Not Fair - Just

Pentecost 16A, 9/28/14

Ezekiel 18:1-4; 25-32

God of righteousness, help us believe in you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

This past week I got to see my favorite show of all time – Les Miserables, which is playing at a theater nearby. Have any of you seen Les Mis before?

I love this show because it is constantly demonstrating the mercy of God. Through the actions of some of the characters, we learn that people really can change, and that punishment doesn’t need to be drawn out across a person’s whole lifetime.

Javier is the law enforcer. He judges himself based on the sins of his own family… there’s one song where he admits that he was born inside a jail, and he has spent his entire life compensating for his humble beginnings.

Valjean, the main character, is judged by Javier based on one mistake that he made as a young man – and then throughout the next several decades, Valjean is unable to shake the labels thrown at him.

“Men like you can never change!”

And then we have Eponine, the girl who chooses a different path than the one her parents took.

And there’s Marius, and a group of young students, who decide to fight the establishment that their forefathers have helped to create, and work for the freedom of the working class.

It seems that just about every character in Les Mis is breaking some stereotype or another. They are all proving wrong the assumption that people are condemned to repeat the crimes of their parents.

And that is the belief that the first reading today refutes as well.

People aren’t judged based on the sins of their parents, but everyone is held accountable for their own actions.

This is in contrast to previous teachings in the Old Testament. The prevailing wisdom at the time that Ezekiel was living was that people were held accountable for their sins for generations.

Children could be punished for the sins of their parents.

Everyone was condemned to their place in life because of the role their parents had played in society. This is true even today sometimes, right? Just ask any psychologist, many of us are carrying heavy burdens because of who our parents are or what they have done.

But that’s not the way that God works.

You call my ways unfair? says God.

Aren’t your ways the ones that are unfair?

Human ways, human prejudices, are what make us believe that people are condemned to repeat their parents’ mistakes in life.

We assume that if someone has a sketchy family history, they are more likely to be a bad influence on our society. Our own pre-assumptions judge the children of criminals as more likely to be criminals themselves.

Our human ways are unfair.

That’s not the way that God works.

This past week in confirmation, we talked about people being able to change.

We learned about Saul, who became Paul. He went from being a persecutor of Christians to the most important missionary in the history of Christianity. It’s hard to believe that people can truly change their lives so drastically, but the Bible is full of examples of people who do just that.

If a person has done something wrong, if they have made a mistake or committed some crime in the past, it is hard for us to believe that they have truly changed and will not commit the same crime – or a worse one – in the future. We tend to assume that they are condemned to repeat their own mistakes over again.

What I love about the show Les Mis is that it throws all these assumptions out the window. Every character in the story seems to be in charge of his or her own destiny, no one is defined by who they or their family were in the past.

By the grace of God, people can overcome all odds and live faithful and productive lives.

There’s the way of the law, that is enforced by Javier throughout the play… and then there’s the way of the Lord, that is introduced to us at the beginning by an overwhelmingly generous bishop, and then Valjean tries to live it out for the rest of his life.

The old teaching, the one that is referred to first in the reading from Ezekiel, is to punish the children for the sins of their parents.

But God says, I don’t want you to live like that any more.

I have a better way – a more fair way – of running the world.

You call my ways unfair, says God, but I am the one who will let you all have a new beginning in life. You humans are the ones who judge each other based on past actions and family history. Aren’t your ways the ones that are unfair?

God’s teaching is that each person gets a new start in life.

We are accountable to God for our actions, but we are accountable only for our own actions, not for the actions of our predecessors.

The judgment of God is limited here. We can’t be condemned for something over which we had no control in the first place.

Each one of us gets a fresh start in life.

That is a refreshing way to redefine our relationship with God!

Hear now, O house of Israel, is my way unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?

Last week I talked about God not being fair. Today’s message seems to contradict this. But really, the distinction here is that God’s fairness is not the same as human fairness.

When someone sins against us, we tend to hold a grudge. It’s human nature to look for someone to blame, even when it’s clear that the individual who sinned against us is no longer around to be held accountable for their crime.

Human justice is done when revenge has been exacted, or retribution made.

But is that really fair?

What justice is there in holding the children of criminals accountable for the sins of their parents?

God’s ways are different than our ways. God says, take a fresh start on life.

God’s grace lets people begin again, to turn over a new leaf.

Even if the sin was their own, once the punishment has been carried out, God says, OK. You get a fresh start. Let’s see what you can do with the new life ahead of you.

People’s ways are unfair.

God’s ways are just.

God’s justice is not the same as our human measures of fairness.  

God’s justice is defined by grace.

We are still held accountable for the mistakes we make in life, but once the penalty is paid, it’s done. The punishment doesn’t last forever. If the wicked turn from their ways, Ezekiel tells us, they can live new and productive lives. They don’t have to carry the burden of one mistake around with them forever.

God gives us second chances when we don’t deserve them – God shows us grace even when we’ve proven that we’re likely to mess up our decisions in life. God always comes back to us with mercy and compassion. 

Our life of faith can be a new beginning. Again, in Les Miserables, the main character starts out as a thief. Then he is given a gift that is so generous, he never needs to steal anything again.

         Some people would say once a thief, always a thief.

         But this character proves them wrong.

He accepts the grace that is offered to him and makes a new beginning to his life. Moving forward, he will not be the same man as the one he was in the past.

Who do you know in your life who has done something like this?

Is there someone you know who has been trying to change? Can you give them a second chance?

We can so easily be guilty of judging other people based on their past. But this isn’t fair, and it isn’t what God wants us to do.

So here is a challenge for you: this week, look at everyone you encounter with fresh eyes. Forget any grudges you’re holding against other people. Try to push aside any hurt feelings you’ve been harboring. Treat other people as beloved children of God.

         See how this attitude changes your relationships.

If you’ve had negative interactions with someone in the past, try to forget about them. Move past those hurt feelings and give the other person the benefit of the doubt. The only interactions that matter are the ones that you will have going forward – from now on, you have a new relationship with other people.

And when someone else messes up – when they do something wrong – well, the reading also tells us that God will judge them. It’s not up to us to exact revenge or rain down justice on the people who have wronged us. God will take care of the punishment.

Our job is to love one another, to withhold judgment, to assume the best of other people, and to forget about past wrongs that have been done.

Those human ways of judging aren’t fair.

God’s justice and grace is the better way to go.  

So let’s love one another, let’s withhold judgment, and let’s try to be a little bit more like God.

And may God help us to do so.

Amen.