Simpson vs the Shovel

First Lesson: Genesis 25: 19-34
Responsive Reading: Psalm 119: 105-112
Second Lesson: Romans 8: 1-11
​Gospel Lesson: Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23

---

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
​
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”- Romans 8:1

It was the trial of the century.  People vs. OJ Simpson.  The majority of people in Lindstrom believed the facts were clear: OJ Simpson was guilty of the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.  October 3rd, 1995, the verdict was to be announced.  Classes were put on hold at my school over the lunch hour so all the students may hear it.  Joining us for the announcement were  100 million other Americans in waiting for the verdict[1].  The outcome was shocking.  O.J. Simpson was declared innocent by a jury of his peers.  Like is often the case in such a well-known trial, many people were outraged at such an unjust verdict in their mind.  For many people, the leniency showed towards OJ Simpson was shocking!  You better have awfully good reasons to set a prisoner free.

Today’s second lesson comes to us from the Book of Romans the 8th Chapter[2].  Paul’s letter deals with a very different kind of legal judgment in our own.  The greatest of human experiences is continually experiencing judgment in this world[3].  We experience judgment whenever we step on the rising scale.  We experience judgment whenever we consider the state of our broken relationships.  We experience judgment when we don’t feel as smart as those around us.  We experience judgment when we struggle at our jobs, or when our best attempts at self-control fall short. 

I have an uncle who was a dentist in Rosemount, Minnesota.  My Uncle Kurt is one of the nicest and most genuinely positive people you can imagine.  In spite of all this when I went to his office I feared being judged for what I can do better with my teeth; I feared to hear a negative verdict.

Paul in our lesson for Today wants us to think about judgment differently.  Paul knows whenever we’re judged; we feel condemned.  Condemnation is very different from judgment because Condemnation is a statement of hopelessness[4]. 

When Jesus says his famous words “Do not judge[5]” in Matthew 7, these words could be much better understood as “Do not condemn.”  Here’s what I mean.  We make judgments every day of our life. 

My buddy Ozzie is trying to start a Cab service in Silver Bay.  Ozzie’s whole business model is that people will make the right judgment that “The best judgment is they will be unable to drive home at times.”  When we tell kids, not to eat a bag of Cheetos before dinner, we’re making a judgment.  Judgment is often needed to differentiate between whether an action is life-giving or potentially life-taking.[6]  Jesus was not warning against this type of judgment, Jesus was instead warning against condemnation which is different.

What Jesus is instead warning against is saying “A person is at such a dark place in their life that our God can’t possibly reach them.”

Karla Tucker was born in Houston, Texas in 1959[7].  Tucker’s home life growing up was a mess, she was born in adultery.  By the age of 8, Karla was smoking cigarettes. At 12, Karla began using drugs and fornicating. At 14, Karla dropped out of school and started selling her body for money.  The highlight of the next few years of her life is traveling the country as a Rock n Roll groupie.  At the age of 21, Tucker met a 35-year-old man named Danny Garrett.  One night, Garrett and Tucker broke into an apartment to steal a motorcycle.  Garrett and Tucker beat the apartment owner and his girlfriend to death with a hammer and a pick ax.  Karla Tucker would later brag about how exhilarating the double-murder was to commit[8].

The evidence was pretty clear, Karla Tucker was as guilty as any woman could be.  She was even quite high on drugs while committing the murder.  She looked to be the rare woman sentenced to receive the death penalty. 

While in prison, Karla Tucker was bored.  Someone gave her a Bible from the Prison Ministry program.  She began to read it out of boredom.  A short while later, Karla Tucker dropped to her knees, confessed her many sins, and became a Christian.  Karla would become a model prisoner and even married a minister[9].    
The very nature of her crimes in this world could not be escaped.  On February 3rd, 1998, Karla Tucker would be the first woman to be executed in the State of Texas in 135 years.  As soon as Karla Tucker was administered the chemicals which took her life, she began to praise the name of Jesus Christ and what laid ahead for her.

What is the difference between judgment and condemnation?  Karla Tucker was judged for her crimes, the evidenced was undisputed, yet Karla Tucker was not condemned by a force more powerful than the state of Texas.  One way to think of this is judgment is merely temporary, but condemnation is eternal. 

Martin Luther was one time having a dream[10].  Satan began to speak to him.  The Devil began to read a long list of all of Luther’s sins.  Finally, Luther says “Is that all?”  The Devil began listing even more and more sins.  Finally, the Devil stopped.  Like Karla Tucker, Luther did not dispute the charges.  Luther began to laugh at the Devil saying “You’ve forgotten something.  The blood of Jesus Christ’s God’s Son cleanses us from all sins.”

The Devil often attacks us in the same way[11].  All our sins are cast before us, with seemingly no hope of resolution.  Sometimes, the sins seem so grave that Jesus can’t possibly reach us.  What Paul in our lesson from Romans 8 is seeking to assure us Today “Is the blood of Jesus, will save us from all judgment no matter how nasty leveled against us.”

One final story for this morning[12].  Ernest Gordon was a Scotsman captured by the Japanese during World War II.  Gordon’s assignment as a POW was helping in the construction of the Burma-Siam (Sy-am) Railway.  The Burma-Siam Railway was one of the deadliest projects ever conceived by a man with nearly an estimated 400 men dying with each mile of track laid down.  Conditions every single day were horrible: heat, diseases, vicious insects, and a lack of food, clothing, shelter and other earthly comforts.  POWS who were lazy were often decapitated.  Conditions got worse and worse not only physically but socially every day of Gordon’s capture.  Anger and hatred were increasing every day not only against the Japanese but also fellow POW’s. 

One day though everything would change[13].  At the end of each day on the Burma-Siam Railway, the Japanese soldiers would collect all tools, so they weren’t stolen.  On this day, a shovel was missing.  The commanding soldier was angry; the commanding soldier threatened to put all the POWS to death by pointing his rifle up and down the line.  He demanded that the guilty man steps forward or else.  One POW did step forward; he was beaten to death with a rifle in front of the other POWs.  As the Japanese soldiers returned to camp, they counted the tools once again, and in fact, no shovel was missing after all.

The innocent POW’s death changed the captives.  The men turned from anger to religion.  Ernest Gordon became the Camp Chaplain.  Prayer and Church began occurring nightly[14].  The men began to believe that no matter how harsh their judgment was, they would not be condemned. 

What happened at the end of the war, the prisoners proclaimed the need not for their former captor’s judgment, but rather their forgiveness.  One simple shovel had changed absolutely everything.  Hope is indeed possible in the gravest of possible circumstances[15].  There is indeed no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 

O.J. Simpson turned “70” years old this week.   My Aunt Carol who is a psychologist has lived in Southern California most of her life to this day is convinced OJ is innocent because of the required traffic time between Brentwood and LAX on the night of the murders.  OJ Simpson in 1997 had a $33.5 wrongful death judgment awarded to his alleged victims’ families[16].  In 2007, OJ Simpson was charged with multiple additional felonies of kidnapping and armed robbery.  Simpson was sentenced to 33 years in prison for these crimes.  Simpson is eligible for parole later this year.   What the story of Karla Tucker reminds us is that no matter how guilty a person may be of their crimes, no matter how harsh their judgments may be in this world, There is indeed no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus[17].   Amen
 
 


[1] “O.J. Simpson Murder Case.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation.10.July.2017. Web. July.10.2017. 
[2] Romans 8:1-11
[3] NM. “Can You Guys Keep It Down Out There? I Can Barely Hear My Self-Condemnation”. MBird (Mockingbird Ministries). 20.Oct.2011. Web. July.10.2017. 
[4] Bryan. J. “Evaluation and Condemnation.” MBird (Mockingbird Ministries). 22.June.2017. Web. July.10.2017. 
[5] Matthew 7:1. 
[6] Bryan. J. “Evaluation and Condemnation.”
[7] “Karla Faye Tucker”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation.19.June.2017. Web. July.10.2017. 
[8] Karla Faye Tucker”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation.
[9] Karla Faye Tucker”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation.
[10] Zahn, Jason. “How Can God Forgive Me When I Keep on Sinning?”  Sermon Central. 6.. Sept.2001. Web. July.10.2017. 
[11] Zahn, Jason. “How Can God Forgive Me When I Keep on Sinning?”
[12] Steir, Leon. “The Missing Shovel.” Email Mediatations. 1.July.2017. Web. July.10.2017. 
[13] Steir, Leon. “The Missing Shovel.”
[14] Steir, Leon. “The Missing Shovel.”
[15] Steir, Leon. “The Missing Shovel.”
[16] “O.J. Simpson”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation.10.July.2017. Web. July.10.2017. 
[17] Romans 8:1.