St.   Aidan’s Sermons

Winnipeg, Manitoba

The Rev. Canon Dr. Brett Cane, September 18, 2011

 

 

 

 

“God Isn’t Fair!”

Matthew 20:1-16

 

Opening Prayer:

Heavenly Father, you are full of grace and mercy to the undeserving; help us now, by your Holy Spirit, to so grasp the immensity of your generosity that we might serve you with uncalculating love, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 

Introduction

 

“I’ve worked so hard in this church all my life and then she comes along and gets treated like she’s been here for fifty years!  It’s not fair!”   ”I’ve tried to be good all life and keep God’s commandments, and now I’m having all kinds of trouble…I just don’t deserve it.  It’s not fair!”   “I kept myself pure for marriage and now these young people come into the church from all kinds of lifestyles and they seem to get along with God better than I do.  It’s not fair!”

 

Any of these sentiments ring a bell?  Sometimes there seems to such a discrepancy between all the work and effort we put into the kingdom of God and the results we get out of it compared to little some others do and the great rewards they get. The ones who do the least or come on board the last seem to come off pretty well and end up being first.  God isn’t fair!

 

The Parable

 

Well, this is exactly the theme of the parable of the workers in the vineyard we just heard. The owner recruits some labourers at the beginning of the workday and contracts with them to work for a denarius – the regular, if somewhat meagre, pay for a day’s work. A denarius was the minimum needed to feed a family for just one day. As the day progresses, the owner sees more folk waiting around in the market-place (the employment office of the day), eager for work, and sends them off to the vineyard.  He does this at9 a.m.,noonand3 p.m..  There is no agreement as to wages with these later folk, just that they will be paid “whatever is right.”  Finally he goes out at5 p.m., one hour before closing, finds others desperate for work and hires them, too.

 

One hour later, at 6:00 p.m., the ram’s horn blows and every one lines up to get paid. Those who started work last get paid first and receive one denarius and so on, down to those hired first who also receive a denarius – the agreed-upon price.  These workers grumble, “I should be paid more; we worked much longer in the heat of the day – our backs and arms are sore from picking all those grapes!” The answer given is that that was what was agreed upon and that the owner has the right to do with his own money as he pleases. He chides them for being envious because he is generous

 

Three Reasons God Isn’t Fair

 

At first glance, I’m on the side of the early labourers!  It just doesn’t seem fair.  But on second and third glance, there are some things we need to learn here about God and his dealings with us that will turn our thinking and attitudes right around.  God isn’t fair – for good reason.  I will give you three.

 

1. God has no favourites: This is the first thing we learn – the Jewish people of Jesus’ day interpreted their chosen ness as making them superior to Gentiles and that God loved them more. Perhaps the disciples were thinking they were more loved by God because Jesus had chosen them to be his closest followers. (see Matthew 19:27. 30).

 

God’s principle is that we are all precious to him.  The order in which we are chosen to join God’s “work force” is not dependent on his greater love for us than others. We can not know why some individuals or groups have come to faith later than others – only God knows the whole picture.  We are not to jump to conclusions.  In our church fellowship, we are not to look down on those recently converted or arrived – it is so easy to resent newcomers.  God says, “No – I have no favourites – The first will be fast and the last will be first” (verse 16).

 

2. God is Generous: What does this mean? Like the owner in the parable, God is totally generous to all. The latecomers had been willing to work but due to circumstances were not able to be hired until the eleventh hour. All received a day’s wage – just enough to live on.  This is a picture of God’s grace – “All things come of thee and of thine own have we given thee” (1 Chronicles, 19:14) – we forget our utter dependence upon God. Everything we have has been given freely, generously. William Barclay sums it up, “What God gives is not pay, but a gift; not a reward, but a grace.” [1]

 

Do you grumble because of the grace and blessings others get but you do not in spite of years of patient obedience and faithfulness?  When we do that, we place ourselves last – forgetful of all God’s blessings to us, his mercy to us with our wayward and rebellious hearts. Open your eyes to God’s grace to you and do not compare with others. If any of us got what we deserve, we would have nothing.  In spite of this, God gives us abundantly what we need out of his mercy and love.  God is generous.

 

3. Our Generosity: We now come to the final point of the parable – what is the spirit in which you work for God?  In the parable, those who were hired first had a contract, and, as they showed later, were concerned to get all they could.  Those who were hired last had no agreement – they just wanted a chance to work and left the reward up to the owner.

 

In what spirit do you work for God?  Is it calculating – that is, “If I do this, God owes me that?”  And then is it a jealous spirit when someone does what we think is “less” work and gets more?  Do we, forgetting God’s generosity and unmerited favour, start operating from a system of rights?  How many here today are nursing a secret “grudge” against God because he fell down on his end of the bargain you thought you had made?

 

The spirit in which we work for God is not “What can I get out of it?” but “What is the best I can give?”  It is a privilege to serve God in his kingdom, to be one of his workers, the be called, affectionately, as by the vineyard owner in the parable, “friend” (verse13).  The motive for our service to God is deep gratitude. It is a thrill to work for him, to be partners with him in his kingdom.

 

As God has been generous with us, so are we to be generous with God. As he did not calculate the cost when he left the glory of heaven to live amongst us and die for us, neither do we.  Again, William Barclay sums it up: “It is the paradox of the Christian life that he who aims at reward loses it and he who forgets reward finds it.” [2]

 

This whole attitude is summed up in a favourite hymn of mine:

 

My God, I love thee; not because
I hope for heaven thereby,
nor yet because who love thee not
are lost eternally.

Thou, O Lord Jesus, thou didst me
upon the cross embrace;
for me didst bear the nails and spear,
and manifold disgrace,

And griefs and torments numberless,
and sweat of agony;
yea, death itself; and all for me
who was thine enemy.

Then why, O blessed Jesu Christ,
should I not love thee well,
not for the sake of winning heaven,
nor any fear of hell;

not with the hope of gaining aught,
not seeking a reward;
but as thyself hast loved me,
O ever loving Lord!

So would I love thee, dearest Lord,
and in thy praise will sing,
solely because thou art my God
and my most loving King. [3]