Just and Gracious

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are reflections on Sunday's message, which can be heard here each week: http://myencounterchurch.org/#/messages-media]

The last two mornings, I’ve gotten up early for quiet time with God before the days burst into full volume. Both mornings, the loud child has woken up just as I’m settling in with my Bible and warm beverage. It seems like if I’m making extra effort toward good, holy choices, God might bless me with quiet, sleepy children.  

Photo Credit: Flickr user stockmonkeys.com

Perhaps that somewhat silly example isn’t a place where you can connect with the idea of being disappointed in our expectations of God; maybe one of these is a better fit: You followed what seemed like God’s will into college and a major; why has He given jobs to other people, but not to you? Your beloved relative sought to honor God with his life; why did God take him away at such a young age? You would be such good parents; why does God give children to others while you remain childless? You have honored God in relationships and waited for a godly spouse; why won’t He turn anyone’s head your way? Perhaps there’s another place you feel the sting of unmet expectation with God, and you question His fairness. 

Pastor Dirk drew our attention to God’s fairness in the Parable of the Compassionate Employer (Matthew 20:1-16). A vineyard owner (who represents God in this story) hires workers at the beginning of the day, agreeing to pay them a fair amount for a day of work; four more times throughout the day he hires other workers, agreeing to pay them whatever is right. At the end of the story, the workers all go home with the same pay, whether they worked one hour or twelve. The workers who were in the field the longest see the owner’s generosity to others and expect more than they agreed to; they complain that He is unfair. Two things stand out in particular in this parable: the compassion and unexpected generosity of the vineyard owner, and the expectations of the workers.

Whether we look at our own lives (when loud children wake up at 6:15, or whatever your unfairness might be), or look through the eyes of the vineyard workers, we might be tempted to claim that God is unfair. Yet the Bible tells us that God is just, or righteous. How can we reconcile real life with Truth?  

God is just. Justice means rendering to everyone what he is due. That’s an attribute of God that comforts me when I’m considering wrongs committed against me or injustice in the world. But I regularly forget what I am actually due:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and …the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 3:23, 6:23).

I sin. I deserve death. That’s what I’m due. Death is what’s fair.

It turns out, I don’t want God to be fair. When I am reminded of what I am due, I am massively thankful that God is not only just, but He is also compassionate, merciful and gracious. Fairness alone would demand that I die and be separated from God forever. But mercy and grace are where I find myself saved and hidden with God forever!

By His great mercy and costly grace, God made a way to satisfy justice – to pay the death that my sin owes – and to mercifully offer me life with Him instead: Jesus is the way. If we believe that Jesus’ death paid for our sin, we are made right with God and will live with Him eternally!

The vineyard parable offers the stark and needed reminder that we are not “underpaid,” regardless of our circumstances. The breath in my lungs is an undeserved gift from God. No actions on my part – even obedient ones – demand generous rewards; nothing I do earns me more of His favor. Additional gracious blessings should be just that: unexpected and undemanded, not earned rewards. God’s perspective is so much different than ours:

“Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases him.” Psalm 115:3

God’s grace won’t be constrained by our perception of fairness.

“What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” Romans 9:14-16

Let’s let our joy in His blessings be full, unhindered by intolerance of His grace to others. 

[Robin Bupp is married to Caleb, and they are from many places east of the Mississippi (but are calling Michigan home for the foreseeable future). A former high school science teacher, Robin is slowly turning the two Bupp kiddos into tiny nerds while they teach her lots of things, especially humility and patience.]