Whatever Possessed You?

"Today's Devotion" For August 19, 2005

Read: Genesis 4:1-16; Psalm 51

WHATEVER POSSESSED YOU?

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 6:23)

"Whatever possessed you to do that?" came the plaintive cry of the mother confronting her 10-year old son who had just hit his 5-year old sister with a baseball bat. "Whatever possessed you?" was the anguished cry of the father who visited his son in jail because he was just arrested for armed robbery and murder. "Whatever possessed you?" is a phrase not uncommon, especially among family members, who are faced with the terrible consequences of wrongdoing and crime by those whom they love. It's also a question that we is raised within the Christian community when brothers and sisters in Christ are found to be committing crimes or otherwise behaving in way inconsistent with a relationship with God.

In the past couple of days the local news has seen two previous victims of crimes in the city, committing crimes themselves. One of them, a young mother whose 7-year old daughter went missing and was never found about five years ago, was arrested for possession of drugs with intent to deliver. The other, a man allegedly brutally beaten by off-duty police officers at a party last fall, turned himself in after his mother reported to the police that he had beaten her. Past news accounts concerning these victims, turned perpetrators, have indicated that they belonged to Christian churches. One of the local newspaper columnists noted in this morning's paper that these were two individuals who, because of their previous experiences, will never be anonymous again. I'm waiting for their legal defense to be mounted - perhaps they've been so traumatized as the victims of crimes that they just "can't help themselves" - that their behavior is predictable and caused by their own victimization.

On the national level, from Kansas, we're told that yesterday the "BTK" - "blind, torture, kill" - killer was sentenced to prison terms, run consecutively, of 135-years. It's the most the judge was allowed to mete out based on the law. Here is a man who had a family for whom, by all accounts, he had been a good provider and loved them, a man who was a respected Boy Scout leader, and the President of a local Lutheran church which he faithfully attended. Yet, over a period of seven years he brutally murdered ten women for the perverse, sexual pleasure he got from each act of violence, as well as remembering each act over the years as he viewed photographs he had taken of his crimes. He asked for forgiveness, saying that he hoped, someday, God would accept him.

"There, but for the grace of God, go I." I can't think of a more appropriate way to respond to the aforementioned situations. Within every one of us is the same capacity to do evil and eschew what's right and pleasing to God. We're horrified and wag our fingers at people such as those mentioned above, yet, just like Cain who slew his brother Abel because God had favored the willing sacrifice of Abel over Cain's reluctant sacrifice, we're all capable of committing acts of violence and horror against others, or thumbing our noses at the law. It's the power of Sin in our lives. It's a direct result of the separation that exists, by nature, between God and man because of the power of Sin to control us and keep us away from His love. When we, as God's children in Christ, ask the question of the day, "Whatever possessed you?", we do so with the full realization that the answer is, "Sin."

It was the power of Sin which led Cain to slay his brother out of jealousy. It was Sin that drove David to his knees with his plaintive cry, "Have mercy on me, O God..." (Ps. 51:1). It was Sin that sent Jesus to the Cross to become the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of the world, so that all might be saved. By God's grace, we are called to repentance of our sins and faith in Christ, in Whom is forgiveness, hope, and life. David's plaintive cry to God over his sin also includes his confession of faith: "Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions." God's response to Cain's cry concerning the harshness of his punishment was to show mercy and place a mark on Cain so that all who saw it would know they were not to take his life in retaliation. St. Paul's wise counsel to the Romans, inspired by the Spirit, was a reminder that "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

In the end, for the three persons in the news because of their crimes, and for all of us who "daily sin much and are in need of repentance," God's promise is His forgiveness in Christ to all who repent. No matter the severity of the sin, by human standards, His forgiveness is sure and certain. Just as the thief on the cross at Golgotha, our Lord's forgiveness is for all who repent and believe the Gospel. By God's grace it's possible to have people ask, "Whatever possessed you?" in the context of how we live so that we can answer with joy and peace, "the love of God in Christ Jesus my Lord!"

Prayer: Father, it's easy for me to point fingers at others, especially those who are of the household of faith, when sin rears its ugly head among your people. At times I forget that "there, but for the grace of God, go I" when I see the news accounts of crime, especially when it concerns those who claim to be Your children. Yet, I know that I, too, could be standing in their place, in their shoes, because the nature of my disobedience to You because of my sin, would put my sins in the public eye. Help me to be compassionate and forgiving toward others in the same way as You are compassionate and forgiving toward me. Strengthen my faith so that I might live in a way that pleases You, loves my neighbor, and shares Jesus with others. By the power of Your Word and Spirit, guide me in my living so that if anyone were to ask me, "Whatever possessed you?" I might respond with joy and confidence, "the love of God in Christ Jesus my Lord!", in Whose precious and most holy name I pray. Amen.
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--Pastor Boeck

Copyright @2005 Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.