The Wedding rehearsal begins with the goal – where we will end up. The sermon this morning will also begin with the goal. The point of the parable in the Gospel text for today, the parable of the workers in the vineyard is that as the owner dealt very generously with all his workers, so God is generous beyond our understanding. The goal of the sermon is that we will be happy that God is so generous to all. But there is a problem.

The problem is that we sometimes live more under the Law than under God’s good grace. In other words we do our share of grumbling about others receiving more than we do. The means to the goal is God’s amazing and underserved generosity to us all. Our problem still remains. The “wage” issue is troubling. It’s not fair. It’s not fair that the workers in the parable that put in less time than the ones hired first were paid the same wage. Any of us would grumble about this if it were to happen in real life. We are all about being fair – what’s fair is important to us and we are going to “pipe up” if something is wrong.

The wage issue is troubling. The wage issue can be troublesome in a “spiritual” sense as well. For example, it was troubling to the rich young ruler who came to Jesus and asked that seemingly very appropriate question, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life.” Jesus answered him by giving him work to do and a fine wage would follow if the work was done properly. The work was, “Go and sell your possessions and give to the poor.” The wage was, “And you will have treasures in heaven.” What happened to the rich young ruler? He went away sad. Why? He was a man of great wealth.

The wage issue was troubling to Peter as well. “It’s not fair,” thought Peter. Not long after Jesus speaks with the rich young ruler Peter says to Jesus, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” It’s obvious to Peter that he should gain more – because he has given more. He put in the time and the effort. He expressed the faith and stood by Jesus’ side. That only seems fair.

And then we come to our parable. Jesus sees a need and He fills a need by sharing a story that goes against anything we would call “human fairness.” Today we talk about justice, equal opportunity acts, and fair employment practices. Because we know of such things and feel they have great merit we stumble and fumble with the meaning of this text. “It’s an outrage,” we mutter to ourselves, “an unholy outrage.” Isn’t God fair?

Emotionally, our sentiments are with the rich young ruler. Not that we are rich young rulers but because we understand the American dream. He didn’t sound conceited or puffed up. He was a man who had much and was told to give it to the poor. That would be hard for us to do. We resonate with a man like this because our ethics, like his, are ethics of self-justification and self interest.

Nothing is harder than to switch from self-justification to trusting God alone as the justifier. That is a true conversion. The reason: it puts something much bigger ahead of you. Instead we argue about “fairness” or just rewards instead of letting grace take hold and making us new creations.

Jesus’ use of this parable strikes immediately at self-justification and obsession with rewards. The rich young ruler blew it. Peter blew it. Neither got beyond the merit routine and into thoughts that were higher and ways that were different. “My ways are not your ways” – says our Lord. “My thoughts are not your thoughts” – says our Lord. Does this sound familiar to you?

The issue of a fair wage is a “Law” issue for us. God’s issue of a fair wage is not Law. Rather God’s wage issue is pure Gospel. That’s why it seems to come out uneven. However, it’s not uneven at all. It’s actually quite equal. That’s the problem we have. We think God is fair. God is not fair. Thank God that God is not fair.

God is not fair – not to us – when these tough economic times seem to get the best of us. We think to ourselves, “Lord I have been faithful to you. I have done all that you ask. Why are these times so tough on my family and me?” God is not fair when a member of our family gets sick – or we get sick – and we don’t know what the future holds, how much time we have to spend at the doctors or in the hospital. God is not fair when we think of all those who serve our country and are in harms way each and every day. God is not fair when His faithful are dealt bad news, when families are torn apart, when the hungry continue to starve and the homeless are left out in the cold. Fairness goes beyond the issue of a fair wage, getting what we think we deserve in our minds. Fairness goes to the heart of our human existence and what we have to endure on a daily bases. It strikes us deep because there are some things that are “given” to us that we wish we didn’t have. We say, “That’s unfair” as well.

God is not fair, beloved in the Lord. And thank God that God is not fair. This fallen world, our misdeeds and poor decisions, lead us to realize things around us are less than perfect and suffering is at hand. What we deserve for our sins is nothing good. If we were the ones that the owner of the vineyard hired first or hired last – what we deserve for the kind of work that we have done – is nothing. We don’t deserve any good wage from God. We have not done what the owner of the vineyard requires.

But God is not fair, beloved in the Lord. And thank God that God is not fair. Do you remember what the goal of this sermon is? The goal of the sermon is that we will be happy that God is so generous to all. Is that right? Did pastor just say that the goal is that we will be “happy?” Is Pastor Arnold getting all touchy/feely with us now by trying to tell us to be “happy” in his sermon? Beloved in the Lord, the happiness comes from the realization that God is not fair and rejoicing in that very fact. God’s generosity goes beyond our understanding – what we think should be fair. That’s the way God gives His precious gifts. That’s why we can be sure that the Christian for 20 minutes or the Christian for 20 years who dies in the faith still has this precious gift of God’s eternal grace and forgiveness. It’s not fair. Thank God that God is not fair. His grace transcends what we think is fair.

This year we have “reintroduced” the readings for “Pre-Lent.” This part of the church year calls God’s people into action. By God’s grace we have received a wonderful invitation to enter His vineyard. We must follow this call. But the call is for laborers, not for idlers. The Christian life is hard work in the heat of the day, a hard battle and a hard race. The work has its reward, the battle its victory, the race its triumph. It is the denarius of eternal life, the unfading crown of victory in heaven.

The “ever-joyous” wedding rehearsal begins where we end up – and then we talk about how we are going to get there. That might seem backwards. So also might be announcing the goal at the beginning of the sermon. Do you remember the goal? The goal of the sermon is that we will be happy that God is so generous to all. That’s why we start where we end up – and even talk about how we get there – living out our Christian life. Christ got there for you – to the cross – to the grave – back to life. Christ’s work is all sufficient for you – for the least to the greatest – for the rich for the poor. It’s no wonder why Jesus says, the first shall be last and the last shall be first. God’s grace doesn’t submit to our definition of fairness. The blood of Christ was poured out for you and me as much as it was for that thief on the cross. It makes me happy to know that – even in unhappy times. God is generous to you – never forsaking you – always with you. Today and forever His undeserved generosity of grace for our salvation’s sake is ours. Amen

The peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.