Several years ago, I received a summons to jury duty. I know there are mixed feelings about receiving such a summons, but I was fairly ambivalent about it all. Like most people, I had other responsibilities and commitments calling for my time, but I also was extremely curious about how the whole process worked and was more than willing to fulfill my duties as a citizen of this great nation of ours. So, I dutifully filled out the form included with the summons and sent it off for consideration and went back about my life.
As I understood things, they would take the information provided, run it through their evaluation process, then contact me if I had been selected. I understood wrong! A few months after sending my reply, a very official man arrived at my front door with a very robust envelope for which I had to sign. Within said envelope was yet another summons, except this time I was being invited to serve as the defendant. I was being held in contempt of court.
To hold something or someone in contempt is to see it as beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving of scorn.
The Magistrate was not in a good mood the day I stood before her. Of the two dozen potential jurors who had failed to show for the first summons, I was one of very few who showed for the second. She informed me of the charge against me and the potential punishment. She then provided me with a dictionary definition of contempt. To hold something or someone in contempt is to see it as beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving of scorn. She explained that my failure to appear at the appointed date was a demonstration of disrespect and disregard for her, her courtroom, and the legal process itself. She then asked me if I had anything to say for myself.
Several summers of watching Judge Judy had prepared me for this moment. I explained that in my haste, I had failed to properly read the letter included with the summons and that I humbly placed myself at the mercy of the court; I was without excuse. Without batting an eye, she agreed with me. She then began a long lecture, which was better than jail time, explaining the legal process and how regular citizens play a vital part in helping it function. She asserted that my indifference, intentional or not, was the very definition of contempt. By failing to carefully read the letter and show up for service, I had demonstrated contempt. My actions communicated that it was “beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving of scorn.” She then fined me $36, the amount I would have been paid for serving as a juror, and encouraged me to read more carefully so I could act more appropriately in the future.
Romans 2:4 has been haunting me for several days. It reads, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” What a disconcerting thought! I’ve been asking myself, how do we show contempt for God’s grace? I think it’s not that different from how I showed contempt for the court. When we fail to give the Word of God the attention it deserves; when we intentionally or unintentionally ignore or overlook truths that inconvenience us or don’t align with our priorities or preferences; when we fail to act appropriately based upon expectations God has for us; when we fail to recognize and accept His saving grace for our own lives; we demonstrate contempt… that it is “beneath consideration, worthless, and deserving of scorn.”
We are called to be conduits of the compassion of Jesus.
But it goes beyond our own lives, in the context of Romans 1, when we fail to extend His grace to others, we demonstrate contempt. I would submit that this is the bigger issue for Christians today. We are more than willing to receive and apply the grace of God and the truth of His Word to our own lives, but we make the mistake of creating qualifications for others to receive what we ourselves didn’t deserve.
Earlier in Romans 1, Paul announced that the gospel “brings salvation to everyone who believes.” It is not our place to put limitations on the compassionate grace of Jesus, but to be conduits through which it can flow to a world in need. To hold it back is to hold it in contempt. We are called to be conduits of the compassion of Jesus. As we understand the amazing grace of Jesus and apply it to our own lives may we seek to extend it with liberality to all who would hear and receive it.
