One of the hardest parables in the gospels for people to get a handle on is the story of the workers in the vineyard (Matt. 20:1-16). A landowner goes out to hire laborers for his vineyard and continues to hire them throughout the day. At the end of the day, the laborers who work the shortest amount of time get paid the same as those who worked all day.

Not fair! argued the laborers who worked all day. And many people in my churches have agreed over the years. We all want “fair,” don’t we?

Today I was at an Illinois vehicle emissions testing location. As I entered the lot, there were two long lines and I hunkered down for the wait. About 10 minutes later, they opened another lane (above) and numerous cars who were behind me scooted over and I groaned at how unfair that was. It was unfair. 

And that’s the perfect way to summarize God’s grace. Unfair, generous, unexpected. Even amazing.