The Notice! Last month I received that paper in the mail we all dread—a summons for jury duty. As a minister, counselor and former police chaplain I have never looked good to attorneys before, so I was pretty confident I would burn a day and then be back to my normal routine.
Or not.
I was part of an immense pool (300+) of jurors for a lengthy, extremely serious trial. Oh well. I knew it was very unlikely I would actually be chosen for the jury—both because of my background and the simple statistical odds. In the end, I was told to report back, then again, then assigned to the jury as an alternate. The trial starts in three days, and I will share thoughts and lessons as I am allowed (we haven’t received the instructions from the court yet, so I’m not sure what I’ll be allowed to say during the trial).
The interesting thing was everyone’s attitude about jury duty. All trying to get out of it. All afraid we’ll be chosen. All with sighs of relief when we’re not called by name for the next dozen to be challenged. All with very happy (some visibly and audibly celebrating) when told they are dismissed.
Me too. I even started praying God would simply insure I am not on the jury—after all, I’m needed at the church! (The judge didn’t think so)
The Voice! I don’t hear God speaking audibly, but I hear him. I recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit when he tells me how far off I am. And I heard very clearly, “Who do you want me to make stay on the jury?” He then brought a face into my mind—the face of the defendant. I have no preconceptions about his guilt or innocence (except that he is currently innocent since he has to be proven guilty!). But this man is on trial for his life. As we tried to talk the judge out of our service, he is sitting there knowing 12 of us will decide his fate, potentially even whether he would live or die.
I am of course learning more than that. I am currently in the process of thinking through what I can and cannot do in ministry during this time. I’ll meet with the staff and elders and we’ll figure it out. However, the one thing I know for sure is that the fate of North Orange Christian Church doesn’t ride on my shoulders. We’re about to show that pretty clearly. I fully expect to work as hard as I can and still be very involved in the ministry during this time. I also know God will work in and through the church. I fully expect we will continue to grow spiritually and even numerically.
In Christ,
Randy
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