Life may be a lot of things, but one thing I have come to see: life isn’t fair.
Oh sure, we try to sugar coat things and pretend like things are fair. We try and teach our children that they should be treated fairly at school. We try to teach them that they should share with others. We try to teach them they should receive a reward equal to the work they put into something. Those of us who are parents work diligently to make sure our kids are treated fairly within our homes–at Christmas, each kid gets the same number of presents–each kid gets the same number of cookies–each kid gets the same amount of time spent upon the computer. We expend tons of time and energy trying to teach our kids fairness and telling them they should do likewise. And despite all our efforts to do such things, eventually, they have to learn the hard lesson of life that fairness is just an ideal. It doesn’t really exist.
Think life is fair?
Ask the worker who worked for Enron if life is fair.
Ask the guy who spent most of his life working for the same company only to lose his job and benefits to
company downsizing or to a younger, cheaper worker.
Ask the military man who spent years overseas fighting for freedom who now has to take his shoes off and be patted down in the airport.
Ask the rancher who has spent years of blood, sweat, and tears working on his property, building up his herds and his assets only to see it wiped out in a horrific drought.
Ask the homeowner who is given 15 minutes to evacuate because a fire is bearing down on his home and who eventually loses everything in that fire.
Ask the people who lost loved ones to the tornadoes in the eastern United States.
Ask the people who have sought to live the right kind of lifestyles who don’t drink, don’t smoke, eat healthily, exercise regularly, and who still ended up with cancer.
See if they will tell you life is fair. See if they answer in the affirmative.
And yet, we still hold onto our concept of fairness. "O.K. Pastor, we know that life here on earth isn’t fair.
But when God comes, when God finally reveals His Kingdom, then things will be fair."
Really?
Do you really think so?
Jesus told a parable one day about the kingdom of heaven. A landowner went to where the day laborers had gathered. Probably a place like that little supermarket there in Bellville where men gather on a daily basis. This landowner hired the lot of the workers who were there promising them the usual daily wage.
This landowner trusted the men to do the work they were chosen to do. He didn’t spend all day supervising them. In fact, the landowner took several trips to the marketplace that day, and each time he went, he found more and more idle workers. Each time, he invited those workers to head out and get some work done in the vineyard. Each times the landowner said, "I will pay you what is right."
Even at the end of the day, when there was only one hour of work to be done, the landowner went to the marketplace and found some men who were idle. "Why aren’t you working?" the landowner asked.
"No one would hire us," they replied. That sounds like a familiar phrase in our current economy.
This landowner, however, did not turn them away. "Go to work. I will pay you what is right."
At the end of the day, the landowner calls his manager to him. "Time to pay the workers. Start with the one’s we hired last, and then end with the ones we hired first."
Now, I’m not sure why the landowner decided to pay in this fashion. I know he could have saved an awful lot of grief if he would have paid the first ones who came to work first and then ended with the last ones. But perhaps this landowner isn’t concerned about feelings, and perhaps he indeed is trying to teach a lesson.
The folks who were hired to work only one hour receive their payment. Surprisingly, IT’S AN ENTIRE DAY’S WAGE! Can you imagine their surprise? Can you imagine their shock? Holy cow! They certainly didn’t deserve this, so I am sure their thankfulness toward the landowner is sky high.
I’m sure the next folks in line wondered if they would receive more since they had worked longer hours.
Nope, they too received a day’s wage. Perhaps they were a little disappointed, but at least they could say they received a day’s wage without having to work an entire day.
As each successive group came forward, I’m sure their disappointment grew as they saw they would only receive a day’s wage. However, no group complained. They all knew they had worked less than a day and their wage was more than right. Even though it was less in proportion, they were still ahead of the eight ball.
But then the last group comes forward. This group had indeed worked all day. They had labored the most.
They had endured the burning sun. Their muscles bore the brunt of the heavy labor. They had seen everyone else get more than they deserved. They thought and had convinced themselves they should receive more too. It was only fair. It was only fair that they should be treated like everyone else who had been given more than what their work was worth.
But the landowner paid them what they had agreed upon earlier. The landowner did not give them extra. And they were upset. They grumbled. They complained. "It’s not fair!" they shouted. "Those last ones, the ones who came in and worked only an hour–you paid them for a whole day’s work. How could you do this? And how could you only pay us what you are paying us when we have worked the hardest? Where is the justice in that? Where is the fairness in that? This isn’t right!"
And the landowner reminds them, "Look, guys, you agreed to work for me for the usual daily wage. You are receiving what you negotiated for. And you are angry about it? Furthermore, this is my vineyard and my money. Certainly you are in no position to tell me how I am to spend my money or who to hire, are you?
And finally, are you angry at me and are you envious because I am generous?"
And in so doing, the landowner plays his trump card, and Jesus makes His point. In the kingdom of God, things are not fair. Generosity abounds to the point where those who did little work still receive the same amount of wages as those who worked the hardest. Put this way, it didn’t matter how much work was done or how long one worked, everyone received the same thing.
Now, this smacks us hard with our own sense of fairness. Many of us probably identify with those at the end of the line. Haven’t we worked hard? Haven’t we busted our tails off? Don’t we deserve more than what we get? Perhaps we do, but why don’t we identify with those who are paid first and who came to work last?
I remember working at the Sealy Christian Pantry one Wednesday many moons ago. A gentleman and his son came to get food. When we handed them their bags, they were surprised at the amount of food they received. They were overwhelmed at the generosity of the pantry. They had never needed food before, but when they were in need–when they hadn’t been able to find work–generosity touched them deeply.
Why is it that so many of us don’t seem to sense such generosity on our lives? When it comes to our working in the kingdom of God, do you honestly think we have worked all day long? Do you honestly believe we have given our all to the landowner? Do you honestly think we deserve to be paid a full day’s wage of salvation and the many gifts we have in our lives? Do you think God is being fair to us in the midst of our sinfulness and the amount of time we dedicate to Him in our lifetimes?
No. I think if we were honest with ourselves, we’d see we deserve none of what we get. And yet, God gives it to us anyway. We have been paid more than what we deserve because God is generous and not fair.
So, this now leads me to ask us this morning, how does our generosity stack up against God’s? If Jesus gives us insight into God’s generosity in His Kingdom, and if Jesus asks us to help others see that kingdom in our midst, what does that say about how we try to do things? Do we seek to be fair? Or do we seek to be generous? There is a big difference between the two. Life isn’t fair, and life can be downright harsh. The kingdom of heaven isn’t fair either, but it is downright generous. Where does your discipleship lead you? Amen.
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