September 10, 2006

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Is God Fair?

Mark 7:24-30

            Life is not fair.  Most of us understand that.  It was not fair that some children died at birth or had crippling diseases, and I have been allowed to live and enjoy good health.  It was not fair that some were born with cerebral palsy and I was able to grasp difficult concepts and get passing grades.  It was not fair that some came from abusive homes, while I was born into a loving one.  It was not fair that some were born in poverty stricken areas of the world or a family living in poverty here in the United States , while I was born into a middle class home that was able to provide a college education for me.  It is not fair that I have a great and loving family who are all living for Christ, while many of my Christian friends have children who have rebelled against the faith, are living dysfunctional lives and are alienated from their parents.  It is not fair that we are sitting here in an air-conditioned church enjoying great freedom, prosperity and safety, while many of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world are being severely persecuted for their faith, tortured, killed, ruined financially or even sold into slavery.  What if we, as Christians, lived in the Sudan or Lebanon ?  What if it was we who were living in China and saw our church destroyed by the government and were dragged off to jail for practicing our faith, while at the same time we knew that Christians in other parts of the world were protected, prosperous and free?   

            Life isn’t fair.  But for the most part we get that.  As Christians, we understand that this is a fallen world — a world that has fallen away from God.  We understand that God has given the people of the world freedom of choice, and the world has exercised that choice to choose against God and his will for their lives and their world.  The result of that is that we live in a world where sin, evil and injustice have been invited.  This is a fallen world, an imperfect world, and the fallenness of the world effects us all.  As a result, life isn’t fair.  Some get cancer, and others don’t.  Some succeed in life, and others don’t.  Some are surrounded by love, and others are surrounded by strife and conflict.  It isn’t fair, and there is a reason for it — we are the reason — the human family has rebelled against God and invited sin and evil to be a part of our existence.   

            But there is another question that is far more difficult.  Is God fair?  Does he love everyone the same and treat them equally?  Let’s ask a series of questions in order to finally attempt to answer this important question.  The first question is: Is God just?  Is God interested in justice?  Well, yes and no.  We can all be glad that God does not blindly hand out justice, because if he did, we would all be dead.  If perfect justice were done, we would all be headed for hell.  Here is justice as expressed by Ezekiel the prophet: “The soul who sins is the one who will die” (Ezekiel 18:4).  Justice says that death is the punishment for sin.  And the bad new is: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  But that statement is immediately followed by these words: “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).  Isaiah the prophet also reflected this when he wrote: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).  We deserved to die, but someone has died in our place.  This is not just.  It is not justice; it is mercy; it is grace; it is love.  The Psalmist wrote: “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.  He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:8-10).

            I was reading the prophet Hosea this week, and I was wading through the ponderous judgments that God said he was going to bring on Israel because of her disobedience, and then like an oasis in the desert I read these words: “How can I give you up, Ephraim?  How can I hand you over, Israel ?  . . .My heart is changed within me;  all my compassion is aroused.  I will not carry out my fierce anger,  nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim.  For I am God, and not man — the Holy One among you.  I will not come in wrath” (Hosea 11:8-9).  It was an abrupt interruption in the litany of condemnation.  It was like a finding a bright jewel of grace in a dark jungle of judgment.  Israel had sinned, and there was no question about whether she deserved judgment, but God was not going to deliver justice, he was going to deliver mercy, forgiveness and healing. 

            Do you want justice?  Better think twice about that.  It will be better for you to receive mercy.  It is a good thing for you that God prefers mercy to justice.  But the problem is that we often want mercy for ourselves and justice for others.  We want our enemies punished, and at the same time we want God to forgive us.  But the Bible warns us: “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.  Mercy triumphs over judgment!” (James 2:12-13).  What does this say to us when we want mercy, but we want our enemies to be punished or die? 

            Dallas Willard in his wonderful new book The Great Omission, surprised me by making a candid confession.  He says, “Some time ago I came to realize that I did not love the people next door.  They were, by any standards, dangerous and unpleasant people — ex-bikers who made their living selling drugs.  They had never tried to harm my family, but the constant traffic of people buying drugs, a number of whom sat in the yard while shooting up, began to wear down my patience.  As I brooded over them one day, indulging my irritation, the Lord helped me see that I really had no love for them at all, that after ‘suffering’ from them for several years I would secretly be happy if they died so that we could just be rid of them.”  Many people have neighbors who provide much less irritation, but have similar responses.  Or it could be someone else, that for whatever reason, you secretly wish were dead.  You want justice and judgment from God while pleading for mercy for yourself.  Willard never really explains if anything changed in his relationship with his neighbor.  It would be wonderful if he witnessed to them, they became followers of Jesus, gave up their drug dealing and joined his church.  But more likely he has had to endure them, and more than endure, he has had to pray for them, wish the best for them and ask God for opportunities to serve them.  He had to look for ways to be like God and extend mercy instead of judgment.  Our lives should mirror the life of God where mercy triumphs over judgment. 

            The second question we need to consider is: Is God impartial?  Our first impulse is to say, “Of course, God treats everyone the same!”  But as we read the Bible, that assumption is challenged.  This is the God who chose Isaac over Ishmael, and Jacob over Esau.  He is the God who chose Israel out of all the nations of the earth.  He chose David over his brothers.  Jesus outraged the people of his day because he preferred the company of sinners to the saints of the day.  They complained and asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”  And the Bible says, “On hearing this, Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners’” (Mark 2:16-17). 

            Jesus was partial to sinners, outcasts and sick people.  Why?  Because they were the ones who needed him most, even though they may have deserved him the least.  The self-righteous and prosperous did not understand their need of Jesus, but the sick, the poor and the sinners did.  Jesus consistently gave the religious people of his day a hard time.  He also showed shocking acceptance of sinners: a woman caught in adultery, tax collectors, Roman soldiers, thieves on crosses.  It scandalized and offended people.  He also showed a love for foreigners and strangers. 

            The Scripture we read today was about a Gentile woman in need of Jesus’ help.  The discourse between them sounds unusual at first — almost insulting.  She comes to Jesus and asks him to cast an evil spirit out of her daughter.  And he says, “First let the children eat all they want, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs” (Mark 7:27).  What he is saying is that it is not fair for him to spend time ministering to her, a non-Jew, when his task was to come first to the people of Israel .  But she says, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs” (Mark 7:28).  In her response she does not diminish that task, but she states that even though it may not be fair, at this point, to give the main portion to Gentiles like herself, it is appropriate to give something — at least a crumb.  She does not ask for fairness, but mercy.  And Jesus responds to her and says, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter” (Mark 7:29).  And then to demonstrate his grace and openness to all people, the Gospel of Matthew tells us that he went to the Decapolis , where mostly Gentiles lived, and gave them not just crumbs, but bread and fish enough to feed 4000. 

            His fellow Jews were no doubt incensed that he would associate with Gentile sinners, after all, there were plenty of hungry people in Israel .  But Jesus was partial to people who had never heard the good news.  They could not understand him when he said, “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.  Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?  And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.  Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’  I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:3-7).  Jesus was saying that God is like this shepherd.  He is partial to those who are lost, and leaves the flock who are safely in the pen to find the sheep who have strayed.  He is partial to the lost prodigal rather than the son who never left home.  Not only is God partial to the lost and erring ones, but all of heaven rejoices when one is found. 

            There is a kind of favoritism God shows to those who do not have all the advantages of life like we do.  Jesus scandalized people when he spoke of eternal accountability.  He said, “That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows.  But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows.  From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:47-48).  If this is true, then God is not impartial.  He does not judge everyone the same. 

            So let’s finally consider: Is God fair?  Is he like a parent that makes sure each child is treated exactly the same, and what one gets the other gets?  I remember someone saying that they asked a woman which of her children she loved the most.  She said, “The one who needs me the most.”  It is not that she did not love the others, it is that for a time she gave special attention and favor the one in need.  I believe that is not how God responds to us.  And for one, I am grateful for that.  There are people who need God’s favor and help more than I do, because of the advantages I have. 

            Is God fair?  Do you remember the time when Jesus saw a widow in the temple?  Others were dropping in hundreds of dollars, while she only put in a couple of copper coins.  But it was all she had.  The Scripture says, “Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything — all she had to live on” (Mark 12:43-44).  She gave far less, but in God’s eyes was given far more credit.  Was that fair?  In God’s economy it was. 

            It didn’t seem fair to those who had given hundreds of dollars not to be noticed by Jesus, and then someone who gave two pennies was lifted up as a great example.  Shouldn’t she should have developed a budget, and spent her money more wisely, so she could have had more to give?  It may not have seemed fair to the rest of the sheep to be left while the shepherd searched for the lost sheep.  If they could speak, I can almost hear them say, “Serves him right.  If he had listened to the shepherd and not wandered off like he always does, he would not be lost!”  It did not seem fair to the older brother, who had been faithful and stayed near the father, that the sinful, prodigal son should be welcomed home and given a party.  After all, wasn’t he responsible for the shape he was in?  Didn’t he leave the father’s house, live a sinful life and waste his inheritance?  Should he be welcomed home when he returned?  It wasn’t fair, but that’s how the Father is. 

            God takes all things into consideration.  What does not seem fair to us is ultimate fairness in the mind of God, for he is not interested in what we consider to be just, impartial and fair.  He operates on scandalous mercy, grace and love.  Which means that there is hope for people like me and you. 

Rodney J. Buchanan

September 10,2006

Mulberry St. UMC
Mount Vernon , OH
www.MulberryUMC.org
Rod.Buchanan@MulberryUMC.org