“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 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.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last. (Matthew 20)
Life is unfair. Many of us have been reminded of that our whole lives through. Sometimes evil people seem to get ahead; speeders fly by then squeeze in just before the construction arrow; a new line opens at the checkout of a store, and the last guy runs up to get in line when we have been waiting 15 minutes; some worldly person makes a deathbed confession of faith and enters the Kingdom. To top it off, the police officer watching traffic does nothing and the manager at the store looks on with approval. That's how these workers felt, and that is how we can often feel when we look at life. People much less than "perfect" than we are seem to be blessed by God. We also often struggle with the idea of forgiving some classes of people have gotten ahead at the harm and expense of others: thieves, crooked politicians, even sexual offenders. Are there those who can never change? Who are beyond the grace of God? Would we begrudge God His grace and mercy? Who are we to tell God what to do and how to do it?
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