You know, I think we like the idea of karma. Karma in the sense of fairness. I read a magazine article in which the word karma and the word fair were used interchangeably. Karma - you get what you deserve. That sounds fair. And we Aussies love fair. We want things to be fair and equal.
But I really hope you don’t believe in karma.
When I was in fourth class I used to sit next to a girl who was smart, funny and just a bit sneaky. Every now and then she would do something like whack me with the ruler when the teacher wasn’t looking. I’d respond by picking up a ruler to whack her back. But by this time the teaching was looking. I spent a lot of that year getting in trouble and it all seemed so unfair.
But perhaps, I deserved it. Buddhanet: ‘In this world nothing happens to a person that he (or she) does not for some reason or other deserve.’
But it isn’t just the Buddhists that believe in karma. Many of us believe in this idea of karma so much that we invest in karma. Social psychologists set up an experiment that showed people invested in karma. When an outcome looked like it was outside of a person’s control (like getting a job) that person would do unrelated good things to try and win some goodness from the universe. If I scratch the universe’s back, it’ll scratch mine. Read more here.
It is a cause-and-effect way of viewing the world. What goes around, comes around! Now, this seems like a good thing. Surely this is a motivator to do good. I’ll do good to get good.
Here’s the problem with karma
But if we view the world or the universe as a place of karma we are very quickly in a deep and dark place.
Think of the logic. Let’s say Bob lost his job. In a universe of reciprocity, it must be because he deserved it. And so, Bob must be a bad worker or he must have done something bad. He might be your friend but now, you probably won’t give him a job. (See this article that explores this more)
But it gets worse: one study shows that women who strongly believe that the world is fair, or reciprocal are more likely to blame the victim in a hypothetical stranger rape. The logic is sound. According to karma, the raped woman must have done something to deserve it. (Remember the definition above.)
If something bad happened to someone they must have done something bad. People are presumed guilty. Karma is a vicious sword that cuts friend, foe and those who wield it.
And it gets worse. Let me ask you a question. Should you do anything to help those who are in a bad place or a bad way? Your gut response is probably to say ‘Yes’. That’s great. But don’t!
Because if you do, you are interfering with that person getting what they deserve. You’re messing with karma. And now you’ve caused a further injustice and will be repaid for it. It is a vicious cycle of karma.
So, the most logical thing is to just sit back and do absolutely nothing. Right? Don’t get on that spiral of doom.
And, in that moment when you’ve decided to do nothing you’ve just given birth to a caste system. People exist at different levels in society of status, rights, care, health, education and money. And they are there because they ought to be there. They are in the caste they deserve. And we must not mess with their place, helping them, or alleviating pain or suffering or we’ll fall under the disaster of karma.
Karma all sounds good at the start. But if we get what we deserve then any of us who have done awful things, shameful things or disgusting things are in deep trouble. And who of us hasn’t? Karma is going to get us, as John Lennon warned us in his ironically boppy song Shine On (Instant Karma):
Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you right on the head
You better get yourself together
Pretty soon you're gonna be dead
If only our only crimes were laughing in the face of love. This is why we desperately need grace.
This is why we need grace
Grace is God's "utter generosity, unselfish, spontaneous, recklessly prodigal generosity, which acts wholly out of loving concern for people’s need, even if they are completely unworthy of his love and help which he offers to them.” (* I’m trying to track this quote!)
You’ll have noticed right away, that I’ve introduced the idea of God. For grace is something that is given and grace in the Bible assumes a giver - God!
And God’s grace is all about people getting what they do not deserve.
Imagine a man who owns an orchard and keeps employing people, not necessarily because he needs all those workers but because they all need the work. And then at the end of the day, he pays all of the workers the same fair wage for a day’s work, even though some of them were hired an hour before the workday ended. Yes, that’s right - those who worked 1 hour got the same pay as those who worked for 8 hours.
That’s grace! It is getting what we don’t deserve. Jesus tells this story to show God’s pattern and his work in the world. (Check it out here - Matthew’s Gospel.)
Jesus was teaching that if you want to understand the creator of the universe. You need to understand his system is grace. He gives good to those that don’t earn the good. And don’t deserve the good.
Think about your life. It has come to you as a gift. You did nothing to deserve it. And any skills, abilities or resources that you have are also a gift. Yes, even if you learned those skills you were given the capacity to learn and you were given someone who had those skills to teach you. Life is a gift all the way through.
Jesus knew this truth, that God’s system is grace and he lived it. This is why he went up to the city of Jerusalem to be put to death on a cross. He predicted and planned for his life to be given up so that God, the Father, could offer the grace of forgiveness to all those who don’t deserve it.
This is reckless, unselfish, utterly generous grace.
And when we understand and receive this grace shown to us in Jesus it should cascade outwards in our lives to others. Our life should be one long story of grace shown to others. Not because they deserve it but because we don’t deserve God’s grace.
In summary, karma might be fair, but karma kills. While it is the grace found in Jesus that gives life.