Why Isn't Life Fair?

Ecclesiastes 4

 A ten year old boy is walking down the road one day when a car pulls over next to him. "If you get in the car," the driver says, "I'll give you $10 and a piece of candy." The boy refuses and keeps on walking. A few moments later, not to take no for an answer, the man driving the car pulls over again.   "How about $20 and two pieces of candy?" The boy tells the man to leave him alone and keeps on walking. Still further down the road the man pulls over to the side road. "OK," he says, "this is my final offer. I'll give you $50 and all the candy you can eat." The little boy stops, goes to the car and leans in.   "Look," he says to the driver. "You bought this Ford Escort, Dad. You'll have to live with it."  

 He thought being a son of a dad who drove an Escort was horribly unfair.

 Some kids don’t think it’s fair to have to ride in the cars their parents choose to buy.  I had an old Datsun once that embarrassed the kids.   “It’s not fair to have to be seen in that car!”

But I thought putting brown paper bags over their heads was overdoing it a little!

 I’ve got news for all of us: "Life isn’t always fair!"  But from childhood on we want
fairness- even demand it.

 Our Series- Answering life’s toughest questions. WHY ISN’T LIFE FAIR?

       Why do bad things happen to good people?   Why do bad people seem to prosper?    Where is God when I hurt?      Why doesn’t He do something about my problems?

 Ecclesiastes 4:1  Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed-- and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors-- and they have no comforter.   (NIV)

 Let’s look at ....The Reality, Reasons, and our Response

 1. The Reality: Life is Unfair!   Solomon lists some examples of how life is unfair.
     
1. Criminals go unpunished. Ecclesiastes 8:11 When the sentence for a crime is not
quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong.   (NIV)

       3,000 years ago- The complaint was made- still being made today.
      Judicial system is bogged down- "slow justice is no justice".
      Who says crime doesn’t pay? It looks like it does! (Sell the story to movies)
      Somebody killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Jon Benet Ramsey- was anyone punished?

       2. The oppressed are not helped. Ecclesiastes 4:1 (Above)

       History reveals that people tend to persecute each other. It is our nature.
      Rich vs. Poor; Powerful vs. Powerless; Men vs. Women, Black vs. White
      Christians being persecuted by others- millions die as martyrs in many lands
Readers Digest, Newsweek, many publications have looked at persecution in N. Korea, India, China, and the Middle East.   We must pray for our family members...
     
      3. Good people are unrewarded. Ecclesiastes 8:14  There is something else
meaningless that occurs on earth: righteous men who get what the wicked deserve, and wicked
men who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.  (NIV)

       The wrong people are prospering.     Pig farmers vs. Pot farmers.
      The dishonest seem to have an advantage in business. Getting ahead.

       Ecclesiastes 7:15  In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.  (NIV)

       4. Capable people are unsuccessful.  Ecclesiastes 9:11  I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. 

 Talent?- Train for years for the Olympics and get sick the night before the race.

Brains?- We pay our athletes 50 times more than our government leaders.  Babe Ruth was once asked why He commanded a larger salary than the President.  He said, "I had a lot better year than he did."

Hard work?-  You hear about a kid from camp who won the lottery from a ticket his aunt gave him as a gift while you know someone personally who works unbelievably hard just to make ends meet.

       Sometimes the capable people aren’t successful because of unfair discrimination, or just not being liked by the boss. 

      These are just examples. He is saying, "Let’s just admit it. Life isn’t fair." Why not?!?    Doesn’t God care? Isn’t He able to do anything about this?

 2. The Reasons: Why does God let it happen?

       1. To teach us that Freedom to choose would mean nothing in an “always fair
world”.   Deut. 11:26 "Today I am giving you the choice."   Joshua 24:15 says:  “Choose you this day whom ye shall serve.” 

    You can choose to accept or reject God- do good or do bad.    Being created in God’s image means having freedom of choice.     WHY does God give us freedom of choice? Because God wants you to seek Him because you choose to, not because you have to.

 Psalm 15:4 says that true godliness is doing right even unto our own hurt.   The
nobility of Daniel’s choice to do right was seen in the fact that doing right would be unto his own disadvantage.

       2. To build our faith in the world to come.   Ecclesiastes 3:17  I thought in my
heart, "God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed."   God wants us looking forward to eternity.
 
      Today isn’t the end of the story- Judgment Day is coming and God will balance the
books; not  now, but it will happen.    The halftime score is a meaningless statistic. Who was ahead at the half in last year’s Super Bowl?    Answer: Who cares!

       Proverbs 24:19,20 "Don't let evil people worry you; don't be envious of
them. 20 A wicked person has no future--nothing to look forward to."

       At age 54 Larry Burkett got cancer and had a shoulder blade removed. He said, "If you are a Christian this world is all the “Hell’ you’ll ever experience.  If you are not a Christian, this world is all the Heaven you’ll ever experience."   There’s a faith in the world to come!
 
      3. He wants to show us we need a Savior. Ecclesiastes 7:20 There is not a
righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.   (Romans 3:23)

       We’ve all been unkind, cruel and unfair. The world is unjust because it is full of people like you and me.  We are all naturally selfish. How else can you explain Auschwitz, Abortion,
Slavery, the Riots in South Central LA?   None of us deserves Heaven. We need a savior!

       1 Peter 3:18 "For Christ died for sins once and for all, a good man on behalf of sinners, in order to lead you to God. He was put to death physically, but made alive spiritually," He didn’t deserve to  die.

       4. To teach us that pain and adversity can develop character.

       Romans 5:3,4 "We also boast of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance, 4    endurance brings God's approval, and his approval creates hope.

      We learn more from pain than pleasure- failure than success.   In the tough times God is developing your character.    Without tough times we would all be spoiled brats.   I feel sorry for kids who never have to hear, “NO!”  or "We can’t afford it." or “You’ll have to do without that.”  Experience makes it clear, sunshine with no rain will eventually be deadly.  Prosperity without setbacks leads to selfishness, lack of compassion, and the abandoning of God.

 3. Our Response: How should We react?

       1. Accept the fact that life is unfair.

Jesus did:  John 16:33   "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."  The basic problem is human nature and there will always be injustice in this life.  Humans have the option to be selfish and cruel, and all of us will be: some all the time; some only part of the time.  But every selfish action adds to the unfairness of this world. 

       2. Do the right thing anyway.

       Isaiah 1:17 "Learn to do right. See that justice is done--help those who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows."   You can’t control your circumstances, but you can control your response to them.  We must continue to do right, seek justice for the oppressed, try to right the wrongs of society.

       3. Wait for God’s reward.  An important part of faith is WAITING ON GOD.

       If faith survived only when immediately rewarded, it wouldn’t be Godly faith; it would be some lesser, something far too fragile to take us thru the ups and downs of life. 

2 Corinthians 4:17 "And this small and temporary trouble we suffer will bring us a tremendous and eternal glory, much greater than the trouble."

       90 years is SO BRIEF compared to eternity.  "Vengeance is mine, says the Lord; I will repay, says the Lord." (Romans 12:19)       Don’t retaliate! Let God settle the score.

    Conclusion:

       Some of you may be going through a time right now and thinking, "It’s just not fair. I
didn’t deserve this!" Everybody has a story of injustice.   We won’t get an explanation for every detail. You don’t really need explanations, we just need to determine to do right.

       All we really need to know is:

      1. God loves us and has our best interest at heart.
      2. He has given us freedom of choice.
      3. One day we will be judged for our choices.
      4. God is full of grace for those who choose His Son.   

 This grace is the power that gives us the ability to endure the unfairness of this world.  

 Have you heard of LaGuardia Airport in New Your?   Fiorello LaGuardia was
mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of
WWII.  He was called by adoring New Yorkers 'the Little Flower' because he was
only five foot four and always wore a carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful
character who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, raid speak-easies with the police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids. One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread.

She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor." the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson."

 LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions--ten dollars or ten days in jail." But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket.
He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous sombrero saying: "Here is the ten-dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Baliff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant."

 So the following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the
red-faced grocery store owner, while some seventy petty criminals, people with
traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty
cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.

 Life isn’t always fair.  But there is Grace.  There is God.  I urge you to trust Him
and rely upon His love and Grace.  If we will, we may get worse than we deserve
here, but FAR BETTER THAN WE DESERVE WHEN THIS LIFE IS OVER.

 Prayer, Invitation