No Contest

In a trial there is a plea between guilty and not guilty called "No Contest".  As I understand it, a person who pleads "No Contest" is not saying that they did the dead, but they are willing to accept the penalty anyways.

At first this seems odd to me.  Why would someone be willing to serve a sentence for a crime that they did not commit?  One reason could be that the person did actually commit the crime, however if they testify to it, there are other liabilities.  For instance, they could be sued by a victim.

  

A second reason could have to do with the strain of being accused of a crime.  The wheels of justice turn slowly.  You have been accused.  Your reputation has been damaged, you are paying legal bills and what you most want is for it all to be over with so that you can start putting your life back together.  So there it is.  The light at the end of the tunnel.  There is a chance to put this behind you and move on.  

Once I heard a pastor describe a third reason that an innocent person would accept a punishment for a crime that they didn't commit is that they know who did commit the crime and they are willing to take the place of the guilty.  If you are going to be honest, you can't say that you are guilty when you aren't.  But you can accept the penalty.  

Watch this clip from Pastor Lowell.

Jesus could have gotten himself out of the bind.  In a word he could have saved himself.  But he would have lost us all in the process.  He did not defend himself, he took the blame and said that he would serve the penalty in our stead.

Let's Roll

On September 11, 2001 a scene played out in the skies over Pennsylvania.  Having heard of the plane crashes in New York and Washington, a group of passengers on flight 93 decide to take back control of their plane.  One passenger, Todd Beamer, who was talking on the phone with a customer service representative, was over heard saying to his fellow passengers "Let's Roll".  Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania.  Who knows where it would have crashed and how many would have otherwise died.

I wonder if the passengers of Flight 93 knew that they would likely die, or if they believed that they could save the plane.  It really doesn't matter because the risk was obvious and yet they stood up and did what needed to be done.  

There are countless stories of soldiers stepping up and putting themselves on the line.  The soldier that draws the enemy fire, goes back for an injured comrade, throw them self on a grenade.  They say, "Let's Roll"and get at it.

In the book, "The Knight", author Gene Wolfe tells the story of a man who awakes to find himself in a medieval world.  He is learning from a Knight who tells him that a knight must do as honor demands and never count his foes.  I have thought of that phrase over the years.  Never counting your foes means that just because the consequences are dire, does not mean that a wrong decision becomes a right one.  

Sometimes a job needs doing.  Such was the case with Jesus' return to Jerusalem.  It was ill advised and wrought with peril.  His closest friends were telling Him it was a bad idea,  But there was a job that needed to be done.  Humanity needed to be reconciled and Jesus was the one to do it.  

Watch this clip from Pastor Lowell.

There was a task that needed doing.  Humanity had a case of spiritual leprosy that was causing a separation with God.  There was only one person who could do the job.  It required the ultimate sacrifice and Jesus looked at his disciples and said, "Let's Roll."

Keep Your Distance

One time there was a flu outbreak at school.  One student was sick and several friends went over to her house for a movie, then they gave it to their friends and so on.  No one really knew that it was happening until Monday morning and a third of the students were missing.  As the day went on, more and more students went home sick.  When a student with glassy eyes and runny nose would show up to the door, the message was go home, keep your distance and don't breathe on anyone.  The bug was spreading so fast and hit so hard, I for one wanted no part of it.

Eventually the flu ran its course, though school was closed for three days.  I was thinking about this experience last year when the Ebola outbreak was in the news.  When I was facing the flu, I really didn't want to catch it.  But I also knew that I would most certainly get over it, I would suffer through it, but I would make it.  This is not the same with Ebola.  Most people who get it die from it and it is a very unpleasant death.  It really makes me think about those who go to treat them.

Which brings us to leprosy.  In Biblical times, that was the disease to be feared.  In our modern times, it is called Hanson's Disease and is treatable, but not back in the day.  It was contagious, deadly and meant a life of separation from others.  In Biblical times leprosy was seen as something different than a disease.  It was thought to be the result of sin.  It was something from which to be cleansed, not healed.  

Those without a relationship with God are like lepers in a spiritual sense.  They are separate from God, out on their own.  But the condition is treatable.

Watch this clip from Pastor Lowell.

Imagine living in Biblical times and discovering that you had leprosy.  It would be heart wrenching knowing that in front of you is not only physical suffering, but also a life of isolation.  

In matters of the heart, God has the ultimate antidote.  It is not necessary to live separate from Him.  Healing is only a prayer away.

In Too Deep

The school year is quickly coming to a close.  Students are getting a bit stir crazy and they have summer dreams in their heads.  And as the students are looking at their grades there are the inevitable visits to the teacher.  "I need to get my grade up, what can I do?"

Unfortunately, sometimes there just isn't much to be offered.  Several months of poor performance can't be corrected overnight.  Sometimes they just need to face the music and learn a lesson from it.

At the end of the baseball season, everyone is talking about the magic number.  The number of wins (or opposing team loses) needed to clinch first place.  The other side of the magic number is mathematical elimination.  Once you are mathematically eliminated, it doesn't matter if you win the rest and they lose the rest, there is just no catching them.  It is over.  The ship sailed and you weren't on board.  Some teams are eliminated quite early in the season and others run it out to the end, but the result is the same.  When you're out, you're out.

Many things in life are like that.  The debt is too deep; We've gone too far in the wrong direction; the damage is done; there is no going back.  Thankfully God doesn't work that way.  In Corinthians, Paul writes that love does not keep score.  No matter how far we sink.  No matter how low we go, we never get mathematically eliminated from returning to the grace of God.

Watch this clip from Pastor Lowell.

Our sins are never beyond the ability of God to cleans our soul and bring us back. Amen.

A Closer Look

I once went on a tour of a professional research lab.  As part of the tour they showed us an ant that they had placed under an electron microscope.  The detail was amazing.  The exoskeleton was smooth with small hairs sticking out at places.  The exoskeleton was dimpled around the hairs.  The eyes and the antennae were particularly interesting.  It is amazing how things look if we just look close enough.

The first microscopes were invented in the 17th century and they have been getting better ever since.  It seems the difference between a good microscope and a cheap one is its ability to collect light.  Cheap microscopes have poor lenses that don't let much light in.  They also have a mirror on the base so that the user has to reflect the available room light in.  The better ones have their own light and high quality lenses.  When the light is good, the details emerge.

And that's true for more than microscopes.  Telescopes and cameras, in fact all optical devices, live and die with their ability to collect and manipulate light.  

The same is true in our Christian walk.  How much of our character is revealed is directly related to the degree to which we let the light of God shines through us.  We can walk in the darkness, but so much more is evident when we walk in the light.

Watch this clip from Pastor Lowell.

Light reveals.  It shines through us and allows us to see the dirt in out hearts that needs to be cleaned.  And we could all use a bit of that.

Out of the Darkness

Years ago on a camping trip I was on a late night walk and had a flashlight problem.  I was by myself and my flashlight was out of commission.  It was dark.  Really Really Dark.  This camping trip was in the mountains of northern New Mexico, and it was dark.  So I started walking in the general direction of my camp.  It took a long time, but eventually I found my way back.  I remember seeing the lit up tents peeking through the trees.  There was a sense of relief and safety.  When you are in nothing but darkness, there is a lot of relief in the light.

Our politicians spend a lot of time shining light on the flaws of their opponents.  They point out the other's flaws and mistakes and hypocrisies but not much about their own.  I remember seeing a debater once between two politicians.  The moderator asked them to identify one weakness.  The first said that he struggled with organization and clutter.  He described how he had to stay on top of this constantly.  The second politician said that his problem was that he cared too deeply and gave too much.  He chose to highlight a strength but phrase it as a weakness.  We all have weaknesses and problems that even if we don't show the world, we should at least view ourselves.

The story goes that they brought a woman to Jesus.  She had been accused of adultery and she was to be stoned.  Jesus said that the one with out sin should go ahead and get started.  Everything changed that day.  It changed from condemning each other to reflecting in out own heart.  Too often we are worried about shining a bright light on our neighbors, when what is called for is a small light so that we can see our own flaws.

Watch this clip from Pastor Lowell.

When he got done writing in the dirt no one was left to condemn her and neither did Jesus.  We need to remember this when we are tempted to judge our neighbor.  We are told to worry about ourselves and let others take care of themselves.

The WOW Factor

Some days are incredibly ordinary.  We get up at the normal time and have an ordinary drive to work.  Our day progresses as you'd expect.  For lunch we have the usual and it's fine.  Not great, but fine.  We get home and we do the normal things until bed time.  Then more of the same tomorrow.

This is not a great story.  No, we need a wow factor to catch our attention.

We like to be impressed and amazed.  It doesn't really matter what it involves.  We are looking for the extremes.  There is actually a world record for the most toilet seats broken with your head in one minute.  Really.  The record is 46.  In one minute.  How did this ever become a thing?  Who was the first cranial toilet seat destroyer and is there much competition?

Or how about the record for holding the most live rattlesnakes in your mouth at one time.  It's not enough to be into reptiles or to be an expert on rattlesnakes. No they need to be held in the mouth and you need to hold a lot of them.  The record is 13.

Our faith is often like this.  We are looking for the spiritual WOW factor.  We want to be amazed and swept away in everything we do.  But most of us will never hear from God through a burning bush or see the Red Sea parted.  For most of us, it is a bit more subtle.

Watch this clip from Pastor Lowell.

We need to see past the wow factor and appreciate the every day.  Sometimes an ordinary day can feel like a miracle in itself.