That’s Not Fair!

Sometimes, we can’t go where we want to go or do what we want to do. So, we complain and protest; but everybody knows, “life isn’t fair!” We seem to be hardwired to think of ourselves first: my life, my plans, my rights. It’s called “looking out for #1,” and it’s not new. In fact, it has been around forever. The Old Testament is loaded with it, and I can think of at least 3 stories in the Gospels in which someone is just dying to yell out, “That’s not fair!”

Personally, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the older brother of the Prodigal Son. In Luke 15:29-30, when he discovers that a big party is planned for his wayward little brother, he lets his father know exactly how he feels. ^“Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.” And that’s not fair.

In the parable of The Laborers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:10-12) it’s easy to understand why the workers who had been out in the hot sun all day long thought they should be paid more than the others who came later. “When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage.  So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage.” Doesn’t seem fair, does it?

The other instance that comes to mind is found in Luke 10:40 when Jesus goes to visit His friends, Martha and Mary. “But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.’” I’ve had days when I felt like that myself.

The problem is that, when we feel sorry for Martha, or for those tired vineyard workers, or the prodigal son’s older brother, we miss the whole point of the story. We miss the “better part” that Martha’s sister discovered at the feet of Jesus; and we miss the generosity of the vineyard owner, and the forgiving heart of the father toward both of his sons. All those things help us to understand God’s grace, how precious it is to those who receive it, and how we completely miss it when we are busy demanding our rights.

When I was learning to drive, my high school Driver’s-Ed teacher told us that no driver can claim the right-of-way; he can only yield it. When Jesus walked among us, He had the right to be trusted, revered, and worshiped. As the Messiah, He clearly had the right-of-way, but He chose to yield it. Jesus surrendered His rights and allowed Himself to be beaten, humiliated, and put to death. The cross wasn’t fair, but Jesus endured it out of love for us. The grace God offers us through His sacrifice is a life-changing gift, and I don’t want to miss one particle of it by forgetting, even for a minute, that I am not #1. He is.

In Philippians 2:3-6,8, St. Paul shows us what we need to do:

“Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others.

Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped… he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.”

Thanks be to God.

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   ^{9  “}Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name,
¹⁰  that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹  and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”

AMEN

More reflections:

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