I was in court the other day waiting for the trial of one of the graduates of my prison ministry program. There was a woman at the stand, talking to the judge. I had missed the first part of what was going on, but I quickly got the gist of what was going on.
The woman had been on probation and had missed her court date two weeks prior. Because of that, she had been arrested and put in the detention center for probation violation. There she was now, in an orange jumpsuit, talking to the judge.
The judge said, "Ms _______________, last Friday you were supposed to appear in court to have your supervised probation changed to unsupervised probation, basically meaning you were going to be free. No more checking with probation officer, free to leave the state, etc. I was going to set you free. Can you tell me why you failed to appear in court?"
She replied, "I had things to do."
I blinked several times. Did I just hear correctly? Did she just tell the judge she had "things to do?" I think the judge was as startled as I was. He was probably expecting some kind of excuse or reason, but I doubt he was expecting to hear that.
He took off his glasses, looked down, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and said, "Excuse me, did you say that you had 'things to do?"
She nodded.
He said, "This was a trial to SET YOU FREE. Do you understand that?"
She nodded and said, "I didn't think you'd mind."
The judge just stared at her.
The line from Forrest Gump ran through my head when Forrest went to see Bubba's family and Bubba's mom asked Forrest, "Are you crazy or just plain stupid?" (And of course, Forrest answered, 'Stupid is as stupid does, ma'am.')
Yes. Stupid is as stupid does. And what this lady did was stupid. I guess Forrest WAS correct. Stupid actually IS as stupid does.
The judge said, "The lack of respect shown to this court is upsetting me. You were going to be set free, but now I have no option but to charge you with probation violation as well as contempt of court. You were looking at six years, but were on probation. Now, your sentence of six years in the detention center is back. Good day."
A woman who was about to be set free from her sentence of six years got sent back to the slammer.
I tried to think of something that was so important that she couldn't show up in court- something so important that it was worth missing a judge's hearing to be set free from a sentence of six years in jail. Something so amazing and important and worthwhile and fulfilling and purposeful that it was worth going to jail for six years for.
I couldn't think of a single thing.
I shook my head as I watched this. What in the world was this woman thinking? But then I realized something. I wonder if that is what many people will say when they stand before God on the day of their judgement. God will look at them and say, "I died for you. I died for your sins. You were sentenced to hell because of the sins you committed. I took your sins on Myself and I wanted to set you free, but you didn't even show up. You never honored Me as God. You never acknowledged what I did for you. You couldn't make it to church for worship, just to say thank you. You refused to accomplish My Great Commission to go into all the world and make disciples. I had a purpose for you, gifts and talents I blessed you with and you didn't use them to honor Me or build up My church. There were children who needed adoption, but you never did. There were people who needed you and you weren't there. There were things I wanted you to do with My money (yes, it's mine, not yours) and you spent it on yourself. You went your own selfish way, never acknowledging Me as God. Why?"
I wonder if most people will respond, like the lady did, "I had things to do."
I'm racking my brain trying to come up with something so important, so meaningful, so pressing, so utterly essential to our being that would cause us to miss God's invitation to be set free from an eternity in hell. Something so important and so pressing that would keep us from His church. Something so dadgum essential to life that we would willingly go to hell for eternity for it.
I can't think of a single thing.
Yet, how many of us are missing it? How many of us will have nothing better to say to God than, "Well, I had things to do," when He asks us why we didn't show up? Why we didn't do what He wanted us to do? Why we were so busy that we couldn't make disciples, pass on our faith to our children, why we couldn't prioritize worship on Sunday mornings, why we couldn't stay faithful to Him?
So many of us take the glory of God so lightly. We think of God as so trivial. We think of His justice as no big deal. We think lightly of His sacrifice on the cross. We give a patronizing smile to the eternal consequences of sin and think nothing of it, saying the same thing the woman said to the judge, "I didn't think you'd mind." We think of God as a giant cosmic teddy bear, a large version of Mr Rogers, or a kindly old Captain Kangaroo who just doesn't mind in the slightest what we do because, after all, we have things to do.
People, nothing is worth eternity. It's time for us to take the glory of God seriously. It's time for us to take the sacrifice of Jesus seriously. It's time for us to realize that the justice of God is as real as His grace and the wrath of God is as real as His love. The earthly judge I saw a few days ago wouldn't put up with being held in contempt- do we truly think that our Heavenly Judge will put up with our contempt for His justice?
The woman thought the judge wasn't all that. It was obvious by her actions towards him that she had no respect for him or for his authority. She found out very quickly that she was wrong. Let's not be such fools when it comes to God.
The woman had been on probation and had missed her court date two weeks prior. Because of that, she had been arrested and put in the detention center for probation violation. There she was now, in an orange jumpsuit, talking to the judge.
The judge said, "Ms _______________, last Friday you were supposed to appear in court to have your supervised probation changed to unsupervised probation, basically meaning you were going to be free. No more checking with probation officer, free to leave the state, etc. I was going to set you free. Can you tell me why you failed to appear in court?"
She replied, "I had things to do."
I blinked several times. Did I just hear correctly? Did she just tell the judge she had "things to do?" I think the judge was as startled as I was. He was probably expecting some kind of excuse or reason, but I doubt he was expecting to hear that.
He took off his glasses, looked down, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and said, "Excuse me, did you say that you had 'things to do?"
She nodded.
He said, "This was a trial to SET YOU FREE. Do you understand that?"
She nodded and said, "I didn't think you'd mind."
The judge just stared at her.
The line from Forrest Gump ran through my head when Forrest went to see Bubba's family and Bubba's mom asked Forrest, "Are you crazy or just plain stupid?" (And of course, Forrest answered, 'Stupid is as stupid does, ma'am.')
Yes. Stupid is as stupid does. And what this lady did was stupid. I guess Forrest WAS correct. Stupid actually IS as stupid does.
The judge said, "The lack of respect shown to this court is upsetting me. You were going to be set free, but now I have no option but to charge you with probation violation as well as contempt of court. You were looking at six years, but were on probation. Now, your sentence of six years in the detention center is back. Good day."
A woman who was about to be set free from her sentence of six years got sent back to the slammer.
I tried to think of something that was so important that she couldn't show up in court- something so important that it was worth missing a judge's hearing to be set free from a sentence of six years in jail. Something so amazing and important and worthwhile and fulfilling and purposeful that it was worth going to jail for six years for.
I couldn't think of a single thing.
I shook my head as I watched this. What in the world was this woman thinking? But then I realized something. I wonder if that is what many people will say when they stand before God on the day of their judgement. God will look at them and say, "I died for you. I died for your sins. You were sentenced to hell because of the sins you committed. I took your sins on Myself and I wanted to set you free, but you didn't even show up. You never honored Me as God. You never acknowledged what I did for you. You couldn't make it to church for worship, just to say thank you. You refused to accomplish My Great Commission to go into all the world and make disciples. I had a purpose for you, gifts and talents I blessed you with and you didn't use them to honor Me or build up My church. There were children who needed adoption, but you never did. There were people who needed you and you weren't there. There were things I wanted you to do with My money (yes, it's mine, not yours) and you spent it on yourself. You went your own selfish way, never acknowledging Me as God. Why?"
I wonder if most people will respond, like the lady did, "I had things to do."
I'm racking my brain trying to come up with something so important, so meaningful, so pressing, so utterly essential to our being that would cause us to miss God's invitation to be set free from an eternity in hell. Something so important and so pressing that would keep us from His church. Something so dadgum essential to life that we would willingly go to hell for eternity for it.
I can't think of a single thing.
Yet, how many of us are missing it? How many of us will have nothing better to say to God than, "Well, I had things to do," when He asks us why we didn't show up? Why we didn't do what He wanted us to do? Why we were so busy that we couldn't make disciples, pass on our faith to our children, why we couldn't prioritize worship on Sunday mornings, why we couldn't stay faithful to Him?
So many of us take the glory of God so lightly. We think of God as so trivial. We think of His justice as no big deal. We think lightly of His sacrifice on the cross. We give a patronizing smile to the eternal consequences of sin and think nothing of it, saying the same thing the woman said to the judge, "I didn't think you'd mind." We think of God as a giant cosmic teddy bear, a large version of Mr Rogers, or a kindly old Captain Kangaroo who just doesn't mind in the slightest what we do because, after all, we have things to do.
People, nothing is worth eternity. It's time for us to take the glory of God seriously. It's time for us to take the sacrifice of Jesus seriously. It's time for us to realize that the justice of God is as real as His grace and the wrath of God is as real as His love. The earthly judge I saw a few days ago wouldn't put up with being held in contempt- do we truly think that our Heavenly Judge will put up with our contempt for His justice?
The woman thought the judge wasn't all that. It was obvious by her actions towards him that she had no respect for him or for his authority. She found out very quickly that she was wrong. Let's not be such fools when it comes to God.
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