God’s Unfair Love
when we don´t get what we deserve that´s a real good thing
when we get what we don´t deserve that´s a real good thing
Those are the words to the Newsboys song Real Good Thing. It speaks to the amazing gift of God’s grace.
I’ve just finished listening to Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli. It’s a wonderful listen or read, whatever you choose. The final chapter deals with God’s unfair love. To anyone who hasn’t experience grace, the idea that’ God’s love is somehow unfair seems ludicrous. But as scripture declares,
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 1 Cor. 1:27
God’s grace and love does not match the world’s logic. As Yaconelli describes in the book, the parable of the workers in the vineyard, the fact that those that began work late in the day received the same as those who began in the morning just doesn’t seem right. Our world would never stand for this unfairness.
But as I continue to have God’s grace lavished upon me I can only see myself as a beneficiary of the unfairness. My mind is constantly influenced by the ways of the world and often forget this amazing gift that I’ve been given.
God’s grace is extremely difficult to explain and harder to understand. But I’m so glad he’s given it to me. That’s a real good thing.
Dean: We just studied this parable in a fall sermon series at our church, and I spent some time discussing it with our 5th graders in Sunday School as well. They spent some time re-enacting the parable to try and understand it more fully. It certainly doesn’t make sense from a worldly perspective. We discussed how when someone has a lot of money and is paying others to work for them, it is up to them to decide how to pay. Those who worked the least and were paid the same certainly weren’t / aren’t the ones complaining at the end of this story, since they are the recipients of grace. Grace remains a hard concept to grasp and fully appreciate today just as it was in the time of Christ, I think.
Thanks for sharing this book. I’ll check it out! 🙂
Thanks to Wes’s tweet about the caroling video, I’m delighted to have finally discovered this blog!
When it comes to the love and grace that we share with each other, God has established an incredibly high standard in the undeserved and unearned love and grace he gives us. When Jesus said people would recognize his followers by the way they love each other, I’m pretty sure that he had this very kind of love in mind. What a challenge–to love another person when he or she clearly doesn’t deserve it. It isn’t fair at all, but when it comes to his love for me, that isn’t the least bit fair either. Wow!