{"id":6020,"date":"2020-09-20T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-20T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/?p=6020"},"modified":"2020-09-19T13:27:03","modified_gmt":"2020-09-19T17:27:03","slug":"our-god-is-not-fair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/our-god-is-not-fair\/","title":{"rendered":"Our God Is Not Fair!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<iframe title=\"Our God Is Not Fair 9\/20\/20\" height=\"122\" width=\"100%\" style=\"border: none;\" scrolling=\"no\" data-name=\"pb-iframe-player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.podbean.com\/media\/player\/8s6fg-ec3d3d?from=pb6admin&#038;download=1&#038;version=1&#038;auto=0&#038;share=1&#038;download=1&#038;rtl=0&#038;fonts=Helvetica&#038;skin=1&#038;pfauth=&#038;btn-skin=107\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Today Jesus tells us a story that most of us do not like very much. The owner of a vineyard hires workers in the early morning, then later in the day, and finally, just before quitting time.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>It comes time to pay the workers and everybody gets the same pay. They all get a full day\u2019s pay. Those who worked all day complain. We can almost hear their words: \u201cI worked all day in the hot sun. I get a day\u2019s pay. He worked only one hour and he only worked two hours and they get paid for a whole day\u2019s work, exactly what I got for slaving all day in the hot sun.\u201d The workers complain: \u201cIt\u2019s not fair!\u201d&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The owner retorts: \u201cIt\u2019s my money! Tough luck! A contract is a contract!\u201d What the workers in the parable come up against is one of life\u2019s hardest realities \u2013 LIFE IS NOT FAIR! LIFE IS NOT FAIR! Early in life we learn how unfair life is. And this lesson is learned again and again.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In the family, the youngest child is allowed to date at a younger age. \u201cIt\u2019s not fair!\u201d the older brothers and sisters cry out as they watch the youngest child pampered by their parents. Meanwhile, the youngest child sees the older teenagers get to drive the car, stay up late at night and get bigger allowances. What does the youngest child say? \u201cLife is not fair!\u201d&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>So many times, life leaves us feeling cheated. How about the couple who pray for a child, maybe even spending thousands of dollars on fertility specialists and they still have no baby of their own. Meanwhile, a young teenage boy and girl down the street make one mistake and wind up pregnant. Both couples cry out: \u201cIt\u2019s not fair!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or think about an elderly mother who needs nursing home care. More often than not, only one of the children is there for their elderly parent. That one daughter visits her mother every day. She helps her in every way. The other children visit, maybe on Mother\u2019s Day or the holidays. In her tiredness the faithful daughter says, \u201cIt\u2019s not fair! I\u2019m the only one taking care of our mother.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The truth is \u2013 Life is not set up to be fair. Some people have heart disease, others don\u2019t. A few people strike it rich, most don\u2019t. Very few of us will be rich, beautiful, athletic and in perfect health. Most of us will struggle to pay our bills, be uncoordinated, ordinary and have health issues. A lesson we learn early and face often is \u2013 LIFE IS NOT FAIR!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>How about God? Is God fair? No! <strong>God is not fair! God is Generous! <\/strong>God goes well beyond being fair. Think about life itself. Life is God\u2019s gift. I had a retreat master who started every session with the prayer: \u201cThank you, God, for loving us into life.\u201d Our God is a generous God, a giver of gifts.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today\u2019s parable is not a parable about fairness or labor-relations management. It is a story about God, a God who leaves 99 to reach for one, who sweeps the house for a lost coin, who embraces a son who has blown the father\u2019s money, and who gives one-hour laborers too much money. It is a story that is supposed to take our breath away and ask: \u201cWhat kind of a God is this who is against all human expectations?\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Galileo Galilei really shook up the world almost 400 years ago. Everybody who lived 400 years ago thought it was all about us. We\u2019re it! We\u2019re the center of the universe! We\u2019re the center of everything! The universe all revolves around us. They felt that the sun shines on us and then the sun goes and hides for a while and then comes back and shines on us again. Why? Because we are everything!&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Galileo Galilei said NO! You\u2019ve got it all wrong. The sun doesn\u2019t go around the earth. We go around the sun. So the powers that be threw Galileo into jail in the Vatican. They said: \u201cYou can\u2019t think that way. It\u2019s heresy. Your thinking is against God, against the Bible, against the Church, and against humanity.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Galileo retorted: \u201cI can think that way because that\u2019s the way it is. That\u2019s what the science God gave us is saying to us. We\u2019re not the center of the universe. You just don\u2019t get it!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>When we hear today\u2019s parable, we\u2019re like the people who lived 400 years ago. We want to say to Jesus: \u201cYou\u2019ve got it all wrong! Where is my living wage for all that I have gone through working in the hot sun?\u201d&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>But Jesus, like Galileo, says: \u201cNo, no, YOU\u2019VE got it all wrong! You\u2019re living your life comparing yourself to others. The world and your life are about God\u2019s generosity to you and to everyone else. It is a whole different way of seeing your life. It\u2019s about time you started to realize who God is.\u201d&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>On March 4, 2008, almost 400 years after Galileo was condemned of heresy and put in jail, the Vatican announced that it is erecting a statue to Galileo Galilei in the Vatican Gardens right where he was put into jail in 1633.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>It has taken the Church almost 400 years to come around to seeing some things as they are. If I were alive 400 years from now, I\u2019d no doubt see other statues in the Vatican to people who today also see things as they are.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How long will it take you and me to come around to seeing things from God\u2019s point of view?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>OUR GOD IS NOT FAIR.&nbsp;&nbsp;OUR GOD IS GENEROUS!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This Week, Will YOU Be God\u2019s Artwork or Satan\u2019s Graffiti?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-amazon-kindle wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-amazon\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"oceanwp-oembed-wrap clr\"><iframe title=\"THE GATHERING: Jesus and Abortion A Story For Our Time\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"1200\" height=\"550\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen style=\"max-width:100%\" src=\"https:\/\/read.amazon.com\/kp\/card?preview=inline&#038;linkCode=kpd&#038;ref_=k4w_oembed_C2GDBgd9ZHISix&#038;asin=B08BDSDQ5L&#038;tag=kpembed-20\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today Jesus tells us a story that most of us do not like very much. The owner of a vineyard hires workers in the early morning, then later in the day, and finally, just before quitting time.&nbsp; It comes time to pay the workers and everybody gets the same pay. They all get a full [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6021,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"qubely_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Counting-Money.png",216,143,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Counting-Money.png",216,143,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Counting-Money.png",216,143,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Counting-Money-150x143.png",150,143,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Counting-Money.png",216,143,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Counting-Money.png",216,143,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Counting-Money.png",216,143,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Counting-Money.png",216,143,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Counting-Money.png",216,143,false],"ocean-thumb-m":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Counting-Money.png",216,143,false],"ocean-thumb-ml":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Counting-Money.png",216,143,false],"ocean-thumb-l":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Counting-Money.png",216,143,false],"qubely_landscape":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Counting-Money.png",216,143,false],"qubely_portrait":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Counting-Money.png",216,143,false],"qubely_thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Counting-Money-140x100.png",140,100,true],"rpwe-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Counting-Money-45x45.png",45,45,true]},"qubely_author":{"display_name":"Medard Laz","author_link":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/author\/medlaz\/"},"qubely_comment":0,"qubely_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/category\/weekly-messages\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Weekly Messages<\/a>","qubely_excerpt":"Today Jesus tells us a story that most of us do not like very much. The owner of a vineyard hires workers in the early morning, then later in the day, and finally, just before quitting time.&nbsp; It comes time to pay the workers and everybody gets the same pay. They all get a full&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6020"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}