“Heartbreak, Anger, and Perfect Justice…” ((DTFD, December 18))

(from “Daily Thoughts for Disciples” by Oswald Chambers, December 18th entry)

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“What will a man give in exchange for his soul?” — Mark 8:37

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The modern Christian laughs at the idea of a final judgement. That shows how far we can stray away if we imbibe the idea that the modern mind is infallible and not our Lord.

To His mind at least the finality of moral decision is reached in this life. There is no aspect of our Lord’s mind that the modern mind detests so fundamentally as this one…

The parables in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew are three aspects of the divine estimate of life. The parable of the ten virgins reveals that it is fatal from our Lord’s standpoint to live this life without preparation for the life to come. That is not the exegesis, it is the obvious underlying principle.

The parable of the talents is our Lord’s statement with regard to the danger of leaving undone the work of a lifetime.

And the description of the last judgement is the picture of genuine astonishment on the part of both the losers and the gainers of what they had never thought about.

To be accustomed to our Lord’s teaching is not to ask, “What must I do to be good?”, but “What must I do to be saved?” How long does it take us to know what the true meaning of our lives are?

One half second.

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Taken from Daily Thoughts for Disciples, © 1976, 1994 by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd., and used by permission of Discovery House Publishers, Grand Rapids MI 49501. All rights reserved.

[[Some words Chambers uses are not used often today — click [here] to look up difficult words.]]

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Brief commentary:
Here it is, four days since the horrendous attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and my heart grows heavier each day that passes. Here I sit, some 2,900 miles from the events, not having any personal connection (that I am aware of, at least) to anyone involved there, yet I’m heartbroken.

A part of me is crushed. I have three beautiful daughters, ages 8, 7 and 4, and the thought of something like that happening at their elementary school is chilling. Into my mind come thoughts of being a parent so geographically close to your children, yet being so helpless, so unable to do anything of substance to help…such a circumstance would cripple me, in my honest opinion, especially if something tragic befell one of my kids.

And then a part of me gets angry. And I know I’m not the only one.

Why is that?

Simply put, it’s because within each one of us, God has placed what most people refer to as a conscience, that thing inside that upsets our whole disposition when something just isn’t right. And central to that conscience is a sense of justice, that wrongs will be made right and evil doers will shoulder the weight of their offenses.

But how can something like that ever be made right?

It can’t. And that’s what stokes that anger, the idea that justice somehow cannot be served, simply because that which was “taken” is more precious and valuable than anything the offender could recompense. And to it that he chose to take his own life rather than face his consequences, and many people will find themselves in the coming months feeling cheated out of the process of justice because of it.

That’s exactly why I think this particular discussion is so fitting for these current events: it’s not all about the here and now, even though that’s how so many of us honestly view our day-to-day lives when it comes to the concept of justice. Person A does such and such to Person B, Person B presses charges, Person A receives his discipline, and the case is closed. Justice is served, and the world can once again resume it’s regularly scheduled activities.

That’s not how it is in God’s judicial system, however. There is no statute of limitations to worry about, no legal song and dance maneuvering to get a defendant off on a technicality, and certainly no way to escape one’s punishment by taking the “easy way out” and ending one’s life.

Everyone walks through His courtroom one day. Everyone, without a single exception.

In the few days since the event unfolded, I have heard “a lot of precious nothing” regarding the young man whose hands brought about all the bloodshed, lots of detail about a lot of stuff that doesn’t sound like it will explain anything about why he did what he did. As such, it would be not only unfair but willfully ignorant of me to sit here and pass judgement on him one way or another. Obviously, his deeds were evil, that is without question; however, the “mental illness” banter is in full swing, though I’ve yet to hear definitively about exactly what “mental illness” caused him to do what he did. Hopefully time will bring us more answers, though the underlying root will undoubtedly be the same.

I’m sure there are parents there who are going to long for the young man to stand trial, to be judged by a jury of his peers, be found guilty on all counts and be sentenced in like manner to those he himself sentenced. Their consciences cry out for justice, and rightfully so.

But God’s courthouse is inescapable, and it is certain that the young man who cut short the lives of those 20 children and 6 adults is no exception to that rule. But we also must remember that none of us are privy to what went on within his mind during that last split second of life — was his heart hardened like Pharaoh’s, or did he, at that last second, cry out to God? We will never know, and as such we should refrain from trying to offer our own ideas regarding his eternal fate. God’s justice is perfect, and no one escapes it.

I know the anger I would feel if it were one of my kids I got that phone call about. But I also know I have faithful men around me who would remind me of God’s perfect justice, as well as His mercy and grace to all those — my own sinful self included — who cry out to Him with a repentant heart.

And while it is certainly easier for us to look out through the peepholes of our own eyes and see those who have sinned against us — and indeed, people have in fact done so — I should never forget that God forgave me, stinking rotten sinner me, even though I am just as guilty as those who physically drove the nails into Jesus’ hands and feet.

My heart is heavy, having had the “big girl conversation” with my two older daughters last night. They heard things from other kids at school that we needed to correct, and despite our most careful handling of the subject, it’s still scary, for adults as well as for kids. They were hesitant to release from their bedtime hugs and go to sleep. As I write this, they’ve both been up and out of their room at least once for “potty breaks”, accompanied once again by long, never-want-to-let-go hugs.

As we look to the future, desiring a tomorrow in which these types of things no longer happen, and our hearts long for justice for the tragedies that have already occurred, let us also find rest in the knowledge that no one escapes God’s justice. Then, when our hearts have healed enough to handle it, let us also consider ourselves, whether we will walk into His courtroom pleading our own cases or have Jesus standing beside us as our Advocate before the Father.