Fairness IX (SA)

... for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

 - From Luke 1

God makes everything right, in time. And usually, He makes it right . . . now.

But He takes care of things. We can leave it all in His hands.

The world is not a fair place. But the eternal plane is. And there's a judgment day, where all that is secret is made right, where all debts are paid in full. There's a reason Christ is called our "Redeemer," for He has paid all of our debts, for us. 

We try, in vain, to come up with human approaches to making all things fair. Yes, we do want institutions in place to pass judgment on disputing parties. We want criminals out of society. We want the playing field level. We know that if all of us are given a chance to excel, that the overall tide rises for all of us. My success is closely linked to yours, and vice versa. We need fairness for others, for that is how we get fairness for ourselves.

So, we lurch back and forth in making the world fair. But it seems that, in the end, fairness for one person come at the loss of fairness for another. One group gets a break, but the other group loses their break. 

We want it fair for all, in principle. But the lesson of the last twenty years seems to be that, you can't make it right for one group, without making it wrong for another. 

This doesn't mean we shouldn't try. It does mean we should attempt full fairness with our eyes wide open. 

It's good that we can leave the subject of fairness in God's hands.

That's really the big part of Christmas. God's gift, in Christ, is that He really is looking our for the lowliest among us. He listens. He hears. He sees. And He acts. 

The political approach just leaves half the population angry. And that just doesn't seem fair at all. 

The godly approach meets people where they are, where they live. It accepts them as they are. It inquires into their needs, and addresses them. The godly approach takes chances, opens hearts, is vulnerable. It sacrifices. 

And it is the best we can do, to make the world a fair place.