Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries
"No Charges"
May 1, 2018
But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.
~ Acts 15:11 (ESV)
Wherever there are people, there are "rites of passage."
A rite of passage is an activity or event which says a person has moved from one social group to another. Now some of these rites of passage are not simple, nor are they gentle. For example,
1. among the Australian Aborigines, a boy becomes a man after he has taken a lengthy (months) walkabout in the outback with his father, grandfather, and a local spiritual leader;
2. the Matis tribe in the Amazon does the same thing by pouring poison directly into the boy's eyes and then methodically whipping and beating him;
3. Quebec's Algonquin tribe gives their adolescent boy an hallucinogenic drug called wysoccan to force out all memory of being a child. One-hundred percent more powerful than LSD, the drug has also been known to make them forget their names and how to speak.
In North America, the rites of passage include ... drum roll, please ... getting a driver's license.
Recently, in Buffalo, Minnesota, an unnamed 17-year-old girl underwent the driver's license rite of passage.
The test began with the girl putting her SUV into gear to back out of her parking place. Sadly, the young lady didn't put the SUV into reverse, she put it into drive. And then she stepped on the gas. The vehicle jumped the curb and plowed into the office from which the tests are administered. The vehicle fit nicely into the double-door opening and managed to get up to the hinges on the front door before it was stopped. The girl was all right, but the 60-year-old examiner was taken by ambulance to the hospital with non-critical injuries.
In spite of all this, the Buffalo police report says no charges are pending.
That's right. Even though the girl obviously failed this rite of passage, no charges are being pressed.
I can think of a number of reasons why. Amongst those reasons would be the police feel sorry for her. Another reason: they know the teasing the poor girl will endure is going to be worse than any sentence any judge could pronounce. It may be they acknowledge this was a testing situation, and the girl was under the authority of an official. Finally, they may not be pressing any charges because it is the gracious thing to do.
It is that last reason which the Lord understands.
You see, all of us have failed the human test for perfection. Oh, there may be some nice people out there, and there may even be, at least by human standards, some good people out there, but there are no perfect people. All of us were born sinners, and we live each day as sinners.
Looking at us, the Lord in His grace proposed a way He wouldn't have to press charges. No, He just didn't wave a divine hand or say a divine word to make that happen. His justice wouldn't allow that. Instead, He sent His Son into this world to pass the test we had failed and to pay the penalty price for sin we deserved. This Jesus did from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. And now, because He has risen from the dead, the Lord will not press charges against all who have been brought to faith in His Son.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks for Your Son whose life has made it so that I will never have charges pressed against me. May the entire world see Your grace. This I ask in the Savior's Name. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by Newser Editors for Newser on March 26, 2018. Those who wish to reference that article may do so at the following link, which was fully functional at the time this devotion was written: http://www.newser.com/story/257047/teen-fails-driving-test-in-spectacular-fashion.html
See also: https://www.facebook.com/BuffaloPD/posts/1935706689815505
Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
Wherever there are people, there are "rites of passage."
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