And Injustice for All

From the Pulpit – February 13, 2022
Omaha World Herald
Reverend Eric L. Jay

“And Injustice for All”

“It just doesn’t seem fair, Pastor. Life isn’t fair.” The pause and look on their face told me this wasn’t just a statement; it was a question. Taking a minute to gather my thoughts, I replied, “Well, thank God that life isn’t fair.”

That feels just as awkward to say as it is for you to hear, but it’s true. Every sin, every injustice, is first and foremost a sin and an injustice toward God. David rightly says in Psalm 51, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”

If God brought exacting justice against every sin, not just the gross sins and injustices of the world that outrage us in the news, but our sin and the injustices we have committed against our neighbor and against God, who could withstand such justice? No one. Jesus makes this exact point in His sermon on the mount when He says in Matthew 5:29-30, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”

Jesus was not speaking literally here, of course. He was using hyperbole to emphasis the seriousness of sin and how severe God’s justice would be if every sin were to be answered for. If God were to bring His holy and righteous justice into the world, the land would be covered with crosses, and you and I and all of humanity would occupy them.

Thank God that life isn’t fair. God in all His most amazing grace and love brought all of the world’s injustices upon Himself, upon His one and only Son Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5 says, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” Instead of destroying all of humanity by bringing justice upon the Earth, God displayed His great love and power by using even the injustice of humanity to justify the sinner. Salvation has been provided in the cross of Christ. To reject the merciful injustice of God given in His Son Christ is to insist on receiving the fatal justice of a holy God against sin.

The day is coming very soon when God will call every word and every action into account. Justice will have its day. The only way to be acquitted of the charges against us is to believe in Jesus, plead His name, and receive by faith the injustice He endured as the justice we deserve from God.

You don’t want justice from God. Believe in Jesus Christ and thank God that life indeed is not fair.