Pentecost 14
September 18th, 2011
“It's Not Fair!”
The first will be last, and the last
will be first, Jesus often says. God has a way of doing the
unexpected, the opposite of what we think should be. He turns things
backwards. Or maybe we are the ones who have things backwards.
In the parable of the workers in the
vineyard, the workers find it all so unfair. When the master pays
them the same as those who haven't worked as long, they whine and
complain. They find the master's sense of justice doesn't always
line up with their own. And we can relate.
For from an early age we gain a sense
of what is far. How many times a day do my children tell me my
parental policy or decision is “not fair”?
There's an online bank that runs
commercials these days which use humor to show that “even a kid
knows it's not fair...” the way some other banks treat their
customers.
But when we find ourselves in a place
to question divine justice, it's no laughing matter.
Since the days of Job and well before,
humans have questioned God's sense of fair play. Today the militant
atheists love to engage Christians in debate over how a supposedly
good God can allow so much evil in the world. If you ever have a
chance to engage such a person, beware – for they come to the
battle well-armed. They are skilled at putting God on trial, putting
his governance under the microscope, and revel in pronouncing him
guilty of malevolent rule, that is, right before they deny he exists.
Even we believers question God from
time to time. And often those questions come from suffering – our
own, or someone we care about. Why does God let it happen this way?
And if there has to be evil in the world, why does it come to my
door? Why here, and now? We might be led to the conclusion that we
did something particularly wrong or bad – worse than all the rest.
But that's not so. We might be led to think that God simply forgets
about us, but we know that isn't the case either. So is God just a
fickle master? Giving and withholding his blessings here and there,
with no rhyme or reason? And face it, don't we all think we would be
a better judge of what is fair?
But who are we to turn our human sense
of fairness against God? Yet that's what we do. When troubles come.
When suffering finds us. When tragedy strikes. “It's not fair
God!” we cry. At least in our hearts.
We, too, try to subject the Almighty to
our own limited, sinful, self-deluded sense of fair play. But thank
God you are not God! Thank God he, in his ultimate wisdom, and in
his mysterious judgment, is the one who calls the shots. His ways
are above our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.
The master in the parable scolds the
servants who think that he hasn't been fair. After all, it's his
money, his right to do with it as he sees fit. And he knows better
than those servants do.
Likewise with us. If God were truly
just with us, and treated us as we deserve - according to our sins,
we would all receive the same for our day's work. We'd get “fired”,
and I don't mean Donald Trump style. We would face temporal and
eternal punishment. We'd go straight to Hell, do not pass go. That
would be fair. For he set the rules up long ago – the soul that
sins shall die. And we poor souls do a lot of sinning, and deserve
death by the boatload.
But God is not only just, he is
merciful. He must punish sin, and hold to his word, there is a price
of blood – but the merciful God does not desire the death of
sinners. So he provides for our salvation. He sends Jesus to pay
the price – the wages of sin – death – the cross. There, Jesus
bears the fires of hell. He swallows death whole and spits out the
bones. He takes all the bad we deserve, and gives us all the good we
don't deserve. Jesus blows fair play to smithereens, at least when
it comes to us poor miserable sinners.
God doesn't pay rewards, so much as he
bestows gifts – by his grace and mercy, for the sake of Christ. We
all deserve the same – nothing, and worse. He gives us all the
same – Christ, and all blessings.
And it doesn't really matter how long
or hard we work. It doesn't matter how much scripture we've
memorized, or whether we've gone to seminary, or whether we've had a
conversion experience. It doesn't matter how little you think you
sin, or how much you love your neighbor. Whether you volunteer at a
soup kitchen, or deliver meals on wheels, or wash feet or wipe
noses.. You need to do all those good works because he commands and
because, well, you should. But they won't get you your spiritual
payday.
Don't let all of that be a distraction
from the real denarius – the gift of God's grace in Christ. The
wage we didn't really earn. The salary we never ever deserved. God
gives us what is right – not according to our sin – but according
to his grace in Christ, who earned it all for us. That's his sense
of fair play.
Oh, and He doesn't hand it out in the
field or vineyard – but he distributes it here in his presence –
in the word preached and proclaimed and in the sacrament given and
shed for you. Here you line up with the other laborers in your
corner of the kingdom. And here you receive the free grace in hand
and mouth. Jesus Christ is that reward, and all the blessings that
come with him.
So the next time you find yourself
questioning God's fairness, do not grow angry or offended at your
kind master, but rejoice. Rejoice that he does not treat us as we
deserve, but for the sake of Christ, that he gives us good gifts
galore. That he forgives our sins, restores our life, and promises
us a future hope forever. And life's ups and downs, even the worst
sufferings we face, will find meaning and perspective through Christ.
We are here in the vineyard but a short time. But the reward is
forever. And thank God it's not fair. In Jesus Christ, Amen.
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