Lent is coming up. And the danger in Lent is that somehow it always becomes about us. What we're giving up and how much sorrow we can have over our sins. So, because there is such a danger of making Lent into a season of “Me,” the Church Calendar gives us three weeks of Pre-Lent in which the Gospel readings teach us to repent of making religion about US and see that everything is about Christ and what He does. When you boil it all down, those are the only two religions. Either it's a religion about you and what you do for God or religion is about God and what He does for you. This is the point of the parable of the workers in vineyard today. So let us hear it and learn repentance which turns from making everything about us to faith in Christ which trusts in the Lord's generous grace!
The You and Me religion is the religion of the first workers. At the beginning of the day, they haggle over how much they're going to make. At the end of the day, they complain because those who worked less are making the same as they did. It's all about them. This was the religion of the Pharisees. They believed that how you stood before God was based upon how well you kept the Law. Keep the Law and you'll be acceptable to God. And they judged others who didn't or couldn't keep the commandments as well as they did. There's our warning! The temptation is very great to be a Pharisee in God's kingdom and assume that we are going to get what we deserve and that others should get what they deserve. But in the end, if they want to live by the Law, they'll die by the Law. They'll get exactly what they've got coming. If your attitude toward God is that He OWES you, then He'll be sure to give you exactly what you're owed! And that will be the judgment and condemnation of the Law, the payment of a denarius. If a person wants to be a part of Christ's church just because they think there's something in it for them, they'll get their reward here and now and that will be it!
But what about those who don't work all day? Who are hired at different times? They all receive a day's wage too. They didn't earn that. It is the generosity of the vineyard owner who decides to give them the same wage no matter how long they worked. They aren't comparing what they did with what others did. They just rejoice to have been shown this generosity. This is the religion that is of God's grace. When the Father sent His Son into this world, it wasn't for those who earned God's love. It was for those who have not worked like they should. Those who have not loved God. Those who have not loved their neighbor. For them, Christ bore the heat of the day on the cross. For them He suffered many things so that in the end, we would be treated like Jesus. Given glory and honor and the title of children of God. In fact, this is the religion the Lord is all about: giving us not what we deserve and making us like His own Son. To have this faith is not to worry about what you do or how much you'll get. It's just to rejoice that we are given such a gift in Jesus Christ.
Now the temptation of that “me” religion in the life of the church is make the things we do in the church about us. There are many who join churches to gain some advantage. There are preachers who are preachers because they think there is big money in it. And there is. And that's their reward. And on the Last Day the Lord will say, “Well, you got your money and earthly fame and glory. That's what you wanted. Now away from Me into hell.” If religion and the church are about ME, then there is simply no salvation there. No blessing from the Lord. For those who want to make religion about themselves, they have their pay. They get what they deserve: the condemnation of the Law. You want to live by how well you keep the Law, then you will get paid by how well you keep the law.
On the other hand, the sinners who know they have nothing going for them but the generosity of the Master have many great gifts. Their Baptism forgives their sins no matter what they've done or how much they've worked. The gift of Jesus' Body and Blood are theirs as a gift for the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Where these gifts are, it's not about You and Me. It's about Jesus. It's about the Master's generosity which gives out these gifts to all His people. With such a faith, people can work and do and not worry about what they'll get. What reward the Lord has for them. His gifts give them each what they need: the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. What joy that we don't have to worry about nickeling and diming our good works. Have we done enough? Have we worked enough hours? In fact, this religion of the Lord's generosity is true freedom: for we can work and do what we need to to do for others with no thought of what we're earning or trying to calculate what we're owed. For all that we receive from our Lord is a generous gift!
Two religions. The religion of the guys who worked all day and though they should get more than the others. It's all about them. Then there's the religion of the Master's generosity that doesn't pay what we earn but makes us equal to Jesus. One is the religion of the Law. Of trying to work your way to God. Of making everything about you. The other is the religion of grace. The Christian faith. The religion of Jesus being the Savior of sinners. Thanks be to God for this parable which rescues us from the religion of the Pharisees and trying to get more than others and brings us into the church of Christ where we receive more than we could ever have hoped for by His grace and generosity! In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
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