God isn't fair

I was looking at the reading from this morning and thinking about what was going on in the life of my family and I realized that in the midst of the questions about "Why?" that God isn't fair. God doesn't ask us whether we want what's behind door number two. We follow God or we don't. If we follow God it will take us places that we can't imagine, and some that we would prefer not to go. As a friend said, God doesn't tell us "This is what I want you to do, are you in?" Rather she asks "Will you follow me?"

The parable from this morning's readings tells of a landowner who hired people through the day to work in his vineyard. In the end they were all paid the same and some complained. The landowner rebuked the complainers for being envious of his generosity. We are all to much like those workers. We demand that we get rewarded for the extra work we put in. We want a bonus for pain and suffering.

The truth is that God has only one currency. That is God's love and grace, and when it comes to God's love and grace God knows no arithmetic. There is no subtraction, no division. Everyone gets the same thing because it is all that God can give.

The funny thing is that when we follow, when we trust, when we cast ourselves into that ocean of love and grace, it is enough. We may walk day by day, or even minute by minute, but we get through because God gets through with us.

God isn't about being fair. Instead God gives us far more than we deserve.