2008-09-21 Pentecost 19

Pentecost 19 “Grace: It’s Just . . . Not Fair” Matt 20:1-16 “May the Words . . . “ The house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair. O house of Israel, is it not My ways that are fair, and your ways that are not fair?” Ez. 18:29 In the Name of Jesus. Amen. “It’s just not fair!” We’ve all heard that from children, haven’t we? And truth be told we’ve said it as adults as well. “It’s just not fair” That’s what thousands of San Diego fans were saying after their loss to the Broncos last weekend. “It’s just not fair”, That’s what investors in and employees of Lehman brothers and Merrill Lynch are saying. “It’s just not fair”, That’s what the faithful spouse says after they discover their husband or wife has been unfaithful. “It’s just not fair”. Think of a time you have thought—or said that. Not hard to do, is it? I said it this past week about a few calls the referees made at Molley’s volleyball game. “It’s just not fair”. Sometimes we say it to—or about—God. We’ve gone to church, been faithful all our lives, and then God allows something tragic to happen, and we think “It’s just not fair.” Or we might think that we put a lot of time and effort—and money-- in at the church and am never thanked or appreciated. “It’s just not fair.” This expression reflects the human idea that if you work hard and do what you’re supposed to do, then you will be treated accordingly by others or by

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God—according to some ill-defined standard. We go to great lengths to pursue fairness, all the while forgetting those infamous and immortal words spoken by Wesley to Buttercup in the movie “The Princess Bride”: “Life isn’t fair, princess; and anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something.” In the Old Testament lesson for today God reminds Israel, and all of us, that though sometimes life doesn’t seem fair—He is just! It’s a powerful message that reminds us that God does not act according to man’s concepts of “fairness”, but rather, He acts according to grace, and justice. It is a message that assures us that God’s grace is just . . . not fair! We are familiar with this parable that Jesus tells. Workers are hired at various times during the day—each agreeing to their wages. But when it comes to be paid, those hired last are paid the same as those hired first. They all receive the same wage. This is just—for it is what they agreed to with the owner of the vineyard. By telling this parable Jesus illustrates the justice of God. When we hear this word “justice” we immediately think of punishment. Granted, we see evidence of His type of justice throughout the Scriptures. Because He is just, God promises to punish sin. He tells Adam and Eve that the day they eat of the forbidden fruit they will die—and they did. WE might think that to be fair they deserved a second chance—but God is just—and so He kept His word. He tells Moses to speak to the rock at Meribah in order to bring forth water—and instead Moses struck it with his staff—Moses is not allowed to enter the Promised Land. We might think “That’s not fair—Moses didn’t do anything THAT bad.” But God’s ways are not our ways—He is concerned about justice, not “fairness”. 2

God made a covenant with Israel which they broke over and over and over again. And so He created a new covenant, one that would allow those to become part of His people who were not descendants of Abraham. (Hosea 1) This New covenant would be based not on the Law, but on Grace; not kept by the feeble works of God’s people, but by the faithful work of God’s Son. A New covenant that was spoken of not just by one prophet, but by many—that last of whom was John the Baptist who summed up the message in his words to the Pharisees: “Do not begin to say to yourselves we have Abraham as our Father, for I tell you God can raise up children of Abraham from these stones.” And that is what God did. Having been unjustly punished for the sins of the world, God graciously raised His Son from the dead—an event that assures us that all who die and are raised up to new life in Him through Holy Baptism can be assured of spending their lives with Him in heaven. People of God who can confidently say, like St. Paul in the epistle lesson for today, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Because Christ suffered on the cross, died, and rose again from the dead three days later, we can be certain that when we die God will be gracious, that He will not punish us, as would be just, and He will definitely NOT be fair. You see, we really wouldn’t want that. Because if God were really fair He wouldn’t have punished Jesus for our sins—He would punish us. If God were fair He would make us His children in holy baptism as babies— but rather wait to see how well we would do in our lives—and then determine whether He wanted us in heaven or not. If God were fair He wouldn’t be with us during all of those difficult days of our lives— remaining faithful to us even though we are so frequently so unfaithful to

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Him. God’s not fair—he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. That is proven in the person of Jesus Christ—who merits, models, and proclaims this message to all people! But like the workers in the parable, many of the Jews at Jesus’ time responded to God’s grace by saying “It’s just not fair.” They had earned their placed in the kingdom—or so they thought. They had worked hard, toiled at keeping the Torah, sacrificed to observe the Sabbath, and now they were listening to The Lord of Sabaoth, of righteousness, tell them that eternal righteousness comes not through works, but by grace! It’s just not fair! And this, dear friends, is exactly the point. The Grace of God in Christ Jesus is just . . . but not fair. For if God had been fair He would have destroyed the world at the time of Noah—and left NO survivors. But God is gracious and merciful, and so He provided deliverance. If God had been fair He wouldn’t have called Moses to lead His people out of slavery—Instead allowing them to languish in that Godforsaken land. But God is gracious and abounding in steadfast love—and so He led them out through the waters, by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. If God were fair He would never have promised a savior, a messiah, a king greater than Saul, Solomon, or David. And that savior Jesus Christ would never have fed five thousand for free; would never have welcomed publicans and prostitutes into His midst; Would never have went to the cross; would never have assured a thief that “today you’ll be with me in paradise”, would not have suffered and become the final sacrifice for sin;

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would not have given His life for the life of the world. If God were fair He would not have done any of this. But God’s grace is Just, not fair. And so He poured out His wrath and placed the punishment for sins on the shoulders of His Son for the sole purpose of forgiving the world and rescuing you and me. Come to think of it, if God were fair we probably wouldn’t be here today—because we have been saved by the doctrine of grace, not by some “fairness” doctrine. If God were fair we wouldn’t be allowed the privilege of entering into His presence here, in His holy house, or hereafter, into His heavenly dwelling. Instead, we’d simply be punished eternally for our sins. If God were fair we wouldn’t qualify as a Christian; we wouldn’t be graciously hired to work in God’s harvest fields—but instead only fired like stubble in the furnace. If God were fair He would give us what we really do deserve in this life and the next—which is eternal death and damnation. Instead, God in His grace has showered us with an abundance of blessings. He has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit who gives us that which the world cannot give—love, joy, peace, patience, perseverance. He has given us the gift of life in Christ—life lived to the fullest. He has even given us the privilege—like He did for St. Paul—of suffering with Him and for Him. Knowing like St. Paul that whatever happens to us serves to advance the cause of the Gospel, and gives us even greater reason to rejoice. So then we join our voices not to those of the world, to those of the laborers hired first, crying out “It’s not fair”. Rather, we join with the prophets and St. Paul, the angels and archangels, with Christians and all the company of heaven—with those who have set their eyes not on earthly things, but on things above—on Christ, who is seated at the right hand of the Father. Our refrain is one that speaks not of fairness, but grace; 5

It is sung to God, not spoken to men. It is not one heard coming from the mouth of complaining sinners— but rather one of rejoicing ringing out from the tents of the righteous. Rejoicing in the fact that the wages we have received are not those of eternal death—but instead eternal life in Christ. Rejoicing because we know that no matter how much we do or don’t have in this life, we have been given all things in Christ Jesus. Rejoicing with our co-laborers in Christ’s vineyard—those who were hired first and those last. Rejoicing that we have been called to work in that vineyard, cloaked in baptismal garments that have been washed and made white in the blood of the lamb, confessing faith in Christ Jesus so that others might also rejoice with us. Amen.

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