At our meeting in Kansas City, I heard one of the best “explanations” yet of the parable of the workers in the vineyard.

“In one of Jesus’s wildest parables, he compares the kingdom to laborers picked up to work at all hours of the day (Matt. 20:1–16). The ones who work an hour are given a day’s wage. The ones who work all day expect ten times as much, but they also get the same amount. The employer is fair to them. He’s just exceedingly generous to the ones who worked less. In other words, God is fair at the end of all things. And God is generous far beyond fairness. When God takes stock of all things, God will be generous far beyond what we were able to muster workwise.”

— Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell and Jason Byassee [1]

“God is fair at the end of all things. And God is generous far beyond fairness.” That is good news. Let us set fear aside and simply do our best.

[1] Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell and Jason Byassee, Faithful and Fractured: Responding to the Clergy Health Crisis (Grand Rapids Michigan: Baker Publishing Group, 2018), 133, Kindle.