You can probably remember saying as a child, “That’s not fair.” Your friend got to do something or go somewhere or see something and you didn’t, so you would purse up your face, look and feel indignant, and say, “That’s not fair.” If you cannot remember doing this as a child, just ask your mom or dad if you did. And if you are a mom or dad right now, then you know what I am talking about.
It might sound strange to you, but Jesus wasn’t fair. A case in point is found in Matthew 20: 1-16. A landowner goes out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He then goes out several times during the day, even until the last hour, to hire more workers. At the end of the day all of the workers, whether they worked one hour or 12 hours, get the same pay. The workers hired earlier in the day have a fit. It just isn’t fair that they are paid what those who worked only one hour get paid. They are, of course, right. What the owner does isn’t fair.
But that is the point. God is not fair. More to the point. We don’t want God to be fair. If God were fair, what would we deserve? What would we have earned? Can you now see the point? We don’t want a fair God; we want a merciful God, a loving God, a forgiving God, a generous God.
Fairness is for those who somehow think that they have earned or deserved or merited God’s favor. I do hope—and pray—that this doesn’t include you. Grace is given as a gift. It can only be accepted as one.
The owner of the vineyard gave to each worker what he needed to live. The early workers were resentful about the owner’s generosity. Let us not be like them. We have more-than-a-fair God. Thanks be to God. As his people and as the disciples of Jesus, let us be more than fair ourselves.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Mary/Martha -- not fair. Prodigal son -- not fair. Vineyard story -- way unfair! I have a very strong need for things to be fair -- and I fight that need all the time.
ReplyDeleteI've just finished reading Richard Russo's Bridge of Sighs. His main character reflects, towards the end of the novel:
“There is, despite our wild imaginings, only one life. The ghostly others, no matter how real they seem, no matter how badly we need them, are phantoms. The one life we’re left with is sufficient to fill and refill our imperfect hearts with joy, and then to shatter them. And it never, ever lets up.” p. 563
(My reading on one life: life eternal, starting here and now.)
Life and pain and all that hurt -- not fair. And some people seem to get more than their share. But love and light and forgiveness and grace -- that is given to us, too. Good things overflowing. Fish left over. Only the best wine. God is throwing one big party -- and we're all his guests.
Kathy