Offensive Grace

Offensive Grace

Septuagesima – 2/1/2026

Matthew 20:1-16

Rev. Dr. Christopher W. Brademeyer

That portion of God’s holy Word for consideration this morning is our lesson from the holy Gospel according to St. Matthew in the twentieth chapter with special emphasis on verses thirteen through sixteen which read as follows:

“But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you.  Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”[1]

Thus far the Scriptures.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Most of us learn very early in life a simple rule: you get what you earn. If you work harder, you deserve more. If you show up earlier, you should be paid more. If you sacrifice more, you ought to be rewarded accordingly. That principle governs almost everything in our lives. It governs our jobs, our schools, our farms and businesses, our reputations, and even, if we are honest, how we instinctively think God should operate.

And because that rule is so deeply ingrained in us, Jesus’s parable this morning does not merely surprise us. It offends us. A landowner hired laborers throughout the day. Some are hired at dawn, some mid-morning, some in the afternoon, and some with barely an hour of work left. At the end of the day, he pays them all the same wage. And Jesus does not tell this story to illustrate injustice. He tells it to describe the kingdom of heaven.

And that is the problem. Because this parable exposes the fact that we often want God’s kingdom to operate like the kingdoms of this world. And when it does not, when grace is given freely and equally, something in us begins to grumble.

The Distinction Between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdoms of This World

Jesus began, “The kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.” With those words, He signaled that He was not talking about economics, labor law, or proper business practices. He is teaching us how God reigns and how that reign differs fundamentally from every earthly system we know.

Two Kingdoms Operate Differently

The Scriptures consistently teach that God rules in two distinct ways. Luther called this the doctrine of the Two Kingdoms. This does not mean that there are two gods or two moral systems. Rather, this is to simply acknowledge that these are two distinct manners of God’s governance over us. That is to say, God rules over all things, but He does not rule over them in the same way. The church is governed by His Word, the Gospel, the Law of God, and the truth of Christ. The state is governed by God through the means of the natural Law (that is, the Law of God as revealed through reason in creation), reason, and prudence. Though these are distinct, they should be harmonious and cooperative due to God’s rule and presence in both. That is to say, while God governs differently in the Church and the civil realm, He does in fact rule over both.

The Kingdom of God

In the Kingdom of God, salvation is equal. There are not first-class and second-class Christians. There are not higher wages for longer service.  There is one denarius, the same pay for all people in Christ. That is to say, there is one Christ, one forgiveness, one righteousness. Here grace is free, not earned. Christ’s atonement is vicarious; He stands in the place of sinners in order to give us what we do not deserve. Salvation is extra nos, outside of us, located not in our effort but in Christ’s obedience, suffering, death, and resurrection that is credited to us by faith.

The fruit produced in this kingdom is charity, not competition, not comparison, but love. No one in this kingdom receives what he deserves. If we did, none of us would receive anything but judgment. Instead, all who belong to Christ receive what He deserves. That is, to say, Jesus takes our place as sinners under the wrath of God against sin. He dies a death that was meant for each of us. And instead of these things, He gives us everlasting forgiveness, life, and salvation. We are all the same in this regard. Though there is a radical equality before God in terms of salvation, there is still a difference in authority and responsibility, that is, in vocation. The church is a benevolent patriarchy, ordered from Christ our head through our pastors, down to us as members of the Christian Church. This is a distinction for the sake of peace and good order, not a sign of greater or lesser value and status. All are one in Christ Jesus.

The Kingdoms of This World

By contrast, the kingdoms of this world operate entirely on hierarchy, merit, discipline, and reward. While this is different, Scripture does not despise this. In fact, these systems are good and necessary. In the world work is rewarded, laziness has consequences, authority matters, responsibility is real, effort is honored, insubordination is punished.

If a farmer has a hired hand, the farmer should earn more because he owns the farm. If a student studies harder, he should expect better results than those who did not. If a worker arrives early and stays late, he should expect greater compensation. This not only means that the expectation of employers that their employees would work hard and see their work as both a blessing from God and an opportunity to serve their neighbors, but that employers should pay their employees what is fair and treat them with dignity. Workers are never to be seen as replaceable numbers under a Christian employer.

And this order is right; it is how God preserves order in a fallen world. The problem arises when we smuggle these principles into the Kingdom of God and assume they belong there as well.

Confusion of the Kingdoms

The grumbling laborers reveal exactly what happens when earthly logic governs spiritual expectation. They do not complain because the landowner broke his promise. He paid them precisely what he agreed to pay. They complain because others received the same. They measure fairness not by promises kept but by comparisons of their labor. This is unfortunately the sinner’s instinct. We are not content simply to receive mercy; we want mercy to be distributed equally, which usually means favorably to us. And more than this, this way of thinking turns mercy, which is an undeserved kindness, into an entitlement, that is, something that is earned. Mercy stops being a gift and becomes a wage earned by whatever things we wish to appeal to before God.

The landowner, indeed, God Himself, responds to such thinking: “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? … Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” That last question cuts deeply. Literally the “begrudging of generosity means, “Is your eye evil because I am good?”

The problem is not the generosity of the landowner. The problem is the eye of the beholder. Grace feels unjust when the heart still believes it has earned something before the merciful giver, the greatest of which is God.

This is why Jesus concludes, “So the last will be first, and the first last.” Not as a threat, but as a warning: when merit rules the heart, grace disappears. And when grace disappears, we will be held not to the mercy of God, but to the harsh and exacting letter of the Law.

Conclusion

This parable is not aimed at tax collectors and prostitutes; it is not for sinners who know their need for mercy and grace. It is aimed at disciples. It is aimed at churchgoers. It is aimed at the religious. The proud in themselves. The self-justifying. Those who reject the merciful Word of God for some other thing. It is aimed at those who have borne the heat of the day and quietly begun to believe that their endurance has purchased something extra from God.

Septuagesima stands at the threshold of Lent to strip us of that illusion. The denarius is not a promised wage. It is the promised Christ. And Christ is not divided. He is not portioned out according to effort. He is given whole and entire to sinners who do not earn His mercy. Salvation is not fair; it is entirely undeserved by any of us. It is purely a gift given from the good nature, love, and generosity of God the Giver.

Whether you were baptized as an infant or came to faith late in life, whether your sanctification feels impressive or painfully slow, whether your service seems long or short, the kingdom gives the same gift: forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation in Jesus Christ.

Repent not of your labor, but of your grumbling. Repent of measuring our work before God by comparison between each other rather than the promise of God. And rejoice that in this kingdom, you receive not what you deserve, but what Christ has earned for you.

In the holy Name of + Jesus. Amen

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] Matthew 20:13-16 English Standard Version. All further quotations from the Holy Scriptures are from the ESV.