Sunday thoughts: 'It's not fair'

Photo credit:  DeSa81 | Pixabay

Why, Lord, do you stand far off?

    Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
    who are caught in the schemes he devises.
He boasts about the cravings of his heart;
    he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.

In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
    in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
His ways are always prosperous;
    your laws are rejected by him;
    he sneers at all his enemies.
He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
    He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”

His mouth is full of lies and threats;
    trouble and evil are under his tongue.
He lies in wait near the villages;
    from ambush he murders the innocent.
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
   like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;
   he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
His victims are crushed, they collapse;
   they fall under his strength.

He says to himself, “God will never notice;
he covers his face and never sees.”

Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
   Do not forget the helpless.
Why does the wicked man revile God?
   Why does he say to himself,
   “He won’t call me to account”?
But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
    you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
    you are the helper of the fatherless.
Break the arm of the wicked man;
    call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
    that would not otherwise be found out.

The Lord is King for ever and ever;
    the nations will perish from his land.
You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;
   you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,

defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
   so that mere earthly mortals
   will never again strike terror.

Psalm 10

~~~~~

It's not fair! is a phrase that falls regularly from the lips of my two children. I don't know if the two-year-old really knows what means, but copies his sister in using it to express his displeasure at all the apparent injustices he faces, from having to get his clothes on to not pouring water everywhere from a sippy-cup.

The things that cause my children to declare: 'not fair' are usually things that, although it doesn't feel that way to them, are really very minor and certainly not examples of injustice, even if inconvenient (examples above!).  However, every time I hear the phrase I'm reminded of what's really not fair.  It's not fair that millions of people in the world - in Ukraine, Afghanistan, numerous other places, are fearing for their lives and having their livelihoods stripped away, when they are no more guilty of sin than the rest of us and have done nothing to warrant that treatment from their fellow human beings.  It's not fair that the rich keep getting richer whilst others face crippling poverty, and no amount of hard work seems to change the system.  It's not fair that for some children, being born a girl means no access to education, lower status and being given away in marriage at the age of 12, and that those that do this to them face no consequences for their actions.

It's not just about suffering, but the fact that those that inflict it often do not face judgement for their actions.  Many people try to believe in 'natural justice', or colloquially refer to 'karma'.  Sometimes natural justice - i.e. justice without the direct intervention of God or people, does play out.  The vast majority of times my children fall over and bump their heads or other parts of their bodies are when they've been messing around and carried on doing something they been told to stop.  The Bible even teaches us a little of natural justice - the book of Proverbs, for example, teaches that attitudes like laziness will not end in good results.   But we know that with the big things natural justice it often doesn't work that way.

Psalm 139 is a famous Psalm with lots of lovely verses in it, but just near the end are the following:

If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
   Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
They speak of you with evil intent;
   your adversaries misuse your name.

Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
   and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
   I count them my enemies.
Psalm 139:19-22

Many of us, me especially, feel an unpleasant jolt when reading those verses and others like them that litter the Psalms.  But I am starting to think that part of the reason is that I'm just not awake to the injustices in the world.  David is crying out for God's justice here.  If we do not long for justice, then surely it is because we would like to keep the status quo.  I've got myself in a reasonable good position here: I forget that there is justice that needs to be longed for.

The Day of Judgement, which many feel to be an anachronism and not what they want God to be all about, is needed more now that ever.  Do we really think that God should just ignore the evil that's going on?   For many Bible writers and others that worshipped alongside them, the question was not how can a loving God send people to hell? but How can a loving God delay enacting justice on the evil?.

God's judgement and justice is not gone, but simply delayed.  Peter famously writes:  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (1 Peter 3:9).

The wonderful thing is that our God ensures justice but offers mercy, and only God can do that.  It would be wrong for a human court to acquit a murderer just because he sobbed in the dock and begged for forgiveness - it would be a gross injustice to the family of the victim.  But God can give us mercy - he has paid the price, taken our place, had all the just judgement heaped on him through the death of Jesus, so that we can be made clean.  That applies to me, it applies to the greediest, it applies to the most violent, it applies even to those who weald enormous political power at the expense of others - if they come to him in repentance.

We can therefore hurt for those who are oppressed and suffering, but know at the same time that God will make things right.  We can hate the actions of those who cause violence and hurt, but at the same time pray for them, knowing that this is not an insult to their victims, because we're not asking for some meaningless 'letting off'.    (Jesus said 'love your enemies', not 'turn a blind eye to their evil'.)  Above all, when we pray for those who are hurting, we can pray above all that will know that Jesus is King.   We must do all we can to reflect the kingdom this side of glory, but we will never right all the wrongs.  But God will.