The God of Grace

So those who are last will be first then, and those who are first will be last. Matthew 20:16 (NLT)

This parable is about a master who hires five groups of workers at different times throughout the day. “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

 “That isn’t fair,” you might argue. From a business standpoint, you would be absolutely correct. But God’s kingdom isn’t about fairness. It’s about God’s goodness. It’s about more than economic justice – it’s about grace. And the grace God bestows on us depends not on our merit or worthiness but on His love for us.

Think about it; you and I don’t merit a thing, yet God has given us everything. And to those who have labored long, God will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” That, alone, will be reward enough.

Thought: “If paid on the basis of fairness, we would all end up in hell… In the bottom line realm of ungrace, some workers deserve more than others; in the realm of grace the word ‘deserve’ does not even apply” – Philip Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?