What can we say—that God is unfair? That’s unthinkable! For example, God said to Moses, “I will be kind to anyone I want to. I will be merciful to anyone I want to.” Therefore, God’s choice does not depend on a person’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.

For example, Scripture says to Pharaoh, “I put you here for this reason: to demonstrate my power through you and to spread my name throughout the earth.” Therefore, if God wants to be kind to anyone, he will be. If he wants to make someone stubborn, he will.

You may ask me, “Why does God still find fault with anyone? Who can resist whatever God wants to do?”

Who do you think you are to talk back to God like that? Can an object that was made say to its maker, “Why did you make me like this?” A potter has the right to do whatever he wants with his clay. He can make something for a special occasion or something for everyday use from the same lump of clay.

If God wants to demonstrate his anger and reveal his power, he can do it. But can’t he be extremely patient with people who are objects of his anger because they are headed for destruction? Can’t God also reveal the riches of his glory to people who are objects of his mercy and who he had already prepared for glory? This is what God did for us whom he called—whether we are Jews or not.

As God says in Hosea:

“Those who are not my people
I will call my people.
Those who are not loved
I will call my loved ones.
Wherever they were told,
‘You are not my people,’
they will be called children of the living God.”

Isaiah also says about Israel:

“Although the descendants of Israel are
as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore,
only a few will be saved.
The Lord will carry out his sentence on the land,
completely and decisively.”

This is what Isaiah predicted:

“If the Lord of Armies hadn’t left us some descendants,
we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah.” (God’s Word Translation)

In Christianity, humility is a virtue. Yet, sometimes Christians forget this, and they have to eat some humble pie.

In other words, there are times we need to be put in our place. It would go a lot better for us if we could just cultivate a humble spirit, rather than have humility forced upon us under embarrassing conditions.

The Apostle Paul realized he needed to make the Roman Church eat some humble pie. They were acting arrogant. The Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians each thought they were better than the other. So, Paul reminded them both who was really in charge of things.

The proud person’s cry, when things don’t go their way, is “It’s not fair!” That’s because they believe they deserve to have something, to be on top, to call the shots on how things ought to go.

Paul was particularly hard on his fellow Jewish Christians, probably because he was quite familiar with their mindset about Gentiles (non-Jewish persons). The Jews tended to feel superior over Gentiles, and thus, to believe that they have the high ground and the right to trump Gentile thinking.

But Paul also took the Gentile Christians to task. They had a nasty habit of rolling their eyes whenever their Jewish sisters and brothers talked. The Gentiles mostly saw the Jews as hopelessly stuck in their old traditions and ways of doing things. And so, they believed new leadership was needed, wanting those crusty old guys out.

Therefore, each group – both the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians – had some major hang up’s about who should be in the Church and heading things up, and who should be out.

The Apostle (bless his exasperated heart) didn’t take sides. That’s because he knew that both groups were being knuckleheads. Each of them needed to get out of their pride. So, Paul cut them each some humble pie and dished it out.

Who is in and who is out is none of their concern. And what’s more, you’re never going to really know why some are in and some are out. The reason is that God is going to do what God is going to do. None of the petty posturing amongst each other means anything. In truth, everything is based on God’s call, and not on human decision, race, ethnicity, gender, politics, or anything else. It all comes down to God, not us.

God makes decisions and extends calls to people, all the time, that we don’t like. And Paul knew this. It is, in fact, what kept him humble. Paul understood he didn’t deserve a thing from God; everything good thing he had came from the Lord.

In his conversion from Jewish Saul to Christian Paul, the Apostle felt the sting of rejection from both groups. The Jews saw him as a traitor, a turncoat. The Gentiles didn’t trust him and wouldn’t accept him. But Paul, having had to eat humble pie himself – dished out by Jesus himself – learned to be patient and gentle. (Acts 9:1-5)

Yet, Paul had his boundaries and his limits. And the Roman Church crossed them. It was time for the entire church to hear a “suck it up, buttercup,” speech.

For the Jewish Christians, they were never “in” just because they were Abraham’s descendants. Abraham was called by God; therefore, everyone is called by God and not the other way around – and God calls whomever God chooses to call. There was nothing in Abraham to warrant a good choice. But God chose him anyway. And if God wants to take some of the Jews, the “chosen” people out, God will do it, because God isn’t accountable to us.

For the Gentile Christians, they weren’t brought “in” because of their own choice. Before they ever had a chance to choose God, God chose them. They were lost in darkness, far from God. But God, by sheer mercy and grace, called the Gentiles. And now that the Gentiles are “in” they can just as easily be “out” if God so chooses.

“The wonder is not that some are saved and others not, but that anybody is saved at all. If we receive what we deserve (judgment) or if we receive what we do not deserve (mercy), then in neither case is God unjust.”

John R.W. Stott

All of this is more than a bunch of power politics from the ancient world; these same dynamics impact us today in quite similar ways.

Any group of people who enjoy privilege over another group needs a slice of humble pie. Any group who continually disparages those in authority also needs a slice of humble pie.

In reality, there are times when every single one of us – including every community, institution, organization, corporation, and nation – needs a stiff reminder of who we really are, why we are really here, and what we are really supposed to be doing.

To eat humble pie means to acknowledge one’s mistake or wrongdoing and accept the humiliation that goes with that acknowledgement. We need to confess our sins and complicity in a host of the world’s ills. And we need to acknowledge that our awful predicaments aren’t just somebody else’s fault; we caused the crud.

We need the humility to ask for help; the humility to work with others very different from ourselves; and the humility to realize we could make the same mistakes again, if not for the grace of God.

Amongst us humans, we are all a community of equals. Yet, amongst God, none of humanity is equal to divinity. A clay pot has neither the right nor the ability to question the potter; they aren’t on the same level.

To enjoy divine privileges never gives us the right to show human prejudice. So let us be people who help one another live according to justice, mercy, and humility – for these are the very things which God calls us to embrace. (Micah 6:8)

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, and so, disparage others.
Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we lose our perspective and believe we are the masters of our own fate.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly by doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with Jesus, in the enablement of the Holy Spirit. Amen.