Yesterday morning we woke up to an email of a newspaper article about an old friend- he had committed a heinous crime, unwittingly but nonetheless, a crime that we could find no excuse for. We have not spoken to this man for many years but it was someone in the past that we had seen everyday for many years.
I thought about his crime all day- and last night as I laid in bed, I could not help but imagine what he must be feeling. I am in no way excusing his behavior nor negating the pain of the victim but I realized that I had never empathized with the perpetrator end of crimes.
How does it feel to be in jail for an unknown amount of time, knowing that you have done a terrible terrible thing. I am not talking about the Ted Bundy criminals- I am speaking of people who in a moment choose to do something that will alter their lives forever in a extremely negative way. I told P that now I know how friends and family end up on news with shocked faces and words that sound like excuses but are really just more shock.
And jail is not the only punishment- How about our own conscience? Some crimes would be very difficult to live with- the guilt and shame- the feeling that one is unredeemable. Although this man is not a saint, I knew that at that moment he must just want to die, knowing what he did.
And I thought to myself- "What on earth do I tell this man?"
Then I realized.
We tell him about Jesus of course.
He knows that we are Christians. But I think that will mean something new to him as he sits in jail, most likely isolated from most people who are disgusted by his crime.
So we are planning our letter to him (and trying to track him down). We might be the only people to tell him that there is redemption- that God can forgive him. And we can do that without excusing any of his behavior or sin. I realized this morning what a beautiful relationship Christianity is- As humans there is a limit to our forgiveness to one another. Certain acts/ sins cause us to "write a person off" in our brain. That is not true with God. We are all black hearted sinners in his eyes and he loves each of us. There is no sin too big for God to redeem, and as I thought this, I realized that meant that there was no sinner so sinful that I should not share God's redeeming love with them.
I guess this is how people end up in prison ministry.
