Chris Saunders – Our Deanery Youth Worker
To hear Chris’s sermon click on the arrow below
From Rev’d Caroline – 01285 712467 – carolinesymcox@googlemail.com
Readings for Sunday: Jonah 3.10-end of 4; Philippians 1.21-end; Matthew 20.1-16
The following is taken from the Parish Newsletter for Sunday 20th September 2026
If you are a parent, or have ever had to spend time with small children (or even big children), one phrase you are almost certain to have heard is the echoing refrain of, “IT’S NOT FAAAAIIIIRRRR!”
Fairness is something ingrained in our human brains, and in children it feels like that is notched up to an extraordinary degree. I’m one of three sisters, and the arguments about fairness happened on a daily basis. No one sister should ever be allowed more than another. Dividing up cake was a great example of this. How could it be ensured that the sister cutting the cake didn’t give herself the biggest slice? Mathematical workings were employed. Protractors were produced. In the end, we took the age-old path of controlling any sneaky selfishness – the one who cut the cake would be the last to choose a slice.
Now this behaviour might be mitigated a little as we get older and realise that shouting ‘it’s not faaaiiirrr’ doesn’t necessarily get us what we want, but the desire for it is still there, and often can form the basis for much of our moral thinking. The thing is, the urge for fairness can go wrong. Because fairness is very different from generosity. It doesn’t really account for love. At it’s worst it can become something of extraordinary negativity, where we fight against people getting more or better treatment because we never had it. The ‘I had a difficult time, so you should too’ mentality.
And it is profoundly against the love of God that we see in Scripture. I love the book of Jonah, because we see the dynamic of judgemental human desire for fairness going up against God’s overwhelming mercy and love. Jonah doesn’t want to warn the people of Ninevah to repent of their wicked ways and return to the Lord, because he knows that if they do, God is going to forgive them. He doesn’t want that! They don’t deserve it! It isn’t fair! And of course, when he finally gets to Ninevah (after the fish incident) and does as God commands and warns the people – what happens? God forgives them, and Jonah’s bitterness explodes.
God talks him around, after a pointed object lesson, but it takes time. God’s mercy and love is just too much for Jonah’s human fairness.
For us today, our challenge is to notice and hold on to the difference between ‘fairness’ and love, and to know that our human knee-jerk understanding of what is fair may very well get in the way of what true mercy and generosity look like. This week, are we truly able to seek to live out God’s call to love?
Rev’d Caroline
21st September 2026