In Jesus’ parable of the workers in the vineyard, the workers who were hired first believed that the owner of the vineyard treated them unfairly. They received less in hourly wages than those who were hired later in the day. I have to agree: that does seem unfair. Like most people, I value fairness quite highly. I am uneasy when something seems unfair to me, and feel satisfied when matters are settled fairly.
Here at WMPL we try to be “fair” in our financial policies. Our stated goal is to provide our missionaries with enough allowance so that they will be able to volunteer on the mission field. With that goal in mind, we base our pay scales on family size. A family of five needs more than a family of three. It seems “fair” in this context.
Even in this setting, however, fairness is elusive. Different locations have varying costs of living, which can make perfect equity impossible. Life in general is not quite fair; we all have different starting points and different circumstances. How many times have you heard someone say that this person was in the right place at the right time, while someone else was in the wrong place at the wrong time? Fairness is a worthwhile goal, but it is difficult to achieve.
The landowner, however, did not describe his actions in terms of “fairness,” but rather generosity. You might think that generosity would be even more desired than fairness, but in practice generosity can be somewhat offensive. The workers who worked the entire day were offended at the generosity of the landowner. The owner of the vineyard found that generosity given to one, but not to another, is often unappreciated.
God’s generosity is different from ours: it is so overwhelming that it obliterates any sense of inequity. No two Christians experience the same set of circumstances in this life. In the parable, this caused the workers to grumble. But God’s generosity is so great that it overwhelms any perceived or real unfairness.
Fairness in this current life, as measured by our finite minds, will never be attained. But there is something even greater, more beautiful and pleasing than our sense of fairness.
It is the abundant generosity of God. Through God’s grace all of the inequities of life can be wiped away in a moment as we receive far more than “fairness” would ever allow – eternal life.
In March all of our missionaries received 100 percent of their target allowance. We used $38,208 from the General Fund to meet these needs, leaving a General Fund balance of $106,952. Our Benefits Fund carried a balance of $86,301. Thank you for your faithful prayers and support!