The problem with fairness

THE PROBLEM OF FAIRNESS

Mt. 20:1-16

In today's Gospel Jesus tells a story that grapples with the problem of fairness.  The landowner paid the same wage to the men who had worked in the heat all day as to the men who worked only one hour.  That provoked a protest.  The men who had worked all day insisted that it was not fair to pay them the same as those who had worked only one hour.  Most of us can see their point.  This strange pay scale doesn’t seem at all fair, but their employer was unmoved.  He simply reminded them of their agreement.  There was a contract, and the contract had been honoured.  Was it unfair for them to get what they had agreed to accept?

Many things have changed since the first century, but at least one thing remains the same.  We are still struggling with the problem of fairness.  The struggle seems to be getting more and more intense.  All people are demanding their rights.  They want equal justice under the law.  They want equal opportunity for employment.  They want equal pay for equal work.  They want equal education for their children.  We are constantly bombarded with questions of what is fair and what is unfair.  Fairness is a very difficult issue.

The Bible teaches us that God is both fair and just.  Yet we live in a world where so many things are obviously unfair.  Some people spend all of their days in opulent luxury.  They have more of this world's goods than they will ever need or could ever use and at the same time, other people are dying for want of life's bare necessities.  How can anyone look at that situation and call it anything other than "unfair"?

There is the true story of two little girls named Angela and Amy Lakeberg.  They were born as Siamese twins, joined at the chest, sharing a heart and a liver.  It was immediately obvious that both of them could not live long in that condition.  When they were seven weeks old, surgery was performed to separate them.  The doctors knew in advance one of them would die and which one it would be.  They had no choice.  One of them had to die in order to give the other a chance to live.  That seems unfair.  How could such a thing happen in a world created by a God who is absolutely fair and always just?

The Bible offers no final answer to that question.  It simply admits the apparent unfairness of life and, at the same time, asserts the fairness of God.  We long for, and sometimes demand a better explanation, but none is to be found and the mystery remains.  If God is fair, why is life so often unfair?  We may search the Bible in vain for a solution, but we will find there is no explanation of the mystery, but a way to live with it and work through it.  Our faith tells us this is a fact of life and we must accept it. 

The protestors in our story were concerned only with the perceived unfairness done to them.  Their sense of justice had been offended, but it was focused only on themselves.  That is a typical and very immature reaction.  It is a common thing to hear children protest, "That’s not fair."  Almost always, what they mean is, "That’s not fair to me."  Rarely, if ever, do they protest about something that is unfair to their sister, or brother, or mother, or father.  Picture a child saying, "It is not fair for Mum to cook dinner and then clean up the mess afterwards.  This injustice must be corrected.  I will start tonight by cleaning up the kitchen."  Do we ever hear words like these?

We expect children to be self-centred, but Christ expects more from you and me.  We are to protest about injustices done to others.  In his letter to the Philippians, Paul made this appeal, "Let all parties think humbly of others as superior to themselves, each of you looking to others' interests rather than his own."  (2:4).  Here was a truly unselfish man.  Even from a prison cell, he was working to make life fairer for others.  We must follow his example.

Finally, we have one more problem with fairness.  Those people who worked all day and were paid a day's wage got what they deserved.  But those who worked only one hour and were paid for the whole day got more than they deserved.  We are those people.  The point of this story is not that God is unfair, but that He is more than fair, He is generous.  We ask many questions about the fairness of life, but one fact puts our protests to rest.  What do you think was the most unfair act in the history of humankind?  It was the crucifixion of Christ?  This was God's final answer to all of our questions.  He took the unfairness upon Himself. 

Lord Jesus we come to Your table today not to press any claims of merit, but freely to receive Your grace.  The God whom we meet in Holy Communion is more than fair; He is infinitely generous and kind.

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