Nope, God is NOT Fair
September 18, 2011
Mark 20:1-16
Nope, God is Not Fair!
How many times have we as parents heard our children say “it isn’t fair” and how many of us have given that classic answer, “Well, life isn’t fair” And how many times, if we are honest, do we whine internally about something being unfair.
Well, today’s gospel lesson seems at first glance to be all about fairness. It is often called the parable of the Vineyard workers. Barbara Brown Taylor says that this parable reminds her of castor oil…you know it is good for you; you know you should take it, but it still isn’t pleasant at all! (1)
When studying this particular lesson from Jesus it is helpful to realize that this parable closely follows Peter quizzing Jesus about what reward the disciples can expect for their loyalty. At the very end of chapter 19 Peter says (and I’m paraphrasing here) we’ve done as you asked and left everything to follow you, what then will we have? Jesus tells Peter that at the renewal of all things everyone who has followed him will receive a hundredfold but then he ends his comments to Peter “But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” And then he goes on to tell this parable.
In the next service, I’m going to have the children act out the story. I’ll pretend to “hire” some of them to paint a fence let’s say. And then I’ll hire more and finally at the end of the day more. Then I’ll say it is time for your pay. And I’ll start with the kids I just hired and give them each a dollar. The kids who have been working half a day and the kids who have been working all day will each receive a dollar and then we’ll talk about how fair that is or is not as the case may be. I suspect that will be a good visual and that the kids will remember the story.
But will they actually get the lesson? It is hard for me to grasp this significance of this text, that’s for sure…so I wonder how the kids will do? And although it might be hard to get to the heart of the matter, I”ll bet most of us can relate to fairness issues.
I was a huge fan of John Denver’s….loved his music and loved to see him perform…and my brother was a stronger fan than I was. Remember the coliseum in Richfield? My brother would get in line at 3 in the morning to buy John Denver tickets. Often thanks to him we had awesome seats..once in the second row right in front! How disheartening it would have been if when the tickets went on sale, the management came out and had the people from the back of the row enter first.
Or how about all those day after thanksgiving sales? Each year the news shows people I sleeping bags and tents standing in line to buy a lap top computer for 100 dollars or the latest techno game or gadget at rock bottom prices. People wait in line and what if a call went out that everyone from the back got to enter the store first.
Just like the vineyard workers in our story today people would be shouting it isn’t fair.
Well, the truth is, it isn’t fair. And, as we tell our children and sometimes our friends and even ourselves, LIFE isn’t fair….…and so it seems even more important that God should be fair. Many of us expect God to be the one authority on whom we can count to even the score! How many times have we said to one another; well, I’m glad I don’t have to judge! We presume that God will do the judging like we would…we EXPECT God to reward those who have stood in line the longest, who have sacrificed the most, who pray the loudest or put the most money in the collection plate.
But according to today’s parable; God’s generosity far outweighs fairness. God’s grace extends to all and we should be glad, but most of us are indignant on behalf of those poor folks who have worked all day for the same amount of pay.
You see, one of questions we have to ask ourselves when we hear this parable, is just where we see ourselves in terms of the workers in the vineyard….when we hear the first will be last….just where do we put ourselves in that line?
I can’t answer for you of course, but many if not most American Christians presume we are right up there in the front of the line. We’ve gone to church, paid up our pledges, helped with the rummage sale or on a mission trip… like the disciples, we are jockeying for position…we should be near the front somewhere, shouldn’t we be?
That’s how most of us will hear this parable but what if there were tons of people in front of us in line? What is we are even near the back? Wouldn’t we be thrilled to know that God was going to reward us generously?
The fact is, that although we want God to be fair in the ways of the world, it isn’t going to happen! Here’s some more from Pastor Taylor:
“ God is not fair. For reasons we may never know, God seems to love us indiscriminantly..By starting at the end of our lines, with the last and the least, God let’s us know that his ways are not our ways. God is not fair, but depending on where we are in line, that can sound like powerful good news..because then there is a chance we will get paid more than we are worth, that we will get more than we deserve…God is not fair, God is generous and when we begrudge that generosity it is only because we have forgotten where we might stand in line.” (2)
This parable makes us consider a new social order, a place where we consider who is superior and who is inferior. In today’s society what we do is often more important than who we are. As so many people struggle to find employment it is difficult not to begin to feel inferior.. and in contrast we have many people (including I’m sorry to say, pastors) who often talk about their long hours as though it is some sort of badge of honor.
God gives us a new way of looking at things. It might bring a touch of humility to those of us who smugly talk about our busyness and our work. It will hopefully bring a strong sense of hope and confidence to those who are currently looking for work.
In our new way of looking at things, we have to realize that those people we consider least or needing our sympathy or somehow below us socially or mentally are still people and are very likely the very types that Jesus is talking about as the last.
We have a challenge here to look at those brothers and sisters as Jesus would and to treat them with compassion and generosity and as people standing right along side us in the waiting line.
God is not fair, God is generous and God welcomes us and loves us wherever we “fall” in the line
Three weeks ago we had a memorial service here for Tom Parsons. It was a huge service, nearly 200 people if not more and we sang and laughed and celebrated the life of that wonderful man. Yesterday we had a memorial service for Jean Gombert. It was a wonderful worship experience, with special music and great family stories. God was glorified in those services and we know without a doubt that God welcomed both Tom and Jean into his care.
But three weeks ago another person from this congregation died. A man named Mike. Some of you knew Mike…he had been a regular visitor for quite some time and often attended our adult classes.
There was no outpouring of love and support from our congregation when Mike died. Although he had a brother who came to take care of the final plans, the family didn’t want our help with a funeral or memorial. As far as I know, Mike’s body was buried simply and without fan fair. Thanks to today’s gospel, though, we can be assured that Mike was welcomed into God’s care as surely and as completely with as much excitement and celebration as were Jean and Tom.
If Jesus came down and lined us up from first to last, I actually have no idea where I’d end up..but thanks to the generosity of God, we know that no matter where we stand in the line, no matter if we are deserving or not, God will treat us with love and generosity- - and that is truly good news! AMEN!
1 The Seeds of Heaven, Barbara Brown Taylor. Westminster John Knox Press. 2004
2 same as above
