Sermon
24th September 2017
Text
Matthew 20:1-16 – Is God Unfair?
Sometimes
life just isn't fair?
It's
one of the hard realities we learn early on.
You
can learn it in kindergarten when that child won’t share with you.
You
can learn it in primary school when the other children won’t play with you or
you’re not invited to a birthday party.
You
can learn it in high school when the bully keeps picking on you.
You
can learn it in the work place when you miss out on that job, on that promotion
or one day you find out your job is no longer there.
Sometimes
life just isn't fair.
Sometimes
we see things as unfair but it’s not that they are unfair but not how we like
it, which is highlighted in today’s parable.
The
landowner was not being unfair at all.
Those
who complained received exactly what they had agreed to.
They
thought it was unfair that the one who came in later got the same as them.
And
so sometimes we say things are unfair but really it’s to do with our own
feelings.
When
we read the papers and see criminals receiving what we believe to be light
sentences or they receive a suspended sentence we may believe it’s unfair even
though it has nothing to do with us.
We
weren’t affected by their actions but we believe they should have been punished
more.
Sometimes
life doesn’t seem fair.
In
our world, particularly in our First World Society, what we deem as unfair is
seen by Third World Countries as abundance.
We
complain about slow food service – while starving countries get no food.
We
feel an injustice when our WIFI drops out or when our favourite TV show starts
late and we have to wait.
We
complain about all the reality TV shows when for many countries war and
starvation is their reality.
We
worry about our fashions while children lie naked and exposed to the elements.
For
some life works pretty well for much of the time.
Then
life deals a blow and our entire life seems unfair.
It
seems particular unfair when bad things happen to good people while the wicked
sometimes live long and seemingly happy lives;
Sometimes
life is so unfair and there just are no answers.
Job’s
friends tried desperately to find a reason for his suffering but couldn’t.
They
kept insisting with Job to search deeper – surely life could not be that unfair
if he hadn’t done anything wrong.
Sometimes
life is so unfair we can't begin to understand it.
And
that's when we begin to question not just the fairness of life, but the
fairness of God, which is what the labourers in the vineyard did.
In
fact, there are plenty of people in the bible who express their unfairness to
God.
Jeremiah
was one: Cursed be the day I was born! Why did I ever come out of the womb to
see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame? (Jeremiah 20:14-18)
I
know people who feel like that – maybe you do too.
It’s
part of the reason why many are pushing for euthanasia laws to end life before
it gets to that.
Or
there’s Habakkuk in the very first verses:
How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out
to you, "Violence!" but you do not save? (Habakkuk 1:2)
But
there are others treated unfair who do not complain, like Joseph in the Old
Testament dumped in the pit and sold into slavery by his brothers.
But
because Joseph saw everything from God he was able to forgive.
So
many people reject their faith or refuse to believe when they see the
unfairness in the world and even within the church:
What
kind of God is this?
It's
just not fair!
Life
isn’t fair if you start with the premise that we deserve everything – which is
the way modern society has become.
We
need to hear again and again the words of Amazing Grace – how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me.
Saying
life isn't fair does not mean God isn't fair.
And
that’s because God's fairness doesn't work the way ours does.
The
lives we live are lives that God has given to us; the breath, the clothes on
our backs, the food on our table, our health in its varying degrees – are all
given by God.
But
all that fades into insignificance when we consider the amazing grace given to
us through Jesus Christ that is beyond all imagination.
Even
when life seems so unfair we remember Pauls words: I consider that our present
sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
(Romans 8:18)
No
one deserves God’s grace – which is why we call it grace – an undeserved gift
of God.
Everything
God gives is pure grace.
And
because God makes the sun to shine on the righteous and the unrighteous does
not make God unfair when he only shines it on the unrighteous.
We
shouldn't think of God's love lavished on those we think are undeserving as
unfair because God's justice doesn't work the way the world's justice works.
When
the laborers cried out “unfair”, the master answered the outcry with a reminder
of the justice they received. "Look, you got paid what we agreed on!
No
matter how unfair the world sometimes seems, God is always fair."
God
has promised us eternal life and that is what we will receive through Jesus
Christ.
But
there are still so many that are standing idle like those in the market place
at the 11th hour.
And
God is making his 11th hour bid and sometimes God’s grace to the undeserving
seems unfair.
But
we remember, we too are undeserving but have been enlightened by grace.
God
is more loving than we can imagine anyone being.
God
looks at the workers and says, “I love you regardless of what time you showed
up for work, I’m just glad you showed up.”
God’s
love is not conditional on our behaviour, God just wants us to be in heaven
with him.
It
is a reminder that we need to be grateful for what God has given us, regardless
of what he is doing in the lives of other people in order to lead them to
eternal life.
The
work of God is about love to the world and finding ways to love others even if
they don’t agree with us, look like us, or behave in a way we disagree with.
One
of the best ways we can be signs of love in the world is to say thank you to
God and be examples of gratitude.
Gratitude
is an expression of love that can be a witness to others.
Gratitude
in life is extraordinarily important because it is how we understand the
goodness of God —but also, it is easy to forget to be grateful and to grumble
about what we don’t have rather than be grateful for what we have received.
Third
world countries are becoming the church of the future and the future of our
church because they know what it is to have nothing and when they receive
anything they give thanks to God.
The
point of this parable is that we will become blind to the goodness and the
fairness of God with a jealous eye.
God's
grace is pure grace.
It
is the same for everybody.
Sadly
to some it doesn't mean as much as we have become comfortable with our affluent
lifestyles.
To
others who have little or nothing God's grace means a lot more.
But
the gift of grace is all the same.
Sometimes
it may seem unfair, but God is never unfair.
God
took all the unfairness of our lives and our troubled world and placed them on
Jesus who suffered the unfairness of death on a cross that we might have life.
Jesus
died for all so we are not to consider who does or doesn’t seem to deserve
God’s grace.
Remember
that, except for God's grace in Christ, neither do we deserve anything from
God.
The
kingdom of heaven is a gift.
And
in Christ it's never too late to come home to God – just ask the thief on the
cross.
And
that is what God is working hard to do – to bring others into the Kingdom by
extending his love and grace – the same love and grace that we have received.
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