Heads or Tails

​TITLE: Heads or Tails
DATE: October 29, 2018
TEXT: Deuteronomy 32:4 (ESV) 4  “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he. 

“It’s not fair!” 

Sooner or later I guess all of us conclude life’s not fair. When we were young it wasn’t fair that our older siblings got to stay up later than we did. It wasn’t fair the other kids got more allowance AND they didn’t have to do chores. It wasn’t fair that one kid was more popular; and it wasn’t fair when the whole class got punished for the transgressions of one misbehaving student. 

As we got older many things changed, but the unfairness factor remained constant. It wasn’t fair the other guy started on the athletic team; it wasn’t fair the other girl was picked to be a cheerleader. It wasn’t fair when a rival was admitted to the college to which we had applied. It certainly wasn’t fair the guy at the next desk got our promotion. 

It’s not fair. That’s humanity’s complaint….and, you know what, sometimes life isn’t…fair, that is

As an example I point to the case of Sarah Webb who did some serious speeding because she was late for work. Two female police officers from Georgia caught her on radar and pulled her over. The officers laughed as they debated, “Should we arrest her?”, or “Should we just give her a ticket and let her go?” Eventually they decided to flip a coin. 

If the coin landed heads, Sarah would be arrested; if the toss showed tails, Sarah would go free. 

Well, Sarah lost the flip and the officers wrote her up. 

Then, Atlanta News Station 11 heard of a movie showing the unfairness which had overtaken Sarah. Sarah saw the film, as did the public. A judge ordered all the charges against Sarah to be dropped. And the police, they were placed on paid, Administrative leave while they Department decided on their course of action. 

Yes, sometimes life isn’t fair. 

But don’t say unfairness is an attribute of the Triune God. I’m not saying you will always understand His decisions; you may not even agree with the things He does. Indeed, I am willing to guarantee. There most certainly will be times you won’t always agree with His rulings. Even so, you can trust the Lord to be as fair as fair can be.  

Indeed, I can only think of one time, and with one Person, where God’s justice was redirected. No, God’s justice didn’t go away… it was redirected. Naturally I am speaking of Jesus and His Divinely mandated mission in which He came to earth so that He might seek and save the lost. The prophet Isaiah speaks clearly about that redirection of justice: 

“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;  he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?”

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, my Savior’s life was spent keeping the laws I have broken and resisting the temptations which have tripped me up. Grant that I may rejoice in Your grace which sent Jesus to offer Himself as my ransom. In His precious Name I pray. Amen. 

The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by Andrew Hay for Reuters on July 14, 2018 . Those who wish to reference those articles may do so at the following link, which was fully functional at the time this devotion was written: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-georgia-police-coinflip/georgia-police-use-coin-toss-to-decide-whether-to-arrest-woman-idUSKBN1K410R

The music which introduces and concludes our devotions was written by Guy Baumann, one of my long-ago  confirmands. It is singing with three brothers. This song comes from the album: The Baumann Brothers which may be ordered here: http://thebaumannbrothers.com/index.html