Scripture text: Acts 7:55-60
A few weeks ago, in the midst of the debate over Trumpcare 2.0, Congressman Mo Brooks of Alabama got himself in a bit of trouble when he claimed that pre-existing conditions only occur in people who haven’t led “good lives” or “done things the right way.” He was heavily criticized over his implication that children with inherited illnesses, diabetes, heart defects somehow haven’t “done things the right way.”
What the Congressman has really done with his statement is pull back the veil on a very persistent and commonplace belief in the American mythology. It’s the idea that people get what they deserve. What goes around comes around. If one lives a good life, one will be rewarded appropriately with health, wealth, popularity, success, beauty, and everything else life has to offer. If one lives a bad life, then they will justly be denied these things. You’ll get sick. You’ll go broke. You’ll be ugly. You’ll fail.
Most of us know this really isn’t how life works, but the belief persists. It persists primarily because we think this is how life SHOULD work. It’s a just system. It rewards good and punishes evil. It’s the way the world should work, so the belief continues.
One of my colleagues posted on Facebook this week in regards to this very topic and he made a curious observation. One of the places where this belief persists the strongest is within the church. He says “Intriguingly, the majority of evangelicals...believe that mostly people have earned their wealth, or deserve the illnesses they get, or have caused their own hunger.” The Prosperity Gospel that continues to grow in popularity in many churches operates off this same mindset. You get what you deserve. Life rewards goodness and punishes evil.
If a vast majority of American Christians believe this, then it must be Biblical, right? Well, what then do we make of our First Lesson? Stephen was one of the first deacons; his purpose in the early church was to oversee the distribution of food to widows and to ensure food was given out fairly. He was a mighty debater and argued forcefully that Jesus was the Messiah; so good at this he was that the book of Acts tells us his opponents could not refute him. He was the very definition of a good guy, helping people in need, serving God and his church, standing up for what he believed.
His reward for this good life? To be stoned to death.
It gets better. Because the story, our First Lesson, tells us that among those who witnessed this killing was a man named Saul. One who would later “breathe threats and murder” against the disciples of Jesus. A vile figure, determined to destroy the church. His punishment for being such a monster? To be chosen by God to become one of the greatest of the Apostles and to write the vast majority of the New Testament.
Wait a minute!
The Bible tells the story of the world as it is, not as it should be. The idea that “what goes around comes around” is a fiction that doesn’t hold up under even the most basic of scrutiny. Bad things do happen to good people and evil is sometimes rewarded. Yes, Hitler may have been defeated by the combined armies of the free world, but Stalin, whose atrocities can arguably said to match the infamous Nazi, died peacefully in his bed. How is that fair?
It’s not. Because what runs the universe is not fairness. It’s grace.
Ask yourself honestly. Do you really want what you deserve? Given all the mistakes, vices, sins, and other garbage you’ve done? Do I want what I deserve? I screw up all the time. Sometimes, I don’t mean to, but then there are those times when I really do. When I lose my temper, get angry and hateful. When I glance at a young lady with lust in my heart. When I envision remaking the world in my image and to hell with anyone who would dare get in my way. No, I am a sinner. We all are.
And yet, what does God do with us? Does he punish us as we deserve? No, he sets out to put us right. He begins with a promise to Abraham, that one day he will send a blessing upon us poor sinful humans. That blessing arrives in Jesus. And what is that blessing? Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the blessing is abundant eternal life. It’s a kingdom without sin and death. It’s everything we DON’T deserve, given to us freely for no other reason than because God loves us.
Given that we have this gift, we can change our perspective on life. The world is broken. People are broken. But God is at work putting things back the way they’re meant to be. Our job, having received this great gift of grace, is to show the world they too have this gift. Sometimes, that can be dangerous. Stephen learned that the hard way. He died because he fed poor people and talked about God as he really is. And if you don’t think that can’t be dangerous today, go feed someone the “good people” think doesn’t deserve it and watch what happens.
But so what? We’re not here to care what others think of us. We’re here to spread the good news of God to all the world. To show them what the kingdom is and what it means. No, it’s not a world of fairness where people get what they deserve. It’s a world of grace, where people get what they DON’T deserve. Where they get life and joy and freedom and love. That’s the world that God brings to us. That’s the world God promises to us. Go, and show this world what it will be someday. Amen.
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