Earlier this year, former Advance Memphis employee Mike Shaw (above) had an experience--in a local courtroom--that helped him to crystallize his thoughts about justice and mercy. Here are his thoughts:
Justice and Mercy
“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
Throughout my walk with Jesus including my studies at
I went today to witness the trial of a close friend of mine. It was not my first time in a courtroom, but it was the first time I had ever gone to support a friend who had the possibility of being locked away for the better part of his life. Derek (name changed), who I had first met while working at Advance Memphis, was on trial for the possession and distribution of cocaine. My relationship with him began when he came through the job readiness program at Advance, grew while he participated in the bible study I was a part of, but more importantly, flourished simply by being together sharing meals, going to basketball games, and just hanging out. I knew of Derek’s struggle with marijuana as well as his vocation as a drug dealer, both of which he would openly share and seek counsel to escape. Over the eight months that I had known him I saw the gospel of Jesus Christ begin to make sense in his mind and start to affect his actions and choices.
A mutual friend of ours came to Advance one day to tell us that Derek had been arrested and taken to jail. I was disappointed, but not surprised, discouraged, but not defeated. I continued to pray that God would work in his heart and give him the strength to make the changes he needed to make to get on the right track. Throughout the next three months I visited Derek in jail, chatted with him briefly over the phone, and wrote letters to him while he was incarcerated. His guilt in taking and distributing drugs was never in question for me, but after several conversations through the glass, or over the phone, neither was his understanding of the gospel. Being locked up was a wake up call for Derek, and I could see the Lord work through his incarceration to change his life.
Thursday July 9, 2009 was a day I will not forget. I had it written on my calendar for several weeks as the day of Derek’s trial. The day we would find out whether he would receive over 15 years in jail in addition to tens of thousands of dollars in fines, a probation with lesser fines, or something in between. He asked continually that I pray for him and implored me to request the same from the church I attended and where he accepted my invitation to worship on several occasions.
I laid awake that night, and many nights, wondering what it was that I should pray for. Should I ask God for justice—that Derek would be sent to jail for the crimes he committed? Or should I ask God for mercy—that Derek would somehow receive a lesser sentence and be released? Not knowing what to do, I often prayed for both, and that God’s will would be done, or fell asleep praying nothing at all.
I went to watch, to listen, but mainly to support Derek, who feared the worst. Derek’s attorney recognized that I was there for his trial and inquired as to who I was. I told him that I was friend of his client’s and that I also worked at Advance Memphis, where Derek had participated in several programs. I told him about Advance and my relationship with Derek and he asked me if I would testify—not at all what I had planned.
After swearing for God’s help to tell the whole truth, and nervously answering several questions I sat back down. Would my words help set Derek free, or would what I knew further add to the evidence against him? I could do nothing but watch. With nothing else to say, Derek’s attorney made his closing statement. He pointed at me. “I don’t know this man, and I don’t know much about Advance Memphis, but rarely in my time here have I ever seen a family member come to support someone on trial before this court, and never a friend. I don’t know what that means, but I ask that the judge take this into consideration.”
My heart broke when I heard his words. More than once I’ve had men in my office convinced that no one cares whether or not they lived or died. It angered me that men continually face trial alone and so few people care what happens to them. I was encouraged that the attorney recognized my presence, even in his admitted confusion.
It was time for the verdict. The judge looked at Derek and proceeded to harangue him at high volume, pointing to him as the reason for so many deaths in our community and so many problems on our streets. I hurt for Derek as the truths set in about the consequences for his actions and where his life was headed if he continued acting the way he did. “I don’t care about you,” was the judge’s final words. “My job won’t let me care.” After the onslaught, he stood when he was asked to, and received his sentence. Would there be justice? What about mercy? It was then that I realized what justice was and how I was to love mercy.
Justice isn’t Derek receiving the maximum penalty for his crime, selling temporary relief to people who are slaves to drugs, drugs that make them murder, rape, and abuse innocent people around them. Neither would justice be Derek receiving probation, maybe what he deserves for time served and for making the choice to change his life around. No, justice is this: for Derek to know the truth. Justice is Derek seeing the love of his Creator, the God who created him, saved him, raised him, and demands his life everyday. Justice is Derek experiencing the love of Jesus Christ, not just as a sinner, or as a felon, as a burden to society or as a delinquent, but as a human created in the image of God. Justice was a friend sitting in the back of the courtroom, caring about what happened. To act justly is to preach the gospel with our words, and sometimes more importantly, with our actions, that everyone might know the truth, see the truth, and experience the truth: the love of God put to flesh in personal relationships with those who go lifetimes without anyone caring what happens to them. Justice is people getting what they deserve: access to the truth.
Furthermore, mercy isn’t Derek being set free, or receiving the minimum penalty. Mercy is Derek being able to know his Creator and to participate in His work even as a sinner, one who has turned his back on the God who made him. Similarly, mercy is me being able to participate in the coming Kingdom as a man who has sinned against his Creator and is just as guilty as Derek for denying his maker and just as deserving of the worst punishment possible. To love mercy is to put to practice what the Lord has shown us through His son Jesus. We must love mercy enough to grab hold of our gift, our responsibility, our joy, to humbly walk with God to bring about His Kingdom far as the curse is found, in every forgotten corner of our city.
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