Of Guilt and Grace

All signs pointed to the kid being guilty. Witnesses, evidence, prior behavior. The kid didn’t think he had done it, but wasn’t sure because he had been under the influence at the time. A confession was finally coerced through intimidation, but there was one man who didn’t accept it. He stood with the kid against everyone else. He stood with the kid through intimidation, jeers, threats and ridicule, but finally proved him innocent. The man was Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs of N.C.I.S. Once again, Gibbs followed stood firm for his charge and prevailed against all the worldly influence against him. Gibbs served as a mediator between the kid and the evil Director Vance.

If my life were on the television screen, it would certainly be an entertaining show (except for me). Lying to parents, ‘absconding’ with a school bus in the 11th grade for a joy ride to McDonalds with some buddies during the school day, questioned by police at 2 a.m. about why a few of us were rolling a soft drink machine through the streets of Decatur, picking up a hitchhiker (the last one ever) who held a knife on me as I drove him into the wilds of Bulloch County while my roommate in the backseat tried to spray him in the eyes with Fix-A-Flat, running over Seth McKay’s bare foot with a Ford Explorer (not a good result)….and on and on and on. I want even go into the adventures with Gabe Walker and the rest of the gang.

My point is, looking back at my life; I’ve made, and continue to make, lots of mistakes. And I’ve had to reap the consequences of them. Some painfully physical, some painfully financial, some painfully humiliating. I have been remarkably lucky to not have ended up in court on several occasions, but if I had, hopefully I would have found a good lawyer to mediate for me.

I could have probably made more appropriate choices in my life and not gotten in so much trouble. However, I have no choice about whether I sin or not. That is a guaranteed action in all of our lives. “For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). If I had to stand before God and be held accountable for my, oh so many, sins….I would have no hope. No excuse. No chance of getting out of it. Nada. However, because of God’s Love for us, he sent Jesus Christ to be our mediator. That is, to stand between my pitiful self and almighty God and plead my case….not for innocence, but for forgiveness and a cleansing of the slate. That’s the Grace you hear about so much. Do I deserve it? Heck, no! Do you? Heck, no! But, God does it out of love.

On this day, think about the fact that Jesus is constantly standing up for us before God. “You know that Jimmy, Father? Well, he is quite a sinner, but he believes in us, in me, and in the fact that I died for Him. So, we’ll erase these last things from his record and it’ll be like he never did them.” Be sure to thank Jesus today for standing up for us and for the forgiveness we receive.

And for today my friends, this has been the gospel according to Jimmy.