Septuagesima

1  We can’t approach heaven.

There has been speculation for ages

about what sort of life we could find in outer space.

Civilizations on or under the moon, Martians, and others even stranger than that.

If we discovered life elsewhere,

what impact would that have on the biblical worldview?

Some hope that it would shatter our belief in Creation.

But just because God didn’t tell us about something,

doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

The Bible tells us of our salvation,

and includes only a few other things.

Some wonder if life elsewhere might have escaped the taint of sin.

In fact, that’s the premise of a trilogy by CS Lewis,

in which outer space is really “Deep Heaven” and our space-ships can fly there.

Speculation can be entertaining,

but it doesn’t reveal much fact.

The fact is, you can travel forever in outer space, in any direction

and never reach heaven, where God is enthroned,

and where the righteous will live forever.

There’s a difference between the heavens above, and our eternal home.

That difference shows how useless are human works and efforts

in helping us to reach heaven.

With millions and billions of dollars,

we can send a few people into orbit.

But nothing we can do will ever bring anyone

an inch closer to heaven.

The reason we can’t approach heaven is spiritual, not technical.

Heaven is a place outside the bounds of our universe,

and only God can bring someone across.

If He doesn’t, then even death won’t get us there.

Our text shows two spiritual reasons we can’t approach heaven:

Because our pride will kill, and Because only grace can save.

2  Matthew 20:1–16

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’

“So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’

“But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’

“So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”

2.1  Because our pride will kill.

We can’t approach heaven, because our pride will kill.

Let’s pretend for a moment that heaven is not out of our reach.

If we spend enough money, build a good enough spaceship,

it will take us there.

What then? That’s when we’d see our real handicap in this race:

the sinful hearts we take along with us.

If mankind could reach heaven, we’d crown ourselves gods.

You may doubt that such a sinful heart exists,

or that it exists in every one of us.

But it’s happened before — or began to happen.

It’s described in Genesis chapter 11.

All mankind lived and traveled together. They came eastward to the plain of Shinar,

in what we now call southern Iraq.

They had a glorious idea for themselves:

And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

The Tower of Babel was man’s greatest work yet,

a monument to what we can do when we work together.

But that pride was idolatry,

so God confused the language of mankind to stop it.

Yet the same idolatrous pride arises individually

whenever we think we have deserved something from God.

The vineyard-owner was concerned about the harvest,

the early workers about feeding their families. So for a day’s pay, they agreed to do their part.

Later, the vineyard-owner was still concerned about the harvest,

and the workers were not as well-motivated, but they still agreed to work for whatever was right.

Imagine being an early worker: sweaty and tired already,

when a new hire comes in, fresh from sleeping in that morning.

Doesn’t he care about feeding his family?

Why didn’t he start work earlier?

It’s really not my concern; at least I was here earlier.

I’m bringing home the mutton.

So it’s also not hard to imagine a long-time church member.

Maybe I even have my own well-polished seat in the pews.

But then another person gets my attention,

dressed differently, maybe with kids,

bringing distracting noises and smells.

Maybe the person’s attendance is not so regular.

Don’t they care about respecting God’s house?

Why do they arrive late, or not at all sometimes? Don’t they know that this is what we need to be saved?

But then, it’s not really my concern;

at least I respect God’s house.

But at the end of the day, God switches everything around.

Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.

Now, you’re at the end of the line.

Ahead, you see that these lazy bums

who still have the energy to crack jokes

each receive a full day’s pay.

What do you think about that?

Of course, the vineyard owner must be really happy.

He’s giving out bonuses on top of the day’s pay!

So it’s with much excitement that you come up the line.

You hold out your hand, and receive what?

A denarius, a day’s pay and no more.

It’s enough to feed you and your family.

But there is no bonus.

Now, what do you think?

So it will be on the Last Day, and in all matters of salvation.

God reverses the tables.

Again, put yourself in the mind of a good Christian.

(Maybe that’s not so hard for you.)

There are some who are not such good Christians.

You know who they are. No need for names.

You see them entering eternal life ahead of you,

being shown to the place that Jesus prepared for them.

It might be troubling, but it might be exciting.

Because God knows your excellent quality as a Christian.

You draw near with your own bonus in mind,

only to find that you receive the same as the bums before you.

Now, what do you think?

In life on earth, God has given us talents and abilities to use.

It’s a good thing to use them well with pride in what we do.

But when we carry that pride into spiritual matters,

it becomes deadly poison.

What pay did the lazy workers deserve?

Not what they received. So their pay was not based upon their work.

What pay did the hard workers deserve?

In earthly life, they earned a full day’s pay. But the point is that this vineyard is heaven, not earth.

In spiritual terms, we all deserve only God’s wrath,

not life in heaven: we can’t even approach it.

So again, the pay was not based upon what they deserved.

But then comes our pride, like at the Tower of Babel.

We think we are better than we are,

and pride would be our final downfall, even rejecting the denarius God has given us.

2.2  Because only grace can save.

We can’t approach heaven, because only grace can save.

Remember that heaven is not reachable by our own powers:

no matter how high we fly, or how cleverly we think.

Only God can bring us there.

That means we have to go through Him.

I already showed you how our pride would prevent this.

We’d like to receive the credit we think is due.

But we’re wrong about that.

No credit is due, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

We are not creditors toward God. We are debtors. He owes us nothing.

We owe Him our lives, and because of sin, we also owe Him our deaths.

This is the Word of God.

So it is certain: only God can bring us to heaven.

If He does, it’s not because He must,

but because He wants to.

Pride in spiritual matters leads only to death.

But Psalm 51:17 says,

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart — These, O God, You will not despise.

And Psalm 32:5 says,

I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

So if you want your wandering in this life to end in heaven,

then the only way is to swallow pride,

and receive the denarius of God’s grace.

The passage I quoted earlier reads more fully:

But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets (that means it’s taught by God in the Bible) even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

This is the only way to heaven and to life.

Those who think they deserve it won’t accept it as a gift. Those who throw away the gift in despair won’t have it. Those who seek another way to heaven won’t ever find it. Those who only care about this world will lose it.

You see, we are all latecomers to the vineyard.

None of us really deserves a day’s pay.

But there was one who did. In His day of labor, He earned enough to pay us all.

The perfect life of Jesus has true merit in heaven and earth. The precious merit of the blood He shed and the body He gave

is greater than the worth of all Creation,

because He is God’s Son.

So Jesus bore the burden and heat of the day,

suffering and dying alone in our place, to earn the infinite wages of God’s grace and favor.

The Father accepted His work,

so that now we each receive the denarius of His mercy:

eternal life in heaven.

This is the only way for us to reach heaven.

For us as we are, it’s unapproachable, but for us in Christ, God gladly brings us there.

So says the Word of God.

We can’t approach heaven

because our pride will kill, and because only grace can save.

And it has.

Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!