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If you want fairness, you
won't like Jesus. If you want grace,

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you'll love Jesus. We live in
a world of calculation where grace

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feels unfair. We calculate
GPAs, we calculate scholarships,

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we calculate playing time. You
give what you earn, right? You earn

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what you deserve. You deserve
what you work for. That's the math

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of our world. Then Jesus tells
a story that totally shatters the

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spreadsheet. This is a story
that bothers many people, because

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in the kingdom of God, grace
is not earned. Grace is given. And

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that will either offend your
pride or it will free your heart.

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Jesus begins this story like
he does with all the parables. The

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kingdom of heaven is like. And
in this one, as in the other parables,

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but more so in this one, the
contrast between the world and the

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kingdom is more stark than
ever. It's huge. A huge shift to

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escape the world's standards,
the world's standards that are built

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on a sinful, competitive
nature to bring us into the kingdom

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of enjoying grace. So in the
story, the landowner hires workers.

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You heard it read so well. I
love when Dr. Startwell reads scripture.

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She so brings it to life so
well. So he hired workers in the

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morning at 9 o', clock, he
hired some more at noon, he hired

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some at three, he hired some
at five o' clock to go work in the

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vineyards. Now, I don't know
if any of you have ever worked in

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the fields. I did one summer.
It was horrible. Back when I was

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about 15 years old, I was
living in Portland, Oregon, and somebody

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in Washington got the great
idea. Let's get rid of all the migrant

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workers in the country and
let's have high school college athletes

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go work in the fields instead.
It'll be a great workout for them.

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And they did that in Oregon.
They sent all the migrant workers

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home and they hired us. I was
on a freshman football team, so they

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convinced us we need to come
work in the fields and we get paid.

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Great. So I show up at the bus
stop at 5:30 in the morning, and

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in Portland, Oregon, even in
May, it's cold at 5:30 in the morning

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and you're freezing. And then
you get on this bus and you ride

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all the way out to where the
fields were, which was a ways out

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there. And you get there after
about 45 minutes or an hour, and

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you start to pick strawberries
and you get down on your knees and

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the fields are damp and dewy
and it's cold and you're picking

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strawberries the best you can.
And then pretty soon the sun starts

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to get warmer. And I remember
so often by 11 o' clock, we were

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so hot we couldn't stand it.
We'd go lay under the bus, we'd lay

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in the bus, but there was no
air to try to get away from it. And

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some of us, we only got paid
by how much we did. So you got paid

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by the flat of strawberries,
like 50 cents for each flat you got.

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And some people just went
crazy, but most of us couldn't handle

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it at all. But he didn't
complain because we got paid what

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we earned. And he didn't get
paid more, he didn't get paid less.

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You got paid on how much work
you actually accomplished that day?

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Well, the parable is
completely different than that because

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they all received the same
pay. And immediately the people who

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were hired early protested.
They said, this isn't right. You're

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paying the group who came at 5
o' clock and worked for an hour the

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same as you paid us. That's
not right. This is Jesus telling

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the story. He created this
story because we think in terms of

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hours worked, effort given,
seniority earned, resumes built.

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That's how we measure value in
our world. But the kingdom does not

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operate on resume logic. It
operates on grace logic. Grace is

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what drives the kingdom of
God. And so look at the end of the

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story. It reads this. That
evening he told the foreman to call

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the workers in and pay them,
beginning with the last workers first.

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When Those hired at 5 o' clock
were paid, each received a full day's

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wage. When those hired first
came to get their pay, they assumed

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they would receive more, but
they were too were paid a day's wage.

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When they received their pay,
they protested to the owner. These

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people only worked one hour,
and yet you paid them just as much

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as you paid us who worked all
day in the scorching heat. And when

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I read that scripture, I can
still remember the scorching heat

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of being in those strawberry
fields. Can't blame them, can we?

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Can't really blame them. They
worked all day in the heat. You see,

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their problem in the story is
not laziness. Their problem is comparison.

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They assumed if somebody else
gets X, they put in more effort and

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they would get Y. And the
issue is not pay. The issue is expectations.

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And grace offends an entitled
heart. And comparison in the Christian

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world always breeds
resentment. It does in the sinful

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world too, even more so. But
it breeds resentment. You see, comparison

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is a kind of a quiet poison
that can ruin our Christian life

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and relationship with Christ
if we let comparison become our standard.

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When Jesus said, clearly it
should not be, but when we do, what's

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the result? The result is
their mindfulness, mindset shifted

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from gratitude for having the
work and a full day pay to grievance.

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They were glad for the work.
They got what they were promised.

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They got a full day's pay for
a full day's work. They only got

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unhappy when, when there was a
comparison. Up until then they were

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fine. You see, in the
Christian life, comparison is always

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destructive. When we start
seeing what others get for their

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Christian walk with Christ
compared to what we get for our effort,

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our eyes get off Jesus and
they get on others and they get on

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comparison. And in the kingdom
of God, grace can seem offensive.

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If we compare, you say, well,
I've always done the right thing.

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I grew up in the church, I've
always been there, worship leader.

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I stayed out of trouble, I
followed Christ. Clearly he loves

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me more. We can justify
deserving more, but when it's grace,

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it is given, it's not earned,
ever earned. You see, it's possible

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to obey God and also resent
God. And we're going to talk about

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that a little bit more in a
moment. So he answered one of them,

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friend, I haven't been unfair.
Didn't you agree to work all day

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for the usual wage, take your
money and go? I wanted to pay this

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last worker, the same of you
as you. Is it against the law for

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me to do what I want with my
money? Should you be jealous because

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I'm kind to others? Well, in
the story you imagine all these workers

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lined up getting their pay and
the people who were hired early are

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really complaining. The ones
who were hired at noon are complaining

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some. And the ones who are
five o' clock going, I can't believe

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this. This is incredible. We
got the whole thing. We had no leverage,

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we had no negotiating power.
We had nothing. And he gave it to

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us. You see, they simply
trusted the landowner's goodness

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and they received an
abundance. And not what they deserved,

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but what the owner wanted to
give them. I have a dear friend,

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Dr. Jerry Young, who's on our
board, pastor of a huge church here,

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was president of a gigantic
denomination. And every time I call

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Jerry, no matter what I call
him about, I always say, hey, Jerry,

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how are you? The answer is
always the same. I'm better than

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I should be. I'm getting so
much more than I ever deserve. And

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we always talk for a few
minutes about the grace of God before

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we talk about whatever it is I
called about. Cause he says, I'm

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doing So much better than I
deserve. That's his kind of his memory.

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I think if we remembered often
that God has been so much better

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to us than we deserved, we
would live in his presence more fully.

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Well, God does not pay
according to performance. He gives

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according to his character.
And that's the shock of grace. That's

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not injustice, that's
generosity. Grace always feels extravagant

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to those who know they don't
deserve it. But grace always feels

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unfair to those who think they
deserve it. You see, God is not arbitrary.

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God is sovereign. God has
already paid the price on the cross.

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Jesus accepted the price for
our sins. He paid the price because

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God demands justice. And that
justice was that Jesus paid the price

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for those sins so we could be
reconciled with the Father. So in

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the story, the first workers
received exactly what they were promised,

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and the last workers were
shocked. They received mercy because

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they didn't earn it. But
nobody was wronged. There wasn't

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any injustice. The offense is
disproportionate kindness. And disproportionate

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kindness unsettles us. It
really does. Landowner's question

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is really the key to the heart
of the story. The parable. And the

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heart of the Kingdom of God
comes down to this question. Landowner

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asks, is it against the law
for me to do what I want with my

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money? Should you be jealous
because I'm kind to others? See,

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the issue was not wages. The
issue was vision and our image of

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God. And this is critical. Our
image of God shapes our image, our

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lives, and shapes how we
relate to Him. Is God the payroll

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master who rewards us for
being good? Or is he the generous

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Father who loves us no matter
what? So why do we resent grace given

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to others? Hope? Maybe you
don't, but an awful lot of people

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do. Why do we resent grace
given to others? Jesus knew many

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people would. That's why he
told this story. Because he knew

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us. Seeing others get grace
would make it difficult for us if

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we didn't understand kingdom
principles. So why are we tempted

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to resent grace? Scripture,
the protests. These people worked

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only one hour, and yet you
paid them as much as you paid us,

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who worked all day in the
scorching heat. You see, God's grace

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doesn't merely forgive, it
equalizes. The first will be last,

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standing, side by side,
identical standing. And something

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in us resents that. So why? I
think there are five reasons we resent

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grace given to others. I want
to walk through these with you and

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see if you recognize yourself
in any of these five. First is this.

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We haven't fully accepted
that. Grace has generously given

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to us. We just haven't
accepted that it's given to us. Grace

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can't be that easy.
Forgiveness can't be that easy. We

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got to do something, we got to
pay a penalty. It can't be that easy.

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Well, the book of Romans reads
this way. It says anyone can be made

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right with God by the free
gift of his loving favor. It is Jesus

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Christ who bought them with
his blood and made them free from

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their sins. It's free. Grace
comes freely given because Christ

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paid the penalty. So then that
raises the question, well, why be

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obedient? Why do we have to
follow Christ? Why do we have to

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be obedient? Why do we have to
be good Christians? We do that out

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of love, not to be forgiven.
We do that out of following the design

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of the way God ordered us and
built this world to operate properly

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and effectively and give us a
fulfillment in life when we lead

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life in the way he designed it
instead of a sinful nature. That's

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why we're obedient, not to be
forgiven. We are forgiven by grace.

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Our obedience comes by
learning to live in that grace in

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the way that he designed us to
live and to be. The kingdom is not

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earned. It is paid for by
Christ and the generosity is given.

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And if we have not fully
rested in the sufficiency of Christ's

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righteousness, we believe
grace must be proportional. Length

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of repentance, depth of
remorse, visible transformation,

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time served. We say, yes,
grace, but gradually, yes, forgiven,

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but let's measure it out. Yes,
restoration. But after proving yourself,

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yes, grace, grace. But it's
got to be earned back, right, Grace.

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But you're at a lower tier.
Right, but that's not how God's grace

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is given. We haven't accepted
the fullness of God's grace is one

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reason we're resentful of
grace in others. Second is we haven't

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forgiven ourselves. We haven't
forgiven ourselves. God's forgiven

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us, but we haven't forgiven
ourselves of our sin. Why is that?

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There are lots of reasons. Let
me just tell you ones that I think

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are important. The first is
sin causes pain. Sin has consequences.

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And every time we see the
trail of those consequences, it triggers

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the reaction of, of that sin
and brings back the memory. And it's

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hard to forgive ourselves.
Even though God's forgiven. We drift

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back into performance based
because that's the nature of the

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world. Everything's
performance based in the world we

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live. And so we just keep
going, getting pulled back into that

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when we know Grace is fully
given, but it's hard to stay in that

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space. Maybe we believe that
others should be a lower tier because

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we see they've sinned worse
than I did and they didn't have to

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pay more of a penalty. That's
not fair. No, this isn't about fairness.

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It's about grace. Maybe we
can't forgive ourselves because we're

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trying to justify why we did
stupid things. Our pride's wounded.

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We're frustrated over the lost
time because of sinful behavior.

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Maybe we can't forgive because
we minimize the finality of the cross

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that Jesus really did pay the
price. It's paid in full. Jesus didn't

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pay it partially. He paid it
in full. And maybe we really doubt

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our new identity in Christ.
Remember the prodigal son? Prodigal

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son went out and did the worst
of the worst. And he came home and

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the Father brought him back
into the family, gave him the robe,

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gave him the sandals, gave him
the celebration. He was all a family

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member again. And when God's
grace gets poured into our lives

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and forgiveness, we are family
members again. And it's hard to feel

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that way sometimes. And so we
don't forgive ourselves. But the

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scripture says so. Now there
is no condemnation for those who

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belong to Christ Jesus now.
Not someday. Not when you earn it

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back, not when you paid a
penalty, not when you sat in the

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penalty box long enough, no.
But now there is no condemnation.

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Zero. There needs to be no
guilt, no probation, no partial acceptance

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to those who belong in Christ.
Belong, identity, union, family.

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I am forgiven. I'm not
forgiven and marked. I'm not forgiven

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and blemished. I am forgiven
and made whole. You see, the gospel

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doesn't merely erase guilt. It
confers righteousness. It restores

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sonship. If God. Listen to
this carefully. If God doesn't relate

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to you primarily through your
past failures, neither should you.

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God doesn't see you that way,
so don't see yourself that way. Well,

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the third reason we may have
trouble resenting grace is we trust

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our feelings more than God's
word. God gave us emotions for a

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purpose. Joy, fear, anxiety,
guilt. They're all tied up in our

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corrupted nature. But they're
also pure emotions that God gave

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us. But sin is painful. Lots
of emotion around sin. And those

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emotional triggers remember
all the consequences. But that's

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not how God sees it. He says,
as far as the east is from the west,

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so far has he removed our sins
from us. When memory brings back

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the sin, say, yes, Lord, that
was mine. But it is forgiven. And

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you forgot it and help me
forget it. You see, memory does not

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equal liability. But there's
one other emotion that comes up in

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this resentment. Feels unfair.
They got to have fun sinning. I know

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people that go out on Saturday
night, they do all kinds of horrible

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things and they get to have
all kinds of fun. And here I'm trying

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to be obedient and God's going
to treat them the same as he treats

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me. Yeah, he is. But see, the
part of sin you don't see is you're

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seeing the social media
gaussed picture of sin. You're not

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seeing the broken, the pain,
the path of destruction. I heard

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a well known pastor once tell
about his affair. He said how he

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had an affair with this woman
for several years. He said it was

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a beautiful thing. It was
amazing. We were soulmates, we connected

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on a level I never connected
with my wife. It was remarkable until

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the moment we got caught.
Everything fell apart. I lost my

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wife, I lost my kids, I lost
my church, I lost my income. Everything

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was destroyed because of sin.
You see, in sin you can look at the

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glamorous part of it and be
attracted to it, but you've got to

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look at the consequences
because they are enormous. Well,

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the fourth reason we tend to
resent grace for others is we haven't

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learned to give grace to
others ourselves. People say, well,

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I'll give you grace when you
deserve it. Now then, it's not grace

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that's an earned reward. You
see, they're operating by the world

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standards. Not kingdom
standards, you say, but I want justice

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in, in this world. And this
world is about justice, right? Really,

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you think so? Have you been
following the Epstein files? Where's

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the justice? There's not an
ounce of justice out there. The world's

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way past sin places me at a
lower tier. And so others ought to

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remain at a lower tier too,
right? Not in the kingdom of God.

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Be kind to each other,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another,

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just as God through Christ
Jesus has forgiven you. Our reluctance

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to extend grace often reveals
our reluctance to rest in grace.

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And if we learn to accept
grace freely given, undeserved, it's

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easy to give grace to others.
See, the co workers couldn't celebrate

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the generosity the amazing
thing the landowner did because they

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couldn't give any grace. They
missed the joy of God's goodness

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because they were focused on
their comparison. Well, the fifth

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reason is the best way for the
devil to turn us away from God is

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to make us resent grace given
to others. You see, there are two

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ways to miss the kingdom. The
first is to rebel against God's authority.

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And the second is to resent
God's generosity. Remember the prodigal

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son. Younger brother runs out,
does all kinds of crazy stuff, come

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home forgiven, he's a hero.
Younger brother stays home, tries

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to be obedient, tries to do
the right thing, tries to always

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do it right. And he grows
bitter. He grows resentful of his

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father's generosity to his
brother. His grievance is not a broken

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contract with his father. It's
comparative generosity that bugs

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him so much. Yes, salvation by
grace. But surely, surely, doesn't

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God measure perseverance in
there? Don't we get some kind of

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higher prize because we stayed
by the stuff? The morning workers

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did endure the heat and their
labor was real all day long. But

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God doesn't structure
belongingness to the family around

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metrics. Scripture says God
saved you by his grace when you believed.

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And you can't take credit for
this. It's a gift from God. Salvation

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is not a reward for good
things we have done so that none

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of us can boast of it. For we
are God's masterpiece. He has created

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us anew in Christ Jesus so we
can do good things he planned for

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us long ago. You see, the
resentment of grace in others reveals

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our desire to boast of how
good we're trying to be. And if the

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devil can make and convince
you that grace isn't fair, he turns

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you away from God. Grace
levels what we prefer to rank, and

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we instinctively measure how
long grace severity of the sin sacrifice

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endured. But Christ's payment
for our sins has no hierarchy. Some

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of you have followed Christ
since you were a young kid. And some

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of you are just beginning to
even ask real questions about faith.

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But here's the good news. No
one earns more of God than someone

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else. Nobody does. So don't be
resentful when grace dismantles status.

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For God made Christ, who never
sinned, to be the offering for our

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sin so that we could be made
right with God through Christ. You

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see, the parable only makes
sense at the cross. Jesus receives

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what we deserve, the
punishment we deserve. And we receive

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grace because he paid our debt
in full. That's a great exchange.

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It's not about merit. It's all
about grace. The question is not,

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is God fair? The question is,
is God good? The kingdom is not about

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who worked the longest. It's
about who trusts the owner. Embrace

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God's forgiveness. Relax in
it. Learn to enjoy grace. Let's say

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together our benediction. No
eye has seen, no ear is heard. No

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mind is to see what God has
prepared. To those who love him,

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God bless.