Everlasting Grace – The Economics of Eternal Life – Steve Orr

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Grace is a core, defining doctrine of Christianity. Everything changed when grace came to this world in the person of Jesus Christ. God’s grace was so radical that no one understood it, much less accepted it. Consider these words from the Gospel of John:

In [Jesus] was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not understood it. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:4-5, 14).

Before grace came to this world, the emphasis was on earning God’s favor by obeying the Law. While forgiving others was encouraged to maintain peaceful relations, obedience to the Law was mandatory. True grace undermined the religious power structure of Jesus’ day. This can be seen from Jesus’ exchange with the thief on the cross beside him:

“Jesus forgave a thief dangling on a cross, knowing full well the thief had converted out of plain fear. That thief would never study the Bible, never attend synagogue or church, and never make amends to those he had wronged. He simply said, ‘Jesus remember me,’ and Jesus promised, ‘Today you will be with me in paradise.’ It was another shocking reminder that grace does not depend on what we have done for God but rather what God as done for us.” (Quote from Philip Yancy based on Luke 23:39-43.)

From the account, the criminal knew that, by law, he was receiving his just capital punishment with his execution on the cross (Luke 23:41). Getting off scot-free was not an option; to the contrary, it was a scandalous affront to the criminal justice system.

Yes, grace is scandalous, but it is God’s way as planned before the beginning of time (compare: Rev 13:8; 1 Pet 1:19-20; 1 Cor 2:7-10; Matt 25:34; and John 1).

Grace means:

  • No one is too evil to be saved.
  • God gives good things to others that we never would.
  • Grace is not “fair.”
  • Grace is free, but it cost God everything. Jesus gave his all.

The Economics of Grace

To help us understand grace, Jesus gives us an economics lesson in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16).

In today’s workplace, job salaries can be very contentious. “Why does Joe get paid more than me? It’s not fair. We do the same work.” The politics of envy and greed come to the fore. Yes, discrimination is a fact of life, and serious and important laws are created to alleviate it.

However, the parable is about an entirely different economic situation with temporary labor. This is just a day gig; there’s no promise of future work. Yes, some of the day laborers are indeed getting paid the same amount for doing less work. Some work the full twelve hours, some ten, some eight, and some less than a half day.

Jesus explains a marketplace where there’s the property owner and the hired help, who are like day laborers you can pick up at most any big box home improvement store parking lot.

In the parable, the landowner goes to the marketplace five times and offers one silver denarius coin, the standard pay for twelve hours of labor.

Part of the economic equation is that the grapes need to be picked at their peak ripeness when they are most valuable. The crop is at risk with the coming heat of the day, and tomorrow’s forecast is for extreme heat and dry conditions. Temperatures often get up to more than 100 degrees in Palestine. The work is hard on a south-facing hill. There are no whistles sounding that it’s time for a break in the shade because there is no shade.

The owner is willing to pay top dollar for a good harvest. He is more than generous to the guys who slept in and came late to the market (verse 15). Not only that, harvest is short and the economic competition between the landowners is intense. There’s plenty of economic stress to go around.

The reality is that the day laborers have nothing to complain about. They are unskilled laborers getting the same wage as a Roman soldier. The soldier’s job was much more prestigious and highly skilled, involving considerable training. The landowner is right in asking, “Are you envious because I am generous?”

The landowner rightly argues that his transactions with all the laborers are entirely lawful and just. In today’s economic terms, the landowner is appealing to the “subjective theory of value” (STV), which explains how valuations fluctuate over time; they are not fixed. “Thus a good’s value may increase substantially following its creation if the good is perceived as being of greater importance, or as being more desirable than before.”

Setting economic theory aside, there is much more going on here. The benefits are even more lopsided in favor of the day laborer than we realize. Let us contrast fleshly works versus spiritual gifts.

Let’s talk about wages: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:32).”

Now let’s talk about brute mathematical logic. What is greater than infinity? Nothing!

Except for John, all Jesus’ apostles worked themselves to death. But the thief on the cross cheated death without doing anything, and I am pretty sure the apostles rejoiced and were delighted to see him!

Eternal life trumps all the cares of this world. God’s grace is our fresh start. As verse twelve in the parable says, “You have made them all equal to us.” In God’s economy, everything is turned upside-down. There’s no keeping score in God’s Kingdom. Nobody cares that the first shall be last, and the last shall be first. While we may have different rewards, God’s grace gives us equal citizenship in his Kingdom.

There’s still work to do. Our work is to expand God’s Kingdom. God is not willing that any should perish; so let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.

Collectively, we are the Bride of Christ. We are to be a light unto the world. Here is how we do the job at hand:

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. (Revelation 22:17)

Steve Orr writes to us from Montana. After working in the mecca of technology, Steve traded the rat race of Silicon Valley for the adventures of High Tech in Big Sky Country. Steve has an MBA with experience in accounting, finance, technology, and management. He occasionally writes a little software code, but mostly he likes writing about Matters of the Heart.