God is Not Fair

Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead, and on the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God. He will come again to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the fellowship of believers, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life of God.

Amen. You may be seated. Good to have you with us here this morning. Reading from the Gospel of Matthew, starting at chapter twenty. Oh, by the way, uh do we say where Becky was? You have not. She's uh uh she's at our uh celebration church in the Fox Valley this morning, covering for Pastor Phil. So spreading She'll be back next Sunday. Um Matthew the twentieth chapter, starting at verse one, Jesus says, For the kingdom of heaven is like I don't want you to think about

An analogy. This is what the kingdom of heaven is like. What we learn from this is what we learn, what heaven. So the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his house. About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, You also go and work in my vineyard, I will pay you whatever.

So they went. He went out again about noon, and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing about five in the afternoon getting now toward the end of the day. He went out and still found still others standing around. He asked them, Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing? Because no one has hired us.

He said to them, Go also you also go and work in my vineyard. When evening came the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, Call the workers and pay them their wages. This is the way it was. their paycheck processed, they got paid at the end of every day. Uh there's areas in the country where that's still the case. Uh we uh have a place in uh Arizona with our daughter. They're actually they're coming today.

But they frequently go and find day workers. If you got a project you go drive on and get whoever you need and at the end of the day you pay them. So this is what happens. Um Ah he said so gather them together and pay them for their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going to the first. So the workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarium.

So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more, but each one of them also received a denari. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landlord. These who were hired last worked only one hour, they said. And you've made them equal to us. Everybody wants everything to be equal, all right? Everybody's into equality now. Equal to us. us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day. But he answered one of them.

Am I not being unf I am not being unfair to you, friend? Didn't you agree to work for ordinarius? Take your pay and go. I will give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious of my Because I am generous. Now get the picture here. This is obviously two thousand years ago scenario, but this it's like if I uh was gonna go and uh hire some guys. We've got a bunch of motorcycle guys here today.

How's your weekend, guys? Yeah, praise the Lord. You're welcome every Sunday. Should send the front so I can see you. Anyway. If I went to uh one of his this I we got a place up in Crivet. And uh I I need a couple of you guys. to help me uh cut down some trees and and and split wood and s I'll give you a hundred bucks for the day. You go, okay, cool. And then about noon I go grab a couple of other guys, say, hey hey, why don't you join us?

And they join us and then an hour before closing time I grab a couple other guys and and they they only work for an hour. And then at the end of the day now the guys that I just hired I give them a hundred bucks. And the guys at noon, I give a hundred bucks. And you know, you guys who've been working all day would be thinking, All right. I'm gonna cash out now. I'm gonna make a lot of money now. And then you get a hundred bucks, you will grumble. You will complain that's not fair.

My message today is God is not fair. There's the, uh... There's the siren song today of fairness in our culture. Uh when I mention Siren's song that comes from Greek mythology. They believed these beautiful sirens would sing to sailors as they would go by, and they would get hypnotized by the songs of these beautiful sirens.

They would lose control of what they were thinking and they would crash and become shipwrecked. That's all. That's what a siren is. But there's a siren song today that also leads to destruction, the siren song of fairness. Everything should be equal. Just we saw in this parable, everything should be fair. Nobody should have more than anybody else. Everybody should be paid the same. It's not fair that one guy has more than another guy, and you get this.

It's it sounds so pretty like the siren song, but it's it's not pretty, it's destructive. It's more communism than anything else. I've been in communist countries where everybody gets everything the same. Nobody goes to work on time. Nobody works hard. Why would you work hard? Why would you why would you work hard? Because no matter how hard you work, you're gonna get the same as the guy who sits and does nothing.

Consequently, the culture and the economy begin to crash and burn. And everywhere socialism and communism take over, it destroys their economy. Because everyone's been following the siren song of fairness is all fair, be careful. There should be equality of opportunity in our land, and thank God that there is. But we cannot guarantee equality of outcomes. Some of you are just better at some things than other people. For example, you won't want me cooking your dinner.

Some y'all are pretty good. Actually we order these things from uh online. What do you call? Meals in a box. It's like color by crayon numbers, you know, and just do this and do that and do this and th and then I can do pretty good. But every once in a while I feel more creative and it just ruins everything. And I've got to learn to stay with the program, but some of you are great, phenomenal cooks, some of you are incredible mechanics, way better than others.

Some of you are harder workers than others. Some of you are just smarter than others, and you succeed wildly. Be careful of the siren song. Well everybody should get the same at the end of the day. It doesn't work that way.

Alright, and in God's kingdom it certainly does not work that day because God is not fair. Thank heavens God is not fair. I uh thought of the uh Two criminals that were crucified with Jesus. Whenever you see pictures of the of the crucifixion, you see three crosses, not just one. Who are the other two? There are the two other guys that were criminals that were being crucified alongside Jesus. Jesus did not deserve it. These two guys did. Let's read about it. In Luke the twenty third chapter.

Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him, talking about Jesus, to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals. One on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. And they divide up his clothes by casting lots.

The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, He saved others. Let him save himself if he's God's Messiah, the chosen one. The soldiers also came up and mocked him, and they offered him wine vinegar and said, If you're the king of Jews, save yourself. There was a written notice above him which read This is the King of the Jews. Now one of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him. Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us.

But the other criminal rebuked him. Don't you fear God? he said, since you are under the same sentence, we are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing. Then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus answered him, Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.

Some young man who all his life has honored God, done the right thing, served, sacrificed, said no to wrong, strove to do what is right, upon death enters the kingdom of God, and this guy him all his life was a bad dude. Who knows his background? Who knows what he had done? And he obviously had been exposed to Jesus at some point, maybe he saw him do a miracle or heard him teach or something. So he had a chance to think about it, but he hadn't turned from his way.

He was breaking the law. Who knows all the things he was doing? Finally, he's being crucified. The death penalty for his crimes. And as he's taking his last breath, he also goes into eternity with Jesus. Well, that's not fair. Thank heaven God is not fair.

Romans the sixth chapter verse twenty three says this for the wages of sin are Is death. What are wages? Well you work, as we mentioned before, you work, uh all of you have a job, whatever you work, and at the end of the week or t every two weeks or what's the mother, however your company does their deal, uh you get a paycheck. It's not a gift. It's not a reward. It's not charity. You earned it. It's what you have coming to you. And that is right. It's your wages.

So think about this, Paul writes, for the wages of sin what you have coming to you. Is death. And not just physical death, but eternal death. Separated from God for eternity. For the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. Thank God. He's not fair. Isaiah 64, verse 6 says this All of us have become like one who is unclean. You know, he had to avoid people who are unclean. All of our righteous acts

Are like filthy rags. Now, you've heard me rail about this many times, but uh I don't know what it is with the English translators. I don't know who these I guys were who translated these English. things, some probably not even alive today, but some still are. But these have to be some of the biggest prudes on the face of the earth. Or are absolutely convinced that English speaking people are all prudes and we can't handle the actual words of the Scriptures.

So they change it. They do this throughout the Bible. We can spend A whole sermon talking about all the things they changed because they thought it was just a little too creepy, people can't stand it. We'll use some different words. The wording here was not filthy rags, literally in the Hebrew, and you can find one or two translations that does translate it correctly. They were menstrual rags. You say that's disgusting. Indeed it is.

All right, that's before they had all the modern conveniences for ladies' monthly periods. Back in the day for most of eternity for most of time on earth, women used rags to help them through their menstrual cycle. And uh these were see the Bible says our righteousness is like filthy rags. Now the translators thought we can't say that because it's it's a little too crude. We'll say filthy rags, but it's not the same. I mean I'll touch a filthy rags.

I got no problem with filthy rags. If anybody ever working on a bike, your car, you get some grease on your hands, what do you do? You grab a filthy rag and you wipe it off. I will touch a filthy rag. I ain't touching no mensful rag, I'll tell you right now. Because that is repulsive. That is disgusting. And this is what the scriptures say about us, but not just about us.

It says, all our righteous acts. In other words, you at your best. You at your very finest. Your most generous moment. Your most kindest actions. The best of the best of you ever. It's like a filthy menstrual rag compared to the holiness of God. You can imagine what we're like when we're mean or nasty or selfish. We gripe, we complain, we pick at each other, peck pep. Won't forgive people, man, what does that turn us into?

You say, Pastor, that's very gross indeed. Our sins are very gross to God. You ever see something that's so gross you just turn away? Ooh, that's really gross. It's something I just can't That's what our sins do to us. They make us incredibly gross to God, the kind of thing that should be tossed aside. But he doesn't do that. Thank God he's not.

Because a lot of people say, well, I'm not that bad. You know, people who don't have Christ in their lives don't get this. A lot of Christians don't get it. You need to understand, without God, we are hopeless. We are a mess, an absolute train wreck. When you understand that, it is life-changing. People who come to God for forgiveness understand their sins are bad. People without Christ, they hear messages like this, they blow it off. I I'm not that bad.

I'm not that bad, but Because we think of the guys who's worse than us, our neighbor. Our in laws, other people, crazy psychotic people, you know, mean people. I'm not as bad as that person. I'm not as I I'm a pretty good guy. People say that about themselves. I'm a pretty good guy. People who say I'm a pretty good guy don't get They don't understand. They have deceived themselves into thinking they're okay, when in reality, before God, God is so pure, so holy, we are an absolute train wreck.

Thank heaven. God isn't fair. Thank heaven. We don't get what is coming to us, what we deserve, which is to be rejected from God for eternity. Why do we fix it? Second Corinthians chapter five verse twenty one says God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Now this this is the greatest Swap in eternity.

It would be like Elon Musk coming to you and saying, Listen, I'll take every one of your bills, I'll take all your debts, all all the stuff, and and and I'll give you all my money. What we we'll make a swap. How many would take that? Well this is what God does for us. In faith, when you come to Christ and receive His grace and mercy into our lives, He takes everything that is wrong about us. And gives us everything that's right.

Wow, that's a big deal. It's why we celebrate. It's why we sing. It's why we gather together. Why we have the best deal ever going. Because we have this incredible swap, all my ickiness, all my ugliness, all my nastiness, he takes away from me and gives me all of his grace, all of his righteousness, all that is good. I'm telling you, this is life changing. People who don't get this, they they look at people who go to church all the time like y'all crazy.

Come and singing these songs and clapping your hands. Woohoo, you're nuts to their chap because they don't get it. They don't understand what we've seen, which is our sins have been forgiven. We've been washed in the blood of the lamb. What has been wrong with us has been made right in Christ. That's what Jesus did when he died upon that cross, when he said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Don't think that you can earn your way to heaven.

That's not how this works at the end of the day. People think you know it's a balancing. You know, God's gonna take whatever good and bad and balance it out. If you're just a little bit good, then you then you get in. No, there is no good in us. No righteousness in us, all of our righteousness are these filthy rags. But God's grace, God makes this incredible trend. Let's read it again. God made him talking about Jesus.

Who had no sin to be sin for us, he took upon himself the sins of the world, all our ickiness, all our anger, all our bitterness, he takes. so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Wow!

The more see that's why we call this the good news. And ac the word gospel means good news, okay? And it's really Even that's bad wording. This isn't good news. This is incredible news. This is amazing news. This is life-changing news. That's why people who come to Christ suddenly their lives change. You're one way and all of a sudden you start acting another way. I remember when I first came to Jesus, all my friends said, What's wrong with you? You're not like you were. I've been changed.

He changes our lives. He transfers us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. This is the incredible transfer. This is what we call good news. Incredible news. The kind of thing that we sing, we celebrate, we support, we give money. You people really think you're crazy if you give money. Who gives people money? Why do we do this? Because we are celebrating the good news.

We want what's happened to us to happen for others. That's today's Mission Sunday. Pastor Keith was talking about it. We give above and beyond on this day, where we normally give X amount, but we'll give a little bit more. And we assign it to missions to help these kids in these orphanages.

are these churches. Uh there's like he said, seven campuses. They call they call themselves Celebration Church, Celebration Church of Africa, because they're very connected connected with us. And uh and they're growing like crazy. When I first met'em they had three or four campuses. Now they got seven. They're passing us up big time. And they got nothing. They have nothing. What they have is something really good.

They take this good news and what? We'd grow more if we would share that good news with others and let them know their lives can be enriched, can be changed, can be transformed. We can change from the kingdom of darkness. And shake off this delusion that I'm okay. I'm not okay. People say I'm not a bad person. Horrible. We're all horrible. That's the reality of it. At our best, the Bible says.

When you get that revelation, when you start to understand that, oh, the grace of God becomes an incredible thing, something that we celebrate, sing about, support, that we give our lives and energy to.

And praise God for his good news. Thank God he's I don't want coming to me what I deserve. I don't know about you, man. I want his grace. Okay? Say, Pastor, you're a good guy. That's because you don't know me. We all have our stuff, right? We all can be icky, we all can be impatient, we all can be unkind. fleshly world that we deal with even in faith we still struggle. But thank God we come to the cross and he makes what is wrong.

He makes it right. He gives us an incredible transfer. We're gonna take communion now, and this is when we celebrate what Jesus did for us on the cross. He took what was wrong with all of us. And in exchange, if we will receive his grace and forgiveness into our lives, what's right and good about him You say, Well, uh, how's that possible? That's the miracle of all this. This is why we celebrate, this is why we do what we do. We have had this incredible trans.

of our wrong and instead we get his right. So we celebrate this that's what that's what Jesus said when he said, you know, for us to take communion and But the Bible says when we do this we should reflect, remember what this is about, and examine our own hearts and lives. So uh let's bow our heads as I pray a prayer of forgiveness over all of us. Heavenly Father, before we partake of the bread and the cup of this morning and in obedience to the scriptures, we pause to examine ourselves.

Against you in thought, word, or deed. have gotten caught up too much.

Sins offer to him everything that's bad about you, offer to him everything that's wrong, offer to him all your About him. Amen.