A Controversial Employer

by: Lou Lotz

Life is not fair. All the more reason then why God should be. God should be the one authority we can count on to be fair, to reward people according to their efforts, to compensate them for how long and how hard they’ve worked in the vineyard. But according to the parable, every worker gets the same wages, regardless of how long or hard he’s worked. That’s not fair.

Of course, how you react to the master’s generosity depends a lot on where in line you happen to be standing. I don’t hear any complaining coming from the back of the line, where the one-hour workers congregate. I hear cheers and laughter coming from there. It’s as you move toward the front of the line that you begin to hear indignant protests. In every case the pay is the same, a fair day’s wage, but how it is received depends entirely on where in the line you happen to be standing.

Most of us hear this parable from the front of the line. We see ourselves as the all-day workers who deserve the greatest reward. But maybe we’re not as deserving as we think. We could be a lot farther back in line than we imagine.

God is not fair, thank goodness. God is generous, dealing with us not according to our merits, but according to the riches of his grace. On Judgment Day, when the accounts are being settled, the cheers and the laughter coming from the back of the line might well be our own.