There are some situations in life in which you want to scream: “it’s not fair!” because life is supposed to reward those who work the best and the hardest, those who sacrifice their own time and desires to serve the greater good. There should be extra bonus points, special perks, earned rewards for good behavior, right? Well, maybe not… according to the story from St. Matthew’s gospel today. When all the workers who had labored in the vineyard the whole day lined up for their daily wage, fairness would seem to dictate that the latecomers be paid less than those who started at dawn and bore the day’s heat and burden of work. But, the foreman paid those early birds the same amount as the latecomers – exactly what they were promised in the first place. Clearly, this landowner’s sense of secular economics is not fair. What are we to make of this parable? Perhaps Jesus was trying to correct the impression that extra obedience to the will of God would bring extra reward. Maybe Jesus is trying to tell us that the kingdom of heaven does not operate on the merit system. My friends, God is not fair by human standards… but God is exceedingly generous. So, let's simply rejoice in God’s generosity!