Religion: A Pastor Ponders

When Life Is Unfair

by Pastor William Jenkins

April 24, 2005

In the twelfth chapter of Luke’s Gospel Jesus tells the Parable of the Rich Fool (16-21).

I have preached at least one sermon from that parable and I suspect you have heard at least one sermon from it. What I find really interesting are the three verses that come before this well-known parable and are the soil out of which it grows.

A certain man came to Jesus and asked Jesus to make his brother divide an inheritance with him. Jesus said, “No, I won’t do that. Sometimes life is unfair.” Well, Jesus didn’t say it quite like that, but that is what He meant. The problem with the man’s request is that he was asking too much.

In various ways we can be guilty of asking too much:
“Dear God, stop all the disasters, do away with poverty and crime, stamp out all diseases, don’t let so and so die, don’t let me suffer. Oh, by the way, please let me win the sweepstakes…or the lottery, either one will be fine. Give me my fair share of the good life.”

In these ways we are attempting to use God like a golden parachute to bail us out whenever things don’t go as desired.

Instead of trying to manipulate God we might consider taking the approach Jesus used in the Garden of Gethsemane. When life became most unfair and the specter of the cross cast its ugly shadow over Him, Jesus knelt and prayed as no mortal or divine has ever prayed. In that moment, Jesus was tempted to ask too much,

“If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me…”
He knew the request was not what was best, so He continued,
“Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done.”

There are any number of instances in life whenever we don’t understand why things happen so unfairly. When these things happen we are tempted to wonder if there is more of madness than of mercy in the universe and to say, “That’s not fair!”

During these times our faith in God is the only golden parachute we need. Not everything that happens is good or even in keeping with God’s perfect will; however, for the trusting believer everything has its own way of working out for the good of those who love and honor God. Believe it!

League City United Methodist Church is located at 1411 Main Street (FM 518), one block east of Interstate 45. For information, call the church offices at 281-332-1557 or visit the website at

HYPERLINK - http://www.lcumc.org