It's Not Fair!

When Life isn’t Fair

Happy Easter everyone! He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Well it’s a very amazing day we celebrate today, but I want to point something out to you. This day marks the end of what we call “Holy Week”. It starts with Triumph and it ends in Triumph, but in between is gut wrenching heart ache. It’s a time when things are dark and hopeless and it seems like life isn’t fair. And then God...

Actually, we don’t need Easter to know this lesson do we? How many can relate to this from childhood. You’re getting ready to go out and play some organized sports at school or in the neighborhood and your teacher or mother says, “remember, play fair.” And yet something happens later when you become a teen you approach that very same parent or another teacher to complain about some inequity you suffered and they tell you, “Well you’d better learn to deal with it now, because life isn’t fair!”

So which is it? Is there an inconsistency? If life isn’t fair then there should be no rules to play by, right? Well, no and one of the rites of passage into adulthood is the realization that life is not always fair. Yet we are still offended by life’s unfairness. For reasons that we do not understand “Bad things do happen to good people” and perhaps even more inexplicable is sometimes “Good things happen to bad people.”

Nowhere is this more evident than in the story of Jesus’ Crucifixion.

Mark 15:1–35 NKJV

Immediately, in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate. Then Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” He answered and said to him, “It is as you say.” And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing. Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, “Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!” But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled. Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion. Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them. But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!” Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!” So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified. Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison. And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him. And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him. Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross. And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it. And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take. Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. And the inscription of His accusation was written above: THE KING OF THE JEWS With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with the transgressors.” And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him. Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, “Look, He is calling for Elijah!”

Mark 15:

A Very Unfair Affair

Jesus was falsely accused of many crimes against the Law of Moses, people were paid to bring false witness against Him, and as we talked about last time, in the span of one short week we go from triumphal entry to complete betrayal - and all over false allegations. If it were a script written for a modern day movie, it would have ended with a glorious last-minute grand flip of the script and the hero is spared the humiliation and the bad guys are locked up. But that’s not the case. In our story today, Jesus is scourged and then mocked and crucified. More unfairness, Jesus had already been punished - it would have been unheard of in the day to not only be scourged (back ripped to ribbons by the brutal Roman soldiers), but also then crucified. It would be like someone who is convicted of a crime who serves out their allotted sentence, and then on the day they are to be released is re-arrested and stands before a firing squad. And for what? Because the crowd demands it!

Saints, we need to face it. Life is not fair. If it was not fair for Jesus it will not be fair for us.

Joseph was thrown into the cistern by his brothers, sold into slavery then falsely accused of rape by Potiphar’s wife. He was then imprisoned and once there a promise forgotten.

Life isn’t fair!

We run into real problems when we try to impose our definitions of fairness on God. When God’s actions or lack of actions do not meet our expectations. Our national constitution states “all men are created equal.” And while it is true that all humans are created equal in God’s sight and have equal rights and protection under the law, all men are not created equal. I think that we all realize that we are not born with the same opportunities. Nor are we are not all equal in abilities and giftedness. I was listening on the ham radio the other day and overheard a conversation about a young man who was one of those extraordinarily blessed individuals. This young was smart, good looking, he could sing, play the piano, was black belt in Karate and now has Phd. in Marine Biology. And as the radio operator stated, the worse part was that he was so stinking humble you could not even hate him. Is that fair that some people have one talent and others have several? Yes it is fair, but not necessarily by our standards.

God Does Not Have To Work By Our Expectations

Luke 7:18–35 NKJV

Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” When the men had come to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’ ” And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight. Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’ For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. And the Lord said, “To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying: ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by all her children.”

This passage of scripture relates a story of John the Baptist sending his disciples to find out if Jesus is the Messiah or if they should wait for another. At first this passage is innocuous but there is one little part that sticks out.

“And blessed is he who is not offended because of me.”

The greatest Bible scholars point out that this sentence was directed not only at the disciples of John, but at the Pharisees and Scribes of the day. You see, their point of contention with Jesus is that although He had a grasp and knowledge of the scripture, by trade He was a carpenter - not a rabbi therefore, how dare He assume to teach?

He goes on to extol the virtues of John the Baptist who himself was a Levite born into the priesthood and a prophet of highest order but was rejected by the same Scribes and Pharisees because he hadn’t paid the piper according to their standard.

He gives the analogy of children being offended when other children don’t play by the rules that are agreed upon by the others. He points out that John did things very differently than He did, but that either way the religious ones were not having any of it.

God did things HIS way according to HIS rules. NOT FAIR! But that’s how God does things isn’t it?

In verse eighteen we read that John’s disciples brought him news about the miraculous things that Jesus was doing.

“Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things.”

It should be remembered that John’s disciples are bringing him the news because he is locked away in prison. John was in prison for having the audacity to confront the king over his marriage to Herodias. Herod, the king, is married to woman who was at one point was his sister-in-law. For courage in speaking out he was confined to the dungeon of a palace (Machaerus) overlooking the Dead Sea, a more desolate formidable place is difficult to imagine. In all fairness this must have been an extraordinarily difficult experience for a man accustomed to the outdoors as John the Baptist was.

It is possible that John’s disciples brought him news of Jesus’ latest miracle, the raising of the dead young man in Nain back to life (7:13-17). Languishing in prison, John became increasingly perplexed by the reports he heard of Jesus’ ministry because it was not all what he had imagined that the Messiah would do. John was only doing what we all do. We have a scenario in our mind for those in our lives. We have fixed ideas of how others are going to behave.

We sometimes expect God to do something in a certain way, and if he does not, we think that God has failed us. Such expectations cover a variety of situations – from God helping us to get a certain job, to God healing us of a debilitating medical condition, to our expectations that the Christian life will be free of hardship.

Sometimes we look around and we at least think to ourselves, “God, this is not fair.” You are not treating me right. Even a man as great as John the Baptist wrestled with confusion about whether or not God was treating him right. The value of his struggle should not be missed.

Honest Doubt is Not a Sin

Not only was he perplexed by what Jesus was doing, he was even more perplexed at what he was not doing. Why was Jesus helping others and leaving John to rot in a dark and miserable dungeon. After all he was the one who had announced that Jesus was “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (). He had been faithful in carrying out the ministry given to him, how could God allow him to remain in prison? I don’t think that John no longer believed in Jesus, but he did have questions about the style of his ministry and the content of his message.

John was a great man, but not a perfect man. We have before us the darkest days in the life of John the Baptist. According to verse nineteen, disappointed and puzzled John sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?" John did not hide his doubts and fears. We only begin to conquer our doubts when we acknowledge them.

We need to make a distinction before we go any further which is that “ there is a difference between doubt and unbelief. Doubt is a matter of the mind: we cannot understand what God is doing or why He is doing it. Unbelief is a matter of the will: we refuse to believe God’s word and obey what He tells us to do.” [Warren Wiersbe. Be Compassionate. (Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1988) p. 76]

Almost all of the heroes of Scripture at one time or another found themselves enduring periods of doubt and uncertainty. Moses was ready to quit on one occasion (), and so was Elijah () and Jeremiah (20:7-9, 14-18) and even Paul knew the meaning of despair ().

Max Lucado describes John’s feelings in this way, “John had never known doubt. Hunger, yes. Loneliness, often. But doubt. Never. Only raw conviction, ruthless pronouncements, and rugged truth. Such was John the Baptist. Conviction as fierce as the desert sun.

Until now. Now the sun was blocked. Now his courage wanes. Now the clouds come. And now, as he faces death, he doesn’t raise a fist of victory; he raises only a question. His final act is not a proclamation of courage but a confession of confusion. ‘Find out if Jesus is the Son of God or not.’

The forerunner of the messiah is afraid of failure. Find out if I’ve told the truth. Find out if I’ve sent people to the right Messiah. Find out if I’ve been right or if I’ve been duped.” [Max Lucado. When God Whispers Your Name. (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1994) p. 27-28]

In John’s case his doubt was not born of willful unbelief but of doubt that was fed by physical strain and emotional turmoil. John sincerely wanted to know the answer.

There is Hope

Some of you may have seen on the television this week that Notre Dame cathedral in France was gutted by a tremendous fire of suspicious origin. Miraculously it was not completely destroyed and several relics as well as the cross were unscathed by the fire.

What you might not know is that at the time the fire started it had been the center of controversy between the Catholic Diocese in Paris and the French government. Because while it is a catholic church, it is considered a national treasure and owned by the state. The contention was in who was going to pay for the nearly €50 million that the renovation would cost. After the fire the estimated cost to restore Notre Dame was in the neighborhood of €150 million.

Because of the fire the French government pledged €50 million and pledges from private donors totaling around €300 million ensures that the work can be done quickly and much more comprehensively than it was going to be able to be done prior to the fire, so in the end - it was a good thing.

That is good news for you and me today because this is God’s clear message to us that is that there is hope. Jesus had to die on the cross and go through what He did in order to pay for the sins of the World. And though God did not spare Him from death, HE DID allow Him to conquer death and sin to give us eternal life.

Even though Joseph was sold into slavery and ended up in prison falsely accused, He needed to be there to learn faithfulness, humility and to be placed with just the right people in order to gain an audience with the king.

We never know what God is trying to sow into us during our time of trial and suffering, and no it’s not fair, and it’s not comfortable when we are going through it, but it IS God’s plan and process for our lives.

That brings us full circle to last week’s message.

Conclusion

“There is a real danger in unreal expectations.” The bottom line is that John had unrealistic and inaccurate expectations of how God was going to work. John wanted Jesus to change to meet his expectations rather than to change his expectations.

We too have ideas about how God will work. Some people are never willing to give up and allow God to be God. Hell is the place where God finally says to those individuals, “OK! Have it your way. You win.” But in winning you lose. The far better course is to allow God to have His way.