Thank God That It's Not Fair :: 1 Peter 3:13-22

It’s not fair! You’ve heard and said that too many times in your life, haven’t you? 

It’s not fair! 

If there’s one thing that never has to be taught in life, it’s the concept of fairness. We learn this as children. We insist that people play by the rules, Otherwise, they will lie, cheat, steal, and backstab. And that’s not fair. 

Our 21st century culture orbits around our differing notions of fairness. If you listen to the news or social media, I am sure we can all say there’s not one of us who hasn’t complained about something being unfair. We chalk it up to so-and-so being related to the boss, or that they’re deemed special because of their race, gender, or financial status. We chalk it up to so-and-so having an axe to grind. 

Or we just say, well, that’s all “politics.” 

It’s not fair! 

For some, that means everyone gets an equal share. That’s fair! Right? No one gets more or less than anyone else. But then, surely we recognize that it’s also fair if everyone has the same opportunity to get their fair share. Therefore, fairness, according to this understanding, also says that those who aren’t willing to work shouldn’t get the same share as those who are. It's not fair.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s reading are all about fairness. 

In the Introit, the psalmist reminds us that God’s faithfulness endures to all generations. He’s fair and just. He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth ... that Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah! 

In our reading from Acts, Saint Paul reminds us that God will judge everyone, the living and the dead, by the same rules. 

And then ... Jesus in our Gospel reading from Saint John ... declares that because he lives, you also live. He is in the Father, the Father is in him, he is in you and you are in him. Talk about fairness. His life is your life, and your life is his. You are holy because he is holy. Talk about fair!

But then we have Saint Peter’s epistle to the Holy Christian and Apostolic Church. Peter reminds us to ... 

THANK GOD, THAT IT’S NOT FAIR

Because Christ also suffered for sins, once ... the righteous for the unrighteous. 

And that’s not fair! 

Jesus, the righteous one, died for you, all of you  ... the unrighteous ones. Jesus had it all, and you took it all away from him. You slandered him. You betrayed him. You lie to him. Talk about unfair!

Just a little while ago, I heard all of us plead guilty to this sin. By our own admission, yours and mine, we knew when we came to church that we deserve to be punished for our transgressions. Therefore, we know it’s only fair to get what’s coming to us, right? We deserve to be crucified for our sins. We deserve to bear the full wrath of God for our sins of self idolization ... for our insistence to look out for Numero Uno, nevermind the next guy ... for our insistence that we can make ourselves better people through our own self-reliance and self-protection ... for our belief that contact with God can be found through the clarity of our science and the consistency of our philosophy ... for our denial that we are even that bad. His sin is worse than mine, we say. 

It’s not fair!

You deserve to face the full wrath of God because of your perpetual lust for bigger and better things ... for your failure to dot every I and to cross every T when it suits you ends to the means ... for each time you denied knowing Christ ... just like Saint Peter ... for each time you aren’t helping your neighbor. 

We teach these very concepts to our children, don’t we? Then we prove ourselves to be hypocrites. It’s not fair!

But more than that, Jesus was the righteous one. He is the only righteous one who always plays fair. God, who abounds in steadfast love and mercy, who is slow to anger, came to us in the person of Jesus, and he healed us, and he made us whole, and he forgave our sins, and saved us. He came so that we will have faith in God, because all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. He came so that we will believe in him, have faith in him, call upon him, and be saved.

The rules are the same for everyone.

Jesus was true God, begotten of the father from eternity, and true Man, born of the virgin Mary. He is our Lord. He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from sin, death, and the devil, not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death. It was so unfair.

Not only was he sinless, as Saint Peter told us a couple of weeks ago, he didn’t do sin. He is uncorruptible, unfading, and unstained. He didn’t lust for a better house or a better spouse, even when he had no place to lay his head. Instead ... 

He honored the Father as holy, and was always prepared to make a explain the reason for his hope, with gentleness and respect. ... When he was reviled, he didn’t retaliate. When he suffered, he didn’t threaten. He didn’t talk back when people slandered him. And so ... you crucified him. 

That’s ... not ... fair. 

Brothers and sisters of Trinity Lutheran Church, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. You are all here almost every Sunday. You love your church and your people. You longed for worship when we couldn’t have it. Then nearly every family of our congregation showed up last week when we finally were able to resume services. But you need to know ... The God who made the world and everything in it ... does not live in temples made by man. ... Instead, in him, we live and move and have our being. ... Now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 

That means ... you and me. Your sister and your brother. Your neighbor, near and far. We are all sinners, and we all need a savior. 

Every ... single ... one ... of us.

It is only fair.

And that starts in baptism. 

Baptism ... that is God’s baptism of you ... now saves you. All of you. Equally. Fairly. God doesn’t care about your age in this regard. He applies this salvation which was won for us on the cross to everyone fairly through the baptism ... whether you are 1 or 100. 

That’s because God unites us with Christ through baptism. 

God baptized the world first, destroying evil, and saved a few, remaining fair to his promises. Jesus was baptized first for us, to show us he is uniting himself wholly with us. That is why he is in us, and we are in him ... in the same way that he is in the Father and the Father is in him. It is the ultimate showcase of fairness. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you, Jesus declares in our Gospel reading. Because I live, you will also live. God applies his rules fairly.. 

The Holy Spirit works in and through your Baptism to create within you faith in Christ Jesus. He gives you your fair share of saving faith in these promises of God that he unites with the water in Baptism. And through this faith that is being renewed and refreshed by the eternal promises of God, you are being saved to inherit the riches of the kingdom of heaven. 

As Luther explains for us in the catechism ... 

It is not just the water that saves you ... or just the word that does these things ... it is the water and the word together along with the faith God has given each of us. For without God’s word the water is just plain water and no baptism. But with the word of God it is a baptism, a life-giving water, rich in grace and washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit. 

That is how God applies the benefits of salvation to all of us ... fairly and equally. We are now all in this boat together as our sin is drowned daily and the new man arises daily to live before God in faithfulness forever. God was more than fair in this regard.

 

Now that you are forgiven and free ...

• What is preventing you from becoming a zealot of all that is good and fair? 

• What is preventing you from declaring the praise of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light? 

• What is holding you back from sharing the gospel and bringing others with you? 

• It’s only fair for you to share the good news of what God is doing for you, isn’t it?

Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy. ... That is, set him apart. Devote yourselves to Bible study. Long to receive his gifts on the altar. Even if you should suffer for righteousness ... that is for Christ ... you will be blessed. You will be because our Lord has promised this to you.

Take confidence in your confession, the confession you all grew up with, the confession that your fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers all shared in this church. Christianity stands up to the scrutiny and investigation of the world because it is good and fair and true. Jesus has lived for all of you ... he has died for all of you ... he has been raised for all of you. Tell the world ... 

He is risen! He is risen indeed. Hallelujah. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, rejoice in this great news that God pours more than his fair share of this love into our lives. He doesn’t dish it out by spoonfuls. He dumps it in by the truckload. His love overflows all we do, blessing our work, our play, our joy, and our sorrow. He has united us with himself. He has made us one with him. He has given us a new heart for him. Because he has proclaimed victory.

This peace is yours ... now and forever.