Equality

I confess. It's hard to keep down the anger, resentment, frustration, and disappointment I feel when I am marginalized, relegated to the back of the line because I'm a woman, I'm single, I'm …

So I had a chuckle this morning when I read today's verse.

First, the context. Jesus is telling one of His wonderful stories. A landowner is hiring workers. Throughout the day more laborers arrived to help out. All those who have been hired have agreed to work for a specific, and equal, sum of money. Right before quitting time, the owner hires a few more workers. At the end of the day, the workers gather to receive their pay. The ones who began at the crack of dawn come sweating and exhausted. The late arrivals haven't had a chance to work up any sweat at all. But they all get the same amount in their pay packets. There are complaints.

The owner reminds all concerned that each one agreed to work for a certain sum. He, as owner, has a right to make whatever offer he chooses. It's the worker's right to decide if he will accept the offer.

Then the famous words: "So the last will be first, and the first will be last" (Matthew 20:16). In other words: There is no front of the line, or back of the line, in God's redemptive plan. Everyone is equal. Salvation doesn't offer a bigger payout for one person than it is for another, depending on when that person entered the plan.

Others may discriminate, but God never does.