The Ultimate Broken Pen
Ever pulled a pen out to use and it didn’t work? Cue the scribbling on scrap paper or junk mail. Right? It’s frustrating, isn’t it? I know. Life is so hard!
In Ugandan courts, when a judgement is pronounced and signed, the judge follows the signature by breaking the pen with which he signed the judgement. It represents that the judgement cannot be reversed. It is final. There is no parole, or chance of re-trial. It is done.
We often want that to be the way our enemies are handled, don’t we? We want them to be declared guilty and held accountable for their words or actions. We want them to pay for their actions and suffer the consequences.
Our church has recently partnered with an amazing organization in the Chicago area called Naomi’s House. They serve women who have suffered from commercial sexual exploitation, better known as sex trafficking. There are 25,000 women trafficked in Chicagoland each year. Unbelievable, isn’t it? It’s happening all around us. Naomi’s House helps women have a safe place to escape to, and provides counseling and rehabilitation from the trauma of their experience.
When I think of those who are responsible for sex trafficking, it makes me angry. It makes me want to see them discovered, caught and brought to justice. It makes me want them to be locked up for good to at least fractionally pay for what they’ve done. I’d be glad to see a judge break the pen after sentencing those responsible for these horrific crimes against so many lives. They don’t deserve a second chance. They don’t deserve grace.
Funny how grace doesn’t seem fair until you’re the one who needs it. The Bible tells us that God can’t be with sin. He can’t look upon sin. Any sin. Sex trafficker’s sin, or… my sin. We feel as if some sins are so much worse than others. God sees it all as sin. Just sin. He is too perfect to have anything to do with it - ANY of it. And in reality, none of us deserve a second chance. None of us deserve grace.
But - thank goodness for Jesus. in “Everybody, Always”, Bob Goff puts it this way:
“On the day Jesus died on the cross, He was broken for us - not unlike the judge’s pen. It was like God was saying, ‘What’s been done here today will never be undone’.”
Jesus’ death on the cross was Him saying “I’ll take the punishment for their sins. All they have to do is believe in me and accept my payment as their own.” We don’t deserve it, but He gives it - the forgiveness and covering of our sin with his own payment.
And thankfully - that pen is broken.