Justified
Settling Accounts
Justified. The word stuck in my mind lately is also the title of a TV series I used to watch with my son. Life seems to be keeping a balance sheet; we feel we are justified in resolving debts caused by the offenses of others. In this reflection, I explore feeling justified in settling accounts, the hidden costs involved, and a better way of living.
My Mysterious Mind
A few years back, my son introduced me to a TV Series called “Justified.” In this action-crime show, U.S. Marshall, Raylan Givens, played by Timothy Olyphant, seeks to serve justice in his hometown. In this region of eastern Kentucky, some people, because of their rampant criminal behavior, are described, after being shot by Marshall Givens, as those who “needed killing.” Their destructive lives are ended in Raylan’s unique brand of justice; their deaths are “justified.”
There’s darkness in the core of humanity expressed as criminal behavior by some, and by others, purportedly seeking justice, as settling the score. Those who have murdered someone are seen as having created a blood debt. There is a primitive call for blood debts to be settled by additional bloodshed; this is a common theme throughout history and even in modern times. From the feuds of the Hatfields and McCoys, to inner city gang violence, to tribal battles, to modern wars, the relentless shedding of blood is traded between those who are “wrong” and those who are seeking to “right the wrong.” Each retaliation creates another blood debt, prompting another round of retaliation, with spectators choosing sides, proclaiming one side to be justified in the blood they shed to settle accounts.
Even in cases where criminal behavior doesn’t result in death, there is still a sense that someone “must pay” for their crimes. When convicted, a judgment is enacted that provides a way for the criminal “to settle their debt to society.” Those involved hope the sentence is in line with what the criminal “deserved.” There is some invisible tally sheet keeping score, with a sense of balancing the crime with the level of punishment.
I am not saying this is not how things should be; I’m merely describing how they are. In fact, maybe there is some mystical reality that drives our sense of justice. Maybe offenses do create a debt that must be paid and the settling of that debt is justified. I think this topic is complicated by the difficulty of determining the “level” of debt, and how those debts should be settled.
For me, I have experienced a primal desire to settle accounts when someone has wronged me. I feel like they “owe” me. I regret to confess that I have imagined how these debts might be settled. Might I be in a position to rectify the debt by paying back the injury? Perhaps I watch for something unpleasant happening in the life of the offender and conclude they got what they deserved. I have heard myself, and others, say things like: “He had that coming!”
I have heard parents say, about something terrible that is happening with one of their children, “she made the mess, now she has to live in it.” A natural consequence is sometimes seen as justified, a way the cosmos is “settling accounts.” To some extent this makes sense to me, but I also wonder where compassion and grace fit in. I also wonder how people “with blood on their own hands” can be the ones justified in settling accounts with those who wrong them.
Message of Mystery Acres
We purchased Mystery Acres five years ago and paid for it without acquiring a loan. We didn’t want to “owe anything” and have made decisions to keep from having overhead cost. We added a shed and didn’t use borrowed money. We purchased a small cabin and paid for it without financing. We chose not to bring utilities to the property so as not to have any monthly payments to make. I say all of this not to brag, but to demonstrate our intentions to not have debt or monthly expenses. With this land having a recreational purpose, we didn’t want there to be any ongoing cost to drain our enjoyment.
We knew there were property taxes, and sure enough, that bill showed up as expected. What was surprising was how diligent the county assessor was at increasing our property value after every improvement we made. Our bill went up after we added the shed and it increased again after we added the cabin. Even though we tried to have a place “free” of ongoing cost, we soon experienced how the county needed a piece of our freedom, and they expect it every year.
And then there’s the matter of insurance. At first we just needed liability insurance in case someone was injured on our property and decided to seek damages. Then, after adding the shed, we needed insurance for the structure. And, as you would predict, we added more insurance after buying the cabin. Even though these structures carry no debt, they do have a recurring cost.
We enjoy having visitors to Mystery Acres and we share this piece of nature with them without any expectation to share the cost. To our visitors, Mystery Acres is free. To us, it is not, even though we have no debt connected to it. Beyond the financial overhead, which we tried so hard to avoid, there is the overhead of maintenance. The gravel road we added is regularly threatened to return to the forest, with grass and weeds stubbornly emerging from between the rocks. Without water, sewer, and electrical infrastructure, there is human cost to supporting these needs for us and our visitors.
The message of Mystery Acres, a place of such wonderful freedom, is that nothing is actually free. Everything, including freedom, has a cost. Something is only free to us when someone else is covering the bill. My husband and I very much enjoy covering the bills of Mystery Acres so that others can enjoy a sense of freedom there. I guess that isn’t justified, but it is pretty great.
Ancient Mystery’s Voice
Jesus said, “I need to be killed.” (see Mark 8:31 for full verse)
The book of Mark was written by one of the early disciples of Jesus. In the 8th chapter he included some of Jesus’ words where He explained how He needed to suffer many things and be killed. As a lifelong member of the church, I am very familiar with this section of the Bible but I noticed something I had overlooked before. Jesus, referring to Himself as the Son of Man, said he has to be killed.
I thought of U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens describing how some criminals “needed killing.” But Jesus was not a criminal. Far from it. For three years He had lived as a homeless person, roaming the countryside, visiting various towns, offering words of wisdom and healing people from illness, paralysis, blindness, and deafness. He wasn’t a horrible criminal, so why did He need killing?
To the religious leaders of the day, Jesus needed killing because He claimed to be God, an offense punishable by death for Jews. But, if Jesus really was God, He didn’t “need killing.” And Jesus, who had proclaimed Himself to be one with God, would not have asserted His need to be killed for that because He didn’t view Himself as committing a crime in that assertion.
So, why did Jesus believe He “needed killing?” He hadn’t committed a crime worthy of capital punishment. Why was His execution necessary?
Well, like all blood debts, someone had to pay. His death was a payment for a blood debt, but not His own. Perhaps the words of Paul in his letter to the Christians in Rome might help. In Romans 5:9, Paul said, “we are justified by His blood, saved through Him from wrath.”
Justified. The crimes of all humans, called “sins” in the Bible, are a massive blood debt, cancelled only by death. The tricky part is that a death can’t cancel a blood debt for someone else unless the person who dies doesn’t owe any debt for their own crimes. Therefore, Jesus, who had no blood debt of His own to pay could pay the blood debt for everyone else. Jesus “needed killing,” not for Himself, but for us. His death settled our accounts with God. That payment was free to us, but very expensive to Jesus.
Living in Mystery
The mystery of settling accounts is that everything has a cost. Crimes create a debt to society. Recreational spaces are expensive to own and maintain, even if free to those with whom they are shared. Our offenses against each other, and our offenses against God, create a form of debt. Punishment or payment is justified for any type of debt. When payment is justified the balance sheet of accounts has been settled.
How does this mystery of justified accounts inform our way of living? First, the knowledge of this mystery brings recognition of the costs that have been paid by others on my account. This recognition includes veterans who paid for our freedom, parents who paid the cost of our upbringing, and Jesus who paid for our sin-debt. Just as visitors to Mystery Acres recognize the costs we pay behind the scenes, the recognition brings gratitude.
Thus, to live in the mystery of settled accounts, is to live in gratitude. Realizing how much of the “debt” of our very existence has been paid for us creates a deep sense of thankfulness. That gratitude extends to anyone who has operated behind the scenes of our lives.
A second important part of the mystery of settled accounts, is about the debts we owe each other, not debts of money, but debts caused by careless words or hurtful actions. When someone has caused us pain, we may be justified in wanting them to suffer in order to settle the score. But the better way to live is to let go of these “debts;” and to forgive what’s “owed” to us. The best way to settle accounts is not to see justice, but to release those who “owe us” for what they have done. Paying back pain for pain makes for entertaining crime drama, but there is never an end to the exchange.
As an old mom to young parents, there is an important application of this topic to the misbehavior of children. Consequences for bad behavior are justified, and parents are in an appropriate position to deliver those consequences. Expressing parental disappointment, removing privileges, or putting a young child in time-out are helpful ways to train children. These punishments draw a child’s attention to the harm or danger their behavior is causing, or might cause. It’s far better for a child to learn this from a loving parent than to learn from a heartless criminal justice system as teens or adults. It is also helpful to teach a bit of compassion for a child whose natural consequences are too much for them to bear. A child who broke something should be expected to pay for it, however, a parent might offer to reduce the debt as a show of compassion. Making a mess should result in the natural consequence of cleaning it up, but it is also appropriate for a parent to help an overwhelmed child, just a little, to demonstrate an act of empathy which the child might model in the future. It isn’t beneficial for a child to have no negative consequences for their misbehavior, or to be released completely from unpleasant consequences. Life will deliver a demand for accounts that need to be settled. Effective parents help children learn that while young, long before those accounts are settled by jail time.
And, finally, I propose we strive to settle the accounts where we owe someone else, not to take justice into our own bloody hands when hurt by another. Gratitude for what others have forgiven or how others have sacrificed for us, can energize a settling of accounts that brings more life and joy to us and others. Perhaps this is why, when I go to Starbucks or a restaurant with one of my adult children, they say to me, “Get whatever you want, Mom.” That expression of gratitude extended to me might be a small way they are trying to settle an account for my years of sacrificial parenting. This is a beautiful way to settle accounts because their generosity is justified.
Connecting with Mystery
Dear Lord of All Mystery, this life is fraught with pain traded between us. I confess to feeling a desire to settle accounts when I am wronged, or at least to witness something bad happening as a consequence to the perpetrator. Help me to live in the mystery of settled accounts by practicing gratitude to those who sacrificed for me and forgiveness towards those who have hurt me. Thank You for paying a blood debt I owed, one I couldn’t pay with my own hands. Amen.
Notes from Dr. Mac
If you want to do your own investigation of any of the scriptures I use, I suggest you go to Bible Gateway. This free online version of the Bible allows a search of words or phrases in various translations.
You can find previous posts and podcasts in my ARCHIVE and organized compilations in the My “Books” section.
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