I reread the parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20 this morning. This is one of those stories that always sticks out because it hits close to home.
It is an older brother parable, one that doesn't seem fair. Actually, it is a story that is totally unfair. That's really the point of the story, God doesn't work around what we think is fair. He doesn't operate under a fairness doctrine. He operates under a grace doctrine - a crazy, over-the-top, beyond what we can believe or ever deserve, outside the realm of possibility, messing with your mind grace doctrine.
Today , the second half of verse 15 really stuck out to me. Here it is from several translations:
Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
Do you begrudge me my generosity?
Is your eye envious because I am generous?
Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?
It describes what happens when we try to understand grace in terms of fairness. It messes us up. We can become so entrenched in our society's understanding of fairness that our first reaction to God's generosity is envy, grudge and stinginess.
That isn't a fault of God or the grace doctrine, it is a result of us becoming more and more of the world.
How do we rectify the situation?
Make a habit of regularly marveling in that bountiful grace.
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