The gavel
"The gavel is up, the verdict goes down. Not guilty."
Part 1: The gavel
I went to jury duty this week.
It was amazing to be better acquainted with our justice system.
It was heartbreaking to hear the hardships of the other jurors. To remember my own.
See the defense and prosecuting attorneys have to question the jurors to ensure that they and the judge select jurors who will be fair and unbiased towards the case.
And this case involved things that hit close to home for many.
At a time in our nation where we are feeling the pressure of racism, violence, and ultimately division.
I am not here to debate where we are and who is right, nor am I here to ignore the reality of where we are and what is right.
But I am here writing from this experience to offer a little bit of hope.
A door of hope.
“Out of the valley of death and destruction, comes a door of hope.”
I sat there listening to the stories. I sat there listening to the heart break. The pain and disappointment. Family wrongfully shot. Family killed. Family wrongfully imprisoned. Some not wrongfully imprisoned. Family raped. Family broken. Robbed and scared.
Pain and brokenness.
Death and heartache.
I had been eager to be summoned to jury duty. I wanted to be a part. It seemed like an adventure.
It was.
But a different kind of adventure than I had expected.
60 potential jurors.
Stories laid bare, some still untold.
As their stories unfolded.
I heard another one unfold as I looked and listened...as he brought to mind this picture I took and words God spoke to me on a quiet morning walk.
“The gavel is up. The verdict is down. Not guilty.”
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Isaiah 26:9
…When your judgements come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
Ephesians 2
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesha and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.
a 3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.
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"The gavel is up, the verdict goes down. Not guilty."
Part 2: The verdict