Judgement and Grace

In Together in Christ, Erskine Wright shares this story: “Fiorello LaGuardia was mayor of New York City during the Depression, and he was quite a character. He would ride the city fire trucks, take entire orphanages to baseball games and whenever the city newspapers went on strike, he would get on the radio and read the Sunday “funnies” to the children.

At any rate, one bitter cold winter’s night in 1935, Mayor LaGuardia turned up in a night court that served the poorest ward in the city, dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. After he heard a few cases, a tattered old woman was brought before him, accused of stealing a loaf of bread.

She told LaGuardia that her daughter’s husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick and her grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, insisted on pressing charges. “My store is in a very bad neighborhood, your honor,” he said. “She’s got to be punished in order to teach other people a lesson.”

The mayor sighed. He turned to the old woman and said, “I’ve got to punish you,” he said. “The law makes no exception – ten dollars or ten days in jail.”

But even as he spoke, LaGuardia was reaching into his pocket and pulling out a ten dollar bill. “Here is the woman’s fine,” he said, “and furthermore, I’m going to fine everyone in this court room fifty cents for living in a city where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant.”

The following day, the New York Times reported that $47.50 was turned over to the bewildered old woman. It was given by the red-faced store owner, some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations and city policemen – and they all gave their mayor a standing ovation as they
handed over their money.

That’s how it will be with God’s world. Just when it seems that all hope is lost, and goodness and mercy shall never win, the Great Judge will come to set things right, deciding for the hungry and the meek of the earth.”

Comments

Is Your Pastor a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing?

In this age of cultural Christianity, and what I mean by that is Christianity that is changed to fit the current popular ideas. Christianity that is custom tailored to suit the community’s various wants, tastes, and needs. Did you know that when one of the trendy new “modern churches” are planning to plant a campus (that’s the new trendy name for these modern, progressive churches now, “campuses” ) they send interviewers into the community to talk with people to find out what they want in a church. What sort of programs they like and what kind of sermons they want to hear, and then they tailor the entire worship service around what the community wants. This is not church folks, this is a social club. The problem with this new fangled Christianity is that people may know very well what they want, but what they need is an entirely different story. Many people today want to be entertained in a worship service. They want loud music, they want drama skits...

The Nahum Principle

This principle is clearly taught in the prophetic message that God gave to Nahum to deliver to Nianevah, the capitol of the Assyrian empire. Nahum pronounced that the nation’s wounds had become “incurable” ( Nahum 3:19 ). Jeremiah used this same terminology when he later pronounced God’s doom upon Judah. Your injury has no healing, your wound is severe. All who hear news of you Will clap their hands over you, for upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually. It is an ominous message of truth that Americans, even Christians, will rebel against. The Christian community will reject it because it has compromised its values with the world, it has wrapped itself in the flag...

A Beautiful Doctrine

A Beautiful Doctrine In some churches, it is a word that conjures up images of an angry and capricious God who acts arbitrarily to save some, but consigns most sinners, including deceased infants, to eternal Hell. For many professing Christians, it is the mother of all swear words. Let the pastor breathe it in the presence of the deacon board and he risks firing, fisticuffs or worse. A God who chooses is anti-American, anti-democracy. It bespeaks a long-faced, puritanical religion, a doctrinal novelty invented by a maniacal 16th-century minister whose progeny manufactured a theological “-ism” that has plunged countless souls into a godless eternity. In other churches, it is a cherished word that describes a beloved doctrine, one that bestows comfort and unshakable confidence that not one maverick molecule, not one rebel subatomic particle exists outside of God’s loving providential control, even in the matter of salvation. Want to start a lively convers...

The Faithful Christian a blog of The Lighthouse Ministries

Search This Blog