No Losers
Matthew 20:1–16
These aren't kids. These aren't boys. These are men, day laborers, and what they make is what they eat, and what they make is what their family will eat that night. These people need the work. They want to work. And so we don't know why the landowner keeps coming back and hiring more people, even down to one hour left in the day. I don't know if it was about to storm. But could it be that this was the landowner's generosity, grace, and mercy? Because if you're still there at 5:00 waiting to get work, you probably really need the work.
If the people who had been hired first got paid first, they'd get their daily wage and go home. "Oh, good, I got paid, and everybody's gonna eat tonight at the house." But he didn't do it that way. He said, "Let those we hired last get paid first." This was very intentionally set up, so that those who had worked the longest would see and notice they were all being paid the same. The others didn't complain. The ones who complained were the people who'd worked all day long. "You have made them equal to us."
Now, imagine you're in the early church. Most of the early Christians were Jews who believed in Jesus. But these Gentiles were joining the church in droves, and the question came up: do they need to be Jewish and then become Christian, or can they just become Christian? Could only Jews be the leaders of the church? This has been a problem not just in the church. It's a problem in business. If you wanna make a workforce unhappy, don't pay them fairly. This is sort of built into us.
Peter, in chapter 19, says, "What about us? We've given up everything to follow you. What will we get?" And Jesus tried to make the point, "You're asking the wrong question." Everyone gets the same. And it is bountiful and generous. It is grace that is shocking. And it's so shocking in this parable, the workers get mad. And you can see why. We all believe we should get what we deserve, right? But should we? Did we? No.
We sort of have our false gods too. You wanna know what the real secular religion in the United States is? It's winning. What's the worst thing you can call an American? Not a sinner, but a loser. You can be a sinner, but don't be a loser. And it's built on two basic beliefs. One, that there's equal opportunity, and two, the freedom of the individual to succeed or fail on their own. Would you agree that some people have a little more equal chance than others? Would you agree with me we didn't start from the same place? Doesn't mean it can't happen. It does happen, but not everybody starts from the same spot.
Who are the losers? Who are the winners? How about older people? For many people in the culture, as we get older, as we retire, as we stop working, often people treat older people a little differently than they treat younger people. Because in a winner society where winning is God, you can either be a has-been or a never-was.
Now here's the good news of that scripture. In this story, everybody got to work. Everybody got to serve. Everybody went home with a paycheck. Everyone's family was fed. With God, there are no losers. With God, we're all winners, and that is the good news. That is the gospel.
From the sermon of September 20, 2026
Pastor William Mitchell
These aren't kids. These aren't boys. These are men, day laborers, and what they make is what they eat, and what they make is what their family will eat that night. These people need the work. They want to work. And so we don't know why the landowner keeps coming back and hiring more people, even down to one hour left in the day. I don't know if it was about to storm. But could it be that this was the landowner's generosity, grace, and mercy? Because if you're still there at 5:00 waiting to get work, you probably really need the work.
If the people who had been hired first got paid first, they'd get their daily wage and go home. "Oh, good, I got paid, and everybody's gonna eat tonight at the house." But he didn't do it that way. He said, "Let those we hired last get paid first." This was very intentionally set up, so that those who had worked the longest would see and notice they were all being paid the same. The others didn't complain. The ones who complained were the people who'd worked all day long. "You have made them equal to us."
Now, imagine you're in the early church. Most of the early Christians were Jews who believed in Jesus. But these Gentiles were joining the church in droves, and the question came up: do they need to be Jewish and then become Christian, or can they just become Christian? Could only Jews be the leaders of the church? This has been a problem not just in the church. It's a problem in business. If you wanna make a workforce unhappy, don't pay them fairly. This is sort of built into us.
Peter, in chapter 19, says, "What about us? We've given up everything to follow you. What will we get?" And Jesus tried to make the point, "You're asking the wrong question." Everyone gets the same. And it is bountiful and generous. It is grace that is shocking. And it's so shocking in this parable, the workers get mad. And you can see why. We all believe we should get what we deserve, right? But should we? Did we? No.
We sort of have our false gods too. You wanna know what the real secular religion in the United States is? It's winning. What's the worst thing you can call an American? Not a sinner, but a loser. You can be a sinner, but don't be a loser. And it's built on two basic beliefs. One, that there's equal opportunity, and two, the freedom of the individual to succeed or fail on their own. Would you agree that some people have a little more equal chance than others? Would you agree with me we didn't start from the same place? Doesn't mean it can't happen. It does happen, but not everybody starts from the same spot.
Who are the losers? Who are the winners? How about older people? For many people in the culture, as we get older, as we retire, as we stop working, often people treat older people a little differently than they treat younger people. Because in a winner society where winning is God, you can either be a has-been or a never-was.
Now here's the good news of that scripture. In this story, everybody got to work. Everybody got to serve. Everybody went home with a paycheck. Everyone's family was fed. With God, there are no losers. With God, we're all winners, and that is the good news. That is the gospel.
From the sermon of September 20, 2026
Pastor William Mitchell
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