Clothesline 317 "Grace Isn't Fair"

We know Jesus as a loving God, but some of his parables were hard to hear, like… “A rich man owned a vineyard.” Early in the morning, he hires laborers to work in his vineyard, and they agree on a fair, daily wage. Later in the morning, afternoon and early evening, he continues to hire more and more laborers. At the end of the day, he gathers all the workers—last to the first—and pays them. The workers who had worked all day notice that the everyone seems to be getting the same salary—those who worked only an hour and those who worked all day! One who worked the longest says to the owner of the vineyard: “This isn’t fair. I worked all day, yet you’re giving all of us the same wage!” And the landowner replies, “Friend, you and I agreed on your salary, so what’s the problem? I haven’t cheated you. I simply chose to give the man who only worked a couple of hours the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what is mine? Or are you simply jealous of my generosity?”

At any difficult time in our lives, we might very well have had similar thoughts: “How can you give the kingdom to those who show up late in life—or worse yet—to those who decide to accept you just before they die? Why would you do that when I’ve been a Christian all my life?” Or, what about this: “Why is it that when I gave my life to you, things seemed to fall apart, and yet that guy down the street seems to have everything, and he doesn’t even go to church?”

To those questions, Jesus might say: “When you were baptized, did you not freely accept what being a Christian means? Were you not aware that following me sometimes would mean carrying the same cross I carried? And who are you to decide who gains entrance into my kingdom? Or are you just jealous of a generosity that goes beyond your human understanding? You forget that this life is not what you were created for. What you have in this life—much or little—is nothing compared to what has been prepared for you in the life to come—IF you want it. No one deserves my grace, but I choose to give it anyway because it is mine to give … that’s why, the last shall be first, and first shall be last.”

That’s the key line isn’t it…the last shall be first, and the first last. And Jesus said it more than once. He said the same in the Parable of the Rich Young Man and he repeated it again in the Story of the Prodigal Son. Being a Christian may not always be easy, but God keeps his promises equally…to those who have devoted their entire lives to Him as well as to those who come to Him later in life.

Our human nature is unable to understand such generosity…such love. But I choose to believe and trust in my generous God who offers all of us a place in His Kingdom. May you too believe the same!