The Public Defender--May 15, 2020

The Public Defender--May 15, 2020

"Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us." [Romans 8:33-34]

I grew up watching cop-themed tv shows and legal thrillers, and I have seen more than my share of episodes of Law and Order over the years in the era of hearing arresting officers recite the Miranda rights to the suspects in handcuffs.  You can probably repeat them, too; in all the TV shows, they start with: "You have the right to remain silent.  Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

Are you saying it with me?  Now we get to the best part: "You have the right to an attorney.  If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you."

I know there are a lot of problems with the way our criminal justice system actually works in lived out situations.  And I know that often there are questions about how experienced or passionate a court-appointed public defender will be, compared to some high-priced lawyer from a big-name firm.  But I just have to admit, there is something really beautiful to me about the idea of a system where we make sure people can have someone intercede for them, even if they can't pay for it.  There is something genuinely noble, something compassionate and good and decent, to the notion that everybody should be able to have an advocate, and that being empty-handed should not disqualify you from the help of good counsel.  Like I say, I know in our real legal system there are a million ways that can all go sideways. But in a time where there is so much I am cynical about, every so often it is refreshing to be reminded of glimmers of virtue and decency like the idea of having a public defender.  (Please, let me have a moment to bask in the light of idealism for just a bit before disillusioning me.)

I think what strikes me especially about the idea of having a public defender is how much the New Testament uses that imagery for Christ, as well as for the Spirit.  There is a recurring thread in the New Testament that describes Jesus himself as our advocate, and also put the Spirit in similar terms.  And as the New Testament writers describe it, it is clear that we don't get access to Jesus because we have the resources to pay some heavenly retainer to keep him as our lawyer.  Jesus is the public defender of God--the One that no less than God has given to be our advocate.  The Spirit takes the role of our Counselor, too, and with that same notion that their presence is pro bono--a free gift.

I need that image, because it reminds me, too, that I may not be the expert at this being-human thing that I think I am.  Paul notes here that we have Jesus who "intercedes for us," and elsewhere he say that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we do not know what to pray, with divine and holy sighs too deep for words.  What humbles me in that thought is the realization that maybe I don't really know what I actually need, or what is best for myself.  So God steps in and even provides an advocate--no, two!--who are no less than two members of the Holy Trinity!  God the Son and God the Spirit are at my side, asking on my behalf to God the Father for what things I need--especially the things I don't know that I need, or cannot yet bring myself to ask for.

It sounds very much like that moment in a legal thriller when the defendant wants to represent himself in court, and everybody else around him tells him that's a stupid thing to do.  You know the old one-liner: "The man who chooses to represent himself in court has a fool for a client."  And, to be honest, that is me.  Left to my own devices, I am short-sighted, self-centered, often cranky, usually pretty chicken-hearted, and rarely know what I actually need.  I have a wish-list a mile long, and there are a lot of persuasive voices around me all telling me what I "should" want in order to be happy in life.  And pretty much all of that is hogwash.  If it were up to me making requests of the divine, there would be a lot of foolish prayers lobbed up at heaven, and a lot of them would not be very good for me, for those I love, or for the world around me.  What I need--but rarely can bring myself to admit--is someone to intercede for me, because I honestly don't know what I'm doing in this life.

That's it.  I don't think we need some heavenly attorney for God's sake--it's not that God won't listen to me or can't abide to look at me unless I've got a fancy highfalutin lawyer at my side.  It's that if I am left to my own devices, I don't really know what I need, and all I bring to the table is my empty hands.  So God provides a public defender, because on my own I'm a fool... and often my own worst enemy.  Good thing God has a soft spot for fools and enemies.  And so there is Jesus, willing to step into the role of my advocate to intercede for me.

This is one of the overlooked blessings of the resurrection.  To say that Jesus is alive and risen from the dead is not merely a claim that there is an afterlife.  It is to say that the risen Jesus is, even now, still spending his life and his energy for us--he has chosen to fill his hours with interceding on our behalf, we who get so lost we couldn't find our way out of a paper bag.  Part of why the resurrection is such a source of hope for us is that it means we aren't just left with the teachings of Jesus and a post-it note on the cover that says, "Good luck following this now!"  We have Jesus himself, who intercedes, who cries out, who asks for good things on our behalf, because honestly, a lot of the time even with the best intentions we are seeking after stupid, wrong-headed, or downright bad things.  

It matters that Christians are not just people who study and argue over the recorded sayings of a dead rabbi, but people who dare to believe that this Jesus is alive and has not given up on us or left us to our own devices.  It matters that we are not just handed a Bible and told to figure out the answers to our questions ourselves.  It matters that even when I am seeking and striving after something totally wrong for me or for others, that God is not obligated, like a genie, to give me something that is not good.  And it matters that even when I let my wants become self-centered, short-sighted, or unneighborly, my public defender Jesus reserves the right to tell the court, "Don't listen to him, your honor.  Here's what Steve really needs..."

And when he does that, he's right.  Sure as heaven, I need an advocate who can intercede for me and who knows my true needs better than I do.  And sure as heaven, I need one provided for me, because my empty hands can't do it on my own.

Today, you and I are given just that in the risen Jesus.  Now, step out into the day with courage--you are not alone.

Lord Jesus, be at our side today.  Where we let our wish-lists become selfishly skewed and narrow, speak on our behalf and intercede with what we truly need--all of us.