Ephesians 2:1-10
Saved by Grace
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Matthew 20:1-16
Parable of the Vineyard Workers
1“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.”
St. Paul says that we are made alive in Jesus and it is by God's Grace...It is by God's Grace we have been saved...And God raised us up with Jesus and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in His Son's name...In order that in the coming ages God might show His incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in His Son...For it is by grace we are saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast...For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do...
Jesus taught there is little faith found in wealth...Grace cannot be bought by a day's wages or any amount of wages...Grace's value is more than economic...Faith is found in mercy, grace, forgiveness, and the Holy One...
Philip Yancey says this about God's Grace, “Jesus’ story makes no economic sense, and that was His intent...He was giving us a parable about grace, which cannot be calculated like a day’s wages...Grace is not about finishing last or first; it is about not counting...We receive grace as a gift from God, not as something we toil to earn, a point that Jesus made clearly through the employer’s response: Friend, I am not being unfair to you...Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius?...Take your pay and go...I want to give the man 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 because I am generous?”...