach them. So remember the context is this discussion with the rich young ruler of who wants to know how he can earn eternal life. And Jesus says, You have to put me higher than everything, then whatever your highest priority was, following Jesus has to be higher than that. And then Peter says, Well, what about us? We've done that. We're following you. We've obviously left everything and are following you. Will we have this, you know, what will there be for us? Kind of implying, well, we get this greater award reward. And what Jesus points out to him is just as the landowner gave each worker what he needed and not what he earned, so God gives each of us what we need and not what we earn. What we need is salvation and grace and mercy. We don't earn that. So grace is the point of the parable. We don't work for rewards. We can't earn our way to righteousness. And it's not like once we become believers, then we start earning up points to outstrip other believers in the kingdom. Now, we do have different roles to play in different gifts, but that's as far as salvation goes, we all have the same Lord, the same faith, the same uh mercy, and the same grace. So remember what saving faith is. We talked about this last week, and I gave you four things. The first is a genuine desire to be righteous, a genuine desire for holiness in and of itself. The second part of saving faith is realizing I am not capable of obtaining that on my own, left to myself, apart from the grace of God, I cannot make myself holy. And then, third, a genuine understanding that God owes me nothing, that I'm that I have not earned my salvation in any way, I'm totally unworthy of any gift. And then the fourth aspect is a firm trust that God both intends to and will in fact make me righteous in the age to come because of the blood of Jesus Christ. So the parable is speaking to those second and third aspects of knowing I I cannot earn it myself and God owes me nothing. And that I think is what Jesus is pointing out. The kingdom of heaven is like the landowner and the workers, because saving faith requires us to realize we can't be righteous on our own and that God owes us nothing, and that we don't do good works to impress God, we don't we do good works because God has changed our hearts and given us a desire to do them. So any act of compassion or kindness or mercy or self-sacrifice that I perform is a gift from God. It's He's the only one who's good, He's the only one capable of keeping the law. For me, salvation is impossible left to myself, but it's not impossible with God, it's his gift to me. So the worker's attitude in the parable is similar to the rich man's question. They worked, they earned a day's wage, they deserved it. Look at all these great things they did. And we get that same attitude. Look at all these great things I've done for God, He now owes me. And Jesus' answer is, no one is that good. Yes, God blesses us with great things, but it's like taking out the trash and getting a million dollars. What we do for him is small in comparison to the riches he's granting us. All right, so let's start applying that. Because you've probably known this since Sunday school, or at least from the day of your conversion, that you can't be good enough to enter the kingdom of heaven. But think how easily we slip back into that mentality. And I'm sure glad we don't burn heretics at the stake anymore because I'm gonna challenge something here, and that is what should our attitude be toward religious practices in light of this parable. And we live in a generation of Christians for whom it is settled fact that if you want to be spiritually mature or truly spiritual, there are certain practices that you have to practice. And this is where I I may challenge, ruffle a few feathers here, but I I think it's a legitimate question from this parable. Now, it may vary from region to region what's on the list, but you probably know the list. You know, you there's a certain amount of Bible reading, uh scripture memorization, prayer, church attendance, you can probably think of others. So I'm gonna call all those things religious practices, the things we do to practice our religion. Now, I'm not including moral practices like compassion, mercy, kindness, unselfishness, generosity, those I would call moral. I'm talking about the things that we do to practice our religion. Now they're good things, I'm not questioning their worth, but I want to say in light of this parable, what should our attitude toward them be? Are they essential? Why are we doing them? Is this an essential part of Christian life? Are they absolutely necessary for growth? Must I practice them to have the fullness of God's blessing? Is neglecting them a sign that I of unbelief or disregard for God? So I want to challenge our thinking there a little bit. And I think the key to all of that is what's your attitude. As usual, it's not a simple black and white answer. I wish it were that easy, but it's not. But I think it's really easy to slip into the same kind of legalism that the rich young man was holding, or that the workers who were hired first were holding. That attitude of I am earning rewards from God, that I am doing these things and now God owes me more than someone who hasn't done them. So I am he is required to bless me because I have I have done these things. And what I want to suggest is that no matter how stellar your religious practices are, if that's your attitude, it's wrong. Because religious practices don't cause spiritual growth, they result from spiritual growth. So any act of compassion or kindness I do is not because I'm so great, but because God has changed my heart so that I now want to do them. That left to myself, I would be selfish. I would never want to study the Bible, I wouldn't ever want to go to church or pray. And apart from God's grace in my life, I have no hope of making myself that kind of person. But that's part of the gift. So whatever joy I find in Bible study is because God has changed my heart so that I want to know him better. Or whatever gratitude or trust I feel that results in prayer, that's a result of God changing me, of showing me his love and his mercy and rescuing me from sin, or whatever comfort I find in church attendance or fellowship with other believers or encouragement, that that's part of God giving me a love for the people of God and a love for the things he loves. So all of that is part of the gift. I don't do them because now it's my job to do them, or now it's required to get God to bless me. I do it because He has blessed me, because He has given me faith. So it's all part of the gift. So we there are a lot of books out there now, you can probably find about ten if you just go to any Christian bookstore that talk about here are the things you must do now that you're a believer to maintain your growth. Anytime we slip into that here's what I must do attitude, I'd say, come back to this parable and say, wait a minute, why? What are we doing? So if you're feeling defeated or discouraged, or you doubt the sincerity of your faith because you're not very good at all these outward practices, I am offering you relief. You may be trying to do it out of an attitude of works, of like to prove to God how faithful you are. So I'd say, check your attitude. If it's a duty or if it's an obligation, that should raise a red flag in your mind. And I'd say, pray that God would change your attitude. And if it's joy for you, then resist the temptation to say, Oh, God, look at me, look how great I'm doing. Instead, thank God from for giving you that joy, for giving you that desire. So the other application of that I would think would be don't judge others on the basis of their religious practices, because it's easy to look around and go, Well, she doesn't pray like I do, she doesn't study the Bible like I do, she doesn't have those regular quiet times or whatever's on your list. And um that's not our place. In fact, in the letter of 1 John, he devotes a whole lot of time to discerning true believers from false believers, and never once does he mention religious practices. In fact, he tells us the mark of genuine believers are confessing Jesus is the Messiah and seeking righteousness rather than sin. So he goes, I obviously it's a bit more detailed than that, but that's essentially his point that the marks of true a true believer are the marks of saving faith, desiring righteousness, recognizing your sinfulness, recognizing God owes you nothing, and trusting that God will make you righteous. So we want to be careful that we don't judge others on their outward practices because we have no idea what God is doing in their hearts. And the flip side of that is don't judge yourself as well. I mean, don't think that you're better if you're really good at religious practices, or that you're awful if you're not. I mean, it's very easy to be complacent. It's very easy to say, ooh, I study the Bible, you know, ten hours a week and I know Greek and I pray all the time and I attend church and I've studied all these books in the Bible and perform my 2.5 acts of charity every month, you know. So I'm I'm doing all right. God must be impressed with me. Remember what we talked about last week in the Pharisee and tax and the tax gatherer. That's a dangerous attitude we can all slip in to. Uh or like the workers who worked all day. I worked all day in the hot sun. God now owes me more than someone who didn't do that. And self-righteousness is a slippery slope. You can slide down it really fast. So the the attitude then to remember is that all our good works were prepared by God for us to walk in. They're part of the gift that's wrapped up in our salvation. So it's I'm not doing good works for him, he's doing them to me. He's changing me to make me the kind of person that wants to do them. Now, you'll object to me and say, okay, wait, Krisan, you're missing something here because religious practices are commanded and they're part of obedience, and we should always obey whether we feel like it or not. So it's not part of spiritual growth, but it is part of obedience, and there's value in just doing them because we're obeying. And just like you should do the right thing even when you don't feel like it, so we should do these practices whether we feel like it or not, because it's part of obedience. Well, my answer to that objection is that religious practices themselves are not commanded, but that there is a principle behind them that is commanded. So, for example, the command to study your Bible is not a command to study your Bible, but to love the Lord your God with all your heart. But that's the moral practice that's commanded. Studying your Bible can be an expression of loving the Lord your God. Or memorizing Scripture, again, a command to seek God or to love Him with all your heart, that's the command. Memorizing Scripture is an expression of that. And if you go through each of our religious practices, what I what's more important, I think, is the moral command behind it. Usually loving God, loving your neighbor, seeking God, putting him first. Those are the commands. The expressions are just um so the command is the principle. The moral principle behind it, the practice is an expression of that principle, and not the only one. So I think part of what we learn, want to learn from this parable from the rich young man and from the workers is that we can easily deceive ourselves into thinking we're good enough, and that we've done what is necessary to gain eternal life, and now being good is within our grasp. And what I want to suggest to you is apart from the grace of God, it is not within our grasp, that it is all part of the gift, and we want to beware of the pride of self-accomplishment or of thinking that we're doing all right, and instead recognize with a grateful heart that when we do acts of mercy, kindness, compassion, or when we seek to study the Bible or or memorize scripture or pray that all of that is part of God's gift to us. So Jesus answers, no one except God Himself is good enough, and our job is to recognize that, to not lose sight of that, and to seek the one who can change us. Okay. Well, let's stop there and I'll give you a chance to respond. Let me pray for us. Father, thank you that um that you give us what we need and not what we deserve. And we confess how easily we slip into the attitude of the workers in the vineyard that we have earned something from you and that our obedience or that our our outward religious practices are somehow binding on you, and we ask that you would keep before us our true state, our and our true understanding of grace, that we would know just how much you love us and how much you gave up for us, and that we would respond with joy and gratefulness rather than pride when we see evidence that you change us and that you are making us into the people that we should be. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for listening to Wednesday in the Word with Krisan Marotta. What the Bible means and how we know. For notes and study questions, visit wednesdayintheword.com. We hope you'll join us again, and may God richly bless you.