Is God fair? Of course He is! What can we learn about gratitude and generosity from the parable of the workers in the vineyard?
Scripture:
Matthew, chapters 20-22
Matthew 20:1-16 (CEB):
“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. After he agreed with the workers to pay them a denarion, he sent them into his vineyard. Then he went out around nine in the morning and saw others standing around the marketplace doing nothing. He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I’ll pay you whatever is right.’ And they went. Again around noon and then at three in the afternoon, he did the same things. Around five in the afternoon he went and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you just standing around here doing nothing all day long?’ ‘Because nobody has hired us,’ they replied. He responded, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’
When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and moving on finally to the first.’ When those who were hired at five in the afternoon came, each one received a denarion. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarion. When they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, ‘These who were hired last worked one hour, and they received the same pay as we did even though we had to work the whole day in the hot sun.’
But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I did you no wrong. Didn’t I agree to pay you a denarion? Take what belongs to you and go. I want to give to this one who was hired last the same as I give to you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you resentful because I’m generous?’ So those who are last will be first. And those who are first will be last.”
Observations: Is God Fair?
The workers hired first complained because those hired last earned the same amount as they did. Their argument seems to be that it’s not “fair” for those hired at 5 p.m. to receive the same amount as they did when they had worked all day. So let’s think about this. First, those hired first agreed to work for a denarion – a coin worth about one day’s wages for a laborer. In other words, what the landowner agree to pay them was “fair” – one day’s wages for one day’s work.
Second, the later workers agreed to work for whatever is right. The landowner did not agree to pay them a denarion. He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I’ll pay you whatever is right.” So they trusted the landowner to be “fair.” They may have expected a proportionate wage; if they worked half the day, they would receive half a denarion. But that wasn’t the deal; the deal was that they would receive whatever is right.
Third, the landowner did not change his deal with the original workers. He simply decided to pay the newer workers the same amount as the others. This was certainly generous to those newer workers, but it was not “unfair.” The landowner recognizes their complaint, but he does not give in to it. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what belongs to me?
Application: Is God Fair? Gratitude, Grumbling, and Generosity
That’s a legitimate question. In general, of course, the answer is “yes.” We can always create some scenario where the answer might be “no.” Do I have the right to use my property in a way that is harmful to others? No, I don’t. Can I use my property in ways that are illegal? No. So there are limits to the idea that we can do what we want with “our” property.
For Christians, there’s another limit: we understand that “our” property is not really “ours.” “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants too” (Psalm 24:1, emphasis added). We belong to God; everything we “own” therefore belongs to God, and is subject to His authority in our lives. If God tells me to give “my” money – to the church, to some other ministry, or to another individual – I’m supposed to do it.
That brings us back to the parable in Matthew 20. Ultimately, the workers who were hired first thought that they had the right to tell the landowner how to use his money. It wasn’t “fair” for him to pay the workers hired later the same amount that he paid them. He should either pay them more or pay the other workers less. But the only money that they had the right to control was their own. Take what belongs to you and go.
Are You Resentful Because I’m Generous?
So what does that have to do with us? And what point is Jesus making in the parable? First, is God fair? Whatever God does is inherently “fair.” God doesn’t have to justify His decisions to us. Has He done what is “fair” to us? No, He’s been far more than “fair.” He’s been incredibly gracious and merciful! The “denarion” that we’ve earned is death, the only “fair” wages for our sin.
Second, because God has been gracious to us, we have no basis to complain when He is gracious to others. As the landowner asks in the parable, “Are you resentful because I’m generous?” Putting the question that way shows how ridiculous their attitude was. How could we ever complain when someone is generous to someone else? Now, if you take something that belongs to me and are generous to someone else, I may have a right to complain. But otherwise, to complain about generosity shown to someone else is patently unreasonable.
That becomes even more true when we understand what Jesus is really talking about. This is what the kingdom of heaven is like. None of us “deserves” the salvation and life that God offers us. Because we don’t deserve it, we have no basis to complain that someone else doesn’t deserve it. And Jesus made that even more plain as he hung on the cross. “Jesus replied, ‘I assure you that today you will be with me in paradise’” (Luke 23:43). But he was never baptized! He never even asked Jesus to forgive his sins! Hear God’s response: “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you resentful because I’m generous?”
Prayer:
Father, thank You for the grace You have shown us. In reality, every one of us has been hired “at the end of the day.” Help us, like the workers hired at the end of the day, to trust You to do “whatever is right.” And guard us against being resentful at Your mercy toward others. Amen.
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