Today is Father’s Day and I want to tell you about one father's love. There was a woman who used to stop for coffee at her dad's house every morning on her way to work. Her dad would make biscuits because he didn't want her going to work on an empty stomach. One rainy day she overslept and didn't have time to stop at her dad's. She called to tell him she couldn't make it – but promised to see him the next day. Dad was disappointed. As she drove to work she rounded the corner near his house and saw a figure standing out in the cold and the rain. It was her dad. He was waiting for her, sack in hand, because he wanted to make sure she had her biscuits.
He loved her and though it was a small sacrifice, he made sure she was cared for. The love of a father for his child is strong. Look at the Old Testament lesson today; it too speaks of a father’s love, King David’s. Think about that story a moment; this father, David, breaks God’s law and his infant son is put to death for it. What kind of a text is this for Father’s day? What kind of God would do this thing? What kind of a God would take out His revenge for sin on the innocent infant child of the man who did the sinning? It’s infuriating isn’t it?
Yes it’s unfair how God acted. You’ve probably heard people argue ‘"I can’t worship a God who would be unfair like this." They say they can’t worship a God who kills innocent children. You get those arguments thrown in your face, don’t you? It makes you feel small and stupid. It makes you feel a fool for admitting that you love the God of heaven when people put such seemingly unarguable arguments before you.
But what if we admitted to it? What if we said, yes, you’re right, I do worship a God who’s unfair. After all if He wasn’t unfair, well then there’s no God to worship. Only an unfair God is worthy of worship. If there was fairness in God he wouldn’t be God; He would just be a huge human person. So, let’s admit it; by our standards, God is not fair.
He put the punishment due to David on David’s son. That is unfair. But…in doing that, the prophet Nathan said, that God would spare David’s life. That is the point; God was unfair so that He could show what the cost of sin truly is. The sin of David cost David his innocent son’s life.
Now turn to the gospel lesson today; Look at the woman there. What about fairness to her? Everyone at the dinner table knew her reputation and knew that she was a sinner, even the host of the meal. Look at verse 39; read that verse with me. "39When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, 'If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.' "
In fairness she should have been tossed out. She should have been stoned to death according to the law as they interpreted it. But what does it say she did? She poured out her tears and her expensive perfume on Jesus. She recognized Christ’s righteousness and her own unworthiness. In the presence of Christ, and His holiness, she offered only tears of repentance and sorrow.
She saw in Christ her only hope. If she were to be treated fairly, she knew she was lost. She knew she had no hope and no reason to think that she would be forgiven. After all, what she was, was no secret, not to anyone there and not to her.
She owned up to her sin by her tears. She responded by her tears as David did to Nathan’s accusation that "you are the man". David owned up and said "I have sinned". This woman crying at Jesus' feet and wiping them with her hair, she like David, also confessed her guilt.
Look how she is treated by Jesus. She was treated unfairly. Read verse 48 out loud what does it say. "Then Jesus said to her, 'Your sins are forgiven.' " Why? Why could He do this?
Because, He was the Son who would bear away the guilt for her, and for all the world. As David’s son did for David, so Jesus on the cross bore away the guilt of sin for the world. The death of David’s son gives us just a glimpse into how great the cost is to our heavenly Father to forgive this woman’s sin...and ours.
The sin of the world cost God His son’s life. And for that reason we do worship an unfair God. He does not treat us as we deserve. We now have a future and a hope, like this woman in the gospel lesson. We have a future because of the unfair death of the innocent Son of God.
David’s future seemed lost to him when his son died because of David’s sin. But our unfair God restored to David a future with a new son. And this same unfair God promised us a future through the sacrifice of His own son. Jesus unfairly paid our debt of sin, like David’s son unfairly paid David’s debt of sin. We’ve been given new life and a future by Christ’s death and the promise of our resurrection with Him.
This unfair God comes to us in His holy word and gives us this promise. But what good does that do the infant son of King David? Someone may ask you, "What good does that promise do for the innocent child of David’s? Did he die and simply go to hell?" I may be wrong, but I don’t think so. I think I’m on safe ground when I say that this unfair God has shown Himself to be the God that gathered this boy to Himself in heaven. After all that is what He has unfairly promised to do with us. For the sake of His own Son’s innocent death, He gives us a future. I think it’s in keeping with God's unfairness to have shown mercy to this boy as well.
So, what does that God's unfair mercy mean for us? How do we then live as a follower of this unfair God? What do we do with the unfairness that has been shown to us so lovingly and freely? Well, we do what has been done to us. We bear unfairness. We bear unfairness because like David and the sinner woman – we’ve been treated unfairly. In the epistle lesson it says that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. By faith in Jesus Christ we are made righteous. What did Jesus say to the woman today after promising forgiveness to her? It’s on the bulletin cover. He said "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."By God's word of promise to us, by His gift of faith to us, we are given freedom from the guilt that is rightly ours.
For us that promise can have an affect on our daily lives...if we let it. Let me give you just two small examples of thinking unfairly, of thinking with the mercy that is ours by God's promise to us. These are small things but the idea is to begin to see life, to see all of life, differently now that we’ve been unfairly set free of the law.
One example is the penny cup at the cash-register check out in a drug or grocery store or restaurant. Rather than just put a penny in, be unfair, put in a nickel or two. Put in a dime or two, if you dare to think this unfair, perhaps even put in a quarter or two or three, even! The idea is to unfairly bless someone who can’t know it came from you. You won’t know what that money means to someone down the line. It is unfair, but that’s the point.
Or here’s another example, another way of taking the unfairness that God has shown you and passing that on. When you’re driving, and someone needs to merge, back off and let them in. (Just do it safely.) Or when someone goes out of turn at the stop sign, let them...you give way. What does it cost you? Yes it’s unfair and yes they’ve not followed the rules of the road. They have broken the law and you’ve had to pay the price. By now that sounds familiar.
We too have broken God's law. And the price He paid for our failure, as we’ve said was the cost of the cross. It was Christ bearing the sting of death unfairly for us that gives us the freedom we have by grace through faith in Jesus alone.
Let me close with a story that brings home that point. One beautiful spring afternoon a boy and his father were driving down a country road, when suddenly a bumblebee flew through an open window and landed on the little boy's shoulder. He was petrified because he was allergic to bee stings. His father quickly reached over and grabbed the bee in his hand. After a moment he released the bee and it began to fly around the car again. The boy again began to tremble with fear as the bee buzzed around him. The father though, reached out his hand and pointed to his palm. There, stuck in his hand, was the stinger of the bee. The father said to his boy, "You don't need to be afraid anymore. I've taken the sting for you. The bee can't hurt you!"
We worship and give thanks to God our heavenly father, for His unfairness in sending Jesus, His son, to bear the sting of death for us; and it’s in His holy name we pray, Amen.