“It isn’t fair!”
Daily Reading: Genesis 20, Psalm 20, Matthew 20, Proverbs 20
“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Matthew 20:8-16
So much of our emotional baggage in life stems from unmet expectations.
Often in life these unmet expectations may stem from a friend or loved one that falls short, doesn’t do what they say they are going to do, or intentionally hurts us in some way. In these times we are called to forgive them and turn it over to God. This, however, is not the situation we read about today.
Quite often frustration, hurt feelings, or anger stem from expectations that we have artificially created ourselves. They are formed on our own perceptions of what should occur based on what we have seen transpire with others around us. Frequently we are the workers, in the parable that Jesus shared today, that are hired on in the morning and worked a full day in the fields. When it is time to be compensated we want more than the others.
We want everything to be fair. This is unjust!
Jesus paints us a very different picture of what it looks like to follow him.
Later in chapter 20 this same theme comes up again when we see ten of the disciples angered at a mother’s request that her two sons be seated at the right and left hand of Jesus in Heaven. I am sure every single disciple there thought that place should be reserved for them!
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus wants us to serve others willingly and joyfully. He wants us focused on him and not on what blessings appear in the lives of others and playing the comparison game with money, material goods, status, power, etc.
The last will be first and the first will be last.
Our society pulls us constantly in the other direction. In the “influencer world” we live in, it is far too easy to fixate on how we are doing compared to others in every phase of our life.
It starts early while still in school as we compare our GPA, test scores, social network, playing time, and the list goes on. As we get older, that morphs into the internships we receive, our first job offer, how quickly we advance in our career, our bank account, the car we drive, the house we live in…
The list is endless.
Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
The truth is that any blessings we have here on earth pale in comparison to what is to come. Through our faith in Jesus we have been guaranteed eternal life. The human brain cannot even come close to wrapping itself around this concept. The 70-100 years we have on earth is nothing compared to the eternity we will spend with God and yet how we choose to approach these years we are given can have an eternal impact on the lives of others when we choose to serve.
We read in Psalm 20:7 today:
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
I want this to be the posture of my heart each and every day. In a world that prioritizes power, status, and worldly success, I want to trust in the name of Lord our God.
This generally only occurs when the victories I am focusing on are eternal ones. When the desires of my heart and requests of my lips are for opportunities to do God’s will here on earth.
When I am chasing the amazing gift of being able to walk with God and have him live in me.
When I am focused on the joy of his presence and his unfailing love.
At times in our lives we may have a long absence of material blessings in our lives. We may see other people having the career success we long for. We may fail a test in school. We may play poorly several games in a row. We may see other people elevated that we do not believe deserve it, like the workers we found in Matthew today.
We will never lack the opportunities to serve. When we shift this lens and rejoice in these opportunities instead of focusing on the material blessings we see come into our lives, God is always faithful.
We will never struggle to find the next person that could use a kind heart willing to serve.
Daily Reflection & Dialogue
In what areas of my life do I tend to play the comparison game and behave like the workers who worked the full day in the field instead of embracing the call Jesus gave us to servant leadership?
