The following is a reflection written by our very own Curate, Fr. Wesley Owens.
Friends, please pray for the men of Wakulla Correctional Institution. This past week, some Christian brothers and I spent four days with a group of 42 inmates, sharing the love of Jesus and preaching the Good News of his redemption. The hunger for God in the room was palpable. Some of these men had never encountered God before; others knew their Bibles better than most seasoned churchgoers. The love, joy, and camaraderie that they witnessed had a disarming effect that was nothing short of miraculous. Many had not received a letter, let alone a visitor, in years. Here are a few lessons that I have learned through this experience.
Those who are most aware of their mistakes are most receptive to God’s grace. I went expecting to find “hardened criminals.” What I found instead were fathers, husbands, and sons united by a shared sense of remorse and a deep desire to reconcile with their families. If anyone is “hard” it is those on the outside who attend churches week after week – yet remain completely indifferent to Christ and blind to the urgency of the Gospel. If you are not sure what I mean, read Luke 18:9-14.
Prisoners are human beings made in God’s image, not animals – and they deserve to be treated with dignity. Wardens and correctional officers do the best with what they have, but state prisons are underfunded and understaffed. This leads to miserable conditions on the inside: overcrowding, poor diet, no air conditioning in the hot Florida summer, etc. Stabbings, prison rape, and the black-market drug trade are ever-present dangers to personal safety. With all the trauma that prisoners experience coupled with the limited number of reentry programs, it is no wonder that so many go on to re-offend.
A little humility goes a long way. It is easy to look down on others if we have never grappled with the fragility of human life or understood the weight of our own sin. We need to realize that most serious offenders were shaped in detrimental ways by the sins of others. Many came from broken families. Many were abused sexually and physically as children. Many lived in neighborhoods ridden with substance abuse. Many had no example of manhood to follow beyond what their small corner of society gave them. As human beings, we are responsible for our choices, and so we are never merely passive victims of our social circumstances. But, this does not change the fact that we are shaped in profound ways by our environments, both for good and for ill. Recognizing this fact can be both alarming and deeply humbling. What are the blessings in your life that you take for granted? To quote one of the inmates, “we need gratitude in our attitude.”
God is a God of justice, and there are consequences for sin if we reject him. But, he is also a God of mercy, and “mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13). He delights in giving us more than we deserve, and he expects us to demonstrate this same merciful love in our dealings with our human brothers and sisters. Jesus died for criminals – yes, even thieves, murderers, and sex offenders. I think back to Jesus’ conversation with the two thieves on crosses next to him:
“One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’ And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise’” (Luke 23:39-43).
There is no sin so great that our merciful God will not forgive – if we repent and cling by faith to his mercy. And there is no persistent unrepentance so small that our just God will overlook it, if it endures until death. Remember this! On the day of judgment, there will be many repentant prisoners entering joyfully into the Kingdom of God, and there will be many so-called “good people” in our society who will be cast into the outer darkness. James 2:10 reminds us that “whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” I am in grave danger if I allow myself to excuse or minimize my own wrongdoing through trite comparisons to others. The mentality of “At least I’m not as bad as him!” is self-deceptive. It is certainly no way to live. There is only one man to whom we should be comparing ourselves, and his name is Jesus Christ – a man who never sinned, yet endured prison, trial, and crucifixion for the sake of those who had.
Friends, this is the Good News of the Gospel – that you and I are far worse than we understand, yet more loved than we could possibly imagine. Jesus willingly mounted the cross and died for YOU! He rose again, defeating death and the grave so that you might have new life in him. And we are called to follow him! In Matthew 16:24-26, Jesus said to his disciples: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”
A PRAYER FOR PRISONERS: “O God, you forgive when we deserve punishment, and in your wrath you remember mercy: We humbly ask you, of your goodness, to comfort all prisoners. Give them a right understanding of themselves, and of your promises, that trusting wholly in your mercy, they may not place their confidence anywhere but in you. Relieve the distressed; deliver the innocent; bring the guilty to repentance; and as you alone bring light out of darkness, and good out of evil, grant that by the power of your Holy Spirit they may be set free from the chains of sin, and brought to newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. -BCP 2019, p. 664
