Buying Green Bananas

Judgment and Redemption…  Two themes that tango through the pages of scripture from start to finish.  Two themes that tango through the streets of our lives with opposing appeal.    

Thursday, December 12, 2013 was adoption day.  I showed up at the County Courthouse in the morning looking for the courtroom where adoption proceedings are held.  Little Ben and Kate were about to have a new legal Dad and Mom. 

The security guy who took my pocket knife keychain was nice enough to direct me:  “Up three floors and down the hall, you’ll see signs.”  That seems helpful, I thought.  Half dozen inquiries later I arrived in a wide hall to find two sets of large double doors opposite each other:

On the left, Courtroom 1 – Judge Ira Uhrig

On the right, Courtroom 3 – Judge Charles R. Snyder.

For some reason I thought I recalled hearing that the proceedings would be in courtroom 1 with Judge Snyder.  Hmmm.  Those don’t match, I thought.  I skipped the coin flip and chose courtroom 1 on the left.

I quietly opened the door and realized immediately I picked the wrong room.  It was packed.  Standing room only.  Lots of folks in street clothes or cheap suits.  Along one wall was a row of police officers in full uniform.  The bench right in front was full-up with men dressed in bland blue jumpers with “WCJ” printed in bold black letters across their backs.  There was murmuring and people shuffling about nervously and a couple of mom’s trying to keep their babies quiet.  The air was thick and stuffy.  I needed to breathe so I backed out the door.  As I did, Judge Uhrig lowered his gavel on the sounding block.  My shoulders jerked and I winced.  Judgment in the courtroom on the left. 

As I turned I spotted a lady across the hall standing by the door to courtroom 3; the one that was on the right.  She was dressed well with a lovely crown of white hair and a kind disposition.  She smiled at me.  Surely she read my face and realized my error.  “Are you here for an adoption proceeding?” she asked. 

“Yes, I am…Jeff and Trista.”

She glanced at her list.  “They’re scheduled for 9:15 with Judge Snyder.  You may wait here,” she said, still smiling.  She gestured toward a long wooden bench near her door.  I checked the time on my phone.  I was early, so I settled in and waited. 

Not a minute later a family and several others, along with not a few kids, came bounding out the door next to me.  They were electric.  Joy wasn’t just on their faces, it was in their feet and their hands.  I couldn’t help but smile along with them. 

As they left the wide hall another family and several others entered with a single little boy, hair as red as a fire truck and a grin wider than his cheeks.  They also were electric.  Pure happy all over them as they disappeared into courtroom 3.  Several minutes later they emerged in similar form as the previous family. 

Finally it was time.  Jeff and Trista, and their family, along with me and a few others filed into courtroom 3.  It was mostly empty.  The air was light and fresh.  We all stood as Judge Snyder entered.  He skipped his bench and came right to the table where Jeff and Trista stood with their son, and Ben and Kate.  The kids were dressed superbly.  The attorney read over the highlights of the adoption petition while asking a few obvious questions.  I took a few pics on my phone.  Judge Snyder commended the nearly new parents and promptly signed the papers declaring Ben and Kate legally adopted.  He smiled pleasantly, the way you hope a judge smiles when he’s at home or on vacation or otherwise enjoying himself, then gathered the new family of five together with him for pictures.  Redemption in the courtroom on the right.

It wasn’t until later in the day that I realized the irony of the morning.  You’ve probably already caught on. 

Criminal court on the left.  Permissible court on the right.

Rights revoked on the left.  Rights bestowed on the right.

Accusations, defense, evidence, arguments, indictments, verdicts; all on the left.  Affirmation, commendation, confirmation, declaration; all on the right.

Bondage on the left.  Freedom on the right. 

Pain on the left.  Pleasure on the right.

Judgment on the left.  Redemption on the right. 

I’m not sure how I’ve felt about the image in Matthew 25 where Jesus describes himself separating the sheep and the goats at the end of the age.  I really loved my pet goat growing up.  But of course this is much less about Jesus condemning goats and more about him granting to those before him precisely what their lives have been characterized by.  Here’s the gist…     

“Sheep, over here to my right, please.  Each of you has lived a life characterized by redemption in Christ.  Come now and receive the fullness of my redemption.”

“Goats, over here to my left, now.  Each of you has lived a life characterized by judgment without Christ.  Get out now and receive the fullness of my just judgment.”

And I’m softening that last bit.  Read it for yourself in verse 31-46.  Judgment on the left.  Redemption on the right.  The parallel to my experience at the courthouse was uncanny. 

The whole thing got me thinking about the life I live.  Day-in and day-out, would others say I’m characterized more by the qualities of redemption or judgment?  The way I talk; my tone with others, is it redemptive or judgmental?  The way I treat those of less desirable social status; redemptive or judgmental?  The way I look at others or listen to others; redemptive or judgmental. 

Sheesh, I don’t know.  I think…I hope…they’d say I tend toward the qualities of redemption? 

What about you? 

I don’t know if you’ve ever sat in a criminal courtroom before.  (I’ve been on the wrong end of mitigation for a traffic violation once and that was enough for me.  Now I just pay my tickets and move on.)  Walking into courtroom 1 felt entirely out of place for me.  It’s not where I belonged, nor is it anywhere I ever want to belong; either now with Judge Uhrig presiding or at the end of the age with the King of Kings and eternal Son of God, Christ Jesus himself, presiding.    

Eventually, as I processed this unique irony from my day, I landed in Galatians 4:4-5.  Maybe you’ve read it before… 

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

In other words, at the perfect time; Christmas time even, God sent Jesus Christ into courtroom 1 on the left to bear the heavy burden of God’s own law and receive the fullness of just judgment on the cross so that I, along with any of you reading, might move across the hall into courtroom 3 on the right to bear the lightened burden of God’s grace and receive the fullness of redemption as adopted sons and daughters.

So, I guess it’s in your court so to speak.  It’s a wide hall, this life we live.  There are many options and much to choose from as we wander through the streets of our lives.  Yet, at the end of the day, there will be only judgment on the left and redemption on the right.  Where will you be standing?

Oh, the title for this post?  A wonderful idea from Jeff and Trista, now thankful new parents of Ben and Kate…  As foster parents the ongoing challenge is never knowing how long the foster children will stay with you.  “Don’t by green bananas” they say, because the kids may not be around long enough for them to ripen.  As we left the courthouse that Thursday morning Jeff smiled really big at me, his eyes were as intense and kind as ever, and he said, “Now we can buy green bananas.” 

I think there will be, there on the right side of the Lord Jesus Christ on that final day of judgment and redemption, a heaping pile of green bananas for all those who have finally received the fullness of their redemption; adoption as sons and daughters of God the Father.