What has brought us to this place?

  • Police Brutality
  • Riots
  • Looting
  • Political Unrest
  • Violence Against Innocent Police Officers
  • Innocent Americans Having Their Businesses Burned To The Ground

 

Who Will Take The Blame For All Of This?

 

My answer to this very question might surprise you, but I stand behind it with all of my heart.

 

 

There are two desires that live within almost every person that I know:

  1.  An Unfaltering Demand For Justice
  2.  A Strong Desire For Mercy

 

 

To hear both of those in equal measure, one only needs to hang out in a court room all day.

 

The victims want JUSTICE.  They want ACCOUNTABILITY and PUNISHMENT and sometimes even REVENGE.

 

And in many cases they are right.

 

Someone who is totally innocent is wronged and ripped off for no good reason.  Who wouldn’t want someone looking out for them? Who wouldn’t want crime reduced because people have a fear of being punished for their actions?

And who wouldn’t want the perpetrator to fairly pay for the pain they have inflicted on someone else?

 

Who wouldn’t want justice?

 

I can tell you that I have called for justice WITH EVERY OUNCE OF MY BEING.  I HAVE CRIED OUT FOR SOMEONE TO PAY FOR WHAT THEY HAVE DONE.  And, chances are, you have too.

 

 

And what about mercy?  We have all asked for mercy…at least I have.  I have asked the officer to give me a break on speeding, or being late through a yellow light, or for messing around in a vehicle.

 

I have asked for it for others as well.  I have tried to lessen or shorten or reduce the punishment given.

 

And many times I have done it based on my perspective of INTENT.

 

But the reality is this:

Most of us measure ourselves by what we INTENDED to do … but we measure others by what they DID.  I do.

 

I want forgiveness for something because I did not INTEND for it to be done that way … but then I turn right around and expect ACCOUNTABILITY for what someone else DID.

 

I have figured out why I do that.  The answer is simple.  I do that because I AM TWO FACED.  Scripture calls that “being blown and tossed by the wind”.  I have also heard it referred to as duplicity.

 

And the cold hard reality is this:

WE ALL NEED BOTH JUSTICE AND MERCY.

 

And how does that happen?

 

 

There is a simple answer to this question.  And it is one that we do not look to …

 

Isaiah 53 6 … and the LORD has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

 

It is the greatest verse in the Bible (Besides all of the other ones).

 

Isaiah 53 is but one of the descriptions of Jesus BEFORE He arrived on earth (Prophesies–hundreds of them–describe Messiah in vivid detail.  They are accurate, specific, exact, and unfathomable.  And Peter tells us that they are MORE CERTAIN assurances than him seeing Jesus with his own eyes.  MORE CERTAIN!!  2 Peter 1:19)

 

But more than the certainty of Jesus is the tremendous and absolute need for Him.  How can we possibly win without it?  You see, The only place where JUSTICE and MERCY can truly meet and coexist together is at the cross of Jesus Christ.

 

The cold reality is that we can not succeed without it.  We don’t have a prayer without Him–not a chance in Hell.

 

 

And that’s just the point.

 

We need Jesus.

Our communities need Jesus.

And the world needs Jesus.

 

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cco9s770KQM

 

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Coach J