A couple years ago a 16-year-old young man by the name of Ethan Couch killed four people while driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Do you remember this? It made national news. Already on probation for underage drinking and with two cases of stolen beer in the truck, young Ethan was speeding through a residential area when he lost control of his dad’s Ford F-350 and collided with a group of people assisting another driver with a disabled vehicle. Four people were killed in the collision and a total of nine people were injured. Two passengers in Ethan’s truck suffered serious bodily injury, one with complete paralysis.
Ethan was charged with four counts of manslaughter for recklessly driving under the influence. Prosecutors were seeking a maximum sentence of 20 years' imprisonment for Ethan. You would think considering the history of prior offenses combined with the horrific deaths of four people, this would be an open and shut case. However, Ethan’s defense attorneys came up with an effective, albeit dubious, defense. A psychologist, hired by the defense, testified in court that the teen was a product of "affluenza". Not influenza, influenza is a viral infection that attacks your respiratory system — your nose, throat and lungs. Influenza is a real thing. The defense argued Ethan suffered from “affluenza”. Affluenza, the defense explained, is a condition in which an individual, like poor Ethan, is “unable to link his bad behavior (in this case manslaughter) with consequences because of his parents’ teaching him that wealth buys privilege.” In other words, the defense argued that poor Ethan was too rich to be held accountable for his action. As a result of his “condition”, Ethan was sentenced to ten years of probation and ordered to undergo therapy. The families of the victims, indeed the entire country was outraged. It seemed as though Ethan Couch had gotten away with it.
Has something like this ever happened to you? Maybe not, I pray not, to this scale, but have you ever been wronged by someone who got away with it? Perhaps you have been a victim of character defamation — maybe mean, nasty, ugly things have been said about you, maybe unsubstantiated lies have been spread about you, maybe the truth was told in such a way as to slander your reputation? Perhaps you have been the victim of abuse — mental, verbal, maybe even physical abuse? Have you ever been wronged by someone who got away with it?
I wouldn’t at all be surprised if you had. We live in a world full of wrong. We live in a world where “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.”[1] We live in a world where man’s wickedness is great and “every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.”[2] We live in a world where the minds of men are so sinfully hostile to God that they do “not submit to God’s law, nor can they do so.”[3] This is the world that we live in. Of course, you have been wronged, it would be strange if you haven’t.
That we would suffer wrong at the hands of another is not at all surprising to us, or at least it shouldn’t be. What is sometimes hard for us to accept is that very often the people who wrong us seem to get away with it. When doers of wrong seem to get away with it we are tempted to question the fundamental nature of our God. Since He is omniscient, our God knows when wrong has been done to us. Since our God is holy, He knows the difference between right and wrong. Since our God is omnipotent, He has the power to punish those who have wronged us. Therefore, when we see doers of wrong seemingly getting away with it, we wonder, is our God just?
In response to our rather bold and blasphemous question/accusation, in saint Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians our God graciously defends Himself. In 2 Thessalonians 5:6-7 we read, “6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well.” God will “pay back”, that is He will cause the doers of wrong to suffer because of what they have done to you. Check out verse 9 to see how God pays them back. There we read, “9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.” Those who do us wrong will be “punished with everlasting destruction”, they will be made to feel the pain of annihilation and not just once. They will not simply be executed they will experience what it feels like to die again and again and again, for all eternity. They will experience this feeling “shut out from the presence of the Lord”. Our God will turn His back on them. They will no longer benefit from His blessings, that is they will no longer be the recipients of His kindness, compassion, and care. Never again will they know what it feels like to be loved or at peace. They will exist in an abyss in which they have neither happiness nor hope. All who seek justice for those who seem to have gotten away with it can be assured, the doer of wrong will be paid back for the wrong they have done.
Now that’s what we are talking about, right. That’s what we want to hear. Those who do wrong should be punished. So, when is this punishing going to take place? In verse 7 we read, “This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.” Well, that’s judgement day. We have to wait until judgment day to see the doers of wrong get what’s coming to them? Why? What is taking so long? The longer their punishment is delayed the more it seems as if they are getting away with it. Would it not be better to punish them here and now; punish them as soon as possible so that it is clear to everyone that they are not getting away with it? How about some good old fashion fire and brimstone!? Rain down judgment on them oh God, punish the doers of wrong, punish them all, and punish them now!
The sons of thunder[4] would admire your zeal, but are you sure that is what you want? Are you sure you want your God to demonstrate His justice by punishing the doers of wrong the very moment wrong is done by them? Is that really what you want? Now, maybe you are thinking, “yes, pastor that is what I want. If you knew the pain and suffering a doer of wrong has caused me and my family, you would want the same thing.” I may not know your specific pain and suffering, but trust me, I know what it feels like to be the victim of a doer of wrong and I too have wanted to see my doer of wrong punished. But before we accuse our God of injustice for seemingly letting people get away with it, perhaps we better take a closer look at who the doers of wrong are.
In verse 8 the doers of wrong are described as “those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” This isn’t speaking of those who are ignorant of God’s existence (indeed there is no one like that for the very heavens declare the glory of our God). Rather, this is speaking of those who refuse to give God the obedience that He deserves. God is disrespected when the gospel of our Lord Jesus, like the one recorded in John 13:34 were Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” God is disrespected when that gospel is not obeyed. The doers of wrong are those who fail to love one another as Jesus has loved them. They are the ones who are unwilling to forgive and forget. They are the ones who refuse to show love to the loveless. They are the ones who withhold mercy from merciless. They are the ones who want God to reign down fire and brimstone and punish the doers of wrong.
If our God were to immediately punish all the doers of wrong, would He not have already punished you? Your loveless, merciless desire to see others punished has made you a doer of wrong. As a doer of wrong, should our God not punish you with everlasting destruction? As a doer of wrong, should our God not shut you out from His presence? Perhaps we should not cry out so strongly against our God about His unjust treatment of those who seemingly get away with it.
Our God is just. He will pay back; He will punish those who are doers of wrong. But our God is not only just He is also “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin”.[5] Our God “takes no pleasure in the death” of the doers of wrong, but rather He calls upon them to “turn from their evil ways and live”[6]. Our God “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth”.[7] And that is why our God sent His doer of right into our world of wrong.
Jesus was a victim of character defamation —mean, nasty, ugly things were said about Him, unsubstantiated lies were spread about Him, and the truth was told in such a way as to slander His reputation. Jesus was a victim of abuse — mental, verbal, and most definitely physical abuse. Jesus was wronged, as wronged as anyone can be. And this is what He wanted our God of justice to do to those who had wronged Him, while they were wronging Him, more specifically, while they were hammering nails into His hands and feet, Jesus cried out to our God in heaven, “Father… forgive them.”[8] Jesus did not want God’s judgment to rain down upon those who had done Him wrong. Instead, in the place of all doers of wrong, Jesus allowed God’s judgement to rain down on Himself. Jesus felt what it was like to be punished with everlasting destruction. Jesus experienced what it was like to be shut out from the Lord’s presence. Jesus suffered hell so that no doer of wrong would have to.
Considering what Jesus endured on behalf of and in the place of all doers of wrong, of course He is going to give them every possible chance to repent of the wrong they have done. Of course, He is going be as patient as patient can be so that they might benefit from His gifts of forgiveness and salvation that He has bought for them. My fellow victims, God isn’t letting the doers of wrong get away with it, He is granting them time to repent of the wrong they have done.
Our God of both justice and compassion has granted that time to you and to me. And by the working of the Holy Spirit in your life I urge you to take advantage of the time you have been given. Confess your sinful desire to see a doer of wrong punished. Trust that Jesus has forgiven you for the wrong that you have done. Pray, pray for those who have done you wrong, pray that our just God be patient with them, pray that He give them as much time as possible to turn from their evil ways and live, pray to our God in heaven, father… forgive them.
All who, by the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives, take advantage of the time they have been given will find relief in heaven. In verse 10 we read, “10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.” On the day Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels, all who repent of the wrong they have done will feel the joy of salvation, they will feel what it feels like to be truly alive and they will feel it for all eternity. They will experience this feeling as they stand in the presence of the Lord. Our God’s face will shine on them and they will be recipients of His kindness, compassion, and care. Forever they will know what it feels like to be loved and at peace. Their existence will be an abundance of happiness and hope. And you, you will be among them, because you believed. Amen.
[1] Ecclesiastes 7:20
[2] Genesis 8:21
[3] Romans 8:7
[4] When a Samaritan village rejected Jesus, James and John (the sons of thunder) wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy them. Luke 9:51-56
[5] Exodus 34:6-7
[6] Ezekiel 33:11
[7] 1 Timothy 2:4
[8] Luke 23:34