Last October, several members of the church I served went to jail. We went to
Lucasville Maximum Security Prison to join in the closing ceremony for the
Kairos Ministry weekend, which was led by a member of our church. It was a powerful, moving experience.
Upon arrival, we went through a security checkpoint and
metal detector. We turned in our driver’s
license to gain access, and were escorted to a visiting area inside the high
fences crowned with razor wire. We
entered a room set up for the closing event.
We were told to not approach the inmates or make any physical contact with
them – such action would lead to a strip search for both of us. We gathered with other visitors and
volunteers for the week for a time of singing and preparation. When the inmates arrived, we burst in to
“When the Saints Go Marching In.” The
first group of inmates were graduates of previous weekend events. Then, 30 inmates came in and sat in groups of
six - these being their family groups
for the week.
The Kairos Program is designed to share the unconditional
love of God to prison inmates who have volunteered to participate in the three
and a half day program at the jail. In
that time, the 30 participants are surrounded by 32 volunteers who feed them
cookies and homemade meals and share with them, firsthand, what God’s
unconditional love is all about. In that
time, the message is clear – God loves you.
God is bigger than any wall you face.
God’s forgiveness is complete and full, no matter the sin. God’s promises are everlasting. God is with you and will never abandon
you.
The inmates introduced themselves by family units, and
shared as a group what the weekend had meant to them. Two ground rules were enforced – Thanks only
to GOD, and keep it to two minutes. Once
the groups were done, individual inmates could come up and speak – same ground
rules.
The one word I heard over and over and over again is
love. One after another, they shared how
each of them had never experienced that kind of unconditional love, and how
each of them had come to know that God’s love is just that. They shared that the tears had flowed that
weekend, for some for the very first time in their lives. A young man of 22 years old, incarcerated
since the age of 14, spoke of how this weekend had changed his life, and given
him hope had never had. They shared how,
through the weekend, they heard of forgiveness that was complete and full – a
gift that comes from Jesus Christ, who died for their sins. In response to that gift, the group had an
exercise earlier in the weekend in which they were to write the name of someone
they had to forgive and place it in a bowl of water on the table. One man shared that he had to write his own
name down, because that is where he needed to start.
They shared how no longer was it going to be the number on
their chest, or the blue shirts and pants that defined them, not even the
crimes that they had committed. No, what
now defined them is that God had named them and claimed them as His
children. This is the truth, and the
truth – you could see it in their eyes and hear in their voices – the truth had
set them free. Free – a freedom they
never had before.
Freedom.
Freedom? When the ceremony was
done, the inmates exited – waving, smiling, gestures of thanks. Yet back to the cells they went. In prison, yet set free.
We can echo the words of those at Jesus’ feet (John 8)– we are
slaves to no one – never have been.
Maybe what WE need is to be locked up and held in maximum security,
fearing what we say or do could put us in danger either with the guards or the
other inmates. Maybe what WE need is to
be stripped of all the things that we hold on to so dearly – our families, our
possessions, our self-centered swagger that says “at least I am better than
THAT so and so.” Maybe WE need something
to shake our comfort zone to help us understand that all this is SIN – that
is not trusting God, or not letting God
be the LORD of our lives. We are CAPTIVE
TO SIN – and it is not till we come to understand it that we will truly
appreciate what God has done for us in Christ Jesus.
For God’s gift is unconditional, complete and
never-ending. There are no ifs, ands or
buts about it. At the end of the sermon,
there is no legal tag lines saying what is not included in this gift, and no
disclaimers to the promise. But we do it
anyway, don’t we? We get wrapped up in
the “Well, what about this situation?
What about that incident? What if
this person says this, but does that?”
Jesus Christ came to die for the sins of the world. It is given as a gift. We do not earn, we do not deserve it – it
cannot be bought, borrowed or stolen. It
is a gift – God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense.
For the price has been paid for your salvation. You are of great value to God. This is the truth – nothing can separate us from the love of
God in Christ Jesus.
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