Stealing the Fruit?

"I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor." (John 4:38)

This just suddenly jumped out at me. Something seems terribly unfair about this situation, at least it would be very easy to make that conclusion from some perspectives.

Since I am wrestling with another issue right now and have been thinking about it a great deal lately, I am ripe to notice things that might trigger my “fairness” hot-button. And when I read a verse like this it has a lot of potential to trip that trigger. In life as we are used to it and from our assumptions about what is fair and right, people who put much effort and time and skill and have invested much of their life into some project should be the ones who should reap the positive benefits of all their work. This is a standard and fundamental principle of life that nearly everyone believes in.

So when someone comes along and jumps in at the last minute to grab the good stuff, reap the harvest of rewards away from someone, yet who has not put in the hard work that others have invested, at the very least we levy the charge of unfairness if not downright theft.

For someone to spend years growing a crop of fruit trees only to have someone else come along and pick the fruit for themselves without reimbursement or even acknowledgement seems blatantly wrong.

For someone to invest much of their life training another individual to do a certain job and then never be recognized for the years of investment, patience, trouble and headaches that it took to make that other person famous and successful seems just unfair at best.

For someone to create a masterwork of art or spend years designing and growing a garden that is an amazement to look upon and then have someone else come along and pick the flowers or worse yet take all the credit for the work is just wrong and dishonest.

I am not saying that Jesus is endorsing or even necessarily talking about all of these scenarios. But this is the kind of thing that can really send people off in a rage because of so many experiences of unfairness and injustice that already exist in this sinful world. So why would Jesus come along and seemingly begin to dabble in this area by talking about having someone reap and enjoy all the benefits of harvesting something that they had not taken part in planting and cultivating, the really hard part of the project?

This is almost like coming to a farmer who has invested thousands of dollars along with months of hard work, sleepless nights out in the field planting and fertilizing and weeding, and telling him that someone else will now take care of harvesting his fields this year and will take the produce and profits for themselves. I really don't think that would go over well at all with most farmers that I know. In fact, you likely might find a threatened lawsuit on your hands in a situation like that.

So what makes this statement of Jesus a whole lot different from these other scenarios that seem so obviously unfair and even dishonest? And is our answer going to be more of a knee-jerk reaction designed to mindlessly justify God by coming up with some platitudes about God being able to do whatever He wants without needing to justify His decisions with us? We can say that, but it does nothing to improve His reputation with those who are still choosing to think for themselves. It might silence some of the questioners but not because it gives them any satisfactory answers but simply because they realize their questions are not being respected or listened to honestly.

But this verse makes it quite plain that Jesus intends to say something that many of us find really disturbing if we are willing to face it squarely. He apparently is saying that He is willing to send someone different into a harvest and allow them to gather the rewards or fruits of someone else's labor with little to no acknowledgement for the efforts of those who previously put in long hours of fruitless effort before that harvest. I believe that it may be very helpful to explore this part of the story more openly and candidly. I find no place in this passage where Jesus gives any clue whatsoever as to who may have been the originators of this potential harvest.

It does remind me of a story that Jesus told that is equally discomfiting and has irritated many since the day He told it. It is found in Matthew 20:1-16 and talks about a farmer that paid the same wages to people who obviously worked very different lengths of time and dramatically different outlays of effort. The workers who had put in a full days work in the hot sun were incensed and angered when they saw the master paying others who had just showed up for a little while at the end of the day. The master had the gall to pay the last workers the very same amount that he had paid the first. This whole situation seemed patently unfair and they couldn't help but have an outburst of protests over it. If they had had the chance they might have formed a union and pressed legal charges against this unfair employer and may have even picketed his farm.

This issue of fairness is far more intense and sensitive for many of us than we may realize at first. I am starting to become aware of how deep this issue of justice and fairness runs inside my own heart by how quickly I react with intense anger inside whenever I hear of someone being mistreated or especially when I feel cheated or taken advantage of by others. Whether it is an abuse of power and authority or whether it is stepping in to steal the results of my own work and investments, I get very upset when I feel that evil men are able to steal from the honest work of others and even institutionalize it into a system of self-serving laws and enforcements they can impose on everyone around them.

Is Jesus saying here or even implying that this system of institutionalized injustice and legal abuse is somehow justifiable? I hardly think so. But what is going on here? What important truth might be overlooked by a passive or cursory reading of this fascinating story I have been probing for so long?