Month: May 2024

Trial of the Century

According to various opinion writers, the trial of the century has just concluded in New York, resulting in the conviction of a former President. But when I think of the most momentous trial of the century, I think of one specific trial in the last century that hardly made the newspapers or even caused a stir, but was in a way so significant that it bears our remembrance.

That trial took place in the 1930s, and ironically, also took place in New York.

It was Christmas Eve, and the Mayor of New York, Fiorello LaGuardia (as in the airport), decided to let one of the municipal judges go home for the holiday. So the mayor robed up, and took his place on the bench. He then signaled the bailiff to bring in the first case. As it turned out, the first case was of a woman charged with theft. The accuser was a baker who stood up, pointed his finger at the woman, and said, “She stole a loaf of  bread from me!” LaGuardia asked the woman, “Is this true?” The woman sobbed and said it was true, but added, “I took it to feed my child, because we had no food!”

LaGuardia sat there silent for a moment. Should he have compassion and let her go for such a minor offense, or enforce the law which said her act was a crime? He was a judge; how could he ignore the law? At that point, he must have regretted sending the judge home! As he pondered what to do, the courtroom became quiet as all eyes were on him. He had to act. . . .

Suddenly, he reached a decision. He lifted his gavel, and rapped it down on the desk with a loud bang. “Guilty!” he charged, “The fine is $5.00!” The whole court gasped. Five dollars then is worth $114 today. There was no way the woman could pay it; if she had that much money she could have bought hundreds of loaves of bread! The woman began to sob loudly, but then, she and the whole courtroom became silent again, as LaGuardia got down off the bench, and walked over to the bailiff. He took out his wallet, pulled out a five dollar bill, and paid the fine for the woman. Then he announced,”And I am fining everyone in this courtroom 50 cents for living in a city where a woman has to steal a loaf of bread to feed her child!” Then he collected the fines, and gave them to the woman. With a final wish of “Merry Christmas,” LaGuardia called for the next case.

Why do I consider this the trial of its century? Because it is a perfect example of the day we stand before our Judge to give an account of our lives. There is no doubt this will happen to us all, whether believers in Christ or not. We will all stand before God’s great white throne, and our lives will be revealed before the perfect Judge. No rationalizing our sins, or getting off “on a technicality.” No excuses or shifting blame. Every act and every word laid bare. Yikes!

Revelation 20:12 says, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.”

Jesus tells us in Matthew 12:36, “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.“

And Paul wrote in Romans 14:12,”So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.”

When that day comes, we will realize that the sentence – death and hell – is too much to pay. We will not have a plea in and of ourselves. All our good works won’t atone for the sentence we deserve. Like the woman, we have nothing and are at the mercy of the Judge.

But then, something miraculous happens. The Judge himself get down off the throne, and he reads from the book of life. He announces that our name is written in it. Then he shows the scars in his hands and feet, and proclaims for all to hear, “I paid this one’s debt.” Then he clothes us in his righteous robes (Isaiah 61:10),  gives us his inheritance (Colossians3:24), and welcomes us into heaven for all eternity (John 3:16).

But, what about our record of sin? Gone. This is good news!

Colossians 2:13-14 “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

Psalm 103:12 “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”

Hebrews 8:12 “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

Hebrews 10:17 “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

This is the  future for all  who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The Bible promises that those in Christ will not perish. The whole New Testament is built on that promise, secured by Christ’s own death and resurrection, but key promises are the following:

John 11:25-26 “Jesus said to [Martha], ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die'”

Mark 16:16 “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.”

Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Romans 12:9 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

In the 18th chapter of the Book of Genesis, Abraham had an encounter with God before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham bargained with God regarding how many righteous people in those cities it would take for God to spare them. (Obviously, not enough.) But one thing that Abraham said stuck with me, and informs my thinking about God as our Judge. Abraham said, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”

The Judge of all the earth shall indeed do what is right and just. He will punish the sins of unrepentant unbelievers, and forgive the sins of those who believe and trust in his Son, Jesus Christ. He will keep his promises, upholding equally his righteous laws and his merciful grace. We will never in eternity wonder whether any of God’s judgments were wrong. His judgments are perfect (Revelation 16:7), even when he gets off the throne to pay our sentence. For each of us, THAT will be OUR trial of the century!

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Genesis 18:22-33; Revelation 16:1-10

 

 

 

The Legacy

Lately, I have been contemplating the issue of legacies. In other words, what heritage do we leave behind when our time on earth is done? A legacy is defined as “Something handed down from an ancestor or a predecessor or from the past: a heritage.”* So, the legacy may be something handed down to an heir, or it may be more general, as in, how is the world in general different because a person lived? Legacies may be financial, or in the persons of children and grandchildren, or in lives affected by how a person has lived. A legacy may be good, or conversely, it may be bad. An example of a good legacy is Martin Luther; an example of a bad legacy would be a certain other German named Adolph.

This has become a topic for me as I consider my own mortality. Having matured to the range the Bible gives for life expectancy (“The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty;” Psalm 90:10, which is the same range in current U.S. statistics -77.5)**  Also, being in dialysis, I am constantly reminded that my own longevity depends on hooking up to a machine three times a week. So, it gets a person thinking.

Another reason it has come to the forefront of my thoughts is the recent death of Pastor Steve Lundblom. I had worked with Steve for many years, first when he was our church’s youth director, and then when he was our associate pastor. He was loved by everybody, both here and later, when he moved to Williston, North Dakota, by the church he pastored there. His life was shortened due to illness at the age of 57.

This past weekend, four of us flew to Williston for Steve’s memorial service. First came an evening of shared memories at the funeral home. Then, on Friday, was the actual service. The messages were consistent: Steve impacted everyone’s life for the better; his solid faith, his sense of humor, his intelligence and knowledge, his love for people, all endeared him to everybody. The church full of mourners who celebrated him, showed how much Steve touched everyone’s life.  Steve left a legacy – in his marriage, in his sons, in his granddaughter, and in other family and friends. And of course, in Christ’s Church. The world is better now for his having lived.

So what about the rest of us? What kind of legacy will we leave? And more important, what kind of legacy does God want us to leave?

Sometimes, people have grandiose ideas of what it means to serve God and accomplish some great work which God has for them to do. For example, to create a new church, to have some high political office, to invent a cure or new machine, or to become a social media influencer. . . in other words, to have a great impact on the world. But the Bible does not talk of any of these things. What the Bible talks of is the everyday works of love, compassion, service, and witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These are works of love for God and love for our neighbor that are things we are called to do, no matter what situations we find ourselves in.  To live a life that counts is to live a life with our focus on Jesus Christ, and not on ourselves. In the words of the gospel song,

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.”***

So what does the Bible say about the works we do in this life?

  • “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10). God has works for each of us to do. Note that works is plural: there are numerous works each of us has – prepared by God for us to do. These works do not save us, but are expressions of our love for our neighbor. These may be small things, or big things. When we look back on our lives, we may not see any big accomplishments from an earthly view, but those little acts of kindness done for the Lord may have created a huge legacy in the effect they had on the people we met.
  • “If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.” ( 1 Corinthians 3:12-5). This passage makes the distinction between the works that have meaning and will last, and those human endeavors that may seem impressive but will perish. Thus, a kind act to alleviate suffering may have eternal consequences, while a life of fame and wealth may die with the person. Maybe the Sunday School you taught, the witness you gave a fellow worker, the respect you showed someone, will have eternal fruit.
  • “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’” (Matthew 2:25). In this parable taught by Jesus, three servants were entrusted with varying amounts of wealth to manage in their master’s absence. Two invested their sums and earned more for their master, while one did not. When the master returned, he praised the two who earned interest, saying that because they had been faithful with a little, he would now put them in charge of much. This deals with the truth that while we may have different abilities and resources, what matters is not the size of the work we were given, but the fact that we were faithful with the little we have.
  • Finally, we read “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous.” (Proverbs 13:22). While this proverb speaks about an inheritance of wealth, the principle applies to the impact a good man or woman has on those who follow them. A legacy of faith, of morals, of character, of compassion, of love – these are all legacies of a spiritual nature far more valuable than any material inheritance. These are modeled by a person’s life, and then are emulated by those whose lives they influence. They are the most valuable gift one can leave to others.

We may be unaware of the extent of the legacy we will leave behind. In Pastor Steve’s case, one legacy was revealed by an anonymous note sent to his obituary page by a trucker in Canada who happened to hear a radio broadcast of one of Steve’s sermons. He said, “I never met Steve , I wish I could have been his friend. I heard him speak every Sunday on the internet, and its like the nature of Christ came through him when he spoke.”

May we also leave such a legacy, that people hear Christ, and come to know Christ, through the words we speak, and the works we do. May we hear Christ call us when we go to him: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Matthew 25:14-30

*The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
** Center For Disease Control, National Center For Health Statistics.
*** Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, Helen H. Lemmel, 1922.