The Judge and the Lawyer

07/20/2004

Imagine yourself sitting in a courtroom. Your whole life will be put on display for all to see. Every thought you have ever had, everything you have ever done or wanted to do, every conversation you have ever engaged in, it’s all there…

In front of you sits the Judge, the final authority on your life. To your right there’s a jury of twelve, people just like you, but people who now seemingly sit in a seat of authority, able to voice their opinions on the life you lived. They may have done the very same things, thought the very same thoughts, had the very same conversations, but this is not about them, this is about you today. This is your "Day in Court."

Suddenly you feel a bit sickish as you start to remember back…you remember the times when you told that small lie, took that hotel robe, gossiped about your friend, left work early after writing down eight hours for your day, criticized another’s choice, used God’s name in vain, the list could go on and on. At the time, these were not big offenses, after all, everyone else does it, why shouldn’t I? What harm could it really do…?

Your "Lawyer," also known as your Counselor, is seated to your left, calm, cool, collected. He knows your case well; He has gone over and over it with you in His office, etched out every little detail on his yellow legal pads there in front of him. He knows it all, your whole life, and He is confident that this is an open and shut case. You’re not so sure…

Your Lawyer has been in this position more times than you could count, only He can remember each and every individual case, only He can recall each life in detail and only He knows the final outcome on each life that has been brought before this Judge.

Oh, there have been other "courtrooms" in the many lives He has seen, many have gone to jail, some innocently. He has seen the traffic violations, the murders, the deceit, the DUI’s and more charges against people than I can relate here, but this time it is different. This Courtroom is different, this Judge and Lawyer are different, as you shall see.

The Judge begins to speak--you listen closely as the whole room is suddenly hushed in silence. No one dares to cough, to move, to even look at the person sitting next to them. They know what is about to begin will also include them one day. They will have their "Day in Court," and they are intent on listening to these proceedings. No newspaper will carry this story to their satisfaction. They want to be an eyewitness to these happenings, anything less will not do in a case of this magnitude. This is a case about life, and how it is lived, but it is even more than that, as you will see…

The Judge calls your name and your eyes meet His. It seems as if He can see right into your very soul with no words even being spoken. You have never felt so naked, so exposed, so loved in all your life. He asks you to stand and face Him, ignoring the jury, the crowd and the huge screen behind Him that has begun to replay your whole life for all to see. He asks you to step a little closer and also for your Counselor to stand just to the left and in front of you, and then the Judge says in a voice that seems so familiar:

"Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be
used to measure how you are judged."
Matthew 7:2b (NLT)

Your mouth drops open, your heart begins to beat rapidly and you cannot help but to look up at the screen now behind the Judge and see your life displayed before you. You have no idea the amount of time that passes as one scene after another goes by. It’s not all good, it’s not all bad, but a mixture of all that and everything in between. You’d like to do so much of it over, given the chance. You’d like to love more, forgive more, befriend more, help more, but most of all, you’d like to have spent more time with your Counselor preparing for this case about your life!

You turn to your Counselor and He gently places His arm around your shoulders. There is a warmth that seems to fill your entire body as He embraces you and He tells you not worry, He will handle this.

The Judge has not said another word, He knows it is the Lawyer’s place to speak on your behalf, and He waits to hear what He will have to say. Your Lawyer asks you to go back and take your seat, and you feel the eyes of the jury follow you as you go. They know now that they are only a part of the crowd of witnesses here today to watch these proceedings, they will play no part in the decisions that will take place. They settle into their seats, realizing the weight of the responsibility that has been lifted off of their shoulders. Who are they to judge…?

You do not know what will come next, but after taking your seat, you bow your head and pray silently as your Counselor steps up to the Judge’s Bench and begins to speak with Him privately. What is said between them cannot be heard by anyone in the room, but every eye is on the two of them, watching for any sign that might indicate the words they are exchanging.

As you continue to pray, the Words of the Judge penetrate deep into your heart, "Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged." You have heard those Words before, you know they are not just any words, but the very Word of God.

You start to remember the times when it seemed someone in your life needed some "repairs," and you were just the one to do it! It was in those times that the log in your own eye blocked your vision. As you spent time in the Word, in Matthew 7, you found the very words the Judge had used today, and the story of trying to remove a speck from someone else’s eye, when you had a log in your own. Oh, the great lessons God had taught you on those days. You had tried to listen, you really had, and you had made some progress in those areas. Your heart felt a bit lighter remembering those times spent with your Counselor discussing that part of your case many years ago.

Your Counselor was so encouraging. He kept reminding you to ask Him for help, to seek His advice, to knock on His office door anytime, day or night, when you needed His comfort. He had always been there for you. He didn’t want you to walk through things alone, he longed to be with you. You wish you had come by to see Him more often but you are ever so grateful for the times now that you did spend with Him.

Glancing up from your prayers, you see your Counselor is still there, in a deep discussion with the Judge. They are both nodding now, seemingly in agreement over something. Is that a good sign? Could it be that you will be set free from any charges against you? It is hard to tell, but as you bow your head and continue to pray, your mind begins to reflect back once again.

Your Counselor had been so insightful, so full of wisdom. It seemed He was never without an answer when you brought your questions, your doubts and your fears into His office. As the years went by, you begin to realize His office was the only place you felt truly safe. The world could be so harsh; the pressures could mount to such an intensity it seemed there was no place to turn but to Him for the Truth in all the chaos of life. There was never a day when you went to see Him that He was too busy for you. He was never out to lunch, never off on vacation, never with another client—He was there and waiting and willing to speak with you. Oh, how grateful you were for His friendship through the years!

It felt so good to reflect back on the times spent in His presence. In all the things of life, it seemed now to be the highlight of each day. How had you missed that sometimes? How had you gotten so busy that you had not realized just how very important those times with Him were? It seemed now there was more to it than you could ever imagine. Time with Him was a place to learn and to grow. A time to be loved unconditionally. He had tried to explain to you that, "Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys me is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock."

Your pride reared up against Him when you first heard that, you wondered just who He thought He was that He could make such a claim as that? What school of law had He gotten His degree in to go so far as to ask for your obedience? He went on to say, "But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand." Who is this Person, you asked yourself? We have only been friends for a few years and yet He makes such claims as these? It seemed to go against your fleshly nature, but for some reason you were also drawn to His teachings, to His ways, and your heart slowly opened up to Him each time you were together. It seemed He had some sort of authority unlike any other counselor you had ever met and you learned to trust Him with your whole heart.

In your times together, He encouraged you through many things, but also warned you of many things. He said that many people would refer to Him as their Counselor, but not all would listen to His advice and obey Him. They would seek other "counselors" also. After time spent with Him, it was hard to believe that not everyone would see His gentle, kind nature and begin to trust Him as you had. You knew that He was not only loving but also very firm on decisive issues. He wanted to be your Friend, but if you chose not to come to Him, you would not know Him as you do on this day, and He would not be able to speak for you when it was your Day in Court.

Oh, how thankful your heart felt at this moment, to know that He knew you so well. Whatever words He spoke to the Judge, you could trust Him. However long it took the two of them to sort things out, you could wait. Even when He was away from you, as far as from your chair to the Judge’s Bench, or half-way around the world, it still seemed He was with you, living in your heart. Each time you left His office after one of your visits together, it never really seemed that you were leaving Him, or that He remained there behind those big oak doors. It seemed He was with you throughout your day, and you could still hear the words He had shared with you in your time together. Never had you experienced a friendship such as this one, and there was no one you would rather have represent you when your day came to face this Judge.

Your Counselor had always told you not to worry. Each time you would walk out of His office and back into the world, He would leave you with the words, "So don’t worry about tomorrow." He would say, "Look at the birds," and you would be reminded of their singing and their beauty and your heart would feel lifted from your own burdens. He used to say, "If God cares so wonderfully for the flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you?" You wondered about this Man, a Man with such authority, with such wisdom and yet with such a carefree, childlike way of looking at the world. You longed to be more like Him. You longed to know Him more.

It seemed the Judge and Lawyer were summing things up as you heard some papers shuffling on the Judge’s desk. The scenes that had been playing on the big screen behind the Judge’s desk of your life had finished and the jury turned to look at you. What was that look in their eyes? Relief? Compassion? Did they see themselves in your life? You are not really sure, but as you turn to look into your Counselor’s eyes as he makes His way back to you, they seem to say, "Don’t worry, look at the birds…and your heart starts to sing!"

Your Counselor reaches out and takes your hand, lifting you out of your seat, guiding you forward towards the Judge. The time has come to face the music of your life, and for reasons beyond your understanding, you seem not to have a care in the world. It seems you actually hear singing coming from someplace that you cannot see. Could it be?…
"Amazing grace…how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me…"

You are with your Friend in this moment, and He has seen you through every day of your life--He will not let you down now. Somehow, you just know that beyond a shadow of a doubt.

As the Judge begins to speak, He does something most unusual--He does not ask you a single question, it is as if He only sees your Lawyer. It is as if all the things that were displayed on the big screen behind Him do not matter, the only thing that matters is Who is representing you on this day.

The Judge at last turns to you, thanking you for your patience and then He smiles.
Where have you seen that smile before?
It is a smile filled with a Father’s love.

The Judge then asks only one question, and that one question is directed at your Counselor.
It is this…

"Do you know this person?"

Without hesitation, your Counselor replies in a most emphatic way,

"Yes, I do!"

The Judge picks up His gavel and brings it down with a loud bang!
He then exclaims for all to hear,
"Not guilty!"

The jury stands to their feet and cheers, the crowd behind you stands and claps and cheers and your Counselor wraps you in His arms and embraces you as never before, saying,
"Well done!"

It is a day like you have never experienced in your life!!
A day you will never forget because from this day forth there will never be any charges levied against you!
It is finished!!
Your life has been examined from beginning to end and the Judge has declared that you are not guilty!
You are free!!
It will take some time for you to realize the wonder of it all.
It will take many more sessions with your Counselor to thank Him for all that He has done for you!
It will take an eternity to realize the magnitude of the forgiveness you have been shown! It is beyond your wildest dreams and the gratitude that fills your heart is overflowing!!

You are not quite sure what happened or how it happened, but you know it has everything to do with your Counselor and nothing to do with you!!

In the aftermath, as you settle into your new life, you look back and remember that day fondly. It was not a day of judgment, but a day of forgiveness. It was not a day to be dreaded but a day to rejoice in! It was the day when you realized more than ever that the ultimate goal of spending time with your Counselor was not to teach you how to be perfect, as much as it was in getting to know Him and His authority over all things. It was in those sessions that He taught you about forgiveness when He forgave you, when He taught you not to judge others because He was not judging you, when He loved you with an unconditional love and called you to love others in the same way. He knew it was not possible for you to live up to the expectations you even had of yourself, but that was not His point. His point was to be all things for you, a shining example of what could be, of what would be, if you loved Him enough to spend time with Him and trust Him with your life.

When the Judge had said, "Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged." He meant exactly that. What you didn’t realize was that the Judge graded you not on your failures in this area, or even on your successes, but on the obedience of your heart.

Your Counselor had told you, "Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be." The Judge only wanted to know, did you find your treasure in your Counselor’s office, did you seek Him out, did you knock on His door and ask for His advice and measure all things on your Lawyer’s scale of mercy and forgiveness, or did you follow the ways of this world?

When your Counselor stood at the Judge’s bench and discussed your case, the Judge was not interested in your failures or your successes, the Judge only wanted to know one thing from your Lawyer…Did He know you?

You see, the Judge knew your Counselor better than anyone else in the courtroom on that day, because it was His Son. To know your Counselor, was to know the Judge, even though you had never met the Judge face to face. Because of your relationship with your Counselor, the Judge considered you part of the family. You were in!! Nepotism was all-important when it came to your Day in Court! It did not matter to Him the things you had done, or not done, what mattered to Him was that you loved His Son as He did.

Jesus said,
"Those who obey my commandments are the ones
who love me. And because they love me, my Father
will love them, and I will love them. And I will reveal
myself to each one of them."
John 14:21 (NLT)

Jesus also said,
"I have told you these things so that you won’t fall away.
For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the
time is coming when those who kill you will think they
are doing God a service. This is because they have never
known the Father or me. Yes, I am telling you these things
now, so that when they happen, you will remember I
warned you."
John 16:1-4a (NLT)

The world we live in can very dark. The light of the world is Jesus Christ! He is the One who will stand with us on Judgment Day before our Father in Heaven. He is the One who took all our sins to the Cross and died for them there, rising on the third day, conquering sin and death. Our eternal life is with Him, our forgiveness is in Him, and no other! When we stand before our Father God and He asks His Son Jesus, "Do you know them?" we do not want the reply to be as talked about in Matthew 7:23:
"I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized."
Or as it says in Luke 13:25:
Then you will stand outside knocking and pleading, "Lord,
open the door for us!" But he will reply, "I do not know you."

We cannot delay in our relationship with Jesus Christ! We need to know Him today, not only for our salvation to guarantee where we will spend eternity, but also for the day-to-day things that we must deal with. He wants to be our Friend, our Counselor, on Judgment Day. He only asks that we spend time with Him now, before our Day in Court, so when we cry out, "Lord, Lord," He can say, "I know you!"

"For from the very beginning God decided that those who came to him—and all along he knew who would—should become like his Son, so that his Son would be the first with many brothers. And having chosen us, he called us to come to him; and when we came, he declared us "not guilty," filled us with Christ’s goodness, gave us right standing with himself, and promised us his glory." Romans 8:29-39 (LB)

If we wait until our Day in Court comes, it WILL BE TOO LATE!!

Thanks for listening,

Diane