The Fairness of God

Read It: Matthew 20:11-16 (NRSV)
11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”


Learn It:
When I was a child I always had the impression that God was fair.  After all, God loves everyone and we are all God's children so God must be fair and equal to each and every one of us.  That is what I was brought up understanding (whether I taught that to myself or learned it I don't remember exactly).
While I was in seminary I spent some time chatting with a professor about fairness.  As you might guess the professor brought up this passage and asked me if in this passage I thought God was fair.  I couldn't help but answer with a "no" even though I very much wanted to say yes because of my childhood understanding that I brought into adulthood.  God loves us all but that doesn't equal God is fair to us all.  All the workers in the passage above received the same wage even though they didn't all work the same amount.  God gives us all the gift of life and gives us God's promises no matter what.  We may not want "this person" or "that person" to be saved as we are because they didn't believe as much or as well or they weren't as "good" a Christian as we were.  Fortunately it's not up to us.  God loves us all...no matter what.  Salvation is up to God not us.  Trust me when I say that is a VERY GOOD thing!


Share It:
What do you think about this whole idea of God being or not being fair?  What is your impression or feelings about this?  How would you differentiate fairness from God to God's love for everyone?  What are examples that you can come up with that show that God isn't fair?  Do you think God should be fair in everything or do you think that God should be "generous" in God's promises and gifts?  Share you answers and any other questions that might come up during your time together.


Live It:
Spend this next week trying to do what is loving and generous not necessarily what is fair.  There are times when those two things might be different.  If you can't find a way to do it yourself spend the next week watching others and see if you can identify times when people are being fair but not loving and times when people are being loving but not fair.  Good luck!

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Overcoming Evil with Good

Read It: Romans 12:14–21 (NRSV)

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 

Learn It:

Paul gives us a kind of laundry list of things that we should do and the way we should live.  It's not just a list of things we shouldn't do but ways that we can live with one another...both Christian and non.  If you look at this list it really is a wonderful list of how to interact with people in appropriate ways.  Be happy with others who are happy about something.  Don't think too highly of yourself or say you are much smarter than you really are. Then Paul goes on to say one of my favorite quotes which comes from the Old Testament about vengeance belongs to God.  We don't have to worry about being vengeful even if that might be our first reaction.  If someone hits you you might want to hit them back or get payback for something they do to you.  God tells us that those kinds of things are for God and it it up to God to decide if God will take action or not.  The last line really says it all...Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. That is truly what it's all about.  

Share It:

Take the Bible passage from above and walk through it with your family verse by verse.  Talk about what each of you thinks the verse means and what are ways that you see that in your everyday life.  Then talk about how you can apply these Christian ideas to the way you interact with others.  Think of other things you might add to this list that Paul has created to live in harmony with each person that you meet.

Live It:

This weeks live it is simple.  Try to apply these ideas you talked about above and the ones in Paul's list to the Romans (our passage up top) to each person that you meet this week.  We all know that there is bound to be someone in our week ahead that we might find difficult to interact with or be pleasant with...use these words from Paul as a way to work through that difficult encounter so that both you and the person you are interacting with leave with a sense of Christian love.

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It IS Good!

Read It: Genesis 1:11-12 (NRSV)

11 Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. 

Learn It:

Often we know the beginning of the Bible so well as to what the words are, that we tend to just skim it over each time we read it.  I believe that these passages are very significant because of what it tells us about God and what God did but also about God's own nature.  Read the Genesis story 1:1-2:4a and look at what you can learn about God.  God didn't just make creation and thought of it as a scrap piece of paper that would later be thrown away but as something good!  Each thing he did each day (water, sun, moon, vegetation, humans) he saw all of what he did and declares it good!

Share It:

I encourage you today or whenever you use this devotion to go outside with your family and do this outside.  Share with each other what are the best things you love and enjoy about creation.  What is it or what specific things jump out to you as good?  What things jump out at you and say to you, "God made this".  Talk with each other about what is so good about all of the creation that God gave to us to live in and enjoy.

Live It:

Spend this week looking...really looking...at the beauty of creation.  In the car, on your bike, walking, from the comfort of your home, at work, in school.  Look at all the things that God  has made for us to love and enjoy and live in.  Just give God a little bit of thanks for the beauty of the earth that was made for us because of God's love for us.

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Please post comments with your experience with the share it or live it part of this weeks post.  Let others know if you and your family found this useful.