Fairness

Pastor Phillips’ Sermon
Sunday, September 18, 2011

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today we’re talking about fairness, and it seems like we always know when something’s unfair. We have this innate awareness of fairness, something we’re born with. We know when Mom and Dad are judging between us and our sibling, we know if it’s fair or not. We know right away when we get the wrong end of the deal.

We know if we’re watching a sporting event and our team’s competing, we know instantly when the ref makes a bad call, right? If we’re a student in school and we don’t get the grade we deserve, we know instantly that it’s unfair. Or if we get a job review and our supervisor says things that aren’t true or don’t seem fair. Or if we’re downsized as our corporation changes or passed over for a promotion.

We can find an unlimited number of examples of things that are unfair, but what is fair? A researcher provided us with this definition: Fairness means treating people equitably without bias or partiality. It means actively working to set aside selfishness or group loyalty when rendering a judgment. In day-to-day life, fairness manifests itself in simply ways, such as taking turns, listening intently, sharing and not taking advantage of others based on their weakness.

Impartiality is a key part of fairness. Being partial doesn’t mean having no biases; rather it means knowing what those biases are and striving to set them aside and requesting outside perspectives as needed. That is a great definition.

But where can we look to find an example of fairness? Can we look at our schools? Can we look at our politics? Can we look at our economy and employment and opportunities? Where can we look to find an example of fairness?

Well, Jesus demonstrated fairness, didn’t He? Especially that scripture reading we had from the gospel just a little while ago. We heard about Jesus interacting with a Centurion. Remember, He’s there teaching and a Centurion comes up to Him. Now a Centurion is a Roman officer. He’s a man who led 100 soldiers of the Roman legion. He was chosen not because he was fierce in battle or especially bold but because he was a careful thinker and a steady leader. He was responsible for the training and for the discipline of his soldiers, but he was also the enemy.

The Romans occupied Israel and controlled everything so, in most cases, the Jews did not interact socially with the Romans. But Jesus didn’t let that stop Him. When the Centurion came, he had a request. He said, “Lord, my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Now this is an unusual Centurion. He’s not just a battle-hardened soldier. This is a caring individual because the word he uses to describe his servant means “child.” “My child lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” The way it’s described, it makes you wonder, “Was he injured in some sort of an accident and he’s in great pain but he’s paralyzed? He can’t move.”

Jesus listened. That alone is incredible. Jesus listens to a Roman. When we call out to God in prayer, He listens, too, just like for the Centurion. Whether it’s the first time you’ve talked to Him or the one-millionth time, He listens. He gives you His full attention and He applies Himself and dedicates Himself to His response to you.

So Jesus listened to this Roman soldier. In response to the Centurion’s request, Jesus says, “Shall I come and heal him?” This response demonstrates two things. First, Jesus really did listen and He joined him in his concern for his servant. He agreed with the Centurion that his servant’s life and wellbeing were important.

Second, Jesus ignored the unfair social taboo of His day that says, “Jews do not go into the homes of non-Jews, Gentiles.” That’s what their belief was. That’s what their social practice was. Jews do not go into the homes of nonJews. But Jesus didn’t care.

Now let’s think about this for a minute. Try to put yourself in this story. Who is it that you would regard as an enemy? Maybe you’re reluctant to use that word “enemy,” but I’ll kind of make it easier for you. Say you’re a Cyclone and the Hawkeyes are over there. Seriously, there are people in our hearts who we hold as enemies, people who we don’t like. Maybe they’re different. Maybe they believe different things or do different things or come from a different place. There are people who we hold in our hearts as enemies.

What sort of attitudes do we hold toward them? What kind of thoughts do we think about them? What sort of behavior follows those thoughts? That’s really what happens. Our behavior is based on what we think. If we’re thinking evil in our hearts, then what kinds of actions are going to come out in our lives?

Our thinking of someone as an enemy can block our ability to be fair to them. But Jesus didn’t let that get in His way. He clearly did not consider this Roman soldier, the Centurion, an enemy. I think that’s very significant. When we are tempted to be unfair, it’s because we made a decision that one person is less important than another, that one person is the bad guy, that one person is of less value, that one person is our favorite, that one person has nothing to offer us. We think that way because we’re sinful. But Jesus didn’t think that way.

On one occasion, He was speaking to a large crowd, huge crowd, and His mother and His brothers came to see Him. You know that story. His mother and brothers were outside and the crowd was so big, they couldn’t get close so they sent word. “Tell Him His mother and brothers are here and want to speak to Him.” And they thought that because they were family, they would get some sort of privilege, like they would be brought right into the front row.

But when Jesus heard it, He said, “Who is my mother and my brothers?” Then He looked around at those gathered and pointed at them. Now He didn’t handpick, “You. Not you. You. Not you.” No, He didn’t do that. He just looked around at the ones gathered and He said, “These are my mother and my brothers. If anyone does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my mother, my brother and my sister.”

Do you see what He did? He put them all on the same level. He said that because we believe in Jesus, we are His closest of friends. Because we believe, there’s nobody closer to Jesus than we are.

Imagine if we did that with the people around us. I think that’s the key to being fair, how you think about people. If we valued all people as so precious that they were worth dying for, how would that affect your behavior towards them? If we considered every person our favorite, how would we favor them? If we thought everyone was a good person, how would we treat them? If we were convinced that every person had something wonderful to give us simply by being our friend, wouldn’t that change how we interact with strangers? How we view people affects our ability to be fair.

Now you’ve heard it said that life isn’t fair. Maybe you’ve even said it. As a parent when your kids complain, “Well, life isn’t fair.” There’s not much comfort there, is there? Yeah, life is tough. There are a lot of hard parts of life. But I want to tell you today that eternal life isn’t fair. Why? Well, think about it. All people have sinned, from the time of Adam and Eve on. All people have sinned, every single person. You look in the mirror. You know it’s true. You know your thoughts. You know your actions. You know your behaviors. All people have sinned. And they should be punished for it. They should suffer for it because sin’s a big deal.

But the bible says the punishment for sin isn’t just a bad day or getting sick or things not working out. Punishment for our sins is death. The wages of sin is death. Well, it’s even worse than that. It’s hell. That’s what we deserve. The good news is our loving Father, who created us all, doesn’t want anyone to go to hell. That’s why He sent His Son, Jesus, right? That’s why He sent us our Savior because God knew we couldn’t keep from sinning. God knew we couldn’t save ourselves. God knew that we deserved to be punished, but we could never endure that punishment. So He sent His Son. Jesus took our punishment on Himself. He took our sins upon Himself. He, with His blood, paid the full measure of our debt. Now that’s unfair.

God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life is unfair to Jesus because He was innocent.

This is what it says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God had a choice. He had you and me and He had His Son. Now you know how He feels about His Son, right? “This is my Son, my beloved Son.” That’s what He said at Jesus’ baptism.

He had sinful mankind and His holy and precious Son. He had a choice and He was unfair. He played favorites. He valued one more than the other. He chose us and He sacrificed His Son. How fair is that?

On the Character Counts website, there are suggestions for how to be a fair person. “Treat people the way you want to be treated.” “Take turns.” “Tell the truth.” “Play by all the rules.” “Think about how your actions will affect others.” “Listen to people with an open mind.” “Don’t blame others for your mistakes.” “Don’t take advantage of other people.” “Don’t play favorites.”

These are a lot of great ideas, but why should we be fair? Why? What’s important about fairness? The answer’s simple. Our Lord and Savior demonstrated fairness. We are His followers. We are called to be like Him and so we imitate Him. But more importantly than that, when we act as Jesus did, when we act fair with people we don’t even know or maybe don’t agree with, when we act in a fair way with them, the love of God is revealed in us and that can change lives.

Sure, life isn’t fair. It’s not fair for the children we saw in Honduras who lived in a dump and scraped and scrapped to save the little bit of food and earn a little money collecting plastic bottles. It’s not fair for the orphans we saw in China and Viet Nam, sitting in a little basket, and one person trying to rock all these little kids, never to see their mother’s face. It’s not fair for those who lose their jobs because of corporation’s greed or mismanagement.

Life is not fair for these and a thousand other reasons. But maybe we can make a difference. What would it be like if we treated people with fairness? What difference would it make if Gloria Dei was known as a place where people received uncommonly fair treatment, where all people were considered precious and loved, where everyone was listened to carefully and where everyone was the favorite? Or even people who really don’t deserve it, receive forgiveness and hope?

If we could do that, we could be an oasis of fairness in a world where life is not fair. If we do that, then we’re giving them a tangible experience of Jesus, right here in Urbandale, Iowa. And if we show them the fairness of Jesus, then just maybe we can tell them about the unfairness of eternal life, God’s great gift to us all. Amen? Amen.