Come-Uppance!
Sermon
For all the moans and groans voiced by disgruntled motorists over the many speed cameras now apparent in the UK, there is a certain satisfaction when habitual speeders are caught and fined. There's even more satisfaction when these speeders who seem to think they are beyond the law, clock up so many points on their licence that they are prevented from driving for a certain period of time. It feels like justice is being done at last and that our roads are safer for it.
Justice is a major concern for most human beings. We don't like to see injustices and the world only comes back into some sort of balance when justice is satisfied. Thus after a crime when the criminal is given a light sentence, the victim's family are often incensed because they feel that the punishment in no way matches the crime.
Many of us human beings especially like to see the mighty fallen. When somebody who has enjoyed an exotic or wealthy lifestyle is caught in some form of criminal activity such as tax evasion, we mostly like to see them handed a substantial prison sentence. It feels very unfair when we who pay our dues struggle to manage, while those who avoid paying anything enjoy everything we might like but can't possibly afford.
After Jacob's shenanigans with his twin brother Esau, cheating Esau out of his rightful inheritance and deceiving their old father Isaac, it seems like justice was done when Jacob himself was cheated by his uncle Laban.
Jacob had fled to his unknown Uncle, his father Isaac's relative. Much to his parents' consternation, Esau the elder twin by a minute or two had already married two Hittite women. Isaac and Rebekah didn't want Jacob too marrying a Canaanite woman. They wanted the tribal bloodline to remain pure. Fortuitously, Jacob was terrified of Esau who was out to kill him in revenge for Jacob's underhand plot, so was very receptive to the idea of a long journey to the far land of Mesopotamia to find a suitable wife.
He fell in love with Rachel at first sight. Although the elder sister Leah had lovely eyes, Rachel was gorgeous in every respect, being both graceful and beautiful. Jacob was enchanted by her and it seems that the feeling was mutual. Jacob approached Rachel's father, Laban, and asked for her hand in marriage, offering to work for Laban for seven years.
Laban readily agreed, but on the wedding night seven years later, pulled a fast one in an almost identical manner to the way in which Jacob had deceived his father Isaac seven or eight years earlier. Under cover of darkness and swathed in veils, Laban's elder daughter Leah was sent in to Jacob. Jacob made love to her on his wedding night, apparently believing he was making love to Rachel.
In the morning, the awful truth dawned. He had been cheated into marrying the wrong daughter. Whilst feeling a grain of sympathy for Jacob, there is also a sense of come-uppance. Justice has been done. Jacob cheated Isaac by deception, now Jacob himself has been cheated by deception.
But there is a pattern throughout the book of Genesis which doesn't vary. After sin comes justice, but after justice comes God's grace. Nobody is left to struggle on with the consequences of their sin, for God always puts things right through his grace.
After Adam and Eve sinned they weren't executed by God but were expelled from the Garden of Eden. But before they went, God himself made clothes for them to wear. After Cain killed his brother Abel he too was expelled from society and left to wander, but God put his mark on Cain to protect him. Later, when God saw the evil wrought by human beings, he was minded to "blot them from the earth" (Genesis 6:7), but he saved Noah and his family so that human beings could regenerate.
And here after Jacob's sin, God restores the balance of justice but then pours his grace upon Jacob. Jacob married Rachel a week later after promising to work a further seven years for Laban, and eventually produced sons by both sisters, sons who were to become the founding fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Throughout the Old Testament we are given examples of God's justice being followed by forgiveness and grace. When God forgives, he forgives fully. Previous sins are never held against the sinner, but love and blessings are poured into them just as if they had always been perfect people.
Perhaps for us Christians, a strong sense of justice needs to be tempered by love. Perhaps we too need to learn how to forgive so fully that it is as if the sin never happened. Perhaps we too need to forget sin against us to such an extent that we too are able to pour our love into the ex-sinner.
But all too often the human cry is for vengeance, and the feeling by those sinned against is that punishments are never severe enough. Perhaps as Christians we need to take forgiveness seriously and first completely and fully forgive any family members who have sinned against us. Then when we have put our own house in order, perhaps we should consider our social justice system and do what we can to express the forgiveness and the love of society towards those who fill our gaols.
When justice has been done there is the need for grace, in order that like Jacob, sinners might move on to better things and be enabled to realise their own true potential. That's the way God works, but we need to be prepared to love enough for that to happen.
Justice is important because it brings the world back into balance. But we cannot leave human beings simply with justice. We must help them to experience God's forgiveness and grace as well.
Justice is a major concern for most human beings. We don't like to see injustices and the world only comes back into some sort of balance when justice is satisfied. Thus after a crime when the criminal is given a light sentence, the victim's family are often incensed because they feel that the punishment in no way matches the crime.
Many of us human beings especially like to see the mighty fallen. When somebody who has enjoyed an exotic or wealthy lifestyle is caught in some form of criminal activity such as tax evasion, we mostly like to see them handed a substantial prison sentence. It feels very unfair when we who pay our dues struggle to manage, while those who avoid paying anything enjoy everything we might like but can't possibly afford.
After Jacob's shenanigans with his twin brother Esau, cheating Esau out of his rightful inheritance and deceiving their old father Isaac, it seems like justice was done when Jacob himself was cheated by his uncle Laban.
Jacob had fled to his unknown Uncle, his father Isaac's relative. Much to his parents' consternation, Esau the elder twin by a minute or two had already married two Hittite women. Isaac and Rebekah didn't want Jacob too marrying a Canaanite woman. They wanted the tribal bloodline to remain pure. Fortuitously, Jacob was terrified of Esau who was out to kill him in revenge for Jacob's underhand plot, so was very receptive to the idea of a long journey to the far land of Mesopotamia to find a suitable wife.
He fell in love with Rachel at first sight. Although the elder sister Leah had lovely eyes, Rachel was gorgeous in every respect, being both graceful and beautiful. Jacob was enchanted by her and it seems that the feeling was mutual. Jacob approached Rachel's father, Laban, and asked for her hand in marriage, offering to work for Laban for seven years.
Laban readily agreed, but on the wedding night seven years later, pulled a fast one in an almost identical manner to the way in which Jacob had deceived his father Isaac seven or eight years earlier. Under cover of darkness and swathed in veils, Laban's elder daughter Leah was sent in to Jacob. Jacob made love to her on his wedding night, apparently believing he was making love to Rachel.
In the morning, the awful truth dawned. He had been cheated into marrying the wrong daughter. Whilst feeling a grain of sympathy for Jacob, there is also a sense of come-uppance. Justice has been done. Jacob cheated Isaac by deception, now Jacob himself has been cheated by deception.
But there is a pattern throughout the book of Genesis which doesn't vary. After sin comes justice, but after justice comes God's grace. Nobody is left to struggle on with the consequences of their sin, for God always puts things right through his grace.
After Adam and Eve sinned they weren't executed by God but were expelled from the Garden of Eden. But before they went, God himself made clothes for them to wear. After Cain killed his brother Abel he too was expelled from society and left to wander, but God put his mark on Cain to protect him. Later, when God saw the evil wrought by human beings, he was minded to "blot them from the earth" (Genesis 6:7), but he saved Noah and his family so that human beings could regenerate.
And here after Jacob's sin, God restores the balance of justice but then pours his grace upon Jacob. Jacob married Rachel a week later after promising to work a further seven years for Laban, and eventually produced sons by both sisters, sons who were to become the founding fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Throughout the Old Testament we are given examples of God's justice being followed by forgiveness and grace. When God forgives, he forgives fully. Previous sins are never held against the sinner, but love and blessings are poured into them just as if they had always been perfect people.
Perhaps for us Christians, a strong sense of justice needs to be tempered by love. Perhaps we too need to learn how to forgive so fully that it is as if the sin never happened. Perhaps we too need to forget sin against us to such an extent that we too are able to pour our love into the ex-sinner.
But all too often the human cry is for vengeance, and the feeling by those sinned against is that punishments are never severe enough. Perhaps as Christians we need to take forgiveness seriously and first completely and fully forgive any family members who have sinned against us. Then when we have put our own house in order, perhaps we should consider our social justice system and do what we can to express the forgiveness and the love of society towards those who fill our gaols.
When justice has been done there is the need for grace, in order that like Jacob, sinners might move on to better things and be enabled to realise their own true potential. That's the way God works, but we need to be prepared to love enough for that to happen.
Justice is important because it brings the world back into balance. But we cannot leave human beings simply with justice. We must help them to experience God's forgiveness and grace as well.
