No Fair!

The Venerable Joan Clark

Matthew 20:1-16

We love comparing and measuring things. When our children are young, we measure their growth and notch little marks in the wall, as they grow taller and taller. We measure our flour and our water to make just the right bread. We measure how much money we put into the bank, so that we can save for college for our kids and our grandkids. We measure our anniversaries, our birthdays, our tenures at various positions. In fact, we measure how many years we’ve been members of this church, don’t we? And we celebrate that longevity. We should. Who’s been a member of this church the longest? Do you know .. . . ?
[Take a moment to celebrate that person.]

Well today, Jesus tells us a story that messes up the way we measure our life….and our love. Especially as we measure our love.

Let me give you a story similar to the one Jesus told in our scriptures today.

A certain university had the reputation of attracting the best and brightest professors and researchers, those who cared deeply for their students and who would be loyal to the mission of the founders. Because of this, the university attracted many students and donors, creating a surplus in budget. The university president, knowing economic times were tough for others, decided to raise the incoming salaries of new professors to equal that of those already tenured, so that all could benefit from the university’s lush income.

The president was sure this would please everyone, as he had faith in the good will of his fellows. Surprise, surprise, this was not the case. As soon as the tenured faculty heard of the news, they balked and bickered. Some even threatened to quit unless their own salaries were raised as well.

Yet all were given an equal portion of salary. Wouldn’t the tenured faculty be pleased for the younger, proud of their institution? Apparently not. They felt cheated, disrespected, misused, and mistreated. Why?
[Give people time to answer.]

The president was saddened. The tenured folk were angry that if they had to earn their status and their pay, the younger should too. The president hadn’t seen it that way. For him, it wasn’t a matter of earning, but of taking part in what belonged to the university. The decision was his after all. He hadn’t taken anything from any of the older faculty. He had merely gifted the younger. Right?

Our culture cherishes an ethic of fairness. We expect things to be fair, just, even-steven. We want to feel good about what we’ve earned. We want to survey our hard-work and feel justified that we deserve our house, our car, our salary, our pay increase.

Far from being glad when others have what we have, when we come across someone who does, we start measuring….. What job does he have? How many years did she work for that raise? What title did he first attain? How many hoops did she have to jump through to get to that point in her career? We have a sense that in order to have what we have, others must have gone through what we’ve gone through. They must have worked just as hard. Must have learned the same ropes. Otherwise….. it’s just NOT FAIR!
But God doesn’t work that way. God does not play fair. Life is not “fair.”

God’s grace falls equally on everyone but not “fairly” or “justly.” Let me say that again. God’s grace falls equally on everyone, …..but in our eyes, God is not “just” or “fair.” Because God will gift you not according to what you’ve earned….but according to God’s own beautiful gift of grace.

This is the lesson Jesus teaches us today in his parable of the Vineyard Workers. In Jesus’ story, the Lord of the Manor hires some workers early in the day, some later, and some later still. And pays them all an equal wage. Those who have worked longer grumbled that those working only a short time have received the same salary.
It’s not fair! Is it?

Jesus lesson? God is not fair!! But God is something better than fair. God…is merciful! Bountiful! Gracious! Loving to all!

It’s true! God has no interest in our concept of fairness, our concept of justice, our concept of equal treatment.

God’s justice is bathed in mercy. Ours is marinated in selfishness, covetousness, and pride.

We believe in everyone getting their “just desserts” –except us! When we come to the heavenly gates, we aren’t going to ask God for God’s justice! We aren’t going to say, “I’m ready, Lord. Give me what’s fair!” We’re asking for God’s mercy! All of us want God’s mercy…even though we don’t deserve it. “Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.”

God is not fair. God is merciful. Not one of us “deserves” the gifts that God bestows upon us. Not one of us deserves anything from God. And yet God has invited us to live and work in God’s own vineyard and eat and drink from God’s bountiful table.

As Jesus tells us, we don’t go to take the best seats. But the least. And in doing so, God will gift to us bountiful blessings.

God is not interested in our measurements and even our longevity. God’s concept of time is nothing like ours. God measures in terms of our hearts.

God doesn’t care if you’ve been attending your church 50 years or 5, worshipping him for a life time, or a short time, if it means you’ve newly discovered the Name of your Creator. God will bestow upon YOU God’s beautiful and bountiful grace no matter when you’ve come home to Jesus. God will bless you bountifully in every case. God will bless you beyond what you can ask or even think.

I know it’s not fair, but it doesn’t matter to God if you’ve attended church since you were born and your family has attended that church for 3 generations. That new person who just got baptized and joined? Equal discipleship. Equal grace. Equally loved. Equally valued in God’s eyes. Equally called.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve sung in the choir, cooked countless meals for the homeless, done everything you should have done for thirty years. That person desiring to join one of our ministry teams, but with no experience? God celebrates that person just as much.

This is hard for us to hear, isn’t it? We are people who think in terms of grade, and of years, and of points, and of experience.

Sometimes in fact we look at our churches the way we look at our workplaces. The more years you “earn,” the more position you gain. But God is not interested in position at the Heavenly Feast. God is interested in the way we celebrate WITH God when one who is lost comes home to God’s kingdom.

But the only experience God is interested in is the breadth and depth and width and height of our relationship with God. And it only takes one turn of the heart to make God’s heart skip for joy.

Is there anyone here this morning who has been to a Bar Mitzvah? What an incredible event. It’s the time in a young person’s life when he or she accepts full responsibility as a member of the Jewish faith community. And it’s a HUGE celebration that everyone from the synagogue participates in. Every time a person comes to faith, the whole community celebrates, cheers, is filled with joy. And that person is given equal respect as a full member of that community.

The church too has that joyful tradition during easter Camp, which is a kind of bar mitzvah for evangelical youth, a joying coming-of-age ritual for the entire gathering. People are celebrated for coming to Jesus and were welcomed joyfully into the community of faith.

Today when someone comes to faith or joins the church we barely blink an eye. Baptisms are dutifully attended by members of a family, and many times, after the baptism, that family may never be seen again. Confirmands are given less and less instruction. And the ceremony is a mere 15 minutes in the course of a church service, after which many of them may never be seen again.

Where is our joy? Where is their moment of recognition? Where is our display of responsibility in baptism? In the lives of the entire congregation for that person?

The story in scripture today is about responsibility, but not the kind earned. The fault of those first vineyard workers is not that they did badly at their jobs or didn’t deserve a raise. The fault of those vineyard workers is their failure to celebrate the good stroke of grace bestowed upon their neighbours, those who arrived later. Instead of being joyful and welcoming them into God’s vineyard, they were stingy, self-centred, exclusive and grumbling.

God’s grace is God’s to give. God’s grace is not only ours to enjoy, but belongs to all of God’s people. We are not to judge who those people may be. God’s ways are not our ways, God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. God celebrates every single time a person comes to work in God’s vineyard.

And in God’s overflow of joy, God gifts all of us with the grace, love, joy, well-being we need.

Jesus spent a lot of time in his last weeks of life telling parables. From the prodigal, to the lost coin, lost sheep, to those seated at the feast, to those working in God’s vineyard, the message is the same. God welcomes those who we have cast aside. It’s almost as if Jesus wanted to make sure we got this message.
Who are those people in our midst whom we might think unworthy, inexperienced, not faithful long enough, not “churched” enough? Who are the people in this community whom we feel might not be as “upright” as we are, not as well-mannered as you?

Beware, because God has a different manner of deciding who sits at God’s table or is graced in God’s vineyard.

In every story Jesus tells, when a lost one is found, the entire company of heaven celebrates. In our churches, when a young person comes to faith, when a lost person comes to Jesus, when a poor or broken person becomes whole again in our congregation –-we need to celebrate!

Celebrate!! Because God is blessing them with very good things.

There is a story of a monastery where the monks were not at peace with each other or with God. They were often impatient, angry or jealous. Then one day the Guest Master answered a knock on the door. A visitor stood in the shadows and whispered, One of you is the Christ.’ Turning away, he was gone in a moment. The Guest Master related this incident to a meeting of the brothers later that morning, and afterwards, everyone left in silence. They had much to think about. Slowly the whole monastery was transformed, as the monks learned to deal with each other in a new way. Peace descended as they sought to be aware of the Christ among them.
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Christ is among us. Christ is among YOU. Celebrate! Celebrate the feast!