From the Pastor - August 2011


“...God, be merciful on me, a sinner”.
    Luke 18:10b

The other day I was listening to a classic Kris Kristofferson CD in my car and singing along with that wonderful old cowboy hippie who has written so many very poignant lyrics over the years. Kris' song entitled “Jesus Was a Capricorn” bounced around in my brain and struck me as being particularly timely at the moment. The chorus opens with the words, “Everybody's got to have somebody to look down on.” I thought to my self, “Well ain't that the truth!”

It seems Americans have been in luck in the “looking down” department lately as the news media has presented us with the perfect object for our collective and totally bi-partisan hatred, scorn, and disgust. I'm referring, of course, to Ms. Casey Anthony, the self-absorbed, hedonistic, and callously indifferent mother of an utterly adorable murdered two-year-old named Caylee. Ms. Anthony's acquittal on all charges of murdering her daughter has opened up the spillway of national anger and indignation. And, of course, our 24 hour news cycle has captured all of the rage which has come vomiting out of the protesters assembled outside of the Orange County, Florida courthouse screaming for Ms. Anthony's blood.

Is Ms. Anthony guilty of her daughter's death? I suspect she is probably guilty of something. Nevertheless, I personally am relieved to see that the American justice system has upheld the presumption of innocence, and that the twelve jurors—however much they have been maligned since the verdict—have required iron-clad proof of guilt before depriving a fellow citizen of life or liberty. This says to me that we are still America.

Has true justice been subverted? Who can say? More disturbing to me is the televised sight of my fellow citizens reveling in their hatred of this woman. I try to imagine Jesus himself standing before the courthouse steps, wounds fresh and bleeding in his hands and feet, listening to the shouts for vengeance. What would he be thinking?

I know that I'm as guilty as the next person of venting my self-righteous indignation. How often have I caught myself shouting back in impotent anger at the TV set when some smug commentator or politician voices an opinion with which I disagree? My wife hates it when I do that, and I have to admit that at those moments when I spill my misplaced angst I am probably least attractive. I know that in such a mood I am far from the peace of Christ which passes all understanding.

In the gospels Jesus gives us many cautionary words about anger and judgment. Two stories come to my mind: First, the parable of the weeds and the wheat (Matt. 13:24-30) in which we are reminded that it is for God alone to decide who is unworthy of compassion. I am also reminded of Jesus' story of the Pharisee and the tax-collector (Luke 18:9-14) which recounts two men praying in the temple. One thanks God that he is not so egregious a sinner like the other. The other lowers his eyes, beats his breast, and, reflecting on his own shortcomings, appeals to God for mercy. Jesus asks us to consider: which of the two was closer to the heart of God?

Kris Kristofferson's chorus ends with the line, “If you can't find nobody else, direct yourself to me.” Indeed, if I am ever in the mood to look down on someone, I can look to myself first. In moments of anger—however righteous I may deem it to be—the gospel compels me to look to my own desperate need for reconciliation. Truly, the mission of any Christian to heal the world will not be accomplished through the extermination of evil, but through the cultivation of repentance.

Love in Christ,
Pastor Owen