When you read the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16), did your heart leap for joy?
Were you thrilled when you heard that the workers whotoiled and slaved all day long in the hot sun were going to get the same day’s wages as those who worked for only one hour?
Be honest.
Listen to the parable: A landowner hired workers early in the morning and promised to pay them what amounted to minimum wage – one denarius. This was considered the basic subsistence for a man to feed his family for a day. The landowner then went back at 9 am, 12 pm, 3 pm and 5 pm and hired more workers. He simply told them that he’d pay them what was right.
So far, so good. In our minds, we’ve already got it figured out – they’re going to get a pro …show more content…
Watch a bunch of children play and it won’t be long before you hear someone say, “That’s not fair!” Too often, however, fairness rather than love, acceptance, mercy, forgiveness, or generosity is the measure by which we act and judge another person or life circumstances.
God, by contrast is extravagantly and illogically loving and gracious. God showers us with love, forgiveness, acceptance and grace. God’s love for us is not dependent upon any sense of what is fair. And to that we can only respond: Thanks be to God!
• Stop comparing yourself and your life to others and you will create room for grace to emerge. Make no judgments of yourself or others. That is the way of grace, the way of God. If we all let go of comparison and competition, our life would be God-filled, we would make space for the life of another to be God-filled, and the world would look a lot like the kingdom of heaven.
• The problem with the workers who’d worked all day was the fact that they were obviously working for the pay and not out of a sense of purpose or pleasure. Here’s is a good question we’d do well to ask: “What is it that motivates you and me to do what we do?” Is it recognition, the praise of othersor material …show more content…
It’s when gratitude gives way to the routine that we become disgruntled and begrudge those who seem to have it better. That God chose any one of us for His vineyard is amazing. We should rejoice in that, and rejoice in the fact that He is still inviting otherwise ‘unemployed’ folks to join.
Friend… we’ll always feel a little squeamish about the inequities of life – the unfairness of it all – and perhaps we’ll continue to harbour a little resentment toward those who seem to get a free ride. Let’s just say it’s because we’re human, not God. Even so, let’s trust God… in spite of our humanness, there’ll be grace for us as
Were you thrilled when you heard that the workers whotoiled and slaved all day long in the hot sun were going to get the same day’s wages as those who worked for only one hour?
Be honest.
Listen to the parable: A landowner hired workers early in the morning and promised to pay them what amounted to minimum wage – one denarius. This was considered the basic subsistence for a man to feed his family for a day. The landowner then went back at 9 am, 12 pm, 3 pm and 5 pm and hired more workers. He simply told them that he’d pay them what was right.
So far, so good. In our minds, we’ve already got it figured out – they’re going to get a pro …show more content…
Watch a bunch of children play and it won’t be long before you hear someone say, “That’s not fair!” Too often, however, fairness rather than love, acceptance, mercy, forgiveness, or generosity is the measure by which we act and judge another person or life circumstances.
God, by contrast is extravagantly and illogically loving and gracious. God showers us with love, forgiveness, acceptance and grace. God’s love for us is not dependent upon any sense of what is fair. And to that we can only respond: Thanks be to God!
• Stop comparing yourself and your life to others and you will create room for grace to emerge. Make no judgments of yourself or others. That is the way of grace, the way of God. If we all let go of comparison and competition, our life would be God-filled, we would make space for the life of another to be God-filled, and the world would look a lot like the kingdom of heaven.
• The problem with the workers who’d worked all day was the fact that they were obviously working for the pay and not out of a sense of purpose or pleasure. Here’s is a good question we’d do well to ask: “What is it that motivates you and me to do what we do?” Is it recognition, the praise of othersor material …show more content…
It’s when gratitude gives way to the routine that we become disgruntled and begrudge those who seem to have it better. That God chose any one of us for His vineyard is amazing. We should rejoice in that, and rejoice in the fact that He is still inviting otherwise ‘unemployed’ folks to join.
Friend… we’ll always feel a little squeamish about the inequities of life – the unfairness of it all – and perhaps we’ll continue to harbour a little resentment toward those who seem to get a free ride. Let’s just say it’s because we’re human, not God. Even so, let’s trust God… in spite of our humanness, there’ll be grace for us as