No Fair!

Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32

I said it as a kid. Something wouldn’t go my way, like a game of Chinese checkers or of hide and seek, and I’d say, “That’s not fair.” It was almost a reflex action: lose a game; yell, “No fair!” Well. apparently the people of Israel had the same tendency. “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is unfair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?” (Ezekiel 18:25). The issue at hand was whether a wicked person should be able to turn from the ways of evil and receive God’s forgiveness. Shouldn’t such a person be punished for their transgressions? The same questions fill our lives as well. We find the world working a certain way; we see certain people getting ahead or doing well; we notice those whom we believe to be undeserving who are actually better off in one way or another than we are. How can God let this sort of thing happen? How can this possible be fair?

God’s answer is good news for all who have ears to hear. Those who renounce their wickedness, says the Lord, will find life. In other words, God’s grace abounds and though it may not seem fair to us, there’s no denying the mercy and love of God. God takes no pleasure in death; God seeks abundant life for all people. Is God fair? No, not in purely human terms. But let’s give thanks for if God were “fair” we’d certainly be without hope.

Prayer: Thanks be to you, O God, for your mercy and grace. Without them we surely would fall into the snares of our own wrongdoing. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

NOTE: Beginning tomorrow, I will be including blog posts each Saturday written by "guest bloggers" who will offer their insights on the readings for that particular day. I deeply appreciate the willingness of these folks to share their time and talents with us. Be sure to stop by on upcoming Saturdays to see what they have to say.

God's Guardrail

Ezekiel 18:1-4, 19-32

If we believe that the God of the Old Testament is a vengeful, wrath-filled God meting out condemnation and offering no love or compassion, then we should pay closer attention to passages like this one from Ezekiel. Yes, God has expectations of the people, but no, God does not delight in smiting or otherwise dispensing with them when they fail. “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live?… For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God. Turn, then, and live” (Ezekiel 18:23, 32). These verses, set side by side, are reminiscent of the cliché, “This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you.” Only in the case of God it is far from cliché. Judgment, punishment of the wicked; these are not the things God wishes for.

Then why would God threaten death to the wicked? Mostly, I think, because it is true. Evil is, in and of itself, a kind of death, a willing separation from God. When we choose to go against God’s will we have stepped away from the life that is possible, the joyful life of hope and promise. “You will die,” is as much a threat from God as it is a warning which God offers the people, like a guardrail on a dangerous stretch of road. Ultimately God is the one willing to die for our transgressions, allowing us to move beyond the limitations of sin and death and to embrace life as an eternal reality. God does not kill for sport or out of spite. Indeed, the God of whom we read in both the Old and New Testaments yearns for us to know life abundantly. Anything less is a tragedy to God.

Prayer: Help us, O God, to live in the light of truth and righteousness, that we may know life the way you intend it. In Jesus’ name. Amen.