Stop Climbing, Ranking, And Comparing - You Have Christ!
Text: Matthew 20:1-16
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
We
are always ranking one another, and we often do it with an evil eye. That is to
say, we have this sinful quality that comes from within to look at everyone
around us and rank them on a metaphoric ladder.
For
example, if we use age as a label on the ladder, we will place wise-older
people on top of the ladder and foolish-younger youths on the bottom. But, if
we are young, we will do the exact opposite - energetic youthfulness on the
top; backward elderly persons on the bottom. We not only do this with age, but
we do this with looks and appearances too. Those from the big city put
fashionable cosmopolitan people on top and unsophisticated hillbillies on the
bottom. However, those from the country do the opposite - rugged lumberjacks
are on the top, whereas wimpy soft pen pushers are on the bottom.
To
the point, we find these ladders everywhere else too – in politics, at work, in
businesses, in families, in sports, and especially in high schools. Yes,
especially in high school.
Now,
please know that I am not advocating for participation trophies or the removal
of good ol’ competition – where there is no such thing as losers. In life, we
indeed win some and lose some. Furthermore, I am not trying to make the
case that everyone is good enough, smart enough, and strong enough to be on the
top of every ladder. As you all know, I cannot be trusted to do plumbing work
or electrical work for that matter. I am truly on the bottom when it comes to
many things in life, and so are you. But instead, I am talking about our evil
eyes and envious grumbling hearts that seek to stomp on others around us. I am
talking about the sinful attitude that we carry around – the chip on our
shoulders – that causes us to inflate with pride, boast in our greatness and
push others down the ladder. I am talking about our evil and envious eyes
always taking inventory of others around us, and this need for us to keep up
with the Joneses – and this desire to even destroy the Joneses down the street
so that we can stay on top with supposed greatness.
You
see, this is exactly what Jesus’ parable from Matthew’s Gospel is talking
about. Jesus gives us a glimpse of what happens when an evil eye and an envious
heart mingles with the kingdom of heaven.
In
the parable, a bunch of different workers were hired throughout the day. Some
were hired early; some were hired late. However, this parable punches our evil
eye and kicks our envious hearts when we hear that everyone got paid the same,
regardless of the amount of time they worked.
You
see, Jesus is teaching that the Kingdom of Heaven does not use ladders. Ladders
do not work with Christian theology. God does not put forth a heavenly ladder
and then give you grace based upon how high you are on the ladder.
Just
think, for a moment, if Christianity did use ladders. If the Lord gave out
grace to you based on how hard you have worked, how hard you have prayed, and
how much you have studied, well… the Lord would effectively be in your debt. If
you climbed super high, then the Lord would be obligated to cough up grace to
you for your climbing efforts. Furthermore, if the Lord handed out grace
depending on how high you made it up the theological ladder, then it would be
your job not to offer a helping hand to others but to step on their hands and
faces as you clamored up the ladder to get grace goodies and grace trophies
from God. If Christianity was about ladders, you would have no time to
serve your neighbor in need, for your mission would be to climb and climb and
climb some more.
Perhaps
we are thinking about this all wrong, though. If the Lord honored ladder
climbing, who is to say that we would be on the top at all? If we are truly
honest with ourselves, wouldn’t we be on the bottom all the time? As your
pastor, I don’t know how I could even make it two feet up the ladder, for there
is not a Sunday morning that doesn’t go by without me wanting to hit the snooze
and sleep in. The fact of the matter, if we take are honest with ourselves, we
are typically not four steps up and two steps down, but two steps up and then a
big thump as we fall on our rear end on the ground.
Dear
friends, let’s be honest. We are hovering around the bottom of the ladder, just
pretending that we are on the top. And everyone else who claims to be on
top of the ladder? All those movie stars, all those Joneses, all those
superstars? It is just one big smokescreen. It is a façade. They are pretending
to have it all together with perfect thoughts, words, and deeds when they
really don’t.
Dear friends, God does not connect His grace to your climbing. His grace is not attached to a ladder as well. No! His grace is connected to His Son so that no one may boast. God saves you and gives you grace not in view of your thoughts, words, and deeds but in view of the mercy and work of Christ on your behalf. It is not about you ascending up a ladder, for they do not exist. Instead, Christ came down to humanity some two thousand years ago and comes to you now in the Word and Sacraments.
And
so, if you are 100 years old or ten days old, you have the same grace through
your baptisms because you have the same, Christ. If you are a plumber in
overalls or a pastor in a chasuble, you have the same grace at the altar
because you have the same, Christ. If you are in a dusty old church with eight
members and a broken organ, or in a church with 1,000 members and an angelic
sounding choir, you have the same grace in the absolution because you have the
same, Christ. If you come from a family on the wrong side of the tracks,
or if you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, you have the same grace
because you have the same, Christ.
Now,
if this news gives you great joy, then God be praised. God be praised that the
Kingdom of God is neither connected to ladders nor is dependent upon you – but
is connected and dependent upon Christ who is for you.
However, if this message gives you frustration, or if you are grumbling in your hearts, repent with me. Repent of your evil eye and your envious hearts, for they are not consistent with the Kingdom of Heaven. Before God’s Law, your huffing and puffing up the ladder is just not that impressive. Keep in mind that in the church, we stand on this floor of this sanctuary – together - and confess - together - that we are poor miserable sinners. And together, we receive the same Christ and the same grace that forgives, renews, and strengthens us. The Lord forgive you - and me – for our envious eyes and our grumbling hearts.
So,
considering all of this, are we all equal? Yes, we are with respect to
forgiveness, life, and salvation. However, looking back at the parable, it is
important to note that the workers did indeed work different amounts of time.
And the same is true in this church and life. But here is the catch. The work
we do is not for the purpose of getting saved or obtaining grace. We don’t do
good works to be saved (which goes the way of unbelief), but we do good works
because we are already saved (this goes the way of faith).
Consider
the Jesus in the Gospel of Luke,
“When you have done all that
you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what
we ought to have done!”
In
other words, you and I do not need to keep track of our works in the Kingdom of
Heaven. We do not need to log how many hours we have done. We do not need
to keep track of how many degrees we have behind our name. We are free from
ladders, for we have Christ – He comes to us. And in Him, we have every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm.
And
so, when we do good work or put in a long day in our vocations, we know that we
have done everything expected of us and can be matter-of-fact and say,
“Huh, well, the work is done.
I just did what I was told to do and called to do. I had the same grace before
I did the work and the same grace after I did the work because I have the same,
Christ.”
We
can loosely paraphrase the Apostle Paul,
“God has showered grace and
kindness upon me in Christ. Saving me was His idea and work. Now, I simply
trust in Him, knowing that He gives me grace from start to finish. Nope, I
don’t play the major role. If I did, I would be all wrapped up in needing to
climb a ladder, where I would step on my neighbor while bragging foolishly
about my puny accomplishments.
Nope! The Lord created me and
saved me. And in Christ, I am His work of art. What relief and joy - the Lord
has prepared good works for me to simply walk in because this Christian life is
a pure gift.”
In
the name of Jesus. Amen.
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