Read: Psalm 137, Matthew 18:21 - 35, Romans 8:1 - 11
As I find myself making those final last minute preparations for my upcoming Kairos Prison Ministry weekend at Maryland Correctional Institute - Jessup, Maryland this Thursday afternoon through Sunday evening, I find myself having to pray about some things that have found their way into my heart over the years. I pray that you too will take some time to pray too about setting aside certain spiritual "are you kidding!" "I have been called by God to do what and minister for whom?!" God calls us to go to a certain place, and minister to a certain group of people - I get that, I accept that, I do that, most times quite willingly and obediently. But, inside a Prison? Never done that!
I find myself in need of meditating over the image of an angry God who freely condemned His people, the nation of Israel to seventy years of Exile, with all finality anyone could imagine - destroyed cities, destroyed cultures, destroyed places of worship, forced marches of who knows what distance to the cities of Babylon and God only knows the actual emotional and psychological impact of this whole experience upon the Israelite people - of which we get but a small, compact feeling for in Psalm 137. "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion." (1) then the emotional depth of the last verse "Blessed are the ones who will smash the heads of your babies against the rocks." That is a powerfully tough image to contemplate, understand let alone read!
That is one extraordinarily complete image of God's condemnation found in Scripture. So I think of that last verse of Psalm 137 and I think of "blessed are the ones who will walk into your home and your store and flash a gun in someone's face threatening of the security of their life and family. Truly blessed are the victims of senseless crime, of murder over $5 or $10, or any other crimes of violence or any allegedly victimless criminal offenses. I have been a victim of crime when years ago a homeless man had broken into my home and robbed me blind, turning my house upside down leaving me scared out of my mind for weeks until I was notified he was apprehended. I asked, Why God?
"Kick em all to the curb!" "Let em all rot for what they did!" "They stole a piece of my life from me! So why should I care if a piece of their life is taken from them? They deserve it and that is all there is to it - end of story, over and OUT! Then there is the 8th Chapter of Romans and that amazingly difficult promise that I have to swallow in all humility and gentleness when I am ministering to the resident participants which is 'Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.' I am now in Christ Jesus so therefore there is now condemnation for me of all of those utterly unforgivable sins of my life. Pray that I can better carry the burden of that message of forgiveness!
Let Us Pray: Lord God, Creator of all things, Creator of forgiveness and of mercy, I do not pretend (at least I try not to) to know the wisdom of Your ways, why You place upon our hearts the calling to care for all of our neighbors, especially those who have hurt us in some way, have victimized us through fear and intimidation and threats of violence, who have callously stolen from us irreplaceable portions of our lives for their own selfish criminal gain. Lord, I read Your Psalm 137 and my heart is rekindled with hatred for those who perpetrate criminal acts against a vulnerable society. Now, as I prepare for entering that Prison facility in Jessup, Maryland, help me to bring them Your message of forgiveness and not mine that says fully condemn them to their fates as I would most certainly prefer. Help me to overcome myself in this regard that I may fully serve You and my neighbor in Prison..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VquoupNiypI
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