May 19: Weekly Reading- Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard; The Challenged & Insight Post by Kim Feld

  -   May 19, 2025

God’s Grace is Generous and Unconditional: In the parable, all workers receive the same wage, regardless of how long they worked. Jesus teaches that God’s grace is not earned by our efforts but is given generously to all. This reminds us that God’s blessings are not distributed according to our merit, but according to His grace.

Monday Verse

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Ephesians 2:8 (NLT)

Monday Questions

Do I sometimes feel entitled to God’s grace based on my own efforts? How can I embrace God’s grace with humility and gratitude?

Monday Insight Post
by Kim Feld

I recently had a conversation with a friend about fairness. It came to a big question: Is Jesus fair? Just and fair are often used synonymously, and although it’s easy for me to say I believe Jesus is just, I don’t think He is always fair in the way we view fairness. The story Jesus told in Matthew 20 allows us to explore this.

Fairness implies a system of rewards or punishment in relation to actions. For instance, if you break the law, you will be punished. Pure fairness is pretty black and white. That’s the premise the workers in the vineyard used; those who worked longer should be paid more. But Jesus throws a wrench into the story by inserting mercy and grace.

Justice can be understood as receiving what you deserve based on your actions. Mercy, on the other hand, is when you are shown leniency even though you deserve punishment. Grace, a concept deeply rooted in Christian theology, is receiving something good that you don’t deserve and didn’t earn. It’s important to note that grace is not a reward for good behavior, but a gift given out of love and mercy.

It’s interesting that I want to see fairness when I look at others. I want to see good actions be rewarded and bad be punished. But if I had to choose fairness or grace for myself, I would pick grace all day long because I know that even on my best day, I don’t measure up to God’s standard.

The vineyard owner chose to show grace to the late arrivals. This unmerited favor was his to bestow as the employer. Yet, it didn’t feel fair to those who had worked all day in the heat, even though they received the agreed-upon wage. I can see myself feeling the same way because the employer’s actions bump up against my sense of what’s right.

Our God is a just God with the highest standard of right and wrong. This means that our sin makes us all deserving of death. But through His infinite mercy, He made a way for us to be right with Him. Jesus paid the price for our sins with His own life and defeated death by His resurrection. He is the picture of God’s grace for us. We don’t deserve it any more than the workers deserved a full day’s wages when they didn’t earn them.

This story is not a comfortable one. It challenges our notions of fairness and grace, and I believe that was Jesus’ intention. We will undoubtedly have opportunities in life where showing grace may seem unfair from a human perspective. The question then becomes: how will we respond?

Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach

New Hope Church
Lorton, Virginia
www.newhope.org