THE LAW WON.

One of things I enjoy is reading up on the news, and the story that has been all over has been the jail saga of Paris Hilton. For those of you who were fortunate enough to not be exposed to this, the story went that Hilton, after having her license suspended for driving under the influence and then being caught twice driving on that suspended license, was sentenced to serve 45 days in the Los Angeles County Jail. But the outcry came when, three days later, she was released by the LA County Sheriff to serve out the remainder of her sentence under house arrest. But this did not sit well with the Judge presiding over her case - the next day, he called Paris back into his courtroom and ordered her back to the county Jail to serve out the rest of her sentence. And she left, sobbing and in handcuffs, to return to the cell from which she came.

Paris' return to jail sparked a flurry of news editorials, many who took this chance to take their shots at Paris' character or lack thereof. But this is not the issue that caught my attention; though I would never condone or excuse her actions, the question that was raised that caught my attention was this one: "How can we say the law is just if it doesn't apply to everyone?" For our system of law to function, it must be applied to everyone, regardless of gender, race, or celebrity status - this is the essence of justice. This is the reality that hit Paris like a ton of bricks - the law is the law, whoever you are, and you will be held accountable for what you've done.

This is the truth for GOD's law as well: whether we like it or not, there will come a day when GOD's justice will become a palpable reality, and we will all be faced with this reality: "There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." (Romans 3:23a) But this is not the end of the story; unlike Paris, who will have to serve out the rest of her 42 days in the big house, those who have realized they couldn't do it on their own and fell into the arms of Jesus will have no fear when justice is fully realized, because it is Jesus who will have stood in our place: "...and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Tony Campolo described this action as the cross of Christ "being like a gigantic vacuum cleaner, sucking all of the world's sins to himself throughout all eternity." For justice to truly be justice, all evil must be answered; thanks to Jesus who "became sin" and imparted to us his righteousness so we could walk free in the new life of grace. Now that's a story worth talking about.

A final thought to chew on from the SF Chronicle article I read:

"'She's a real person who has chosen to live a fictional life,' Calo says. 'She is a shallow, dumb blonde who flaunts her lifestyle. But we can't fault her. We're the ones who decided that this is entertainment.'"

See you soon.