Wednesday November 01, 2017

 

What goes around comes around. You get what you deserve. Actions have consequences. You reap what you sow, and on and on goes the list of sayings. Growing up, my image of God was that he was a God that took my bad and good deeds and weighed them on a scale. The problem with this was that the scale always tilted heavily in the wrong direction. It is typical of every religious system to believe that there is a God out there who is looking for good people. At the very least, he is looking for people who have produced enough good deeds to tilt the scales in the right direction. Muslims believe in the code of law, Hindus in karma, Buddhists in the eightfold path, and Hebrews in the covenant. Each one of these offers a path to balance the scales in order for us to receive Gods approval. Christianity alone offers grace. Christianity makes Gods love for us unconditional.

The Parable of the Vineyard Workers, as told by Jesus, is a story about a landowner who went out each morning to hire workers for his vineyard. Before sending the workers off to work, the landowner would first discuss and agree upon the wages for the day. Later one morning, the landowner saw some people just milling around town, he hired them and promised to pay them what was right at the end of the day. The same thing happened at noon and at three o’ clock. At five o’ clock he returned to the market and saw another group of people doing nothing. He asked them why they were not working, to which they replied: “nobody will hire us”. The landowner told them to go and join the other workers at his vineyard. At the end of the day, the landowner instructed his foreman to pay each worker. All of them were paid a full days wages, that is, those who had worked a full day as well as those who had only worked an hour. The workers who worked longer hours protested. This is how the landowner replied:

‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?

– Matthew 20:13-15 NLT

The workers perceived this action to be unfair, and so they became upset. It was difficult for them to appreciate the fact that the landowner could do whatever he wanted with his money. It was his prerogative to pay someone twelve times more than they deserved. Grace is not fair it is better than fairness. Grace takes my unbalanced scales and tips them in the right direction not because of my good deeds, but because of Gods good deeds. Good deeds cannot earn us grace. Grace is something God gives because He loves us. Grace means that God couldn’t love you more than He already does and it also means he couldn’t love you any less than He already does.

How would your life be impacted if you came to a place where you are able to view the entirety of your life through the lens of Gods grace and unconditional love for you? You will be surprised to see what grace and only grace can do.

Heavenly Father I marvel at the extent of your grace and unconditional love, because even do my actions should tip the balance in the wrong directions your grace inclines the balance in the right direction.