6/3/19 Larissa (click HERE to see video)
When it came to describing God’s system of justice in
regards to what happens to us after we die, a young lady named Larissa, a
Catholic from Benin, West Africa, pointed to the parable of the workers found
in Matthew 20. In this parable, Jesus
told of a landowner who hired workers at various points throughout the
workday. When it came time for each to
receive payment, they all received just as much as the workers who were hired
first, even though they hadn’t worked as long.
Those who had worked the longest through the heat of the day complained
that they weren’t paid more than originally agreed upon, but the landowner
rightly told them “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money?
Or are you envious because I am generous?’ (vs.15)
I had asked to talk with Larissa on the sidewalk while she
was on her way to church. She is a chemistry
student, probably had other things on her mind, and hasn’t spent too much time
reading the Bible, so I’m sure my question caught her off guard. Yet she instinctively knew that this parable
told of God’s justice. Jesus summed it
up by saying “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” It’s a justice “system” very different from
our human concepts of justice.
It can be very hard for us to conceive of God’s justice, this
parable notwithstanding. Workers who
work longer or more productively deserve to get rewarded accordingly, we
reason. Larissa as a student, I’m sure, would
expect to be rewarded with a higher grade according to her efforts and success
in her classes. As we talked further,
despite her reference to the parable, she began to see that hers is a “balance
scale” belief system, in which she hopes her good deeds will outweigh her bad
and through a combination of her own good deeds and God’s mercy, she will be
rewarded on judgment day with eternal life.
So how can a “last first, first last” system of justice be
fair? The answer, I believe, can be
found in a proper understanding of just what we “deserve” when it comes to
heavenly rewards. An important clue can
be found in James 4:15, which reads “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought
to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”
The word “ought” tells us that good deeds are rightfully expected of
us. We are to use the good gifts that
God has given us – the time, energy, health, opportunity, even the desire to
good – and do good deeds without expectation of reward, simply because it is
only fitting and right and honoring of God to do so.
The bad things we have done – on the other hand – ought not
to be done, yet all too often we use God’s precious gifts of life and health to
defy our Creator and disobey Him through various acts of outright rebellion or
uncaring, disobedient neglect. When we
appeal to the “balance scale” model of justice, we are in effect saying that
the good we ought to do anyway will somehow “pay” for the bad we ought not to have
done. But it doesn’t according to God’s
justice, and we are left in a position of moral bankruptcy before our infinitely
righteous Judge, with our sins counted against us and no way to pay for them
short of an eternity in hell.
Do we really want what we “deserve” on judgement day? Romans 6:23 tells us “…the wages of sin is
death.” Or do we want, as Larissa was
right to point out, God’s mercy? Romans
6:23 continues by saying this is a gift that can’t be earned: “…but the gift of
God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In Christ Jesus, God has paid the debt for sin
that we couldn’t pay. We did the crime,
but Jesus paid our fine.
In God’s system of justice, we all start out equally condemned
for our sins. None of us deserves any
more reward than anyone else for the good we ought to do anyway. We can never be in a position where God “owes”
us reward. But those who receive Jesus
receive the generous mercy of God, just as the last workers in the parable were
first to receive a generous reward they hadn’t earned.
In Christ God is saying “Don’t I have the right to do what I
want with my own money (mercy)? Or are you envious because I am generous (merciful)?’ The “last” can be first and the “first” can
be last, not according to our works, but according to God’s riches in mercy.
Thanks, Larissa, for allowing me to record our
conversation! It can be seen HERE https://youtu.be/4PlygVGpVgo
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