Another week at First Baptist with Food Pantry on Tuesday 5:30-7, Bible Study on Wednesday 6-8 (studying I and II Timothy), and Adult Sunday School and Worship Service on Sunday. Children’s Sunday School and after-church Fellowship snacks will resume in September. Welcome to church!
Father in Heaven, Majesty is your domain. Lord today we humble come to you to thank you for your many blessings, and ask you to forgive our many sins. We pray that you will continue to teach us your ways and to strengthen us in them. Amen!
Message: It Aint Fair! Cuz Fair Aint Mercy!
I just want to begin with saying, for form’s sake, today I have used the unpunctuated form of aint, a-i-n-t (no contraction used). Second, let me address the word itself. I researched this term deeply, OK, I went to Google again and found that aint is a real word (in spite of what my third-grade teacher Ms. Shack said), additionally; aint is considered a nonstandard word (Ms. Shack would have said ill-usage). “At worst, it gets stigmatized for being “ignorant” or “low-class.” At best, it’s considered a no-no in formal writing”. Well, I never said I was High-Brow, and now it is confirmed. So; aint, aint, aint. Aint being an adult, great? Sorry Ms. Shack!
What does any of this have to do with today’s special words, Fairness and Mercy? Nothing. In fact, it’s not fair that I even subjected all of you to such low-grade entertainment when we really are here to praise glorify and magnify God’s Holy and Precious name! Fairness says that I should be punished, but I’m not counting on fairness from you people.
No today I am diving deep into the reserves of your mercy where I know that you my beloved family will forgive me or even indulge me a side-bar or two when it comes to talking about our incredible Lord and Savior. And that is indeed the theme for today.
Not fairness, but mercy. And within the ideals of mercy are wrapped, intertwined, mixed, and spooled the gifts of; kindness, forgiveness, and grace. Which in turn imbed the deeper attributes of; faith, hope, and even greater; love. And they in turn, lead us back to more mercy.
Or; Mercy > kindness, forgiveness, grace > faith, hope, love, all of which provide more; Mercy!
And make no mistake the greatest of all of the gifts and attributes just mentioned is love, where mercy is born, and to which mercy compliments, supports, and nurtures. Hence, God provides an incredible host of tools to aid us in our walk.
I have talked about love with you a great deal in the past, and will again in the future, because it’s that integral to our faithwalk in and with God. But today we are investigating the depths of mercy, and the shallow waters, the shoals as it were that house our ideas of fairness.
Beginning with fairness, what does fairness look like? What do we mean when we think something is unfair, and just where do we get our ideas of what is fair and what is not?
Most of us would say that we are blessed with a kind of wisdom that helps us to determine our perceptions of what is fair and not. And if that is indeed true, then where does that thinking, our wisdom come from, and what kinds of things inform our wisdom? There are the various worldly sources of how I get to know stuff (or gain knowledge and wisdom), such as:
- Experience – Some philosophers might call; a posteriori, Latin, impressed? (The stuff you have deduced by your knowledge in life from observation giving you insight.)
- Street smart
- From pain suffered
- What Dad explained
- What your friends explained
- What the doc. explained after the mishap
- What your wife explained was inappropriate
- From TV, Internet and Google
- Book smart
- Street smart
- Theory – Some philosopher’s call; a priori, another Latin word (The stuff you thought up that should have work at least in theory before the authorities were called)
- The stuff I cooked up that got me in trouble most of my life, were good only in theory. (Who knew I could have blamed my sin on; a priori!)
*In short, out in the world there are ideas like; a priori before experience or theory, and; a posteriori conclusion after stuff takes place. My apologies to real philosophers!
Then there is another way of thinking, a deeper kind of wisdom, that has a much more solid foundation, and covers all of the aspects I just mentioned from the world. It is God’s wisdom. Instructed to us by the Apostle James in his letter to the scattered children of God. James 3:13-18
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
With God as our shepherd, we are still learning by experience, and there is plenty of theory, but now we are willing to let the Lord shepherd our thoughts to a greater understanding, instead of our own selfish ambition, envy, and desires. The Lord’s wisdom (spirit) informs us to better understand God’s scripture, even the writings of Solomon. In Today’s Call to Worship from Proverbs 9:1-10, Solomon instructs how wisdom from God, and being in sync with the Lord is the beginning of understanding;
1 Wisdom has built her house;
she has set up its seven pillars.
2She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
3 She has sent out her servants, and she calls
from the highest point of the city,
4 “Let all who are simple come to my house!”
To those who have no sense she says,
5 “Come, eat my food
and drink the wine I have mixed.
6 Leave your simple ways and you will live;
walk in the way of insight.”
7 Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults;
whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.
8 Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you;
rebuke the wise and they will love you.
9 Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still;
teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
It’s a shame that Solomon didn’t keep his own advice by respecting and yes fearing God’s wrath for justice and then trusting in God’s wisdom over his own clouded council of self-delusion. Solomon actually believed his own press and fell from his man-made pedestal not only hurting himself, but spitting Israel apart to this day.
You see, and you can be worldly wise, smart as a whip, and know fancy words like a-priori (before experience theory), and a-posteriori (after experience understanding), and still be thick as a brick! And reason like the world reasons. Which is death itself.
Today we have all kinds of movements in our society looking for fairness, justice, and equity. Ideals that you don’t need my comments or thoughts on because God will provide you with the wisdom necessary to navigate those minefields, through His example in scripture, being with other members of His family, and His Spirit, i.e.; His wisdom.
And when you think about it, we really do need His Spirit, God’s wisdom to enlighten our way when we begin to think about the shallowness of fairness in the world. You see when I am approaching the concept of fairness with my worldly ideals, I am looking in terms of the surface values of society, and look at our society.
I need something more durable like the Gospel to anchor my reasoning. I need God and His Holy Spirit, coupled with the Body of Christ to aid me in my discernment.
With the Lord in our hearts and minds, we now can revisit today’s Message Reading where Christ instructs us about The Vineyard Workers from Matthew 20:1-16;
1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denariusfor the day and sent them into his vineyard.
*Side Note: A Denarius was a more than fair financial agreement for a day’s work. Those guys probably would not have eaten if they had no work. The mythic minimum wage would have been whatever the market would bare, and that probably would be much less on the fly in wages.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
*Side Note again: The Landowner is obviously getting concerned to get the crop in before it rots in the field. More workers are needed. Continuing;
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
*Once Again Side Note; This is beginning to look a lot like a government project. Sometimes there isn’t enough time or manpower to cover the emergency. Obviously the already hired workers are not completing the task of bringing in the crop. More are needed to complete the master’s plan for the great harvest.
By the way, how are we doing in bringing in God’s harvest, by sharing His Good News? The Good News for us is that we are not responsible for dragging people to the Lord, just;
- Sharing the news that they are loved
- Living our faith
- Being available for service, when the Lord calls
Does God need more workers for His harvest? Yes. The more the better! Continuing with verse 8;
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘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.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
So now, tell me with your experience and knowledge, why it was unfair to pay everyone the same amount of money for the various amounts of labor performed? The world tells us, that more time and more labor, means more money. But this is God we are talking about.
The workers hired early have achieved their mission (their families will be fed), the same applies to us when we come to God for his help. Am I asking to keep up with the Jones’ next door (my neighbor), or am I sincerely asking for what I need?
Our sick grievance society is fueled in part by being more concerned about what the other guy is getting instead of what I am doing to improve my life. Perhaps if I am more concerned about what I am doing instead of what someone else is doing or not doing, my life will begin to be more enjoyable instead of filled with jealousy and unrighteous indignation.
We can be the beginning of a healthier society by looking at building up instead of tarring down, edifying verses attacking, and working on our own self-inflicted disasters instead of focusing on the challenges of others. An alternative to dwelling on and attacking the distant past, is that we can improve our near future by caring and nurturing. Not based on fairness, but on mercy that comes from Faith, Hope, and Love.
My hope for all of you this week is that you will have a chance to look at our beautiful lives through lenses of what God’s mercy has provided, instead of what kind of fairness through judgment we his wayward children actually deserve.
Life isn’t fair, and fair thankfully has nothing to do with the mercy I am receiving by a God who loves me in spite of me. Amen!
Benediction: Romans 11:33-36
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?”
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.