Romans: God Is Not Fair, Part 1.2

Price wrote in a comment yesterday,

I don’t see what is so unfair about both parties entering into a contractual agreement… It seems that when the first guys went to work that they thought that the wage was a fair wage…The owner, perhaps realizing that he had insufficient labor to get the job done by the end of the day felt compelled to go and try to get somebody else to finish up the work and needed to “encourage” them with additional pay…Those people also felt that it was fair when they agreed to do the work.. Likewise the next group… As far as Grace goes….it was the Owner’s decision to bring ANYBODY into the field…Whatever they did, little or much, the chance to receive anything wasn’t theirs to decide, but the Owner and I for one am eternally grateful that He allowed some of us to come in before it was too late. :)

I responded in the comments, but later realized I really should have responded with a post. (If you’ve already read my comment, this isn’t significantly changed.)

Price,

I don’t think it’s true to Jesus’ parable to hypothesize that the Master “felt compelled to go and try to get somebody else to finish up the work and needed to ‘encourage’ them with additional pay.” Jesus’ point is that they were paid more than they deserved.

And you also have to read the parable in light of First Century economics. In the realm of blue collar work, prices were fixed by tradition and custom. A day’s labor was worth 1 denarius and had been for centuries. A carpenter charged the customary charge regardless of the state of the economy. There were, of course, exceptions, as market forces sometimes overcame the inertia of tradition. But a denarius was one-day’s pay for a laborer.

This is why the Master didn’t have to set a price for those going to work after the beginning of the workday –

(Mat 20:3-4 ESV) 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’

To the First Century laborer, “whatever is right” would have sounded like the customary hourly wage. Evidently, the Master considered that a full day’s pay for a partial day’s labor was “right.” “Right” = DIKAION, meaning “righteous.” And that’s interesting, because when applied to God, “righteous” refers to God’s commitment to keep his covenant.

(Mat 20:15 ESV) 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’

The lesson is about generosity — not the law of supply and demand. And one moral is that God’s rewards will not be limited to what we earn but rather will be defined by his character as a generous God. But another moral is that some who come closer to actually earning their reward will be jealous of those who do less to earn their reward. We see the same lesson in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

If we weren’t talking about God and the Bible, most people would declare the results unfair — just as Jesus predicted. And most would object to the 5-talent servant who earned 10 receiving one more talent from the one-talent servant as unfair.

And by contemporary usage of the word, it is unfair — but that’s because grace isn’t a system built on fairness. It’s more than fair.

Jesus concludes the parable with –

(Mat 20:16 ESV) 16 “So the last will be first, and the first last.”

The “last” are those who came to work the last.

(Mat 20:14 ESV) 14 “Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you.”

The “first” is therefore the worker paid a day’s wages for a day’s work.

It’s easy to see how the “last” is first — he got the best deal. And the “first” is last, I suppose, because he got the worst bargain — although it’s an undeniably just bargain.

Thus, the Kingdom turns things upside. It will have workers who receive vastly more than they deserve, and it will have workers who are rewarded justly only. That’s the way it is.

And so, you are exactly right that the real lesson is that it’s good to have been called! Better last than not at all. And if you’re in heaven, where are you going to spend your money anyway?!

In other words, the reward for everyone is so much greater than we deserve that comparing rewards is to entirely miss the point. If I win the lottery for $10 trillion and you win another lottery for $100 trillion, I have no business being upset and jealous of you. I have more than enough. We need to lay aside rivalry and score keeping and get to work, confident in our reward.

That is for us Americans a very hard thing to do. We live in a culture of competition and rivalry, of winning by outdoing our competitors.

And so we see the “church down the road” as competition — and we’re unhappy if they receive the same reward as we, since we have so much more merit and understand the rules so much better. And Jesus says, “Get over it.”

About Jay F Guin

My name is Jay Guin, and I’m a retired elder. I wrote The Holy Spirit and Revolutionary Grace about 18 years ago. I’ve spoken at the Pepperdine, Lipscomb, ACU, Harding, and Tulsa lectureships and at ElderLink. My wife’s name is Denise, and I have four sons, Chris, Jonathan, Tyler, and Philip. I have two grandchildren. And I practice law.
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10 Responses to Romans: God Is Not Fair, Part 1.2

  1. Legalists will never “get” this parable.

    Though I had “grown up in the church” and preached for most of my adult life, it was not until I realized that I was in this parable as the one “hired” at the 11th hour that I feel that I began to understand it.

    It is about the difference between grace and law, between working under a contract and working trusting the Master to do right by me – which He does. He does not pay me what I deserve; His gift is far more than wages justly earned. It is grace, pure and simple.

    “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what I have?”

    And if He chooses to save someone whom I think is undeserving, I need to remember that He also said, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.”

    Jerry

  2. abasnar says:

    I think the alternative of not being called for these workers must have been like this:

    Waiting all day at the market place for someone to hire him, is a humiliating experience. Seeing how others are getting a job while the sun steadily goes down must be frustrating. Returning home at sundown and explaining to your wife and children: “No, there was no job and no money for me today – we have to go to bed hungry.” is breaking his heart.

    Have we ever seen ourselves in such a position? I was unemployed for 18 months in 2009 and 2010; I went through the process of looking for job offers (market place), applying and being rejected several times. My job now pays roghly the same I earned 8 years ago, which – from a worldly perspective – is not very uplifting, but God provides.

    Now that I work, I do work. I had some extremly tough weeks in June. This makes me think: There is also a difference between starting to work “in the morning” or “in the afternoon”. Usually, when you have a full day ahead, work is much more relaxed. But when the sun is tarting to sink and there is still a heap of work left to do, all become pretty nervous and work harder and faster to get the job done.

    But back to the text:

    The “first ones” and “last ones” often refers to the attitude of the pharisees and scribes against those sinners who later in their life repented. They have been serving the Lord from their childhood on – like the older brother in Luke 15 (also standing as a type for the same people) – and now they see tax collectors and prostitutes receiving the same amount of God’s love as they receive (see Mat 21:31).

    In Mat 19:30 he uses this phrase for the first time after his meeting with the rich young ruler. He served God from his childhood on, while the Apostles were rough fishermen, a zealot and a Tax-collector who were called by Christ in their late 20ies or early 30ies. They left everything and expect a reward, and Christ said to them:

    Mat 19:29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.
    Mat 19:30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

    The parable that follows points out that – from God’s perspective – “we are all beggars” (quote Martin Luther). If He does not hire us, we have nothing to live on. This applies to all who earnestly want to live for God – devout Jews and disciples alike. He ends this with almost the same words:

    Mat 20:16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”

    This seems to be meant as an answer to a question that arose in the hearts of the disciples after Mat 19:30. They most likely thought to themselves: “What does He mean with this?” And Christ told this parable, and ends it – basically saying: “That’s how this works – understood?”

    But to make sure that this no black and white matter, He normally phrases it:

    Luk 13:30 And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

    Not all pharisees are lost, and not all who came in later will be saved in the end. Some.

    Being called into the vineyard means to be called as a worker. It is grace, that we beggars get a chance to earn our bread, but we do have to work for the Master, for His profit and glory. Nicodemus was one of the “First”, but he “remained” in the vineyard, when the others came in. Other “First ones” stopped working when they saw new workers arriving at 3 p.m. at started arguing and persecuting the disciples.

    There is no crystal clear sharp line between these two groups. Many – thanks to God – made the transition fom the Old to the New Covenant. Paul loved the Jews and prayed that they would grasp the message. At the same time, we Gentiles are always “Last ones”, but do you see how many made a good start but did not finish the race?

    The salvation – in the end – is based on faithful obedience, but its roots are in the calling of God at the market place. We are still beggars, and we must not forget this, but we are called to work.

    Alexander

  3. Price says:

    Jay…..I’m sure many see different things in the parables of Jesus…Perhaps because these words are living and breathing into our hearts, minds and souls…

    My sophomoric attempt was to point out that fairness, at least as far as God deals with man…can’t really be measured…One must be able to accurately measure both sides of the balance and with God who can do that ?? Things aren’t always as they appear…

    Job demanded an answer from God…and he got one…. which was basically, “Who are you to question Me?” And when the whirlwind discussion ended, Job was on his knees in repentance..

    God gives us what He chooses but I’m convinced that He gives us both good and bad to mold us into the image of Christ… It isn’t about who has and who has not… It’s about preparation, character building, servant hood (as Alexander alluded), and only Lord knows what else…but it seems that Romans 8 suggests there was (past tense) a plan set in motion to conform us (present tense) to the image of Christ… How can one really measure that process to determine what is fair or what isn’t fair..??

    l believe that “fairness” is a human term….that cannot be accurately imposed on God… unless God Himself says that he was unfair…But, being “just” seems but a minor terminology difference with “fair” and I just would not dare say that God was unfair or unjust… At best I could say that it “appears” unfair or unjust…and have on many occasion…but in the end..God is neither…I just can’t bring myself to ascribe those terms to His character…nor can I condemn those that do… I am not God and cannot measure His side of the balance.

    In the end…as He told Paul….MY Grace is Sufficient… I think I’ll go with that and leave “fair” and or “unjust” to the much more wise to consider and debate.

  4. Randall says:

    Someone has said that parables are “not intended to walk on all fours.”

  5. Alabama John says:

    The only one that would ever gripe is the one who felt he did more for the same reward.

    We are to do all we can in Gods work.

    If we do, then whatever we get is more than we deserve.

    I always thought this applied very well to the Jews that labored for all those years and now the Gentiles are coming in late and getting the same reward.

  6. Doug says:

    When we look for “fairness” from God we only set ourselves up for a faith testing experience. I once worked for over 20 years trying to help grow a small independent Christian church. As one of the main leaders, I eventually found myself trying to make “deals” with God concerning the church’s survival. I eventually came to feel like I had kept my end of this one-sided agreement but that God had not. The time came when I became so disallusioned with my “agreement” that I had to leave this church or lose my faith. It took some time for me to finally realize that I was the only one that had made that agreement, I had just expected God to fall in line. God rarely falls in line with human thought, His ways are higher than our ways. Trusting that His ways are for our benefit is one essence of faith.

  7. Alabama John says:

    GOD FAIR?
    I remember the old story of the person making the good confession in winter in an old country church and not having a baptistery and the river being too cold.
    So, they all agree to drive down the road a piece to a building that did have an indoor, warm water baptistery.
    On the way there was a wreck and the person to be baptized was killed.
    How many times I’ve seen and heard this story and the question asked and answer given.
    Was that person saved?
    The answer was always: if they were on their way to be married, would they be married?
    Fair?
    How about Grace! To me that makes it all fair. its the end result, not the in between that makes it fair or not.

  8. Jay Guin says:

    Price,

    I entirely agree that “‘fairness’ is a human term … that cannot be accurately imposed on God.” And yet we do. It’s nearly hardwired into our hearts and attitudes. It affects our theological ruminations. It affects our attitudes toward God.

    Your example of Job is a good one. Were I in Job’s position, I’d be angry, thinking God’s hasn’t been fair to me. When people lose loved ones, suffering great pain despite having been faithful servants of God, they feel that God is unfair.

    We instinctively want to impose human standards on God. We desperately try to remake him into our own image. And it’s been the source of lots of distress, bad theology, and even lost faith.

    God is not tameable, and his righteousness is beyond our comprehension.

  9. Jay Guin says:

    Randall,

    I think I agree. Parables are given to force us to think through the question. They often admit of more than one interpretation, and more than one interpretation can be correct. They are not riddles to be solved but windows into a wisdom that communicates better in story than in logic.

  10. Jay Guin says:

    Doug,

    Thanks for that story. As a friend of mine likes to say, “The goal is to be faithful, not to be successful.”

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