What More Could God Give?

What More Could God Give?

We’re pretty good at keeping score.

We notice who worked harder. Who showed up first. Who stayed longer. Who carried more of the load. And, if we’re being truthful, sometimes we notice those things in the church too.

“I’ve been a member here for 40 years.”

“I’ve served on boards and committees.”

“I’ve taught Sunday School.”

“I’ve tithed. I’ve volunteered. I stayed when things were difficult.”

Those things matter. Years of faithful service matter. Sacrifices made for others matter. Jesus never suggests otherwise.

The trouble begins with one little word: therefore.

I’ve done all these things; therefore, I deserve more.

Jesus exposes that way of thinking in His parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20. Some workers labor all day. Others work only part of the day. A few are hired with barely an hour remaining.

At the end of the day, the landowner gives them all the same wage.

The workers who had been there all day are furious. Their complaint is revealing: “You have made them equal to us.”

And there it is.

Their problem isn’t that they received less than they were promised. They received exactly what the landowner had agreed to give them. Their problem began when they looked at what someone else received and started comparing.

We do the same thing with God.

We take real differences in our lives of faith and turn them into rankings. We imagine that years of discipleship, service, sacrifice, or generosity somehow give us a greater claim on God.

But then look at what God has already given us in Jesus Christ.

He has made us His own. Forgiven every sin. Clothed us in Christ’s righteousness. Called us His children. Fed us with Christ’s body and blood. Promised us resurrection from the dead and life everlasting in His restored creation.

So what exactly would “more” look like?

More forgiveness?

More eternal life?

More resurrection?

More Christ?

The differences between us may look enormous when we compare ourselves with one another. But set them beside the vastness of God’s grace in Christ, and they become tiny.

They are swallowed up by grace.

And perhaps that is where the freedom begins.

I don’t have to keep score anymore. I don’t have to establish my place in the rankings. I don’t have to resent God’s generosity toward someone else.

In Christ, God has already given me more than I deserve or could ever imagine.

What more could God give?