Focal Passage: Matthew 20: 1-16
My three boys use the phrase, “that’s not fair,” more times than I can count. When one gets a snack and the other doesn’t, they say, “that’s not fair.”. When one has homework and the others don’t, they say, “that’s not fair.”
It happens all the time. It’s not just kids though. If we are honest, we have the same thoughts. We compare, we measure, we evaluate what others receive versus what we think we deserve. Here in Matthew 20, Jesus tells a story that turns our understanding of fairness upside down and introduces us to something far better…grace.
We can learn a few things about God and His grace toward us through this story. First, we learn that God seeks people relentlessly. The story starts with the landowner going out early in the morning and then again at the third, sixth, ninth, and even the eleventh hour. He keeps pursuing workers throughout the day. This shows the heart of God. He is not passive. He is constantly seeking, inviting, and calling people into His kingdom no matter how late it seems. I think it’s important to think about people in our own life. Who in my life might God still be pursuing that I’ve given up on?
As we continue in the story we also learn that God gives generously. When it’s time to pay the workers, those who worked one hour receive the same wage as those who worked all day. This is the ‘that’s not fair’ moment and this is where grace disrupts our expectations. The wage is not based on effort, rather on the generosity of the landowner reminding us that grace is not earned, it is given. Imagine in our life someone works one hour and receives the full day’s paycheck while you worked all day for the same amount. Our immediate reaction is, “That’s not fair.”
This is exactly the point. Grace isn’t fair. I think it’s important to constantly come back and as ourselves if we are more focused on what others receive that what I’ve been given. None of us deserves anything good from God.
This brings us to our last principle…God deals graciously. The landowner responds to their complaints, “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what is mine? Are you jealous because I’m generous?” (v. 15). The issue with the workers is not injustice, it’s comparison. The workers who complained forgot the grace they received because they were focused on others. Grace reveals the condition of our hearts. The question is…do we celebrate it or resent it? We love grace when it comes to us, but often we struggle with it when it’s extended to others we don’t think deserve it.
Jesus ends with a powerful reminder. He says, “So the last will be first, and the first last” (v. 16). The Kingdom of God does not run on our merit; it runs on grace. In reality, none of us earned our place in God’s Kingdom. Every one of us was invited, welcomed, and given far more than we deserve. And that’s the beauty of grace. God doesn’t give us what is fair, He gives us what is good. Let’s renew our gratitude for God’s grace! B&R