Sermon: “The Unfairness of God”
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

[This sermon by Bishop vonRosenberg was delivered using the following notes.]

Life is not fair. At times, life really is not fair! Sometimes things do not turn out the way they should - at least, in terms of what we believe to be right and fair.

I think, for instance, of those scenes from New Orleans that will remain in our minds for a long time - scenes of people who were victimized several times over. Remember seeing the faces of children, whose homes had been flooded and, then, who were waiting for food and water and medicine? And they waited and waited and waited. Indeed, life sometimes is not fair. There is no getting around it.

We can find two of the Bible's most vivid examples of life's unfairness in today's readings. Surely the patron saints of unfairness are Jonah in the first place and, secondly, those workers in Jesus' parable about the vineyard.

Of course, we pick up the story of Jonah today after most of the action has already taken place. At the beginning of the book, God spoke to Jonah and instructed him to go and preach to the evil people of Nineveh, calling for them to repent. However, Jonah did not approve of that strategy because he thought the citizens of Nineveh deserved to be punished. That would be fair, he thought. Thus, he reasoned that if he called for them to repent and they did, then God in His graciousness would probably forgive them … and not punish them. And, Jonah thought, that would not be fair.

You know what happened next. Jonah got on board a ship, heading in the opposite direction from Nineveh. However, the Lord sent a big storm that nearly wrecked the ship. Then the sailors figured that Jonah was the problem - and Jonah actually agreed with them. The sailors threw Jonah overboard - and sure enough, the storm ceased.

However, Jonah's problems were far from over. He was swallowed up by a big fish. After some time - and considerable soul searching - Jonah was thrown up on dry land. Then, the Lord instructed Jonah, again, to go to Nineveh. And this time, the Bible tells us, Jonah went. It seems that the episode with the fish had made quite an impression on Jonah! Thus, he preached repentance to the people of Nineveh, as he had been instructed. Further, the people did as he directed - they repented.

And, that is the point at which our reading picks up the story. As Jonah had predicted, God in His graciousness forgave the people rather than punish them. And then Jonah went off and sulked. He pouted because God was gracious and forgave the people of Nineveh. We can almost hear him saying, "It just is not fair!" And, to tell you the truth, he has a good point.

Then, in the Gospel reading, we heard the parable of the workers in the vineyard. A New York friend of mine, who has made a lot of money on Wall Street, is a faithful Episcopalian, and he has a definite opinion about this parable. He says that he believes just about everything in the Bible, but he just cannot accept this parable of Jesus. Why? It is not fair.

A group of workers is hired to do a day's labor in a vineyard for a denarius - the typical wage for a day's work. During the day, though, the owner also hired other laborers - and some of them worked for as little as one hour.

At the end of the day, those who worked the shortest time were paid first - and they were given a denarius. Therefore, those who had worked all day thought they would be paid more when their time came. And my Wall Street friend and most of us here probably agree that such an expectation seems reasonable. That clearly would be fair. But actually, those laborers who worked all day also were paid the wage they had agreed to - a denarius. They were upset. They did not understand. The whole situation just does not seem fair.

My friends, I am here today with a surprising message for you. It is a simple message, but it is equally surprising. Life is not fair. But, further, like the owner of the vineyard, God is not fair either. And, finally, the unfairness of God means good news to us. The unfairness of God means good news to us.

Perhaps you know some people - as I do - who when asked, "How are you doing today?" will reply, "Better than I deserve." That is precisely the point. We are doing - and we will do - better than we deserve. God deals with us more on the basis of mercy than with justice. The fact is that we do not get what we deserve … what would be fair. Rather, we get more than we deserve.

Now, make no mistake about what I am saying. God himself is just. But God deals with us finally on the basis of mercy rather than justice. Therefore, in those terms, thank God that God is not fair! We receive - and we will continue to receive - far better than we deserve. We have not earned what we have - our life, our health, our loved ones. And we cannot earn that which God wills for us - eternal life. Thus, thank God - thank God, indeed - that God is not fair! God's treatment of us is far better than fair, for God shows us profound and eternal mercy.

Copyright © 2005 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee