“I prayed to God for sunshine on my birthday,” complained a little boy to his mother,” but it's raining. “Why didn't God answer my prayer?”
His mother replied with a story, “Two boys dug up some ground one day. One planted a garden and the other collected worms. That night the boy with the garden prayed for rain. The other boy prayed for sunshine so that he could go fishing. What would you expect God to do?”
“I don't know,” said the little boy.
His mother said, “Wouldn't it be better for us just to tell God what we would like and then be glad that He decides what is best? Maybe other people needed rain on your birthday. God does not always think the way we think, and He doesn't always do what we want, but He promises that His ways are always best.”
Have you, like that little boy, ever been disappointed that God didn't perform the way you thought He should? To such thinking He replied in the O.T. lesson today, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Is.55:8).
Isn't that so often true? My ways would be that I never get sick. My ways would be that I have enough money so that I am never anxious about the coming month. My ways are that nothing bad, neither hurricane, nor tornado, nor sudden catastrophe, would ever befall me or anybody else. But God allows sickness; He tightens my finances; He permits the storms to descend. And every time the opposite thing happens to me that I don't ask for, He turns it out for my good as He teaches me endurance in faith, placing my hope and trust in His grace. How true, His thoughts are not my thoughts, His ways are not my ways, yet it all turns out for my good in the end.
But even believers frequently miss that, and all too often God is criticized for what He does or doesn't do. “If there is a loving God in heaven, then why did all those people die in the recent storms?” “If there is a just God in heaven, then why do the rich keep getting richer, and the poor keep getting poorer?” “It's not right; it's just not fair.” And what is God's reply to the all-too-frequent complaints that fall from unguarded lips? “Friend,” as the man said in the parable, “I am not being unfair to you.”
With these words the Lord Jesus teaches us that I. God is never unjust and that II. He is always gracious in His dealings with us . Thank God! He Does Us No Wrong!
I. He is always just with us.
Jesus began, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.” In the Greek wording of this agreement, it seems like a bargaining was taking place.
Isn't that the way it frequently goes with people in their relationship with God? People try to bargain their way through life; they try to bargain their way with God. Why? Because they are concerned about their getting what they think they deserve.
Think about that in relation to a job. If it's not the first question people ask, it's probably at least the second: “How much will I get paid?” In these days of a declining work ethic, people are often more interested in the wages that they will receive than they are in the work they need to do or in the desires of the owner. They often don't care how they do the work or the philosophy about what is being accomplished, as long as they get paid.
The landowner didn't expect the men to work for nothing. When he hired them, he intended to give them a fair day's wage. And they were content with the offer. So they went to work.
At the end of the day they got exactly what had been promised. But they didn't like it. They grumbled and complained because the owner had given the other laborers, some who started working way at the end of the day, the same amount that they got. “Unfair!” They cried, “It's not right! We had to work all day long, while these guys came late and got as much as we did. We deserve more.” To such a complaint, what did the landowner reply? “Friend, I am not being unfair to you.”
Had he been unfair? Had he wronged them? They did put in more hours; they did endure the brunt of the day's labor. Under similar circumstances might not we all be a little upset if the rest who came later got the same amount of pay? It's not unlike the situation today when the professional athlete gets as much for one game as you might make working for several years. How do some people feel about that? Indignant? Treated unfairly? That's how these first workers felt when they didn't get more than the rest. But the question remains? Did the owner wrong them; was he unjust ? A quick reflection reveals the answer – no. The owner gave them exactly what he had promised and what they had been very happy to receive at the start. He was just with them.
And so it is with God, dear friends. He never does us wrong ; He is always just with us. If He were ever unjust, even for a fraction of a moment, He would cease to be God for, as the Bible says, “The Lord is upright and there is no wickedness in Him” (Ps.92:15). In all the years no one has ever had the right or the reason to say, “God has been unjust with me.” Thank God! He Does Us No Wrong.
A quick reflection would also show that to be true. He has promised to take care of the punishment for our sins. And that He has done by sending His Son to die on the cross for them. He placed on Him the iniquity of us all and pronounces us forgiven!
He has promised to take care of the believer and provide for his needs, even super-provides for them so that King David observes, “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed” (Ps.37:25f).
He never promised that we would have no illness in this life; He never promised that catastrophes would never affect us. In fact He told us right from the start that we would have to pick up the cross and follow Him. He told us that we would have to go through many tribulations in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. He told His followers that they would be persecuted for their faith and that sin brings death. Why? Because He is unjust or wants to do us wrong? No, but because this is what happens in a sin-fallen world.
But in the midst of it all He has promised right from the start to be with those who believe in the Savior, to give us help and a refuge in Him, to strengthen us in our need, to make it turn out for our good, and finally to take His people home to Him. Therefore, in the end we can say, “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's” (Ps.103). He has and will continue to do all that He told His people He would do, just like the landowner did in the parable.
Thank God! He Does Us No Wrong. He is always just with us
II. He is always gracious.
Thank God that He is just; but thank Him that He is even more than just, for if God were only just, we would be in a fine mess. God's justice demands that He must carry out all things fairly and that all things must be done right – not only by Him but by us all.
Go back to those men in the parable who wanted to bargain with the owner for greater rewards. They wanted to bargain on the basis of what they had done. What if we approach God that way, protesting that He should treat us for what we have done? If you dare to approach Him that way, then be mindful of this.
He has given us His holy law that sets the standards for us: “Always put me first, never misuse my name, be in church every Sunday and worship me gladly every day, love your neighbor as yourself, never harm him, never abuse him, never talk back to your mother, your father, your boss or the government, never take anything that isn't yours, never look lustfully at anyone else, never wish you had better things like your friends do, never talk badly about anyone. Do this, do it perfectly, and you shall be rewarded with good. But go against any of these just once, and you shall get what my justice demands for the Bible declares, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law” (Ga.3:10). Sin once and you die eternally.” That's also justice, dear friends.
So I would suggest that if a man would seek to bargain with God or claim that He is not fair, he should beware. God will give him what he deserves and he won't like it, for to bargain with God is to bargain with a divine and holy Being who demands the same. His justice does not say, “Ah, do this as best as you can.” It says, “Do this and you shall live.”
But “there is not a righteous one among us who does what is right and never sins” (Ec.7:20).
So bargain with God, if you wish. Demand that He give you what you deserve. But “the wages of sin is death.” And you shall have it --- if you bargain on the basis of His justice.
Thank God that there is more to Him than only justice, for we would all perish were it not for the fact that He is also “the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin” (Ex.34:6). It is this which we need; it is this which we desire; we await His grace. And it flows to us freely in Christ Jesus who paid the price on the cross to meet the requirements demanded by God's justice. Through Him God is always gracious to the sinner who believes. How gracious is He?
In the parable the workers received wages in return for their work. The vast majority of them received more than they earned. Some even came so late in the day, that they had hardly been able to accomplish anything for the owner. Yet the landowner paid them all equally, whether they earned those wages or not. His ability to pay did not depend on them, their productivity. It was based on him, his wealth and generosity.
Oh, how much we have received from God's hand – more, so much more than we deserve. And above it all is the gift of eternal life. His gifts are not based on our ability to earn them. But they are based on the ability and the gracious nature of our God to give them. And He gives them by grace. If by faith we call Him our Shepherd, “We shall not want!” An ever gracious God gives, and gives, and gives the greatest in eternity.
Thank God! He Does Us No Wrong, but is always just and gracious to all who believe. God grant it in our lives of faith for Jesus' sake. Amen.