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That's Not Fair!

That's Not Fair!

Jan 04, 2026

Passage: Matt. 20:1-16

Preacher: Rob Holster

Series: Gospel of the Kingdom

Summary:

Happy New Year! With the start of a new year, we're starting a new series this Sunday. Rather, we're going back to a series we started a couple of years ago––on the Gospel of the Kingdom––Matthew. We've been looking at Matthew for the past couple of years, off and on. So we'll pick it up where we left off––at the beginning of chapter 20. You may remember how chapter 19 ends, with Peter asking Jesus: "We've given up everything to follow you. What will we get?" Jesus had just told the disciples that neither money nor good works will result in salvation. It's just not earned. And frankly, it's impossible for a sinful person to be saved. And if we just stopped there, we'd be in a world of hurt. Thankfully Jesus also said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible (to be saved). But with God everything is possible." Because God is the God of the impossible. And so whatever we think about how life works––or should work––what we think is fair or not fair––we need to remember who is in control. Who's in charge? Who determines our eternal destiny? Who has the power to give grace freely to whomever he chooses? Without that person having to earn it? The answer is God, of course. But that answer has bothered people for centuries. If God can save whomever he pleases, and can forgive whomever he pleases, and do whatever he wants to do––then we can no longer control him (not that we ever could). We can't fit him into a box, enclosed in our ideas of fairness and rightness––thinking that he has to operate within those confines. In our passage this week (Matthew 20:1-16) we'll cover Jesus' parable about workers in a vineyard. And how those workers felt cheated because the vineyard owner did whatever he pleased–-and showed generosity to people who didn't deserve it (according to us, at least). It's an amazing picture of God's grace, but it's also hard to come to grips with. Our way of thinking is challenged by it. We think people should get what they deserve––and that may be true as a general rule for this life. But for eternal salvation (if we believe, if we are in Christ) then we're definitely not getting what we deserve. We're getting what we don't deserve. And we're left asking, "Is God fair?"

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