Sermon from 21 Sept 2008 - It's NOT fair!

Sermon based on reading from Matthew 20:1-16
On 21 Sept., 2008

In today’s reading Jesus tells a story about what the Kingdom of God is like. He says it’s like a landowner who needs some people to help out in his vineyard. So early in the morning he goes off to hire some guys. After agreeing on a certain wage, he sends them into his vineyard. And in late morning, he decides to hire more guys to help him out. He agrees with them a daily wage, and off they go to his vineyard. Later around lunch-time, he does the same thing. He agrees with more guys to help out, and then again does the same in the afternoon. And one more time he does this just one hour before closing time.
Then at the end of the day, he pays his workers… starting from the last hired to the ones hired first. He pays them all the full daily wage. Well, as you might imagine, the guys hired at the beginning of the day get very angry that the land owner pays the ones hired after them the same wage. “We’ve worked the hottest part of the day, did the most amount of work…and you’re paying them the same you paid us.” Basically they were saying – It’s Not Fair!
And the land-owner says: “Didn’t we agree on the daily wage in the morning? You got what I owed you, so we’re good – Go home! It’s my money, I can pay people what I want to pay them- if they agree to it. Or are you jealous because I’m generous?” Then Jesus says, “So the last will be first and the first will be last.”

“Life’s not fair – Get used to it!” This was passed around the internet a few years ago, attributed to Bill Gates as he spoke to some graduating class somewhere. It was supposed to be the first point of 11 or 12. Actually it came from a guy named Charles Sykes in his 1996 book, “Dumbing Down Our Kids”. Basically the idea behind this first point is… well… life isn’t fair.

I’m going to get a little heavy here: Why is it that sometimes destructive people succeed, and leave behind them a wake of pain? Why is it that some people cancer and die and others get cancer and survive? That isn’t fair!
Sometimes we’re the recipients of pure luck: Those of us born US citizens were given opportunities and benefits right off the bat that the vast majority of people in the world never get. That isn’t fair either! It isn’t fair that hundreds of children die every day from hunger… when we throw food away. The point is that sometimes we get the benefits of fairness, and sometimes we suffer the injustice of unfairness.

Suffering is the ultimate unfairness. In theological terms, the question of how God fit’s in with random suffering is called Theodicy. Why does God allow suffering? A few possible responses is that God causes it… another that God doesn’t cause it, but allows it… another that God really has no control over suffering, that it’s outside of God’s hands.

A book many years ago, "Why Bad Things Happen To Good People", by Rabbi Harold Kushner was written partly to struggle through his son’s death from Progeria. This is a genetic disease that causes the cells in the body to rapidly age. Children with this disease rarely reach their 15th birthday. Kushner’s view is that Suffering is outside of God’s hands… but that God suffers with us! It’s almost as if Kushner sees God as saying… It’s not fair! For Kushner, God suffers with us! No matter what – God loves us! All of us!

Saturday we started another year of Confirmation, and our yearly theme is God Loves Us! Sometimes in our classes, to get our brain juices flowing, we work on some “Spectrum” questions. These are where you make a statement and there’s a Totally Agree on one end and a Totally Disagree on the other. And we have the young people place themselves on the spectrum where-ever they seem to fit most.
Such as this statement – God Loves Us All! Totally Agree on one end and Totally Disagree on the other… where do you place yourself on this spectrum? In the middle? More on one end or the other? Right on the end?

When I was on internship, I was at a church in Baltimore city that had a huge red neon, sign on the side of eh bell tower that read, “God Is Love”. How’s that for a spectrum question… Totally Agree – Totally Disagree… where do you place yourself on this statement – “God is Love”?

When we hear “All”, it’s easier to think or mean: God loves…
*Those who suffer – those going through hardships, those suffering hunger, those suffering homelessness.
*The innocent
*The children
*The abandoned
*The oppressed

It’s always easier to think of these mentioned, when we hear or say… “God Loves All”

What’s not so easy to mean or think, when we say “God Love All”:
*The oppressor
*The ones who run the sweat-shops, the ones who make money from oppressing their fellow human beings through for example the sex trade, or war.
*Those who abuse children

That’s tough for me! I have two kids. I have a teen aged girl and a little boy of four. When I did prison ministry, I heard a lot of confessions. There were many repentant people who wanted to change their lives, seek forgiveness, learn to forgive themselves. Some of the men who sought confession had abused children. That was tough to hear. Then I would say, “Do you believe the words of forgiveness I am about to speak come from God?” My personal feelings aside, forgiveness comes from God.

But there are unrepentant pedophiles out there! There are people whose behavior is destructive and evil. There are people who just don’t care that their actions are so destructive.

Do we believe in a God of love? Does God love them too? Just doesn’t sound fair! I struggle with that! How can I believe in a God of love and not say, “God loves those who are unrepentantly evil too”?

When I was in the Infantry, I thought I’d seen and heard it all. Then I became a pastor, and there I thought I’d seen and herd it all. Then I did prison ministry and thought I’d seen and heard it all. I’ve seen some really painful stuff, some destructive stuff. But I also believe in the power of God to change hearts… to change minds! In spite of the inherent unfairness of it… “God loves us all!” In spite of the problems I have with some actions and behaviors, I still believe no one is outside of God’s transforming reach… even those I might find despicable! I have to believe God’s arms are big enough… long enough! I’m not strong enough all the time. But I believe God is!

It just ain’t fair! Thank God!