But That's Not Fair! - 09/18/2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 12:52AM in Rev. Terry Lucarelli Sermon text: Matthew 20: 1-16
I sure don’t see this as being very FAIR … do YOU? Jesus tells another parable of the kingdom of heaven in our gospel lesson today [Matthew shares a lot of those stories], and Jesus is basically saying that the guys who worked all day in the hot sun were going to get the same day’s wages as those who only worked for one hour! Sure doesn’t seem very FAIR to me…
I’d venture to bet that this is not one of Jesus’ more popular parables … and for good reason! You and I were brought up in an era that values hard work and a JUST reward for that work. The more you work and the more productive you are, the more you ought to get paid. Is there anybody out there who disagrees with that? That sure is how the workers felt in our story, right? Complaining they said: “You have made them equal to US…” Oh, the injustice of it all….
I’ve said it! You’ve said it! Whenever we’ve felt that someone else is getting a better deal than us, we felt cheated and we screamed: “BUT THAT’S NOT FAIR!” Why is it that some people seem to get more than they deserve … while others get less? It’s just not right. … Read full sermon here (PDF)
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