Today Jesus tells us a story (Matthew 20:1-16) that most of us do not like very much. The owner of a vineyard hires workers in the early morning, then later in the day, and finally, just before quitting time.
It comes time to pay the workers and everybody gets the same pay. They all get a full day’s pay. Those who worked all day complain. We can almost hear their words: “I worked all day in the hot sun. I get a day’s pay. He worked only one hour and he only worked two hours and they get paid for a whole day’s work, exactly what I got for slaving all day in the hot sun.” The workers complain: “It’s not fair!”
The owner retorts: “It’s my money! Tough luck! A contract is a contract!” What the workers in the parable come up against is one of life’s hardest realities – LIFE IS NOT FAIR! LIFE IS NOT FAIR! Early in life we learn how unfair life is. And this lesson is learned again and again.
In the family, the youngest child is allowed to date at a younger age. “It’s not fair!” the older brothers and sisters cry out as they watch the youngest child pampered by their parents. Meanwhile, the youngest child sees the older teenagers get to drive the car, stay up late at night and get bigger allowances. What does the youngest child say? “Life is not fair!”
So many times, life leaves us feeling cheated. How about the couple who pray for a child, maybe even spending thousands of dollars on fertility specialists and they still have no baby of their own. Meanwhile, a young teenage boy and girl down the street make one mistake and wind up pregnant. Both couples cry out: “It’s not fair!”
Or think about an elderly mother who needs nursing home care. More often than not, only one of the children is there for their elderly parent. That one daughter visits her mother every day. She helps her in every way. The other children visit, maybe on Mother’s Day or the holidays. In her tiredness the faithful daughter says, “It’s not fair! I’m the only one taking care of our mother.”
The truth is – Life is not set up to be fair. Some people have heart disease, others don’t. A few people strike it rich, most don’t. Very few of us will be rich, beautiful, athletic and in perfect health. Most of us will struggle to pay our bills, be uncoordinated, ordinary and have health issues. A lesson we learn early and face often is – LIFE IS NOT FAIR!
How about God? Is God fair? No! God is not fair! God is Generous! God goes well beyond being fair. Think about life itself. Life is God’s gift. I had a retreat master who started every session with the prayer: “Thank you, God, for loving us into life.” Our God is a generous God, a giver of gifts.
Today’s parable is not a parable about fairness or labor-relations management. It is a story about God, a God who leaves 99 to reach for one, who sweeps the house for a lost coin, who embraces a son who has blown the father’s money, and who gives one-hour laborers too much money. It is a story that is supposed to take our breath away and ask: “What kind of a God is this who is against all human expectations?”
God is not fair because God is generous.
The workers who came at the last hour received not what they had earned, but what they needed. That is grace.
And thank God! Because if God gave us only what we deserved, where would any of us be? The Gospel is filled with divine generosity. The shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep for one. The father runs to embrace the prodigal son. Jesus forgives the thief dying beside Him, offering paradise at the very last hour.
We often compare ourselves with others and ask, “Why did they get more?”
Jesus invites us to ask a different question: “Why has God given me so much?”
Life will never be perfectly fair. But God promises something better than fairness.
Grace. Mercy. Forgiveness. And a love far greater than anything we could ever earn.
When was the last time YOU thought or felt that life was not fair? Did today’s Gospel give you a different perspective?
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL THING IT IS TO KNOW THAT GOD’S LOVE FOR US IS SO GREAT THAT IT HAS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY OF BEING MEASURED!
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