Sermon Tone Analysis

Several years ago, a small book was published entitled, /The Penguin Principles/.

It was a book aimed at new pastors just learning the ropes.

Some of it was meant to be humorous, but even the humor contained nuggets of truth, including the first principle of church life: “Despite the pious things we say…less than 5% of….the church is operating with purely Christian motivation.

The other 95% are asking, 'What's in it for me?'”[i]

            /Does this question ever cross your mind?

/

/            You hear a lot from preachers about how you ought to live right, to serve the Lord, to be involved in church, to love your neighbor as you love yourself.

The Bible tells us in no uncertain terms Christ expects a lot from His followers; being a faithful Christian involves a lot of responsibilities.

Many of you work hard and diligently in your ministry here, all on a volunteer basis.

Do you ever ask, “Is it really worth all the headaches and hassles?

If I follow Jesus and serve Him the rest of my life, what do I get out of this?” /

/            How do you suppose the Lord Jesus would respond to this question?

We don’t have to wonder, because the Bible records a time when somebody asks him this very thing.

A very sincere follower of Jesus named Simon Peter asked it in *Matt.

19:27* (*read*.)

/

/            Sounds to me like Peter asks in a nutshell, “What’s in it for me?” /

/            Jesus doesn’t scold Peter for asking the question.

In fact, He gives Peter and other apostles a very big promise in *vs.

28-30* —when Christ returns …in the regeneration… to remake the world, Peter and the rest of the apostles will sit on thrones with their names on them.

He promises whatever they’ve sacrificed for Him, they’ill recover.

But then He includes in His answer a puzzling statement: //But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

//Then our Lord tells them a parable in *Matt.

20:1-16* that answers this question not only for Peter, but also for us: //what do you get for serving Jesus?

/

*PRAYER*

Like so many of Jesus’ parables, He wasn’t describing anything out of the ordinary.

In those days, there is no unemployment office or Help Wanted want ads in the newspaper.

When this wealthy landowner needs workers, he simply goes down to the marketplace and hires whoever he chooses.

One Bible scholar writes:

The men who were standing in the market-place were not street-corner idlers, lazing away their time.

The market-place was the equivalent of the labor exchange.

A man came there first thing in the morning, carrying his tools, and waited until someone hired him.

The men who stood in the market-place were waiting for work, and the fact that some of them stood on until even five o’clock in the evening is the proof of how desperately they wanted it.

[ii]

            Jesus weaves a story of this landowner going out to the marketplace at dawn [6 AM] looking to hire some hands to harvest his vineyard.

He agrees to pay them /a denarius a day /(*v.

2*)---the going rate for a days’ work.

They head out to the field, while the landowner stays in town.

Around 9PM the landowner returns to the marketplace and hires a second crew.

It is crucially important to note in *vs.

4* he promises to pay them /whatever is right.

/

/            /As they head off to the vineyard, the landowner stays in town, where he meets more unemployed men at noon, and then at 3 PM and sends them out with the others.

Finally, at the 11th hour, 5 PM, one hour before quitting time, he asks another group /why are you standing around here at the marketplace?

/They reply /Nobody hired us.

/And he says /well, I’m hiring you.

Go out to my vineyard and whatever is right you will receive…/(*v.

7*).

One question about this last bunch: Why is this guy so eager to hire men who will only work an hour?

One reason may be the same reason modern farmers hire extra help: they’re working to beat the rains.

This farmer apparently needs all the help he can lay his hands on to rescue his harvest.

*V.

8* tells us after the workday is done it’s time to settle up.

He commands his steward to pay the workers hired last, and then move on to the ones hired earlier.

This is when things get ugly.

The steward starts with the team hired at 5 PM and gives them a denarius.

They are surprised, but grateful to receive a full day’s pay for only one hour’s work.

The next group is the 3 PM shift and they, too get a denarius.

About this time the workers hired at 6 AM start to get their hopes up: /if they get a denarius, we ought to get 3 times as much.

/Imagine their shock and disappointment when the steward pays them only 1 denarius—the same as the men who worked only one hour!

They march straight to the boss’s office and demand an explanation.

W/hat do you mean paying these loafers the same thing you paid us?

We worked and sweated through the heat of the day, while they barely worked an hour for you.

How could you do this to us? /

/            /But the landowner stands his ground.

/Guys, I’m not cheating you.

How much did I tell you I would pay you for a days’ work?

/They refuse to answer, but we remember it was a denarius.

/Take your hard-earned wages.

Can’t I do what I want with my own money?

Why should you be so angry because I choose to be so generous?

/

            Now maybe you wonder about this situation, too.

It doesn’t seem too fair, does it?

Why would this landowner do something like this?

One commentator explains it this way:

            These men…were the lowest class of workers, and life for them was always desperately precarious…they were always living on the semi-starvation line… if they were unemployed for one day, the children would go hungry at home…to be unemployed for a day was disaster.

[iii]

Now do you see why this landowner is so generous?

He isn’t just focused on grapes, or labor, but on the needs of poor people.

Without his generosity, these men and their families will go hungry that night.

/His generosity is motivated by his concern for them.

/

Jesus finishes up this story by spelling out the point in *vs.

16*.

In other words, /My reward system is a little different from the rest of the world.

/I think that difference shows up in 3 principles found in this parable that can answer the question /what’s in it for me?/:

*1.    **The Master promises a reward to all of His servants.

*

In one Calvin & Hobbes cartoon, the two are lying in the shade of a tree on a summer afternoon discussing the important things of life.

Calvin says, "What if there is no heaven?

What if this is all we get?"  Hobbes answers, "Well, if this is all we get I guess we'll just have to accept it."

Calvin replies, "Yeah, but if I’m not going to be rewarded for my good deeds, I want to know it now!"

Calvin assumes a common error that many make: that somehow heaven is a reward for doing good deeds.

One thing you’ve /got/ to be clear about this parable is that it’s not about salvation of your soul, but instead about rewards for your service.

Your salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, not by works.

You don’t earn your spot in God’s family, nor work your way into heaven.

But /after /you are saved, you begin your service to the Lord, and just as each and every servant in the parable was rewarded, so you and I will be rewarded for our service.

There are glimpses of how that works sprinkled throughout Scripture:

*2 Corinthians 5:10*/ //For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, *that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.*/

*Ephesians 6:8* /…*knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord*, whether he is a slave or free./

*1 Corinthians 3:14-15 */14//If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, *he will receive a reward*./

/            /Whatever else these verses say, they clearly tell us /Christ rewards His servants for their faithful service to Him./

Of course, /faithful/ service involves not just /what/ we do, but /why /we do it.

In *Matt.

6* Jesus hammers home the point that only what is done for God’s approval, not people’s applause will be rewarded by God. 3 times our Lord repeats the refrain/..and your Father Who sees in secret will reward you openly…/Our service should be, in the words of

*Col 3:22* /… not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God./

All of these passages reinforce the point Jesus makes which answers Peter’s question:/ what do I get for serving Jesus?