Kingdom-Minded
Extravagant Generosity
Sunday, June 1, 2025
Welcome!
Call to Worship: Let us position our hearts to focus on the extravagant generosity of our God this morning. Who is there like our God? No One. Who compares to our God? No One. He opens His hand freely and pours out grace upon grace; generously caring for our every need and creating rich beauty all around us simply to delight us, His children. Do you think about that- the countless ways God has creatively formed all that is in the world around us, for what purpose? To His delight and ours who inhabit it.
The God of the Bible is the God of the open hand. Psalm 145:16 says, God, “you open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing” (TNIV). The Message translation is, “Generous to a fault, you lavish your favor on all creatures.” I would say, generous without end. This is our God.
We become what we honor and worship. As we behold God as extravagantly generous, our hearts will bloom with greater generosity. Our churches will become baskets of generosity and beacons of hope. Let us turn our eyes to Jesus and behold His loving kindness and generous heart. Let us worship our Lord and King.
We gather to give to the Lord the glory he deserves! Bring your offering -that of your genuine praise- and come to worship him. Worship the Lord in all his holy splendour. Let all the earth tremble before him.
For our God is great, and worthy of our praise! Amen.
Praise Songs
How does our culture predominantly give out rewards based on merit and effort, right? Not always, but a large portion of the time, the more effort we put in, the more we work or the harder we work-which is a huge reason we are so out of balance in our priorities and have such high stress in our nation- we have been conditioned to believe we should then receive higher reward. A promotion, bigger salary, better benefits, a better office, maybe some travel, a bigger house, a better pension or retirement fund…
And how do we typically respond in our culture if others who work less than us, or not nearly as hard as us, get a bigger bonus, get the promotion instead, or even receive the same bonus we do? Does that sit well with us, or does it irk us? Why? Because we are conditioned to see merit should determine reward. And there is a time and place for this, certainly, and it is good to be recognized for our efforts, but when that is our sole focus and motivator, it can cause us to live more for self than for God. It can have us miss what God’s Kingdom is truly about- grace. This grace is given because of God’s extravagant generosity, not because of anything we do to deserve it.
In God’s Kingdom, it is not based on merit, so we can’t earn our way to our great reward and give glory to self. Nor can we look down upon others we have deemed unworthy for whatever reason. His Kingdom does not operate in the same manner as the world has conditioned us to operate. In His Kingdom, there are no elite classes, no groups more powerful than others, and everyone will be offered the same great reward- that of eternal life with Christ in Heaven.
We might think we’re good with this and say yes, the Gospel is for everyone, all are welcome, but do we really believe this? Do we believe everyone who receives the invitation to be saved should equally receive what you and I are receiving? I would venture to guess there are some here today who struggle with this truth when you think of certain people. Because we look through the lens of merit and judge others, thinking what have you done to earn this amazing gift? What have you done to show yourself a godly person? But we aren’t saved on merit either; we are saved on grace by faith-which are both gifts from our extravagantly generous God.
The Pharisees struggled with this teaching and despised Jesus because of it. They were the elite of the elite among the Jews; they followed the Law; they were far superior in their religious conduct, and they were among God’s chosen. How could Jesus possibly say that the lowly, the weak, the poor, the oppressed, or certainly the unclean Gentiles, would be on equal ground with one of them? That was preposterous and highly insulting. They were not having it.
I think we can sometimes struggle with this truth yet today.
Jesus paints us a picture of what the kingdom of God is like-in terms they could understand, and we should be able to as well. Not too much has changed in our understanding of receiving payment for our labour.
Let’s listen closely to what Jesus is teaching us about the heart of our God; His sovereignty, and what His Kingdom is truly about. Let us heed this teaching and follow His example in how we live kingdom-minded.
Matthew 20:1-16 NIV
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. 3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ 7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ 9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
- God’s Sovereign Authority.
In this parable, God is the landowner, the workers are all of us whom He calls into the Body- His laborers in the fields. The vineyard is His Church that we, the workers, are called to care for, serve in, and build up so that it produces much fruit. The landowner has the right to do what he wants with his land, to hire whomever he chooses, and make decisions to accomplish his purposes. Can we agree on this?
This is the Kingdom of God- He is God over all creation and His Kingdom. He is sovereign and has all the authority to rule His Kingdom as He sees fit. He is sovereign to determine the reward, and sovereign to decide who receives it.
Matthew 20:1-2 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
A Denarius was a term used to mean a “day’s wage”. It was the wage the Roman soldiers were paid. So these workers who were offered to work in the vineyard at 6 am were quite willing because this was a generous wage offered to them. They were quite agreeable to do the work for the day and receive their denarius. So even here, we see the landowner, our God, begins with generosity and blessing the workers in his vineyard above and beyond.
As we heard, the landowner kept going out to bring in more workers throughout the day-looking for idle hands. He is sovereign to add whomever He chooses, whatever time He chooses.
Here is where it gets interesting and is such a different twist from what our culture has taught us is fair and just.
Matthew 20:8 8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
The landowner, in His sovereignty, decides to pay the last ones hired first. And what does He give them; the same denarius He offered to those He called at 6 am. Does that make anyone bristle? If it does, remember they joyfully agreed to work in the vineyard a full day for the denarius. The only reason they became upset is because He gave the same amount to someone who only worked one hour of the day, and now it seemed unfair. Their perspective changed, and they, like we can so often, turned to look at self and figured their merit was worth much more.
Look at how the landowner responded and what he called out in their heart. This is what our God says to us and calls us to look within our hearts as He is working in His Kingdom; as He shows grace, we might not understand.
Matthew 20:15 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
Doesn’t the God of all the universe, the King of kings, have a right to do what He wants in the Kingdom He has created? Does God answer us? God is debtor to no man- let us be clear on that.
He is sovereign to extend grace wherever and however He pleases, to accomplish His purposes.
Romans 9:15-16 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.
- Rejoice in 11th Hour Salvations.
In this parable, we see willing and able people waiting in the marketplace for someone to come offer them work. Those who appeared most able were snatched up right away, kind of like picking people to be on your team for something-you pick often based on perceived ability or merit right-no one wants to be the last ones to be picked-because in our culture that often means they don’t think you’ll add any value to their team. So here we see people still standing even till evening, and this landowner keeps coming out every few hours to put more people to work. Why?
Because they are just standing idle, and being idle is not good for us. Rest is good, but standing idle with no purpose is not good. It leads to poverty in ways beyond financial depletion- poverty of soul and spirit. Have you been there-idle, with no real purpose? It’s not a good place to be. God does not want that for us.
Did you know we are all standing idle until we are called into God’s vineyard? Because God made us to be in service to Him, to be joined with other believers working together to care for the vineyard- we are made for this purpose, to live Kingdom-minded. And we remain idle until an invitation is extended to come join Him and offer our hearts to Him. This is the importance of sharing the Gospel message with others.
Matthew 20:6 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
Matthew 20:7 7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
Do you hear the heart of the Father? They said, No one has hired us. We weren’t picked to be on the team. God says, You can be on my team. Go and work in My vineyard. I see you and you have value to Me.
11th hour salvations- we should all give thanks for our God who continues to come out to the marketplace looking for those standing idle-because that includes all of us. He first called the Jews- they were chosen early in the morning; the apostles were sent into the fields the 1st and 3rd hours, then the call was made to more Jews in the 6th and 9th hours and finally at the 11th hour the call was extended to the Gentiles- which is all of us. No one came before that time to preach to the Gentiles so they were idle until they heard. And the beautiful thing is, we were all offered the same privilege and reward, no matter what hour the offer was made.
So, if we look at these timelines in another light, we can also rejoice at whatever hour our God came to call us into His vineyard. For some of you, you were called early in the morning-in your childhood, and you have been faithfully walking with and serving the Lord all of your lives. How glorious it is to know Him as long as you have! To witness His goodness in countless ways throughout your lifetime!
For others like me, we were called in the middle hours, midway through our lives. This is like where Saul was-pursuing worldly pleasures and accomplishments, and God says Come and work in my vineyard and find greater fulfillment and receive a GREAT reward! And look at Saul, who became Paul- he offered his heart much later than others, but that didn’t diminish his fruitfulness one bit. The grace of God met Saul right where he was called and was poured out upon him. He brought thousands to Christ in the remainder of his lifetime. Sometimes I have thought if I only knew Him sooner-but I have learned to have joy in the timing of my hearing and rejoice in all He has made known to me since that day! His grace upon grace has been poured out on me, and I have been running with Him from the point He called me.
For others yet, you are called in that 11th hour of your lifetime here on earth, but we still rejoice, for while there is still breath in our lungs, there is hope! And where there is hope, there is life being lived in fullness through Christ. And God’s grace, joy, and peace meet you right where you are.
So, whatever hour you were given the invitation to join Him, rejoice, for you have been chosen and called! Rejoice, for God is bringing you out of idleness and giving you purpose beyond this temporary world. Rejoice, because you will receive the same reward, and it will be glorious! This is the heart of our extravagant Father!
Luke 15:7 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
Consider the thief of the cross- He was legitimately on that cross as punishment in that time for his crimes. He knew it. But remember, He recognized Jesus for who He is, the Messiah and God, and repented for his ways and offered his heart. Do you remember what Jesus said to him? Today, you will join me in paradise. How long was he a man living by faith? Moments… and still the same reward was extended to him as those who have served in God’s kingdom a lifetime. Why? Because the God who created each of us loves us and doesn’t want us to be eternally separated from Him. He extends abundant grace as He sees fit.
- Emulate God’s Extravagant Grace.
Matthew 20:14 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you.
Let us not live with a focus on what “we deserve” because I assure you, in God’s Kingdom, you don’t want that; in our sinful state, what we deserve is not pleasant. Thinking we deserve is an entitlement mentality, let us instead choose to live in gratefulness and focus on His extravagant grace upon our lives, however it is granted to us. Let us not compare what He asks of us to what He asks of another person- it doesn’t matter. Let us joyfully serve from the time He calls us and see it as an opportunity to witness more and more of God’s goodness all around us. Let us know our reward will be great and beyond what we can hope for. Let us be in awe of the generosity of our God and compassion to draw in and reward those in the 11th hour-so they are able to share in His great eternal reward!
May we remember this truth and treat others with the same extravagant grace shown to us. Let us partner with God, sharing the Good News of Jesus to all He calls us to, believing there will be many 11th hour salvations yet to come before Jesus returns! For this, we should rejoice!
Matthew 8:11 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
What a beautiful promise for all of us and those yet to be given the invitation; whether we have lived a lifetime for and with Him, or we like the thief of the cross surrender in our final hours, we ALL have a place at the feast among our spiritual fathers and Christ Himself. Every tongue, every tribe, every nation, Jew and Gentile, poor and rich- the seat is offered to all. There is no jockeying for position, for God takes that all away and says you are here receiving this reward in My grace and by the faith I have given you. Welcome Home! Enter the joy of your master.
Matthew 20:16 16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Aren’t you glad as part of the “last” group, the Gentiles, we are treated the same as the first? Aren’t you glad if you are an 11th hour worker called into His field, that the last will be first? Or your family members who might be?
Conclusion: God is sovereign in all, even in His generosity. How God rewards others should be of no consequence to us, nor affect our devotion to Him. His grace is sufficient for each of us, so let us rejoice in the same gift of eternal life that is given to all who receive the invitation, no matter the hour.
Let’s pray.
Communion:
Let us share in the holy sacrament of communion together. Please take a moment to bring a humble heart before God, and if there is anything you need to confess to your God, please do so now and offer a repentant, pure heart before Him.
Jesus taught His disciples how to properly remember and honor the sacrifice He was about to make for all the world, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Share together. Lord Jesus, we thank You for being our sacrifice, for Your extravagant grace and generosity shown to us long before we ever offered our hearts to You. We bless Your great name and we honor You as our Lord and Savior.
