It's not fair!

 

Matthew 20: 1-16

Jonah 3: 1 – 4:11

 

I’ve got a younger brother and sister.   When we were children, a great treat was sharing a bottle of fizzy lemonade.   (That’s your cue to say ‘Ahhh’)   Now, those who have had children will appreciate that it had to be shared fairly.   So we poured it into the glasses, then got down at eye level and used the bottle cap to bail small amounts of lemonade from one glass to another until we all agreed it was fair.

We weren’t taught this, but even at a young age there was some inbuilt need for it to be fair.   We couldn’t stand the thought of one of the others getting more than us.

Fairness can be a good thing.   When people are not treated fairly, or equally, because of their race, or sex, or age, then it can, and should, be the driver for change.   In the Bible there are examples of treating others equally, with respect – fairness   e.g.

·        Luke 2 “... ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’”

·        Or the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 - Jesus broke social convention for the time by speaking with a woman in public, respecting her.

 

So, what are we to make of the story in today’s gospel reading?   The workers who turned up at the end of the day got paid the same as those who had done a full day’s work.   Surely that’s not fair?   Is this a parable that teaches us that God is not fair?

 

The landowner makes 2 points in the parable:

·        To the people who complained, he said, “You got what we agreed; that’s fair”

·        And secondly, “It’s my money, and if I want to be generous with it, that’s up to me”

The landowner is not being unfair – Jesus explained that those who had worked all day received a day’s wages, which is what they were promised.   They were not cheated.   What God is actually doing is being generous to those who arrived last.

 

So Jesus is not offering this as a model for how to manage agricultural workers.   He knew the odd behaviour of the landowner would stick in people’s minds.   God’s behaviour seems odd by human standards; He does not always do what we expect...  the landowner’s behaviour speaks of the very heart of God – a God who is unexpectedly generous.

 

Yet people complained – particularly those who had worked all day.

This parable is addressed to those who grumbled (v11).

You can imagine the sort of words that would have been muttered as the sense of resentment grew... “favouritism”, injustice”.   Perhaps they represented the views of the religious leaders who opposed Jesus?   Certainly, it speaks to anyone who just cannot get their heads around this amazing expression of God’s generosity.

 

So who might have complained?

·        The Pharisees?   They saw themselves as better, more worthy than common people.

·        The Jews of the time?   Those chosen by God to be a blessing to the world for 2000 years, trying to keep his law, and now the Gentiles were welcome?

·        The disciples?    They had given up everything to follow Jesus.   Surely they should have a privileged place?   It would be easy for them to begrudge the free welcome offered to those who ignored Jesus during the hard times, who slipped quietly away when he was crucified and only reappeared after Pentecost.

·        Matthew’s readers? They were predominantly Jews, or Jewish Christians; they would almost certainly have identified with those who worked all day with Israel, with the latecomers being the Gentiles – those who were not Jews.

 

Who might complain now?

·        Perhaps those who have been in church a long time, sacrificially giving time and money over a lifetime, only to see new people coming in on the same standing.

·        Or those who see newer churches thriving - drawing people in - rather than churches that have been around for hundreds, or even thousands of years.

There seems to me to be something in the human condition that, whilst we wouldn’t wish anyone else any harm, we wouldn’t want anyone receiving more than us.  

 

If we catch ourselves complaining, then are we saying we don’t want a generous God?

 

In our Old Testament reading, Jonah dared to get angry with God because God would have compassion on the Ninevites, an enemy of Israel.   Jonah wanted God’s goodness only to be shown to Israelites, not Gentiles.   He was so angry about this that he said he might as well be dead, because God’s mercy to the Ninevites meant an end to Israel’s favoured standing.   God would have none of this; He is more compassionate than Jonah could imagine.

Closer to home - I remember how I felt when I saw people getting a free upgrade on an airline when I didn’t.    I ought to have nothing to complain about; I got the seat I (or my company) had paid for.   Why wasn’t I singled out for better treatment?   I want to be special!   I want the legroom.   It’s not fair!   (I was happy to get an upgrade on my cruise though; that was perfectly fair in my view!)

 

Lack of love is at the heart of responses like these.   Love is about putting others first; these responses are selfish.   This parable brushes aside these and any such complaints.  

 

The message is clear; all are equally welcome to God.

All are equally welcome because all are equally undeserving.

 

Jesus story makes no economic sense; that was what he intended.    He is giving us a parable that shows us something about God; about his principles... and about His grace.   A grace that’s surprising.   Generous.   Not related to standing or rank.

Human kindness is not that uncommon.   People tend to act kindly to those who are kind to them.   Grace goes beyond kindness.   Grace is undeserved kindness.   It is kindness toward those who offend us.

New life is offered as a GIFT from God.  It’s undeserved.   It’s GRACE – God’s kindness… unmerited favour… forgiving love.

 

It’s interesting to see where we picture ourselves in the parable of the vineyard.   Are we the responsible workers who have been busy working hard all day?   Are we baffled that God is generous to those who have turned up at the last minute?   Offended even?   

Or are we delighted, thankful that God has accepted us?

 

 Something I hear fairly often is “I haven’t done anything really wrong in my life; I try to help others, be a good person” (The next bit “not like so-and-so over there” is left unsaid.)

It’s easy to get the false idea that we build up credit with God by the good things that we do.

Grace doesn’t work like that.

 

In my weekly reflection a week or so ago, I drew from Philip Yancey’s book.   His writings have inspired me deeply – read “What’s so amazing about grace? If you haven’t.   He says:

There is nothing we can do to make God love us any more – no amount of prayer times or Bible reading, or studying or doing good.

The truth is that no one can do anything that is good enough for God.

But the good news is that Jesus died for us in order that we can have our relationship with God restored.

That’s grace

 

 

Something I hear less often, but I do hear, is “I’m too bad, God can’t love me”

Exactly the same applies, using Yancey's words:

There is nothing we can do to make God love us any less – no amount of wrong thoughts, words or actions.

The truth is that no-one is so bad that they are beyond God’s reach.

But the good news is the same - Jesus died for us in order that we can have our relationship with God restored.

That’s grace

 

We can read into this parable that God loves and welcomes everyone the same, whether we have been a church-goer all our life or whether this is the first time we have entered a church.

This parable shows us the heart of God and the principles He has for receiving people into His kingdom.   Ways that seem odd to us:

There is a welcome offered for all… anyone can come to God and receive forgiveness and grace on the same basis.   None of us deserves the love and acceptance of God. That’s the nature of grace. It is favour that is undeserved.

 

To live as a follower of Jesus is to reject much of the commonly held so-called wisdom of the world.  Grace baffles us; we find it hard to accept.   How can something so wonderful come to us so freely?   It is offered to us if we will turn from our self-centred lives and accept the gift God offers

This business of grace is not what we would expect.

God gives his favour to the most undeserving of people.   

It is only when we recognise that we are all the most undeserving of people that we can see how truly wonderful God’s grace is!

 

The message of Jesus really is that good!

We have a generous God.

The challenge is “do we accept it?”

Revd Kevin 

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