SCRIPTURE: Romans 6:1-3
(TM)
So what do we do?
Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we've left
the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house
there? Or didn't you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what
happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of
sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country
of grace - a new life in a new land!
STORY as written by
Brennan Manning:
A story is told about Fiorello LaGuardia, who, when he was
mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of
WWII, was called by adoring New Yorkers 'the Little Flower' because he was only
five foot four and always wore a carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful
character who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, raid speakeasies with
the police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever
the New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the
Sunday funnies to the kids. One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the
mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city.
LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench
himself.
Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought
before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her
daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two
grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was
stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a real bad neighborhood, your
Honor,” the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other
people around here a lesson." LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and
said, "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions--ten dollars or
ten days in jail." But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was
already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his
famous sombrero saying: "Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit;
and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for
living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren
can eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant."
So the following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was
turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her
starving grandchildren, fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the
red-faced grocery store owner, while some seventy petty criminals, people with
traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid
fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.
OBSERVATION:
Our nation, and the world, debates the wisdom and
consequences of bombing Syria. One man with shotgun in hand kills 13 people in
a Navy facility. And the political pundits share their “wisdom” of how to
respond to both crises. Same old, same old. They are plowing the same field
with the same old and tired solutions. What makes us think that this it will be
different?
In Jesus, God delivers a message of grace. LaGuardia
demonstrated the power of grace. The solution to the world’s problems is grace.
We’ve attempted to solve the problems with military might and more guns only to
discover that it simply just doesn’t work. When are we going to learn this
lesson? How long O Lord, how long will we continue to travel down the same path
expecting different results?
We’ve never really done it according to God’s plan. We’ve
never really given grace a chance. Anger only results in more anger. Hate reaps
the harvest of hate. Retaliation only produces retaliation. Mayhem can only
create more mayhem.
On the other hand grace is transformational. It brings about
change from the inside out. Grace brings about hope, healing and wholeness. We
simply need to embrace the new reality of the Kingdom of God and start living
in the new land as true citizens of that new country… as if we really are meant
to take up full time residency. Don’t you think that God expects that of us?
We can do better… we’ve got to do better for the sake of our
future and the future of our grandchildren… for the future of planet earth… for
the future of all people regardless of what language they speak, what country
they call home, or what god(s) they might worship. We simply have to do better!
PRAYER:
Continue to pour out your grace and just maybe Lord we will
get the message!
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