The Bible Story Jesus Told That Proves God is Unfair

"This simply isn't FAIR." That's what I thought to myself while working my first part-time job as a bag boy in a grocery store. My shifts were spent bagging groceries, re-stocking shelves, carrying orders out to cars, as well as the glorious task of retrieving carts from the parking. Of course we had a strict policy on how many carts we could push at one time to prevent freak accidents like losing control and watching them plow into the side of a Honda Civic (that never happened to me, thankfully).

The limit was 5 carts at a time. My personal best was somewhere between 8 and 10. Sure, it was against the rules, but it was fairly common for us bag-boys to push in more carts than allowed simply because we were lowest on the totem pole and we sought validation by any which way.

One day I was called up to the manager's office and informed that an auditor in the company had caught me pushing in more carts than the allowed limit, resulting in our store losing a point or two on our safety evaluation. When I was shown the time and date I immediately stated to go into defensive mode. It was rainy, people were handing me carts and when he saw me, I was only pushing SIX carts instead of the "proper" five. One measly cart cost us points and therefore landed me in the manager's office. This simply isn't fair...

But then my boss did something absolutely shocking. "You know Zach," He said, "I've actually been meaning to tell you how great of a job you do around here. You work hard and do everything you're told. So today, in spite of this mistake, I'm actually giving you a raise."

I had never seen a more perfect picture of grace and mercy in one swoop. Mercy is not getting what you do deserve (judgement). Grace is getting what you don't deserve (redemption). So, I had to admit that my original thoughts were now actually more true than ever. This simply isn't fair, and for that, I was thankful.

THE WORD

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

- Matthew 20:1-16

As we dive into another one of Jesus' stories this week, I think it's important to understand that His parables cannot be understood without the context in which they were told. Jesus often told these stories in response to a question or situation at hand. When reading the Parables of the Workers in the Vineyard in Matthew 20, it's important to understand that Jesus delves into this story as a direct response to Peter's question in Matthew 19, "“We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

Peter's question is a response to watching the rich young ruler reject Jesus' invitation to sell all of his possessions to the poor and join the group. Keep in mind, as you read through this parable, Jesus is addressing what reward looks like in the kingdom. Here are four relevant principles we find in Matthew 20.

1. God OWNS, we OPERATE.

1“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard." -Matthew 20

We are first introduced to the owner of a plot of land who, common to the culture, sets out in the morning to hire field-workers for the day. Farmers would often do this to save money by paying guys day to day as opposed to hiring workers for entire seasons when they may not need them all the time. The owner and the workers quickly settle on the amount of a denarius as the day's wages, which was a fair wage for a day's work.

It's obvious here, in light of Peter's question, that Jesus is giving us a picture of God (the owner of all things) choosing His workers (the redeemed) to send out and do His work. What a beautiful reminder of scriptures in Ephesians 1 and 2 that He CHOSE us and called us according to His purposes to do good works which He prepared in advance for us to do.

Both creation and the kingdom are founded on the principle of stewardship. It's been suggested that as many as 16 of Jesus' 38 parables focus on stewardship.

Growing up in the Church, for many years I was under the impression that "stewardship" was synonymous with money. It was my experience that preachers used that word as a way to talk about money without people accusing them of talking about money (*wink wink). Stewardship is not limited to the subject of finances, nor is it confined in the Bible to just a few of Jesus' sermons. This principle was not introduced in the GOSPELS, it was introduced in the GARDEN.

God created a world for which humanity to oversee. His plan from the beginning was for man to MANage. We operate what He owns. We manage what He makes. We steward what He started. If you can catch this simple yet profound revelation of God as OWNER and man as OPERATOR it will change the way you approach life.

Honest confession, my driving can be a bit... carefree. If Jill were writing she would perhaps choose a more descriptive word, but it's my blog and I'm sticking with "carefree." But when I drive someone else's car, I become an incredibly safe and cautious driver. When entrusted with what belongs to someone else, I become way more cautious with my actions. This is the revelation of stewardship. My body, my money, my relationships, my house... it all belongs to God and I am simply called to manage it in the way that God calls me to.

Stewardship is owning nothing except the responsibility of managing everything according to God's will.

2. God wants WORKERS not WAITERS.

3“About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ 7“‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ -Matthew 20

As we follow the story, we find the landowner is not satisfied with the amount of workers he currently has. But it's not the amount of work that concerns him, but rather the amount of workers with nothing to do. He is moved with compassion by those who lack purpose, so he hires more of them. He doesn't hire for the sake of the work but rather for the sake of the workers.

I have found that many people seem to have a negative view of work. In fact, many Christians are convinced that work was the punishment that man was given after the fall. But work is not man's punishment, it's our purpose. Jesus did not die on the cross just to do PENANCE for our sin, but also to give PURPOSE to our lives. God gave man work in the garden before the fall. Man was destined with purpose to subdue and tend to creation and the gospel is about reclaiming that purpose.

Just as this landowner could not stand to see good, able-bodied men waste the day away standing around, God's heart breaks over the aimless wanderers throughout the globe who know not what they were created for. You were fashioned to reign and redeemed to subdue. Whatever is in front of you is not just your job or your career, it's your opportunity to reflect the nature of God as you devote yourself to something the way He is devoted to you.

3. God gives us opportunities to be both SELFISH and SELFLESS.

8“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ 9“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ -Matthew 20

Here's where things get interesting, and by interesting I mean awkward. It's widely known and commonly practiced within most workplaces that you don't discuss your pay with fellow employees. A worker's wage can be determined by so many different factors including previous experience, skillset, and most often, time logged.

It goes without saying the longer you give yourself to a place the more you will be rewarded. But the landowner in this story decides to execute a different strategy. Not only does he pay all of the workers the same wage, but he does so publicly.

Let's be clear about what's happening here: a typical work day in Hebrew culture was from 6am to 6pm. The first set of workers were hired at 6 AM, the second set were hired at 9 AM, the third, 12 PM, the fourth, 3 PM and the last group, 5 PM, meaning the last group only logged a total of one hour of labor.

Yet the owner intentionally has the 5 PM workers paid first, then the 3 PM workers, followed by the 12 PM and so on. Why would he do this? Even if he does determine he just wants to bless everyone, why not be discrete and pay from earliest to latest? Because he was giving the workers the opportunity not only celebrate their work, but to celebrate one another.

God's grace was never meant to be a secret, and the grace that saves the little church girl at six years old who gives her heart to Jesus in Sunday School is the same exact grace that saves the drug-addicted prostitute in the back ally as she cries out to Jesus for the first time in her life.

It's deception to think you are more deserving of something simply because you were aware of it sooner than someone else. I surmise it to be natural that the longer a person be acquainted with a thing, the more ownership they feel they have over it, but we must never forget grace is something we operate in, not take ownership of.

4. God extends grace that is UNEARNED and therefore UNFAIR to all sinners.

13“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” -Matthew 20

Grace has often been defined as the "unmerited favor of God." The reality is grace, by its very nature, is unfair because it is unearned. It can only be extended to those who don't deserve it.

Parables are not allegories, meaning they do not operate by a set of rules in which every character, plot point, or detail has to represent something. That is most often not the case. Instead they are meant to simply convey an overall idea. That being said, none of us are the 6 AM workers! None of us deserve a day's wage just as none of us deserve God's grace. Instead we are all the workers who had no purpose or place but are invited into a work that brings great reward by His own merit.

The fact that the owner did this on display further cements that he was not just looking for workers to share the labor but also to share his heart. It was a clear indicator that the work they were doing was secondary to the relationships they were fostering. This was a clear moment to celebrate the compassion of the giver rather than criticize the system.

Years ago I participated in a mud run obstacle course with a few friends and hundreds of strangers. It was 10 miles of miserable, muddy, magnificent fun. The course was designed very strategically in such a way that at times you could not move forward without the help of others. One obstacle in particular was the dreaded "trenches." It was a 100 yards or so of deep, thick muddy pits which required you to essentially climb on top of others in order to get out of. Each time you climbed out of one, you landed in an even deeper one until you were finally in a pit up to your waist.

It's a humbling feeling to realize the only way out is on the backs of selfless strangers. It was a powerful picture to see guys brace themselves against the mud walls for others to climb on top of them, only to turn around and pull them up next. What a shame it would be to come out of the pit of sin by God's grace and not to turn around for those just as in need of that boost as you were.

CONCLUSION God's grace is completely unmerited, definitely unearned, and fortunately unfair. For that, I am thankful.