In Prison
(Mat
25:36) I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited
me, I was in prison and you came to me.'
Under bitingly cold skies,
the sun began to rise. Seven men stood at the gate of the prison,
one by one being processed and cleared for what would be a
contradiction to my mind and to my soul. In the rising sunlight, the
compound took on an eerie quality, morning fog wafting by the guard
towers. Even the concertina wire sparkled as another day was being
ushered in. We seven silently fell into a line and followed the
yellow painted stripe on the walk to the prison chapel. I am certain
that each of us was reciting our own personal prayers for His
blessing, protection, and that the Holy Spirit would guide us all.
What followed became contradictory to my fleshly senses and a scene I
shall not forget for a very long time.
Here assembled 20 or more
men, who, by their own designs made choices that resulted in freedoms
being withdrawn and they being cast into punishment for the decisions
made. These men were graduates of the KAIROS program, a tailored
evangelical path that leads the prisoners to walk a path where upon
God may draw them and they be afforded the Grace and Mercy promised
through Christ Jesus when confessed aloud and receive salvation.
Our “Brothers in Blue”
demonstrated this day what they each have gained through the KAIROS
program, now fully able to organize, prepare and conduct their own
chapel services, minister one to another, actually operate a
home-church not unlike the churches held in private homes during the
time of the Apostles. This one being behind bars, out of sight, out
of mind.
I was woefully unprepared
for what I witnessed today. Society can be cruel to the point of
removing entirely the human from the man who is in prison. Certainly
the crimes committed justify the penalty, but we as God fearing,
Jesus serving ministers of the Gospel must never, ever second guess
our Lord in how and when He forgives the transgressor. Just as Jesus
loves the sinner, He hates the sin. Today we celebrated with men,
creations of God, and praised Him on high for saving wretches like
us.
From the opening devotion,
to the hymns sung with joy, hearing the testimonies, seeing the glow
of the Holy Spirit and the benediction at the close, Oh My God,
Praise you, Praise you, Praise you!
Prison is a place filled
with bad actors, career criminals, doers of terrible crimes. Prison
is filled with those who must be separated from the whole and, pay
the price for their wrongs. But, as I learned today, prison is a
place where the hand of Almighty God can be seen in the open, that
wondrous Light by which the blind might see. Thank-you Jesus,
Thank-you Father, Thank-you Holy Spirit for allowing me to see with
my eyes and understand with my heart the power of Grace and
Forgiveness that only God can grant, AMEN.
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