It's not fair! Every parent has heard that cry from one or more of their children. Part of the challenge of parenting is to try and maintain some level of fairness among siblings, which, of course, is an impossible task. Sometimes parents simply have to say, "I know it's not fair, but that's the way it is. Now go and clean your room!"
From the worker's perspective, it doesn't seem fair that those who only work an hour or two late in the day, are paid the same amount, a full day's wage, as those who were first hired and worked all day. But, the master of the vineyard did fulfill his agreement. He paid the first hired what they agreed to. It's just that he paid the same to the ones hired later, and that seems unfair.
This parable is a reminder that it's the Master who makes the decisions, and not the workers. The Master is the owner, and the Master can do what the Master chooses. Do we really want the Master to remit wages on the basis of what we think we deserve? In Romans 6:23 Paul writes, "The wages of sin is death." Since we all sin, that's the wage we all deserve. But God has gone way beyond fairness in making it possible for all to live in a right relationship with God. "But God proves his love for us in that while we were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God." (Romans 5: 8-9)
Thankfully, God is not fair- God is more than fair. God moves beyond the human boundaries of fairness, to make it possible for all to be saved through Him. That's not just fairness, that's love.
"Lord, thank You that You are more than just fair." Amen
What an effective reminder that WE lose if God is fair. We don't even need to ask God to be merciful to us sinners, because he loves us so much that we experience his mercy way beyond what is "fair".
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