In the rough-and-tumble business world of startup companies . . .

In the rough-and-tumble business world of startup companies, the very first employees hired usually reap the greatest profits (often in the form of stock options that skyrocket in value when the company goes public).  On the other hand, those employees hired last can typically expect to earn far less.  Take Marc McDonald, for example.  Marc has the fortuitous distinction of being employee #00001 at a little company launched on December 7, 1978.  The name of the company?  Microsoft.  And believe me, being the first one hired at Microsoft has paid off rather handsomely for Marc McDonald!

But according to Jesus, the kingdom of heaven runs on a completely different business model.  He compares it to a vineyard, where the owner goes down to the market place to hire some day laborers.  He hires a few at the crack of dawn, and more at nine, and at noon, and again at three, and even some at five, when there was only one hour left in the working day!  But the real kicker is that, even though everyone has worked different hours, the owner decides to pay them all the same wage.  Just imagine if Microsoft hired you this afternoon as, let’s say, employee #55,001, and then informed you that your take-home pay would be the same as Marc McDonald’s or Bill Gates’.  No doubt, you would be dancing in the streets with joy; but McDonald and Gates wouldn’t be, and neither would the shareholders.

Let’s face it; there is something that seems grossly unfair about this story.  And the twelve-hour laborers, who have “borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat,” are the first ones to say so.  “This is not fair,” they grumble.  To which the owner asks, “Am I not free to do what I choose with what belongs to me, or are you envious because I am generous?”

It’s actually a two-part question.  An honest answer to the first part might be: “Well, yes, of course you’re free to do as you choose … I suppose … just make sure it’s not too rash or extravagant.”  An honest answer to the second part would be: “Yes, absolutely, we’re envious.  You made them equal to us.”  Put another way, as Christians, we all love grace and mercy—just as long as it’s directed toward us, or those whom we think are deserving of it.  If God’s love and mercy are lavished upon the undeserving, then we’re the first ones to grumble, “This is not fair.”

Of all the things that must make God laugh out loud, this surely has to be at the top of the list.  After all, if grace was something that any of us deserved, then it wouldn’t be called grace.  Here’s the bottom line: God does have favorites.  And guess what?  Each of us is one of them.  We are all God’s favorites!  Thus, when God pours out love and mercy upon someone else, there’s no need to feel deprived.  There’s more than enough to go around.  If we only took the time to look at our own cup, we would see that God had filled that as well.  In fact, it’s probably overflowing right now!