Grace Alone - Sermon for Septuagesima Sunday

Septuagesima Sunday, February 1st, A+D 2026
Our Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Hill City, South Dakota
By Grace Alone, St. Matthew 20:1-16

   It's not about you ... it's for you. Salvation is not about you, it is about Christ, for you, in His perfect grace. 

   The three Sundays before Ash Wednesday, which are named with those strange Latin words Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima, are Sundays whose readings offer us an opportunity to review the three Solas of the Reformation, Grace Alone, Faith Alone and Scripture Alone.  Today, we focus on the Good News that salvation is by God’s grace alone.

   The salvation of sinners comes only by the grace of God. It is an act and a gift that flows from God’s generous character.  A pure gift, simply because God loves to give.  He desires to bless and save.  It is not about us, it is for us.  Salvation comes from the Lord, from outside of us.  It is not related to how good we are, or what we deserve.  God in Christ has done all that is necessary to rescue us from the punishment and suffering we deserve for being sinners, and for committing sins.  The Gospel, the message of this Good News, is God’s tool for delivering that blood bought forgiveness.  Your sins are forgiven, for Jesus’ sake. 

   How do we react to the message of salvation by grace alone?  Grace alone should give us joy and happiness, it should lift our spirits, set our minds free from worry, make us look to the future with confidence.  Rejoice!  The salvation of God is not about you, it is for you, pure grace.

   By Grace alone, Christ for you, is good news, the very best. But, as we see in the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard…, and in all our readings today…, and in many stories of the Bible ..., and in our daily lives..., sinners like you and me are not always eager to receive the pure grace of God with joy.

      Rescued by God from slavery in Egypt through great miracles, delivered from the most powerful empire of their day, the Israelites, following Moses toward the Promised Land, all too quickly began to complain in the desert, about the food, the heat, the dust…

      The combination of the Renaissance and the Reformation has, over the last five centuries, led us into a remarkable world.  The plain and pure teaching of the Bible, the spread of literacy, the rediscovery of ancient wisdom that led to great technical advances, and the expansion of the rule of law have combined to enable us to live better than any medieval king could even imagine. 

    All these blessings notwithstanding, Western culture soon became too smart for God, and has been turning its back on the Lord ever since.  The richer and more comfortable we get, the less faithful we have become.        Today digital technology improves our lives in countless ways.  But, it has become like a drug to us, a mindless addiction which leads us to ignore and neglect our friends and families, and sometimes leads us to fall into terrible depravity.

     Today, we have faithful translations of the Bible in almost every language.  Bibles are available at very low or no cost at all.  Do we take advantage of this blessing?  Or, do we treat the Word of God as a trifle?  Do we instead give our attention to sensational news and cheap titillation?  Are our eyes filled with Christ and His Word, or are they glued to screens full of false images and frivolous videos?

     We receive so many magnificent gifts, freely, by God’s grace alone.  Nevertheless, we are all too prone to reject the Giver of all good things.  Invited to work in the vineyard of the Lord, we complain about our salary, and look around for better offers.

   In this we see that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man, the master of a household, a father who ran a family vineyard.  He went out in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.  In our parable, being hired as a worker in the vineyard is to be accepted into the Kingdom of Heaven, equivalent to being received into the family of God.  That is, in this parable, being hired is the gift of salvation, a rock-solid promise of a present and future home with God, a promise spoken and backed up by the generous Master. 

     These workers are not sent into the vineyard to earn their place.  The Master’s invitation guarantees they now belong to the family.  They have work to do, yes, because that’s what the Master has prepared for them.  Just as Adam was placed into the Garden of Eden and told to tend it, the workers’ place under the Master’s care is secure. 

     So also for us; when we were baptized and brought into God’s family, we received every gracious gift from God our Father.  He held nothing back, not even His only begotten Son.  Certainly there is still work for us Christians to do in this world, and we do not yet fully perceive all the glory of God’s kingdom.  Nevertheless, the watery promises of God guarantee our status as His beloved children, today, and forever and ever.

     The Scriptures present and explain God’s act of salvation in various ways: as resurrection from the dead,… as rebirth,… as a cleansing,… as a cure for illness,… and as being declared righteous, not guilty, fully pardoned by the Judge in His courtroom. 

      Today, we see salvation presented as the hiring of a worker.  And so it isn’t hard to see how we might be tempted, with this particular metaphor, to mix in our works as part of the cause of salvation.  But, as the rest of the Bible teaches, the good works of the Christian are the product of receiving salvation, not a cause of salvation.  Indeed, the Prophet Isaiah declares in chapter 26 that even our works are a gift from God: Lord, You will establish peace for us, Since You have also performed for us all our works.   And St. Paul writes to the Ephesians: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. 

      Our salvation flows from God’s grace, it is His accomplishment, for us.  Neither the quantity nor the quality of our works causes our salvation.  Look at our parable today:  It’s obvious that the Master is not at all concerned with how much or how well his new workers perform, he just wants them in His vineyard.  “Twelve hours, six hours, one hour, it doesn’t matter, just stop standing idly around, and come in to my vineyard, where I promise to treat you well, forever.” 

    Yes, once we are made members of the Kingdom of Heaven, we still have good works to do. But these works flow from being a member of the family; they don’t bring us into or keep us in the family. The first workers hired in the parable misunderstood this, and demanded more salary for having worked more hours.  Like them, when we focus on our works, we are imagining again that salvation is about us. 

   Salvation is not about us; it's about God, for us. The Master is not concerned about receiving enough work from his workers to justify their wages.  No, he is only concerned with having more and more workers.  The Master doesn’t need your productivity, He simply wants to include you in His family business.  The Father is full of grace and generosity, and wants to share His wealth, His goods, His fruit, even His own life, with as many people as possible.  By grace alone, without any merit or worthiness in me.  Notice that the Master didn’t interview the workers, there was no skills evaluation, no probationary period.  Being hired, being brought into the vineyard by the Father of the Family, this is salvation.  And, it is a free gift. 

      We are surprised, I think, that working more or less hours in the vineyard does not raise or lower a worker’s salary or status.  In the Master’s generosity, he wants to pay the last ones hired the same as the first ones.  He wants to be more than generous and bless everyone equally.  How good and kind!

   What do you think of this business model?  Doesn’t this seem like a crazy way to run a vineyard?  Won’t this business fail if the boss continues to pay the same for one hour’s work as he does for 6, 9 or 12 hours?  Yes, of course this is true, in this world.  If the vineyard in our parable were simply an earthly business, it would be headed to failure.  But the parable is not about an earthly business.  Jesus is teaching us about the Kingdom of Heaven.

   You might protest that the Master’s business model is unfair, that those who work more, deserve more.  This is the way of the world, and it is true; without this principle of fairness, life in this world does not work very well.  And so the early workers grumble and ask: "Why do we not receive more, when we have worked all day, and these last ones have done almost nothing?"

   Our fallen, sin-stained minds tend to think this way.  Be careful with this attitude.  Because you really do not want to receive your just reward, do you?  Do you really want God to deal with you based on the true value of your works, every thought, word and deed measured by His Law?  If everything were laid bare, how faithful and good would our work appear?   

   The privilege of working in the vineyard of the Lord belongs to every Christian, within our various vocations, within our different roles, as parents, children, teachers, students, workers, employers, government officials, you name it.  As we go about our regular lives, God is preparing good works, for us to walk in. 

   May the Holy Spirit remind us every day that working in God’s vineyard is a privilege, that we by our own strength and goodness have never earned the grace and love of God.  If we believe that it is by our works that we have rights in God’s family, or that the Father is unfair to share his love with other sinners, then our faith is wrong, false, ungrateful.  Such an attitude reflects a faith in ourselves, not true faith in God.  Heavenly Father protect us, so this false idea never enters our hearts and minds!

   Unfortunately, more often than we care to confess, this is how we are. The sinner that remains in each of us does not want to be saved by grace alone, because we want our own prestige, honor and validity.   Even worse, from time to time we get angry when we see other sinners graciously receiving undeserved and unearned blessings from the Lord.  In these moments, the questions of the Master of the vineyard are also for us: Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?  Take what belongs to you, and go.  The thought of being cast out of the vineyard because of ingratitude and selfishness is terrifying.  Lord, protect us from such folly!

   It is a sin leading to unbelief for us to deny God’s grace and demand to be rewarded according to our works.  And so, Jesus teaches us this parable.  Even more, Jesus went on to bear the guilt of all our sins, including the sin of grumbling ungratefulness, burying them all in the suffering of His Cross.  From the divine love poured out on the world at Calvary there flows a remedy for all sin, even our ingratitude and selfishness.

   We should work cheerfully and not grumble that others seemingly do less in God’s kingdom than we do.  We should rejoice when the Lord’s radical grace draws another sinner into the vineyard at the last hour.  Christian life is meant to be a continual celebration of God’s generosity, so that we rejoice when grace comes to others, just as God has delivered it to us. 

     If you find yourself thinking like the early workers, repent.  Stop grumbling, and confess your sins of ingratitude and self-righteousness.  Repent, and hear this Good News:  Your sin of ingratitude is also covered by the blood of Jesus.  Even when we grumble and complain against God, even if we sin seventy times seven times per day, we can still return to Him, repenting, confessing our sins, trusting in the promise that He is faithful and just, and will forgive us, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.. This is the character of God the Father, revealed in Jesus Christ.  This is the Good News that we are truly saved by Grace Alone.

     This radical “by Grace Alone” salvation message is at the heart of everything in the Christian Church.  Or at least, it should be.  We see, through 2,000 years of Christian history, that the astonishing Good News of salvation by grace alone can all too quickly and easily be buried under teaching that sounds Biblical, but in reality is false, a lie of Satan.  

     This morning, we rejoice in the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, which corrects our error, and reminds us of the pure joy we receive, simply by being invited to work in the Lord’s great salvation project, for the good of our family, friends and neighbors. 

     Speaking of our family, friends and neighbors, how many of us know at least one person who is standing around idle in the marketplace of life, without God?  Do we all know someone who has not heard, or has forgotten, the Master’s invitation to come and rejoice with all the other “workers” that God has chosen?  Of course we do.  Could we be part of God’s hiring initiative?  Yes.

    There are many ways for God’s people to be involved in His Mission.  Parents teaching Bible stories to their children, helping out a neighbor in need, supporting overseas missions, deepening our Biblical knowledge so we are actually ready to give the reason for the hope that we have, all of these and more.  Another simple thing we can do is just invite.  We shouldn’t be pushy, we don’t need to answer every question.  We can invite, to a Sunday service, to a Bible Study, or to meet your pastor for coffee.  Pray to the Holy Spirit to show you how to invite, and then, with humility and peace, invite.  Simply invite, and leave the results in the Holy Spirit’s hands.  When God hires another worker for His vineyard, the angels in heaven will rejoice, and so will we. 

   In this life, despite our grumbling, we can always return to the Father, asking for the blessing of being sent once again into His vineyard. When we return home, the Father, full of grace and love, in the Name and for the sake of Jesus, gives us His best wine, the fruit of the Cross, the Cup of Salvation.  Drinking the fruit of God’s vineyard, our sins are erased, our status as members of the Family is sure, and we will also receive the will to work cheerfully in the Vineyard, announcing to all that the Lord wants to hire them also,

  in the Name of the Father and the + Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.