Last Wednesday, I was on my way to pick River up from his children's ministry program that he attends on Wednesday nights. As I was heading up the street I take every week, I was surprised to find it blocked by numerous police cars. As I drove around the block and continued up the same street, I had one of those feelings in my stomach where you wish that what you knew to be true was not true. There was a huge area that was bordered off by police caution tape. There were no vehicles around to speak of that could have been involved in a fatal crash, which would be the only vehicle related cause that would call for such a huge number of police cars. The auto parts store that was adjacent to the taped of area also seemed pretty quiet, which told me that it was most likely not an attempted robbery, because again, there would not be sucha large number of police cars remiaining at the scene. No, it was pretty clear that this was a shooting, and by the looks of the investigation that was being held, it was most likely a pretty serious shooting. When I got home, I checked online and sure enough, it was a shooting. It turns out that it was a 15 year old high school freshman who was shot. 15 years old. Now I'm not so naive to think that 15 year olds today are simply skateboarding in the streets and their only vice is that they may shoplift some gum now and then. Yes, there are many 15 year olds that may fit that bill, but the sad truth is, there are many that definitely do not. There are many who already have a long criminal history. Somebody was willing to take this boy's life regardless of the consequences. We all know that our society operates with consequences for certain actions, and it's a safe assumption that the shooter is well aware of these consequences. It would also be safe to assume that the individual to killed this child did not and does not plan to take responsibility for their actions. Very few people commit crimes with the plan to face judgement for their actions. So what are the consequences in this case? Well, as far as I know off the top of my head, a guilty party could be charged with anything from manslaughter to murder. Manslaughter would be the lesser charge and would probably be the case were the shooting to be deemed as accidental. That's a hard case to prove. The other end of the spectrum consists of murder, which would be the case if prosecutors were able to show that the shooting was a planed event that was meant to result in death. Our society also takes in to consideration the perpetrator's age and mindset as well. So a juvenille who is under 18, would be held responsible to a lesser degree than an adult guilty of the same crime. Unless the juvenille is to be charged as an adult, in which case the juvenille could face the same punishment as an adult would. This is all assuming that the guilty party is deemed emotionally responsible enough to stand trial and be mentally responsible for their actions. If they were not in their right mind, they could get released after some simple psychological treatments and evaluations. A simple violent act, can be seen as anything but simple when we look at the motivation, the consequences and the resulting impact on the victim and the perpetrator's themselves as well as their family and friends. It's tragic. when we look back to God's law in the Ten Commandments, it is simple. "You shall not murder." (Ex. 20:13, NIV) That's it. Now in case there was any confusion, Jesus made it abundantly clear as to what that command meant. Jesus said, You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment." (Matt. 5:21-22, NIV) God doesn't merely look at what we do, He looks at why we do it. God searches the heart. So if we're angry with someone in our hearts, then we've already committed the act of murder in our hearts, whether we've committed the physical act or not. God is not looking for the technicalities when it comes to crime, He is looking at the intent. So yes, sometimes people can get around the system that we've constructed in our different countries around the world and avoid some consequences, but at some point, we all have to stand before God. The God who created the world as well as the people in it. When we answer to God, there is justice. What is hard for me to get my mind around though, is not the justice. i understand justice completely. What is hard to grasp from our human perspective is God's love for us. God's mercy for us. God's grace for us. The bible tells us that "the wages of sin is death, (and there's a big but coming up here), but the gift of God is eternal life is Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23, NIV) God loves us so much, that rather than leave us to face the punishment for our sin, He Himself paid the price that we owed. He gave His own life, when Jesus died on the cross, to pay the punishment for all of our sin. That means that the person who shot the child in Vallejo the other night, could look to God, honestly repent and turn from his sin, and genuinely ask for forgiveness. And the crazy thing is that God is faithful to forgive. I know this because He has forgiven me from my sins. That is not to say that there are not consequences for our sins. If our justice system were to get ahold of the shooter, they would not be as forgiving as God. So the thing to remember is, what started off as a rant and rave session about the evil that exists in our world, it's clear that there is no evil that we can generate that supercedes what God did on the cross for us, and exceeds God's love and grace. Until next time.
Grace and Glory,