(Sermon Summary)

by John Rallison

One thing is certain. Philosophers have noticed it throughout the centuries. 'Life coaches' like Steve Covey will tell you that understanding this one fact is foundational to a happy and successful life: Life is not fair.

Solomon was author of Ecclesiastes and one of the wisest men that ever lived. He took a look at life and noticed five things that were unfair. Life hasn't changed.

CRIMINALS GO UNPUNISHED

"Throughout the earth, justice is giving way to crime and even the courts are corrupt." (Ecclesiastes 3:16, LB) "When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong." (Ecclesiastes 8:11, NIV)

THE OPPRESSED ARE UNHELPED

"I saw the tears of the oppressed--and they have not comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors--and they have no comforter." (Ecclesiastes 4:1, NIV)

POLITICIANS ARE UNETHICAL

"If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter; for high official watches over high official, and higher officials are over them." (Ecclesiastes 5:8, NKJV) "Here is an injustice... Stupid people are given positions of authority." (Ecclesiastes 10:5-6, LB"

GOOD PEOPLE GO UNREWARDED

"...righteous men who get what the wicked deserve, and wicked men who get what the righteous deserve." (Ecclesiastes 8:14, NIV)

CAPABLE PEOPLE ARE UNSUCCESSFUL

"I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. (Ecclesiastes 9:11, NIV).

Clearly, the Bible is very contemporary and doesn't sugar coat reality. These realities push us to ask at lease two questions: 1) Why does God allow injustice? and 2) How should we respond?

WHY? BECAUSE GOD GIVES US FREEDOM OF CHOICE

See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse--the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known. (Deuteronomy 11:26-28, NIV).

The nature of a love relationship requires choice. I can program a computer to say it loves me, but that wouldn't be a love relationship. God himself gives us the ability to choose the good, but then the choice is set before us. God could eliminate all the injustice in the world in a moment, but that would require taking away our freedom of choice.

BECAUSE GOD WILL SETTLE THE ACCOUNTS ONE DAY

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. (Revelation 20:12, NIV). Today is not the end of the story. Everything is recorded in the books of heaven and everyone will be called to account for their actions. It may appear that an oppressive person is getting away with it, but God says that he or she is not.

BECAUSE IT SHOWS OUR NEED FOR A SAVIOR

There is a very popular idea circulating that human beings are basically good... and it's rubbish. Do you have to teach your child to hit and to take what they want or to be kind and to share? We are by nature selfish. God says, "Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear." (Isaiah 59:2) The evil in the world shows us  what we are all like without God in our lives.

When I read that all my thoughts, words and deeds are being recorded in a big book, to be read publicly at the end of time, I get scared. I know I need a savior. God tells us that if we turn from our sins and seek his mercy, we have complete forgiveness. 

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as fare as the east is from the west, so fare has he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalms 103:11-12, NIV)

BECAUSE IT CAN BUILD CHARACTER

The Bible tells us that suffering produces character. (Romans 5:3-5). I know that when I look back in my life for times of growth, they are always during hardship, including unfairness. We grow more through trial than through Christmas presents.

So, HOW SHOULD I RESPOND TO UNFAIRNESS IN MY LIFE?

ACCEPT IT GRACEFULLY

"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed." (1 Peter 4:12-13,NIV).

RESPOND LOVINGLY

"You have heard that it was said, `Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," (Matthew 5:43-44, NIV). God says that the best way to respond to injustice is with love. That doesn't mean you let the injustice continue. Abraham Lincoln responded lovingly to the injustice of slavery by being willing to engage in civil war.

Booker T. Washington said, "I will never allow another man to control my life by allowing him to make me hate him."

WAIT FOR GOD'S HELP PATIENTLY AND EXPECTANTLY

Sometimes I have really just wanted to kick someone who deserved it. (Come on, maybe not by kicking, but every one of us has really wanted to give it to someone.) But then I remember 1 Peter 2:19, "For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God." Sometimes remembering God is the only thing that keeps me doing good.

"So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good" (1Peter 4:19, NIV). The reason we can wait patiently is that we know what's coming. "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18, NIV)