(All Scripture references from the NASB unless otherwise noted)

In Matthew 20, Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven in a parable of a landowner who hires workers at different periods throughout the day, with the last group only working one hour. When they get paid, they all get paid the same.

“When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius (a day’s wage). And so when those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius.
When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, saying, ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day’s work and the scorching heat.”

And the landowner responds with… “Is it not lawful for me to do what I want with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?”

(Matthew 20:1-16)

The apparent teaching is that we ought not to compare ourselves, for the salvation of God is equally shared with all.

For what the Lord gives, is His alone to give and He deals generously solely because He is a generous God. Just as God defined revealed His nature to Moses and declared, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion to whom I will show compassion.” (Exodus 33:19) For our generous God brings rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous, as a testament to His greatness and love (Matthew 5:45). “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

While this is all true…

As a parallel for the Kingdom of Heaven, it also speaks to the dynamic of heaven on earth. The Lord does show blessing, favor, and reward in all capacities (in the spirit and the flesh), all as a way of expressing His great love.

And the workers in the field represent the work of advancing the Kingdom of Heaven, which all of His beloved takes part.

A deeper teaching in this parable, is that there is great joy in witnessing “unfair” distribution of the day’s wage… for those workers who sweat the most to receive the same!

The demonstration of God’s grace is a testament to who He is, always. When we see great grace to those around us to catch-up, redeem, and pass us, we have great cause to be overjoyed for it was the hand of God that gave to those who didn’t deserve. And what is a great, undeserved win for others, is a win for us. A source of life and worship and excitement! We witnessed the great hand of God to give in abundance to those who were undeserving! Blessed be the name of the Lord!

For the truth is, the measure of His grace towards us is no different than what He shows towards others. Sometimes the demonstration of His grace is drastic, which has the temptation to measure by comparison. If we abide in the joy of the Lord, then we’ll also see how great His work is in us.

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What if by our work in advancing the Kingdom, we witness people who just come to encounter the revelation of Jesus and God decides to “catch them up” as if they’ve spent their whole life knowing Him. Encounter, maturity, development of their gifting, and on top of that, He solves their financial problems, He redeems their relationships, He moves them to meet a wonderful spouse. Not that the latter items are part of the “salvation starter package,” but God chose to bless them. Meanwhile you have been sacrificing in the Kingdom day in and day out and it’s been a while since something radical in the flesh happened to you (for we should always be in radical transformation in the spirit, regardless of the flesh).

Do we have to be invited to envy? What if we already have everything we could ever want, desire, or need in the love and word of our God alone.

Imagine being part of someone’s experience of God and witnessing someone who was completely unaware of Him, become transformed by Him. Imagine a rich and wealthy who spent all their life amassing money and empires that comes to salvation and witnesses the great glory of God and immediately starts to move in His power. Meanwhile, you aren’t rich and don’t have any immediate path in becoming wealthy. Imagine a “popular” person who spent their time amassing platform and fame coming into the Kingdom and becomes a mouthpiece of the Kingdom bringing forth great revelation. Meanwhile, it’s been a dry spell for you. I’m convinced that there are many who are uneducated in theology and many who haven’t read the bible who will receive a great measure of Holy Spirit in gifts, encounters, signs and wonders. And we will get the privilege of seeing them leap well beyond us.

Those who have sacrificed nothing, who have spent no time “in the wilderness,” who have endured no trials and testings will receive everything that those hungry in the Church have cried out for. We, who are hungry and crave for the more of God, who cry out to God from our soul with endless tears and prayers for greater revelation of who He is, greater intimacy and encounter, and a greater measure of His Spirit to move in all His power and glory, will witness a generation of millions come into glory like man has never seen.

Not that we are being left out, for no one is favored, but it’s not hard to imagine points of disparity if one was only to look at the external.

And we, who love God and seek His Kingdom, will find it a tremendous honor to bear witness to His great and marvelous work in others, especially when it “surpasses” our fruit with such grand expression.

For who can earn of the Lord! Who, by the power of his own might and the straining of his own spirit, earns anything from the hand of our God! Do we not have, solely because He is generous with us? Are we also, utterly undeserving of every shred of His presence we have in this life, yet He loves us still?

What greater joy, than to see sons and daughters enter into the joy of the Lord. What greater wonder, than to bear witness to His mighty hand of grace and salvation upon this land. What greater honor, than to stand side-by-side and celebrate the great thing the Lord has done to them. What greater joy than to see the Kingdom of Heaven advance, and lay waste to the prisons of darkness.

For do we not have everything we could ever want, in His love towards us? Is He not sufficient?

To witness disparity, is to witness His goodness. We who see and love the Lord, will rejoice.

To summarize in a different illustration:
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a star basketball player being benched during a tight score in the end-game, for no apparent reason other than the coach’s say so. Instead, the coach subs-in the least qualified player who hasn’t done well all season to play and finishes the game with a game winning shot. And the reaction of the star player is only abundant joy. For the team’s win was his win as well.

The glory of our God is manifested in the unfair treatment to those who are undeserving. For we are all undeserving, and our God is a generous God.