Earlier this week a friend asked me, “knowing everything that you know now, would you still choose to be a pastor?” I had never been asked the question quite like that before and wasn’t sure how to answer it at the time. Later the question got me to thinking about some of the jobs I had before I became a pastor. I have bailed hay in the heat of the summer, I have swept floors in a metal factory, and I have changed diapers in a nursing home. I guess what I am trying to say is I have had some pretty bad jobs. But I think one of the worst jobs I ever had was when I was a process server for a group of lawyers in Milwaukee.
A process server is a person who delivers legal papers to people to inform them of a litigation that has been filed against them. Basically, I was a messenger of misery who drove around in a Honda civic handing out eviction notices, divorce decrees, property repossessions, and various lawsuits.
It was kind of a dangerous job. one of the scariest legal papers I ever had to serve was on a guy who got out of jail but was only going to be out of jail for a short period of time because there were additional warrants out for his arrest. One of them, I think, was for assault. Anyway, my boss wanted me to serve him papers telling him that his Harley Davidson was going to be repossessed. My boss said I had to hurry before the cops got there to arrest him again. But I might want to time it so that the cops would show up as soon as I was done because the man was known to have a stockpile of weapons in his house. I don’t know if I ever told Michelle the full details of that delivery. I did call her and tell her the address I was going to and if she did not hear from me in 30 minutes to call the police. She was not happy with me that night.
Being a process server was also a rather sad job. I will never forget the woman who answered the door holding a baby in her arms and had a toddler hiding behind one of her legs. The poor woman burst into tears when I told her that her husband had filed for divorce. She asked me if I liked my job and I told her “No ma’am, right now I do not.” To make matters worse when I walked back to my car, I saw her husband watching me serve the papers from across the street. I wanted to go have a chat with the spineless man-child who just watched me tell his family what he was about to do to them. But instead, I went home and hugged my wife and kids.
Being a process server was one of the worst jobs I have ever had. It was depressing, but it also paid the bills. In addition to tuition at the Seminary I also had a wife and two kids to take care of and if that meant I had to be the guy who said, “You’ve been served” so be it. But I couldn’t wait to be done with that job. I was so happy when I received a call into the public ministry and would no longer have to be a messenger of misery. But after a short time in the ministry, I began to realize that I was still doing the same job just for a higher court.
If I showed up on your doorstep ready to serve you with legal papers from God’s court, what do you imagine they might say? What sort of fine, fee, penalty, or punishment do you imagine that court might send me to extract from you? Maybe it would help if I gave you a couple points of reference from the Georgia judicial system. In the state of Georgia defamation of character (the 8th commandment to you and me) is resolved for an average total cost of $15,000. In the state of Georgia theft (7th commandment for you and me) can get you up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. Most people don’t know this, but adultery (6th commandment for you and me) is illegal in the state of Georgia. Now, no one has been convicted of adultery in the state of Georgia for the last 100 years, not because Georgians are so faithful but because no one wants to bother with it. However, a spouse who is the victim of adultery in the state of Georgia is more likely to take their cheating spouse to the cleaners (financially speaking). In the state of Georgia murder (5th commandment for you and me) is punishable by life in prison, possibly without parole, and potentially may even get you the death sentence.
O.K. that is probably enough to give you a pretty good idea what sort of charges should be filed against you and what sort of fine, fee, penalty, or punishment should be extracted from you. What do you think; what would be on the legal paper I would serve you? And remember the court that I now serve considers crimes committed in your heart to be just as serious a violation as crimes committed with your hands. So again, what sort of fine, fee, penalty, or punishment do you imagine the court that I serve might send me to extract from you? A few thousands of dollars from misdemeanors? several years in prison? Back-to-back to back life sentences, possibly without parole, potential even a death sentence?
In many ways my work as a pastor is like the work I did as a process server; I am still serving people legal notifications. However, there is one very notable difference. The legal document I have been sent to serve you is blank. No charges have been made against you, you have not been summoned to appear before the court, no fines, no fees, are to be paid by you, no penalties, no punishments are to be extracted from you. The legal document I have been sent to serve you is blank, your slate, as they say, has been wiped clean.
Would you like to know how this most unexpected acquittal occurred? Take another look at Isaiah 53:10-12. Prior to these verses the prophet Isaiah tells us that Jesus was “despised and rejected by men”[1], that He was “stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted”[2], that He was “led like a lamb to the slaughter”[3], that He “was assigned a grave with the wicked.”[4] Then in verse 10 the prophet Isaiah tells us all of this was “the LORD’s will”. The LORD was happy, eager, excited for these things to happen to His Son, not because of what they did to Jesus but because of what they did for you.
In verse 10 the prophet Isaiah explains how we are able to avoid fee or fine when he calls Jesus our “guilt offering”. Historically a guilt offering provided compensation plus interest to the person who was wronged. In Numbers 5:6-7 the LORD said to Moses, “6 Say to the Israelites: ‘When a man or woman wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the LORD, that person is guilty 7 and must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution for his wrong, add one fifth to it and give it all to the person he has wronged.” When we sin against God, we incur a damnable debt for the wrong we have committed against Him. We owe God a restitution or compensation for this wrong. The problem is we do not possess a currency valuable enough to compensate the holy God for our crimes, but Jesus does. Though tempted, Jesus was never tainted by sin. As a result, the perfect blood that flowed through Jesus’ veins was exceedingly valuable. When Jesus shed this blood on the cross it proved to be of sufficient value as to compensate the holy God for the crimes of all men. Which is why the last thing Jesus said before He gave up His spirit was “it is finished”[5], indicating that there was no debt left outstanding and no further payment that needed to be made. Because Jesus became your guilt offering there is neither fee nor fine that is owed by you. I
In verse 11 the prophet Isaiah explains how we escape penalty and punishment when he tells us Jesus, the “righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.” A just person is one who conforms to a moral or ethical standard; they are what we might call a law-abiding citizen. As a result of their obedience to the law, this person has no reason to fear punishment, or what Isaiah calls iniquities. Here Isaiah tells us Jesus justifies us. Notice that we were not found to be just, nor do we justify ourselves. Rather, Jesus justifies us. This is a legal action, or judicial decree to acquit us of penalty or punishment.
Jesus was able to acquit us of penalty and punishment because He bore our iniquities. Jesus paid the penalty of death for us. Jesus suffered the punishment of the damned for us. Then, after He descended into hell to proclaim His victory to the devil and all the demons Jesus rose from the dead thereby declaring that the penalty of death and the punishment of the damned had been indefinitely deferred. Jesus once promised His disciples, “because I live you will live.”[6] This promise now echoes off the walls of an empty tomb and assures us that no penalty will ever be afflicted upon us, no punishment will ever be endured by us. Jesus bore our iniquities; Jesus bore our punishment so that we would never have to.
In verse 12 the prophet Isaiah tells us our Savior Jesus who has paid our fees and fines and has endured our penalties and punishments has been given a “portion among the great” and divides “the spoils with the strong”. The prophet Isaiah invites us to see Jesus ascended into heaven and seated in glory so that we will know that even if Satan, the great accuser himself were to bring a charge against us we have nothing to fear. The one who paid your fees and fine and endured your penalties and punishments is the one who will judge the living and the dead. As saint Paul so eloquently said in his letter to the Romans, “33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”[7] There is no charge or complaint no allegation or accusation that can be made against you. As long as the one who paid your fees and fine and endured your penalties and punishments is interceding for you, you have nothing to fear.
My work as a pastor is in many ways like the work I did as a process server but with one very notable difference. Whereas once I was a messenger of misery, because of Jesus I have now become a messenger of mercy. So, having had a moment to think about it I am ready to answer the question my friend asked. Knowing what I know now I can’t think of anything I would rather do than tell God’s people that because of Jesus neither fee nor fine will be extracted from them; because of Jesus neither penalty nor punishment will be inflicted on them. I am still delivering legal notifications to people but because of Jesus the legal document I have been sent to serve you is blank. Therefore, it is with joy I say to you, “you’ve been served”. Amen
[1] Isaiah 53:3
[2] Isaiah 53:4
[3] Isaiah 53:7
[4] Isaiah 53:9
[5] John 19:30
[6] John 14:19
[7] Romans 8:33-34