How much is your labour worth? It seems quite reasonable to be paid for what you do in your job. You cannot expect a plumber to do two hours of work for an hour's pay. And why are plumbers expensive? Well, some might be less reputable than others, but the majority have spent much on their training to become good plumbers: their pay is their recompense for that.
Bill and Bob are plumbers. They graduated in the same class at Plumber School with the same grades: they are both equally skilled and experienced, and so have the same hourly charge of labour. Suppose you hire Bill and set him to work for eight hours, and then you employ Bob for one hour. You pay Bill the rate that he's due, and then you pay Bob exactly the same amount. Bill gets eight hours' pay for eight hours' work. Bob gets eight hours' pay for one hours' work. So what's wrong. Why does this feel wrong, or unfair on Bill?
[PAUSE]
It does look as if you value Bob's labour more than Bill's. You may have paid Bill what he expects but, in paying Bob eight times what he is expecting, it just seems as if you like Bob more than Bill.
In one way, it's completely fair: Bill and Bob get what they are owed. In another way, it's completely unfair: Bob is preferred to Bill.
Is this how God works? Well, Jesus says it is. Does God show favouritism?
[PAUSE]
God is not fair in human terms: He is generous. Even Jesus has best friends among His disciples: it's always Peter, James and John and never Thaddeus, Simon and Philip. God is King and kings have courts, lords and ladies.
Even then, this is not what God is saying to us. The true labour of Man is not buying and selling. The true labour of Man is not working to make ends meet. Man's true labour is to return to God.
[PAUSE]
Adam and Eve disobey God and the result is that they have chosen to fend for themselves. God puts them out of Eden to do just that. Man must labour and toil in order to live. But Man's true life is with God. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Our labour is the labour of repentance - of struggling to turn to God. God is our reward. God is what we are owed. God is the true payment of our labour. It doesn't matter, then, what we do in our labour of repentance. It doesn't matter even when we start our repentance. The fact is that, in knowing God, in receiving His grace to live, in keeping our eyes on the prize of Eternity with God, we each gain true and full Life in Him. We gain that life together.
The point is that we are not valued for our labour, we are valued for who we are. Bill and Bob get the same wages, not because of what they do, but because of who they are. The fact that they have laboured means they deserve payment.
Likewise, the fact that we labour to return to God is enough. It is because we exist that God wants us to be with Him - not because of what we do, but because of who He has created us to be. We are the end product of our labour.
But we must be careful. We cannot work our way to Heaven. In order to repent, we need God's grace to direct us, strengthen us and motivate us. We labour with God for our salvation.
[PAUSE]
God gives what He gives as He pleases. There are those to whom He has given the privilege of sitting on His right hand. There are those whom He has not. It is His choice to give just as much it is for you to pay your plumbers over what you owe them.
Ultimately, generosity is better than fairness. With God, we haven't seen anywhere near the limits of His love for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment