It’s not hard to see why Jesus’ story at the beginning of Matthew 20 (vv. 1-16) might have stirred up some conversation. It really kind of defied conventional wisdom . . . and isn’t that exactly what the things of the “kingdom of heaven” so often do? It’s one of those story that is so easy to “enter into” . . . to find yourself a part of . . . to relate to the drama and the reaction’s of the situation presented. And just like the men in the story, we can find ourselves saying, “Hey, that’s not fair.” But when we think about it a bit more, we also find ourselves exclaiming, “Praise God!”

Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to a landowner who goes out early in the morning and hires a bunch of workers for his vineyard. They agree to the wages, a denarius — a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s labor. A few hours later he comes across some more men needing work and tells them to also go work in his vineyard and assures them that he would pay them “whatever is right.” Another three hours pass and again the landowner is offering work in his vineyard to some men under the terms “I’ll pay you whatever is right.” And again, much later in the day, about an hour before the end of the work day, the landowner offers work to other men you have been unable find any work all day long. And then, when the work day is done, he calls all the laborers together and starts dishing our their pay.

He starts with those who had worked just one hour . . . and he gives them a denarius. Get that? He gives them the amount promised to those who had been working the full day. These latecomers received a full days wages for 1/12 a day’s labor. What a generous landowner! And you can just imagine what’s going through the head of those who had been hired at the beginning of the day, “If they get 1 denarius for 1 hours work, then how much more are we going to get for 12 hours labor?” Logical? Yes. Fair? Would seem so. Happened? Uh, uh! Instead, the landowner gives those who worked the full day the amount he contracted with them for, 1 denarius . . . they received the same wage as those hired later in the day. And isn’t their reaction not only predictable but also understandable? . . . “That’s not fair!”

But the issue really is not about fairness . . . the landowner paid the agreed upon wage to the all day workers. The issue is the grace of the landowner in what paying the same wage to those who had worked fewer hours . . . to those who “deserved less”. The landowner was “fair” to those he contracted with and was generous to those worked for him on the basis of “whatever is right.” And I guess, in a sense, to those later-in-the-day workers, the landowner wasn’t fair . . . oh, but wasn’t he so good!

And as I reflect upon the story, I praise God that He’s “not fair.” The wages of sin is death . . . and I didn’t get what I deserved or had earned . . . instead He offered me the gift of God, eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 6:23). If my “inheritance in heaven” were accumulated based on what I deserved, I’d be bankrupt. Instead “in [God’s] great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you” (1Peter 1:3-4). The issue isn’t about what’s fair . . . about getting what I deserve . . . no, it’s all about the riches and grace of the Father. The same heaven awaits the person who believed as child and faithfully served God his whole life as it does the crusty old sinner who gets saved on his deathbed. Unfair? No way! Neither deserves heaven . . . neither has earned heaven . . . both inherit eternal riches because of the grace of God.

If anything wasn’t fair, it was the sacrifice of God’s Son as payment for the debt I owed due to my sin. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2Cor. 5:21). Now that’s not fair! Oh, how I need to beware of ever thinking that I somehow deserve God’s favor . . . that I somehow can earn the right to be blessed of Him . . . that somehow God owes me something. He owes me nothing . . . I owe Him everything.

God is good . . . He is gracious . . . His mercies are new every morning . . . His faithfulness reaches to the sky. And I am a recipient of such grace . . . forgiven wages I should have paid . . . given treasures I could not earn . . . that’s not fair . . . yeah! . . . Praise God!