No Fair!

“The first shall be last and the last shall be first.”

In Houston when I would drive to work or do errands downtown, there

were many hispanic men waiting under overpassess hoping to be chosen

for day labor.

Some times the overpass was full of men waiting. And, there was only

once when I went by that I saw a truck stop to pick up some of the men.

Which ones did the driver hire? The ones who were right by the truck?

The ones who looked the strongest? Was it like choosing players in gym

class to be on your team? Who would the driver choose first?

Let’s suppose we are under that overpass, and we weren’t chosen.

We would be disappointed. We really need the money. Bills are piling up.

Food is running low, but that’s true for others, too We hope for another

truck to come.

A couple of hours later, the same truck pulls up. There are a few of us

standing around with our brown paper lunch bags, and he hires them too.

great! We’re not in that group. Now we are getting more anxious. It’s now

after lunch. Still no work. The hours tick by. It’s almost 100 degrees with

90% humidity in July, and we are thirsty and still anxious.It’s three o’clock

and we are about to go home and tell our family there will be no food

tonight.

But the same truck comes by, and we have been hired! Not for a whole

day, but it’s better than nothing! We go to the new subdivision

to help brick the outside of the second story home. After 5:30, the owner

of the truck comes by to pay everyone in cash—we receive our pay

thinking it will be for two and a half hours, but it is for the whole day!

What an incredible surprise! We can feed our family for another day.

God is good. All the time God is good.

I usually don’t look at the parable this way, and maybe that is Jesus’ point.

We get so focused on what is fair and what we deserve that we neglect to

look at things from the perspective of the less fortunate. There are so

many in our world that can’t catch a break. If they finally do catch one,

who are we to complain? Isn’t that the point of the story?

That we shouldn’ complain about God’s unfair generosity, God’s grace and

mercy?

But it’s hard to do, isn’t it? We’re human. We judge.

I know high school classmates who worked in the summer, in the

cornfield untassling corn stocks. They were not paid by the hour, but by

how many rows they could get done. One of my friends, Kim, said she

worked so hard, was sunburned, tired, achy.She said the more she did,the

more she was compenstated. I think that’s how we want the world to

work. Work hard, get rewarded. Don’t work hard, don’t get rewarded.

We want the world to be fair. But this parable forces us to ask

whether the world is really fair. When I worked in a snack bar for two

summers with Stephanie, in my opinion, I always got the worst job,

making malts and shakes. It was easy to make French fries and

hamburgers. At the end of the week when we were paid, just because I felt

I worked harder making malts and shakes, it didn’t mean I got paid more.

And I think about Dennis in 7th grade. Who wore the same pants and shirt

all week. Had greasy hair by the end of the week, and smelled. No one

wanted sit next to him in English class. I found out he lived on a farm and

was very poor because they had old equipment that always broke down,

and it was hard to get the field work done to sell on time. There were

missed opportunities. But Dennis was very smart in English. He was one

of the main writers for our high school newspaper. However, he did not

have the resources to pursue his passion, and ended up working on the

farm.

Dennis was born in the wrong place. In the game of life, many of us,

many of us who cross home plate do so because we were born on third

base. Other’s aren’t even on the team. Why shouldn’t people like Dennis,

the hispanic men waiting for work receive as much as you and I?

And if they don’t in this life, shouldn’t we hope that they do in the next?

We know some people are poor because they are lazy. They need to get

off their duffs. Others, however are poor because of being born in the

wrong place, at the wrong time.

This parable is more than just economic justice, as important as that is.

It is about more than what it might mean to level the playing field

and help those who were born in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This parable has a deeper spiritual meaning. It is about grace and mercy

as it is about food and housing. And if we are going to wrap our heads

around the point of this parable, perhaps we need to see ourselves

as the laborers hired last. Given the same amount of grace as the others,

whether we have earned it or not. And the truth is, none of us have earned

it. None of us never will. We won’t score enough compensation for all our

hard work.

We may get some more than our neighbor, but we still won’t have enough.

Think about the thief on the cross next to Jesus who may not have done a

bit of good all his life, can say a quick prayer and go the same place as

you.

That’s the nature of grace and that’s the point of the parable.

God’s grace upends everything. God’s grace dismantles transactions, rule

based systems of performance. God’s grace flips our logic upside down.

grateful for that. We can’t earn God’s gift of grace, and we don’t have to.

This parable is simply a way of reminding us of this gift. And reminding us

to receive the gift humbly, and gratefully, and not envious because of God’

generosity.

“The last will be first, the first will be last, but all who depend on God’s

grace will be welcomed home.” And when we get there, nothing else will

matter. Amen.

God’s grace dismantles transactions,

rule based systems of performance

and time based rewards.

God’s grace flips our logic upside down.

It’s not fair according to our way of thinking

and we should be grateful for that.

We can’t earn God’s grace

by working harder

working overtime

or finding Jesus at the end of our lives.

God’s grace empowers us

not to be envious.

or tell ourselves we deserve more

than those born in the wrong place at the wrong time.

We can’t earn God’s grace

and we don’t have to.

This is a gift given freely to everyone.

The last will be first,

the first will be last

but all who depend on God’s grace

will be welcomed home

and when we get there,

nothing else will matter. Amen