As a parent how often do we hear “it’s not fair!” Not so much now fortunately as my two sons are well into their 30s.
One lives in London and the other in Australia. They both have dogs, and it is the London son’s dog, Bill, who has featured in several TFTDs over the months.
I thought it only fair, therefore to write something that (loosely) featured Cheddar, the Australian branch of the Cope canine family.
Cheddar is a miniature Labradoodle, and although I am yet to meet her, she appears regularly on photos home, and is very cute.
In the parable of the vineyard workers, the vineyard owner promises to pay each of the workers one denarius for a day’s work. He hires more workers at 9am, then more at noon and even more at three in the afternoon. At five in the afternoon, he sees more people hanging around and asks why they have been standing around all day doing nothing. “Because no one has hired us,” came their reply.
The evening came and everyone gathered for their expected reward – but the sting in the tail was that each worker got one denarius, as promised, irrespective of whether they had worked from dawn to dusk or simply started working just as evening was approaching.
It’s not fair!!
The vineyard owner replied to their grumbles, “didn’t you all promise to work for one denarius, take what is promised to you and go.”
This parable is not about rewards for work done, it is about God’s generous grace to all who come to him. It is not about superiority, or special treatment because of inheritance or status, but about the reassurance of God’s grace to those who have believed their whole lives and to those who have only recently found Jesus.
Prayer: Loving and generous God, help us to accept that it is not be good works or long and faithful service that we are promised a place in your kingdom, but simply by your generous grace that is freely offered to all. Your grace, love and forgiveness are given in abundance. Thank you, God, for loving each one of us. AMEN