OYB for Jan 30th

One Year Bible Blog: January 30th readings
(I'm trying out a new posting tool. We'll see how this works)

I've always liked the "workers in the vineyard" story. We get such a tight focus on what's "fair" that we forget what's "just." The early workers received a just wage for their efforts. By our standards (and apparently those of Jesus' time as well) it wasn't "fair." No doubt today the vineyard owner would be sued for discrimination or unfair labor practices.

I actually like to focus more on those workers who were hired at the last minute. It's easy to see the point of view of the early workers, but I think I identify more with the later ones. The assumption I think people make is that they had it easy. Just sitting around all day, doing almost no work, and then suddently get a full day's wages. But consider their position. They almost certainly needed to work in order to feed their families. It cannot have been a pleasant experience for them to realize that they and their children would probably go hungry because nobody had hired them. It may not be hard physical labor, but it's certainly no picnic either. Even when they were hired, I'm sure they didn't expect much pay. And then suddenly finding themselves blessed with far more than they deserved or expected. What joy and gratitude they must have felt. I can see the landowner's face, enjoying every minute of that response.

I think that's why God offers the gift of Grace. That reaction of joy and gratitude for something we know we didn't earn, and can never earn.

As an aside: I like Mike's choice of art today. One of the pictures appears to be by one of our favorite artists, Zamy Steynovitz. We have several of his serigraphs in our home.