Grace, mercy, and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ, in whose name we have been shown grace by our heavenly Father. Amen.

O Lord, what a privilege it is that we have been called to faith by your grace. O Lord, what a privilege it is that we have been called to serve in your kingdom by your grace. O Lord, what a privilege that no matter when we have been invited into your kingdom, whether it be as an infant in baptism, as a little child in Sunday School, as an adult through conversion, or on our deathbed, we all receive the same generous blessing of heaven. All by your grace. We are the workers in your vineyard, O Master, and we thank you for your grace. Amen.

Today we are studying Jesus’ story of the workers in the vineyard. Let’s look at this story again through today’s eyes … The news was bad – an apple grower in western North Carolina had heard that a huge hurricane was coming inland along the Atlantic coast. He turned on the Weather Channel (that’s MTV for older folks). The report worried him. His apples were ready to be picked. The branches were heavy with apples … bending over on the trees. He knew that winds from the hurricane would destroy his orchards. His apple harvest would be lost – apples would be torn from the trees; the branches, so heavy with apples, would split and break from tree trunks. He knew that the only hope for his orchard was to hire plenty of men to pick his apples in a single day, before the hurricane hit!

So he went to the unemployment office early in morning. Young men were already there, looking for work. He told them, "I’ll give you $100 to work today in my orchards." The men gladly accepted and he put them all to work. Soon, he realized he’d need even more workers if his apples were to be picked before sundown … before the hurricane arrived to destroy everything! So, at 9 a.m., he went back to the unemployment office. More young men were standing around. The orchard owner told the, "Come work for me … and I’ll pay you a fair wage." So the men joined the orchard owner and went to work picking apples.

Soon, the owner realized that he needed a lot more men. So he kept going back to the unemployment office to hire more help. He went back at noon and hired men. He went back at 3 and hired men. He even went back at 5, an hour before sunset, to hire more men. Each time, he told them, "I’ll pay you a fair wage." By sunset, the apples were all picked. The farmer’s crop was safe in the warehouse. He told his wife to pay the men, starting first with the one’s who’d worked the least hours.

Remember the ones who didn’t start work till 5 p.m.? His wife gave them each a crisp, new $100 bill! Then, to the ones who started work at 3 p.m., she also gave a $100 bill. And on it went, with the wife paying the 12 noon crew and then the 9 a.m. crew. The men who started work at 6 a.m. were excited! They said, "If those guys who just worked an hour got $100, we’re gonna make a killin!"

When it came time to pay them, the owner’s wife gave them each a crisp, new $100 bill! They were angry! They got downright mad. They milled around complaining to each other. They even talked about hurting the old orchard owner and his wife. The county Sheriff’s office was called, and a cruiser dispatched to make sure that the men didn’t start a riot.

The old orchard owner came out to talk to the men. He said, "Men, I was honest with you! Didn’t you all agree to work for me today for $100?" "Yeah", they shouted, "But you paid the guys who worked just one hour the same thing you paid to us. That’s not fair!" The old apple grower replied, "What business is it of yours if I want to pay them extra? It’s my orchard…They’re my apples…It’s my money…Why are you angry because I’m generous?

Does anyone in here think that the apple grower was fair? NO! Paying men who work an hour the same salary as men who work 11 hours! Some of those men worked hard, and some of those men hardly worked! But they all got paid the same. It’s not fair!

Would you have been a complainer if you had worked all day and saw this happen? I dare say that all of us would have been among the complainers.

If total fairness is something you value highly, this morning sermon is going to shock you. If Old Testament "eye for an eye" justice is what you like, you’re not going to like this sermon this morning!

Did you know God is just like that apple grower? He is the owner of the vineyard in Jesus’ story. Now, I am going to say something this morning that many of you may find shocking. The God we serve and worship – Jehovah, the Lord, the One True God, all powerful, who knows everything, sees everything, Creator of the heavens and earth … is absolutely, positively, totally unfair in the way that he deals with us, with all of mankind!

Wait a minute, Pastor! How can you say that? God is fair with each and every one of us. No, he’s not fair! God isn’t fair with me. And he isn’t fair with you. By examining the story of the workers in the vineyard we will discover that God isn’t fair. He lets us receive his blessings. And it is amazing that he lets any of us into his kingdom at all.

God isn’t fair! If our God was a fair God, we’d all be bound for hell right now! The Bible says that the one who sins is the one who shall die. It says that the wages of sin is death – physical and eternal death. It says that we are to be holy, without sin, just like God. That’s not me, and I’m pretty positive that’s not you, either.

We all sin, every one of us! We put on nice clothes and do nice things, but to God, all our nice deeds are like "filthy rags." We hide our evil thoughts behind innocent smiles, but God notices. We do our sinning in the dark, hoping no one else will see it, but God sees it. We all sin! As a pastor, I just wish folks would quit pretending that they’ve got it so together and are so good, and just fall on the mercy of God. That’s what we need – God’s amazing grace.

Somebody has to pay the cost for that sin. In God’s world, sin can never go unpunished! God is fair and just. Someone had to die. Someone had to be punished. Someone had to suffer hell. But God didn’t want that someone to be us. You know the story. God sent his own Son, Jesus, to die on the cross to pay for our sins, yours and mine. He’s the one who died. He’s the one who was punished. He’s the one who suffered hell.

It’s not fair that Jesus suffered for our sins, including the sins that we’ve committed since we woke up this morning. It’s not fair that God has shown us mercy. It’s not fair that God gives us chance after chance to repent. It’s not fair that all we have to do is ask his forgiveness and accept his mercy and our sins are forgiven. It’s not fair that he sends his Holy Spirit to live inside our sin filled bodies to guide and direct us every minute of every day. It’s not fair that Jesus has said that, no matter what, he will never leave us nor forsake us. It’s not fair that God promises that everything will work out for our eternal good. It’s not fair that God bends His ear from the throne of God every time we want to say a word to him. It’s not fair that we’re going to live forever, in a place called heaven. It’s not fair that God has promised that the day will come when we feel no sadness, no pain, no death, no sorrow. It’s just not fair! God just isn’t fair!

Let me ask you, are you glad that you live with an unfair God? I am! If God was fair the wages we deserve for our daily lives of sin would be an eternity in the fiery furnace of hell. Instead, we get to live in the paradise of heaven. We deserve lives of misery and pain. Instead, we are blessed with lives of joy, and love, and peace, and hope. We deserve to be squashed like little bugs by our almighty God. Instead, our heavenly Father makes us his children through faith in his Son, our Savior.

Jesus is telling us in this story that it doesn’t matter if you come to faith in him as an infant in baptism, as a child in Sunday School, as an adult through a miraculous conversion, or on your deathbed after a life of sin. It is all the same to God. He is the one inviting us into his kingdom, he’s the generous master. It is his blessings and salvation to give out when and to whom he pleases. We have no right to grumble or complain about how generous or unfair our God is. The lifelong, hardworking church member is going to enjoy the same heaven as the thief on the cross. The baptized infants will share the same paradise with the converted murders. How gloriously unfair is our great God.

When you really think about it, it is unfair that God lets us receive his blessings of peace, love, joy, and salvation. It is also unfair that God lets us any of us into his kingdom at all.

Look at how this landowner went out time and again to find workers. Some were ready immediately, at 6 am. Some weren’t ready then, but they were ready 3 hours later, at 9 am. Some weren’t ready until noon, or 3, or even 5. Yet, whenever they were ready, they were hired. And whoever was hired received a full day’s wage!

What does that mean? It means that God invites everyone into his kingdom, but some aren’t ready when he calls. He invites different people at different times from different places. And we have no right to be like the uncompassionate workers who complained that the ones who were invited last received the same wage that they did.

What does that mean for us? Well, sometimes, I think, those same wretched tendencies are lurking within our own hearts. "Our synod wants to send missionaries to that country? Isn’t that one of those nations that supports terrorists?" "The evangelism committee wants to hand out Vacation Bible School invitations along that street? Isn’t that a rundown neighborhood?" "Tomorrow we are going to celebrate the baptism of that child? Isn’t that the naughty boy whose father is a drunk?" "The elders invited that fellow to come to the Lord’s Supper? Didn’t he abandon his wife a few years ago?"

Such inexcusable thoughts! Should the God who has been forgiving of my evil ways not grant the same forgiveness to others? Didn’t Jesus shed his blood for sinners like me as well as for those whose deeds I consider "really bad"?

We need to remember that "God our Savior … wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:3,4) Rather than thinking "How could God save a wretched sinner like that person?" we should be thinking "How could God save a wretched sinner … like me?" We join with the apostle Paul in confessing, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst." (1 Timothy 1:15) We should be thankful that our merciful God even lets us into his kingdom at all. Thank God that he invites us to serve him in his kingdom. Praise God that he gives us the wage of eternal life for nothing more than accepting his Son’s forgiveness. It really isn’t fair that our God is so generous with us.

A man dies and goes to heaven. St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter says, "Here’s how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you’ve done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you can get in." "Okay," the man says, "I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart." "That’s wonderful," says St. Peter, "that’s worth three points!" "Three points?" he says. "Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my offerings and service." "Terrific!" says St. Peter. "That’s certainly worth a point." "One point? I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans." "Fantastic, that’s good for two more points," he says. "Two points!" the man cries. "At this rate, the only way I get into heaven is by the grace of God!" "Bingo! 100 points! Come on in!"

Now, Peter really won’t be sitting at the pearly gates. We really can’t earn any points to get into heaven. But we really can get into heaven only by the grace of God. And that’s what Jesus’ story is all about – God’s grace. You and I are sinners, we are the last, yet Jesus says that the "last shall be first." Though we don’t deserve forgiveness or salvation or love or grace or any of the blessings God showers upon us, he wants to give them to us because he is so generous. Our God is really unfair. Praise him today for being so graciously unfair. Amen.

May the peace of God which transcends all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.