Carlene Gallagher is a waitress
at a swanky Chicago restaurant.
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One day, she went to
work feeling really blue.
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Everything in her life
seemed to be going wrong.
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She was a single mother having
to support a couple of boys
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without any help
from their father
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and it just seemed like
her life was going nowhere.
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Well, waitresses are
usually not supposed to pour out
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their stories
to their costumers,
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but on this particular occasion,
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the restaurant was not very busy
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and there was a--
an executive there.
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The owner president of
a very wealthy company,
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his name was John Bac.
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And he was there
in the restaurant
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that day and Carlene
was serving his table.
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He apparently noticed
that maybe she was not having
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as good a day as she
might, and so he asked her--
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he asked her to tell
him what was going on
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and she kind of
hesitantly poured out her story.
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Well, before his
meal was even over with,
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he handed her a tip of $1,000.
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When she realized what it
was, she came back to his table
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and tearfully thanked him
for what he had just given her.
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Well, he reached into
his wallet at that point,
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pulled out a whole wad of credit
cards and fanned them out like
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playing cards and
said, "Here, pick a card."
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And Carlene, not knowing
really what to expect next,
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reached forward
and slowly pulled
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a VISA platinum
card out of his hand.
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"There you are," said John.
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"Go give
yourself a $10,000 tip."
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She was overwhelmed.
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How could this possibly be?
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But it was true.
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And, of course, you can be
sure the credit card company
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wanted to make sure
it was legitimate too,
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and they followed up and they
checked on it and sure enough,
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John Bac had just
tipped his waitress
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Carlene $11,000
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in one day.
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Grace is unfair.
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Grace has nothing
to do with fairness.
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Grace belongs to a very
strange economy, all its own,
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because it's not
based on what you deserve.
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I'm sure there were a
number of other worthy
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restaurant waitresses
that day, in that restaurant
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as many--as well as
many others in the same city.
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And yet, Carlene
got the $11,000 tip.
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Had she earned it?
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No, she hadn't.
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Her client had simply
given it to her because
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he wanted to be generous.
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He could have given
his money to anybody else
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but he gave it to
her because he wanted to,
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because he
wanted to be generous.
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The economy of
grace is so different
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than what we expect, that
even back in the Old Testament,
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God foresaw a time
when he would explain
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more completely his relationship
with his people in ways
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that didn't
involve legal requirements.
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Let's turn to
Jeremiah 31:31 to 34,
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"'The time is
coming, declares the Lord,
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'when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
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and with the house of Judah.
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It will not be like the covenant
I made with their forefathers
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when I took them by the
hand to lead them out of Egypt,
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because they broke my covenant,
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though I was a husband
to them,' declares the Lord.
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'This is the covenant I will
make with the house of Israel
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after that time,'
declares the Lord.
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'I will put my
law in their minds
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and write it on their hearts.
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I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
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No longer will a
man teach his neighbor,
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or a man his brother,
saying, 'Know the Lord,'
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because they will all
know me, from the least of them
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to the greatest,'
declares the Lord.
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'For I will
forgive their wickedness
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and will remember
their sins no more.'"
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In spite of failure,
God does not give up.
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He didn't give up
on the Israelites,
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He doesn't give
up on you and me.
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He wants something
even better than before.
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He wants a relationship
where law and rules and control
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are not imposed
from that outside.
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Rather he wants us
to be so close to Him
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that He can say
that His law is written
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on hearts and our minds.
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He wants to move from external
control to internal control.
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So much so that it won't even
be necessary for another person
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to tell you to know the Lord.
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You will know Him already.
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You see, the kingdom of grace
turns everything upside down.
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It even changes the
way we relate to law.
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But where it
changes things most,
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is in the way we relate to God.
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Remember the rich young ruler?
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We talked about the rich
young ruler in our last session
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together and how his
paradigm of merit just crumbled
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when Jesus challenged it.
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And he had to change
to a paradigm of grace,
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and when he couldn't do that,
he went away feeling very sad.
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Jesus was trying to
point out that this system
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of gaining salvation by
your own effort was hopeless.
00:06:09.37\00:06:12.96
"As hard as
trying to get a camel
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through the eye of
needles," said Jesus.
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He then assured the
disciples that, in fact,
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they were part of His kingdom,
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they had left everything
and were following Him.
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Why is it so hard to
understand the kingdom of grace?
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Maybe it's because
like the rich young ruler,
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we don't expect
anything we don't work for.
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"That's just the
way life is," we say.
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"You reap what you
sow, no more no less."
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"Don't do me any favors,
don't give me any charity."
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That's life,
that's what we expect.
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But what happens when we
use that sort of logic with God?
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I know that
heaven is a good place,
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and well, the alternative,
I'd like to avoid that,
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so I'll do what I need to do.
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I'll buckle down, I'll
put my nose to the grindstone,
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I don't expect to like it
but that's just the way life
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is and maybe it'll
be worth it someday.
00:07:05.17\00:07:09.06
Then, along comes Jesus
telling stories that just blow
00:07:09.09\00:07:12.05
our little paradigms
and logical system to bits.
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He talks about children
who haven't even lived long
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enough to earn anything.
00:07:18.65\00:07:20.56
"Of such are the
kingdom of heaven," He says.
00:07:20.59\00:07:22.55
He talks about crippled
people, beggars, tax collectors,
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even prostitutes as if it was
easy to give salvation to them.
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And then he makes
things practically impossible
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for a good clean
young man who keeps
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the commandments
and is successful.
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The kingdom of grace is unfair.
00:07:38.42\00:07:41.63
It turns everything upside down.
00:07:41.66\00:07:44.61
It's good news if
you're a spiritual cripple,
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but if you think you
have it all together,
00:07:47.91\00:07:49.55
it's not good news at all.
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Grace is so
unfair that it actually
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has nothing to do with fairness.
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It has everything to do
with God's love and the fact
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that He's ready
to give you salvation
00:08:00.76\00:08:03.57
right now as an
outright gift, and it's a gift
00:08:03.60\00:08:06.85
worth far more than
just an $11,000 tip.
00:08:06.88\00:08:12.33
But here's a question.
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Why work if it
doesn't pay anything?
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In other words, if all
my effort and all my work
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and my keeping the commandments
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and being a good little
Christian and all of that,
00:08:23.58\00:08:28.02
if it doesn't pay me
anything, then why do it?
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Why be good if
it's not worth it?
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You see, there is a
fear here, and it's a fear
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that drives a lot of our
controversies over grace.
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And the fear is simply
that, if we take away rewards
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and punishments,
the external controls
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that we exert on
people, we are afraid
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we'll motivate
people to be careless.
00:08:51.81\00:08:54.61
We're afraid of encouraging
people to sin all the more.
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After all, if you can
sin and get away with it,
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then what's stopping us?
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On that particular point, Jesus
told a very interesting story,
00:09:04.02\00:09:07.54
right after this encounter
with the rich young ruler.
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He talked about people
getting paid out of proportion
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to the amount of work they did.
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Let's turn to
that area of the Bible,
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and this is found in
Matthew 20 and this is the story
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of the workers in the vineyard.
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Jesus told a story of workers
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who were hired
early in the morning.
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The landowner went
down to the marketplace
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and he looked for
people who were out of work.
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And he found some and he said,
"Come work in my vineyard."
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And so they started to
work first thing in the morning.
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He went down in the
middle of the morning
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and he found more
people who were out of work
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and he said,
"Why don't you come,"
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and "why don't you
go to work for me?"
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And so they did.
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He went down in the
middle of the day and he found
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more people who
were out of work.
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"Come to work," he said. "Okay."
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He did this throughout
the day and for each person
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that he hired, he said "I
will give you a certain wage."
00:10:04.23\00:10:07.18
And in those days,
it was called a denarius
00:10:07.21\00:10:09.28
which was sometimes
translated a penny, but, really,
00:10:09.31\00:10:13.21
it was what a full
day's work was worth.
00:10:13.24\00:10:17.99
And for each
person that he hired
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throughout the day, no matter
at what time he hired them,
00:10:20.67\00:10:24.64
according to Jesus' parable,
he promised them a denarius.
00:10:24.67\00:10:29.35
So at the end of the day,
he had a wide variety of people
00:10:29.38\00:10:34.19
who had been hired at
different times during the day,
00:10:34.22\00:10:36.55
and according to the
parable, the landowner
00:10:36.58\00:10:39.31
did this in a very
interesting sequence.
00:10:39.34\00:10:43.80
He paid the people who
came to work last, first.
00:10:43.83\00:10:50.16
So at the front of
the line, everybody's
00:10:50.19\00:10:51.90
lined up to get their
wages, at the front of the line
00:10:51.93\00:10:54.13
is a person who just
came to work an hour earlier.
00:10:54.16\00:10:58.73
And he comes up to
the table to get his wage,
00:10:58.76\00:11:00.78
and the landowner
hands over his wages
00:11:00.81\00:11:03.03
and it's a full day's wage.
00:11:03.06\00:11:06.78
And he turns away just
ecstatic, he's so happy.
00:11:06.81\00:11:10.67
And the next person
comes up, same thing.
00:11:10.70\00:11:13.01
The next person
comes up, same thing.
00:11:13.04\00:11:14.72
And finally, the last person
who had been working all day
00:11:14.75\00:11:18.39
in the vineyard
comes up to the landowner
00:11:18.42\00:11:22.27
and is paid the same thing.
00:11:22.30\00:11:26.30
Now as you can
imagine, there was a rather
00:11:26.33\00:11:28.08
interesting
reaction amongst the workers.
00:11:28.11\00:11:31.20
And we read about
that in Matthew 20: 11.
00:11:31.23\00:11:36.09
"When they
received it, they began
00:11:36.12\00:11:37.88
to grumble
against the landowner.
00:11:37.91\00:11:42.01
'These men who were hired
last worked only one hour,'
00:11:42.04\00:11:44.99
they said, 'and you
have made them equal to us
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who have borne
the burden of the work
00:11:48.18\00:11:50.54
and the heat of the day.'"
00:11:50.57\00:11:54.39
They were not happy with Jesus.
00:11:54.42\00:11:57.76
And Jesus, as
He's telling the story,
00:11:57.79\00:12:02.36
you can imagine how
the hearers are suddenly
00:12:02.39\00:12:06.73
realizing that Jesus is
actually putting Himself
00:12:06.76\00:12:09.71
in the place of the landowner.
00:12:09.74\00:12:14.08
And if they were very
perceptive, they realized
00:12:14.11\00:12:18.23
that what Jesus is
actually talking about,
00:12:18.26\00:12:20.73
are people who've been in
the faith all their lives.
00:12:20.76\00:12:24.22
Those are the ones who've been
working in the vineyard all day.
00:12:24.25\00:12:27.77
And those who just
come in, who just hear about
00:12:27.80\00:12:32.80
the message and who
just become faithful
00:12:32.83\00:12:35.04
at the very end of the day,
00:12:35.07\00:12:38.16
those are the
people who, in the parable,
00:12:38.19\00:12:40.94
are those who've
been working just an hour.
00:12:40.97\00:12:44.48
Well, the landowner responds
00:12:44.51\00:12:46.76
and we find his
response in Matthew 20:15.
00:12:46.79\00:12:52.13
"Don't I have the right to do
what I want with my own money?
00:12:52.16\00:12:55.85
Or..." and notice
this, "Are you envious
00:12:55.88\00:12:58.86
because I am generous?"
00:12:58.89\00:13:01.51
Verse 16, "'so the
last will be first,
00:13:01.54\00:13:05.40
and the first will be last.'"
00:13:05.43\00:13:10.72
It's unfair.
00:13:10.75\00:13:12.64
I mean, who among us
can't help but sympathize
00:13:12.67\00:13:16.27
a little bit, at
least, with those workers
00:13:16.30\00:13:18.91
who came to
work at the beginning
00:13:18.94\00:13:22.85
of the day and worked all day?
00:13:22.88\00:13:24.70
Who among us can't sympathize,
at least a little bit,
00:13:24.73\00:13:28.21
with those who
grumbled against the landowner
00:13:28.24\00:13:30.00
because he paid
everybody the same,
00:13:30.03\00:13:31.62
no matter how
much work they did?
00:13:31.65\00:13:34.02
Put yourself in the place
of a worker who goes to work
00:13:34.05\00:13:37.04
at 6 o'clock in the
morning and you work all day
00:13:37.07\00:13:41.38
until 6 o'clock
at night, 12 hours.
00:13:41.41\00:13:46.07
And you have been out
there in the heat of the day,
00:13:46.10\00:13:48.74
you've gotten dirty and
dusty and your back is aching
00:13:48.77\00:13:54.25
and you receive your
wage and it's the same thing
00:13:54.28\00:13:57.46
as someone else who
worked only an hour.
00:13:57.49\00:14:04.27
I submit that that's
exactly the reaction that Jesus
00:14:04.30\00:14:07.08
was trying to
get from His hearers.
00:14:07.11\00:14:09.69
I suspect that there were
two groups listening to Jesus.
00:14:09.72\00:14:13.67
There were people who were
laborers but were out of work.
00:14:13.70\00:14:18.18
They wanted work but
perhaps they couldn't get it.
00:14:18.21\00:14:20.95
They probably had
difficulty getting a job
00:14:20.98\00:14:23.11
even when they needed one.
00:14:23.14\00:14:24.51
They understood how
precious it was to have a job
00:14:24.54\00:14:27.71
in the vineyard and
they could understand
00:14:27.74\00:14:29.82
the wonderful opportunity
just to be given a job,
00:14:29.85\00:14:32.64
even if it was
at the last minute.
00:14:32.67\00:14:35.05
They would have been
grateful for their wages,
00:14:35.08\00:14:37.81
no matter what it was
because they wanted a job.
00:14:37.84\00:14:40.60
But there was
another group of people
00:14:40.63\00:14:42.48
that were probably
listening to Jesus,
00:14:42.51\00:14:44.32
and these were
the wealthy landowners
00:14:44.35\00:14:46.67
who used money to
motivate their workers.
00:14:46.70\00:14:50.74
They expected
laziness and insubordination.
00:14:50.77\00:14:54.99
They would not have
understood the kingdom of grace,
00:14:55.02\00:14:57.50
especially in a
vineyard context.
00:14:57.53\00:14:59.69
They would only
pay people according
00:14:59.72\00:15:01.89
to how much work they did.
00:15:01.92\00:15:04.09
And these are the ones
that would not have understood
00:15:04.12\00:15:06.43
what Jesus was saying and
would have been scandalized
00:15:06.46\00:15:11.49
by Jesus' economy of grace.
00:15:11.52\00:15:17.31
Now I have to
admit, I've had a hard time
00:15:17.34\00:15:19.28
explaining this
parable sometimes.
00:15:19.31\00:15:20.82
I was teaching a group of junior
high school students one time,
00:15:20.85\00:15:25.26
and we came to this
parable and out of desperation,
00:15:25.29\00:15:29.60
I finally hit
upon a way to explain
00:15:29.63\00:15:32.63
and I've discovered
that adults also identify
00:15:32.66\00:15:36.06
with this in a certain way.
00:15:36.09\00:15:37.46
What I said to the kids was,
00:15:37.49\00:15:38.86
"I want you to
imagine your fantasy job."
00:15:38.89\00:15:42.47
Okay, these are kids just
in 9th, 10th grades, perhaps,
00:15:42.50\00:15:46.93
and I said, "Now I
want you to imagine,
00:15:46.96\00:15:50.42
you can have whatever job
you want, your fantasy job.
00:15:50.45\00:15:53.79
Is it a movie star,
maybe a football star
00:15:53.82\00:15:57.38
or something like that.
00:15:57.41\00:15:59.48
I want you to
imagine the fantasy job.
00:15:59.51\00:16:02.49
Now what if someone came
to you right now and said,
00:16:02.52\00:16:05.96
'I'll hire you to do this job?'
00:16:05.99\00:16:08.92
Football star, jet pilot,
movie star, whatever it is.
00:16:08.95\00:16:12.80
'I'll hire you for today.
00:16:12.83\00:16:14.75
You can have the job.'
00:16:14.78\00:16:16.15
And now let's
suppose that you got that job
00:16:16.18\00:16:19.22
and you can hardly
wait to get started.
00:16:19.25\00:16:20.86
But suppose that you
didn't know about the job
00:16:20.89\00:16:23.10
until it was
late in the afternoon,
00:16:23.13\00:16:24.93
the day is almost
done but nevertheless
00:16:24.96\00:16:28.42
you didn't know
anything about it and the person
00:16:28.45\00:16:31.11
doing the hiring
comes to you and says,
00:16:31.14\00:16:33.02
'I know the day is almost over
00:16:33.05\00:16:34.58
but if you'll do
this fantasy job,
00:16:34.61\00:16:37.16
I'll hire you for
the rest of the day.'
00:16:37.19\00:16:40.01
Wouldn't you jump at the chance?
00:16:40.04\00:16:43.35
Would you care how
much you were being paid?
00:16:43.38\00:16:45.86
This is the job of your dreams,
00:16:45.89\00:16:47.50
this is
something you want to do.
00:16:47.53\00:16:50.99
And what would you
feel that you missed out on,
00:16:51.02\00:16:54.28
if you were paid
the same as someone
00:16:54.31\00:16:57.91
who started at the
beginning of the day?"
00:16:57.94\00:17:02.20
Actually the amount
paid really wouldn't matter.
00:17:02.23\00:17:06.12
If you were
hired late in the day,
00:17:06.15\00:17:08.55
you would feel gypped
because you would rather
00:17:08.58\00:17:12.74
have had that job for the whole
day, instead of just part of it.
00:17:12.77\00:17:17.31
You see, those
who value the job,
00:17:17.34\00:17:20.87
those who want to be
in the master's vineyard,
00:17:20.90\00:17:25.43
for them, the
wages are immaterial.
00:17:25.46\00:17:30.79
Those who reject
grace because it takes away
00:17:30.82\00:17:33.94
the motive for
doing good and not really
00:17:33.97\00:17:37.99
doing good anyway, certainly
not out of the right motives
00:17:38.02\00:17:42.59
because their
heart is not in it.
00:17:42.62\00:17:45.27
Grace does not take away
the motive for doing good,
00:17:45.30\00:17:47.68
it only takes away
the threat of punishment.
00:17:47.71\00:17:51.07
When you take away
the threat of punishment,
00:17:51.10\00:17:52.95
you allow the
possibility of doing good
00:17:52.98\00:17:55.56
because you want to,
not because you have to.
00:17:55.59\00:18:00.97
This is the new covenant,
a new way of relating to God.
00:18:01.00\00:18:06.32
No longer do we
work in the vineyard
00:18:06.35\00:18:08.07
because we have to,
we work in the vineyard
00:18:08.10\00:18:10.20
because we want to.
00:18:10.23\00:18:12.51
And that can only
happen if you know
00:18:12.54\00:18:16.18
what kind of person
the vineyard owner is.
00:18:16.21\00:18:19.44
If you need a God that threatens
to zap you if you're not good,
00:18:19.47\00:18:22.07
if you need a God that's
angry at you all the time,
00:18:22.10\00:18:24.34
if you need to know that
you'll be rewarded for hard work
00:18:24.37\00:18:27.97
at being a Christian, then
you do not understand grace.
00:18:28.00\00:18:33.08
To you, the Christian life
00:18:33.11\00:18:34.48
is just one
obligation after another.
00:18:34.51\00:18:37.34
You do it because you have
to, not because you want to.
00:18:37.37\00:18:41.59
Some say, "But I want to
be under the control of God,
00:18:41.62\00:18:44.14
under the control
of the Holy Spirit."
00:18:44.17\00:18:46.23
But how does God control you?
00:18:46.26\00:18:49.47
By winning your
loyalty, not forcing it.
00:18:49.50\00:18:53.76
Jesus said in John 12:32,
00:18:53.79\00:18:55.56
"But I, when I am
lifted up from the earth,
00:18:55.59\00:18:59.66
will draw all men to myself."
00:18:59.69\00:19:04.46
Love is the most
powerful force in the universe.
00:19:04.49\00:19:09.33
Love never forces
obedience or growth.
00:19:09.36\00:19:12.41
If it did, it
wouldn't be true obedience
00:19:12.44\00:19:14.24
from the heart anyway.
00:19:14.27\00:19:17.65
The ironic thing
about human beings
00:19:17.68\00:19:19.31
is that when you
try to force obedience,
00:19:19.34\00:19:22.39
you often get
the exact opposite.
00:19:22.42\00:19:27.01
In the "Signs of the Times"
00:19:27.04\00:19:30.38
Ellen White wrote
"A sullen submission
00:19:30.41\00:19:33.67
to the will of the Father
00:19:33.70\00:19:35.79
will develop the
character of a rebel.
00:19:35.82\00:19:37.19
By such a one service
is looked upon as drudgery.
00:19:39.46\00:19:42.32
It is not rendered cheerfully,
and in the love of God.
00:19:42.35\00:19:45.40
It is a mere
mechanical performance.
00:19:45.43\00:19:47.94
If he dared, such
a one would disobey.
00:19:47.97\00:19:51.20
His rebellion is
smothered, ready to break out
00:19:51.23\00:19:53.87
at any time in bitter
murmurings and complaints.
00:19:53.90\00:19:56.58
Such service brings no
peace or quietude to the soul."
00:19:56.61\00:20:02.77
Have you ever been
forced into doing something?
00:20:02.80\00:20:05.72
Even if it was a good thing,
00:20:05.75\00:20:07.12
if you were forced into
doing it, somehow it took
00:20:07.15\00:20:10.11
the joy and the
pleasure out of doing it.
00:20:10.14\00:20:15.34
Not only that, we
sometimes limit our own growth
00:20:15.37\00:20:22.07
and the growth of
others when we try to use
00:20:22.10\00:20:26.34
external controls
to produce growth.
00:20:26.37\00:20:31.16
Two Christian
psychologists Henry Cloud
00:20:31.19\00:20:33.27
and John Townsend
recently wrote a book called
00:20:33.30\00:20:35.60
"12 Christian Beliefs
That will Drive You Crazy."
00:20:35.63\00:20:39.24
One of these beliefs is
that just doing the right thing
00:20:39.27\00:20:41.59
is more important than
why you do the right thing.
00:20:41.62\00:20:45.74
In other words, you can
change your motives, your heart,
00:20:45.77\00:20:48.90
and everything else
just by--just doing it.
00:20:48.93\00:20:52.63
This philosophy is full of
accountability and correction.
00:20:52.66\00:20:56.95
Very well meaning Christian
people live by this philosophy,
00:20:56.98\00:21:00.32
and they try to
guide other people with it.
00:21:00.35\00:21:03.16
Well, John
Townsend one of the authors,
00:21:03.19\00:21:04.78
remembers the time when
he was in the first grade
00:21:04.81\00:21:07.02
and having trouble reading.
00:21:07.05\00:21:09.45
His family had recently
moved and he was in a new school
00:21:09.48\00:21:12.47
and things were a
little upset in his life
00:21:12.50\00:21:14.47
and so his mother
was trying to compensate
00:21:14.50\00:21:17.46
for some problems that
he was having in school.
00:21:17.49\00:21:20.38
And so every day, John
would come home from school
00:21:20.41\00:21:24.79
and his mother would have him
sit down at the kitchen table,
00:21:24.82\00:21:28.53
take out his reading
book and read to her.
00:21:28.56\00:21:33.22
And while he was sitting
there at the table reading,
00:21:33.25\00:21:35.69
she would be
standing right behind him,
00:21:35.72\00:21:38.11
kind of hovering over
him, reading along the words
00:21:38.14\00:21:40.89
at the same time he was,
and every time he would make
00:21:40.92\00:21:43.45
the slightest mistake,
she would interrupt him
00:21:43.48\00:21:45.92
and correct him and she
was just hovering over him
00:21:45.95\00:21:49.82
all the time and
trying to make sure
00:21:49.85\00:21:52.55
that he did
everything just right and oh,
00:21:52.58\00:21:54.73
she was trying to be so
protective and so helpful
00:21:54.76\00:21:57.55
and to correct him
and... It made him nervous.
00:21:57.58\00:22:02.54
In fact, it made him so nervous
that he could hardly read
00:22:02.57\00:22:05.63
and he dreaded the
time that he would go home
00:22:05.66\00:22:08.11
and have to read to his mother.
00:22:08.14\00:22:11.09
Well, John said that finally
his mother got some advice
00:22:11.12\00:22:15.47
from her mother, from
granny who had raised six kids.
00:22:15.50\00:22:20.34
And so the next day,
John came home from school
00:22:20.37\00:22:24.43
and there was the
milk and cookies on
00:22:24.46\00:22:25.86
the kitchen table,
as usual, and he knew
00:22:25.89\00:22:28.93
that he was gonna have
to get out his reading book.
00:22:28.96\00:22:32.02
So he got it out, but this time
instead of mother hovering over
00:22:32.05\00:22:35.90
him from behind,
she was beyond the table
00:22:35.93\00:22:40.90
with his back
toward him while she washed
00:22:40.93\00:22:43.13
some dishes in the sink.
00:22:43.16\00:22:45.63
And she told John to go
ahead and start reading.
00:22:45.66\00:22:48.54
Well, John started reading
00:22:48.57\00:22:49.94
and he wasn't a
very good reader,
00:22:49.97\00:22:51.34
he was just in the first
grade and he was having problems
00:22:51.37\00:22:53.52
and so he haltingly got
through some of the sentences
00:22:53.55\00:22:57.92
and he expected his mother
to jump in on him any time
00:22:57.95\00:23:01.38
and she didn't,
she was just quiet.
00:23:01.41\00:23:03.56
She just stayed over
where she was and she washed
00:23:03.59\00:23:06.32
the dishes and after a while,
John realized that he needed
00:23:06.35\00:23:10.66
some help and so
he asked his mother.
00:23:10.69\00:23:13.07
And every time he
asked, his mother would answer
00:23:13.10\00:23:16.03
his question but she
would never say anything
00:23:16.06\00:23:17.90
until he asked for something.
00:23:17.93\00:23:19.98
And after a while, after
this went on for a few days,
00:23:20.01\00:23:23.05
John started to
relax and as time went on,
00:23:23.08\00:23:26.83
he became a voracious reader,
00:23:26.86\00:23:28.50
something he said he
still maintains to this day.
00:23:28.53\00:23:32.59
Later in life, he found out
that as his mother was standing
00:23:32.62\00:23:36.56
at the sink the tears
were rolling down her cheeks
00:23:36.59\00:23:40.87
and she was standing there
00:23:40.90\00:23:43.96
trying so hard
to control herself,
00:23:43.99\00:23:46.38
not to jump in and
rescue him, not to correct him
00:23:46.41\00:23:49.82
and try to keep her voice calm
so that he would stay calm, too.
00:23:49.85\00:23:57.11
You see, you may be able
to use fear and punishment
00:23:57.14\00:24:02.49
and correction to get people
to do menial tasks and chores.
00:24:02.52\00:24:07.41
It's a reality of life
that in order to protect society
00:24:07.44\00:24:12.48
and do business in the world,
00:24:12.51\00:24:14.99
some external
controls are necessary.
00:24:15.02\00:24:18.37
But you realize that for the--
most important things in life,
00:24:18.40\00:24:24.45
love,
unselfishness, self-sacrifice,
00:24:24.48\00:24:29.86
commitment, for the most
important things of life,
00:24:29.89\00:24:35.52
you can't motivate with fear.
00:24:35.55\00:24:38.26
When you do,
you get the opposite
00:24:38.29\00:24:41.11
of what you want.
00:24:41.14\00:24:44.89
In my own life, I have
noticed that when people exert
00:24:44.92\00:24:51.22
external controls on
me, when they use behavior
00:24:51.25\00:24:57.33
modification techniques, it
will work for certain things,
00:24:57.36\00:25:01.73
especially if I
agree to it ahead of time.
00:25:01.76\00:25:05.47
But when I'm under
the threat of punishment,
00:25:05.50\00:25:08.86
in order to be exact
or perfect or to do things
00:25:08.89\00:25:14.76
in the correct way,
being under punishment creates
00:25:14.79\00:25:19.82
a whole new set of problems
that I didn't even have before.
00:25:19.85\00:25:24.45
I think some Christians--well,
let's be honest,
00:25:24.48\00:25:28.96
I think all of us have
gone through this with God
00:25:28.99\00:25:31.13
at one time or
another in our lives.
00:25:31.16\00:25:34.57
We have read the Bible,
we've read the Ten Commandments,
00:25:34.60\00:25:38.17
we've gone to church,
we've heard all of those sermons
00:25:38.20\00:25:43.31
about how good we ought
to be and how we oughtto even
00:25:43.34\00:25:46.88
control our thoughts and
how we have to be perfect.
00:25:46.91\00:25:52.38
And let's be
honest with ourselves.
00:25:52.41\00:25:54.09
The harder people try
to force us to be perfect,
00:25:54.12\00:25:58.87
the less perfect we are.
00:25:58.90\00:26:01.42
In fact, I dare say that,
the more you feel threatened,
00:26:01.45\00:26:07.96
the more you feel under
the threat of punishment,
00:26:07.99\00:26:13.07
and let's be honest,
that's why the doctrine
00:26:13.10\00:26:16.35
of an ever
burning hell was created.
00:26:16.38\00:26:19.45
It was to force
people to be good.
00:26:19.48\00:26:22.75
The more people
feel forced to be good,
00:26:22.78\00:26:26.60
the less good they are.
00:26:26.63\00:26:29.35
Now it may sound
somewhat sacrilegious,
00:26:29.38\00:26:31.51
I don't mean it
that way but it's true.
00:26:31.54\00:26:34.10
You will never get to heaven
00:26:34.13\00:26:35.72
by having the
hell scared out of you.
00:26:35.75\00:26:38.93
What I mean by that is,
if you are going to heaven,
00:26:38.96\00:26:43.85
if you are accepting
the truth of Jesus Christ,
00:26:43.88\00:26:47.76
not because you are
attracted to Christ,
00:26:47.79\00:26:49.98
not because you realize
that God is so merciful to you,
00:26:50.01\00:26:54.57
but simply out
of fear and terror
00:26:54.60\00:26:57.13
of what will
happen in the judgment,
00:26:57.16\00:27:01.39
then I suspect that you
are struggling even more
00:27:01.42\00:27:06.89
with trying to be good, with
trying to be accepted by God.
00:27:06.92\00:27:12.67
You see, like the waitress
00:27:12.70\00:27:15.60
who received an
$11,000 tip in one day,
00:27:15.63\00:27:19.81
you and I don't
deserve salvation.
00:27:19.84\00:27:23.07
You see, grace is not fair.
00:27:23.10\00:27:25.93
It's--doesn't even have
any thing to do with fairness.
00:27:25.96\00:27:29.48
It has to do with
the generosity of God.
00:27:29.51\00:27:33.51
As the landowner
said to his workers,
00:27:33.54\00:27:35.88
"Why are you jealous?
00:27:35.91\00:27:38.60
Are you angry at me
because I want to be generous?"
00:27:38.63\00:27:41.96
Our heavenly Father
wants to be generous.
00:27:41.99\00:27:45.01
He wants people who
will be attracted to Him
00:27:45.04\00:27:47.82
and who will accept the
free gift of His salvation.
00:27:47.85\00:27:52.07
He can't force it.
00:27:52.10\00:27:53.82
He won't force it.
00:27:53.85\00:27:55.50
He can't scare you into heaven.
00:27:55.53\00:27:58.06
He can only win you.
00:27:58.09\00:28:00.41