I cannot imagine witnessing a young child being raped and not physically stopping it, or having knowledge of it and not reporting it to the police. Like so many others I’ve been wondering why Coach Joe Paterno, the athletic Director, and other Penn State officials did not report Sandusky’s child molestation (which it appears they were aware of for many years). I can only assume it was done to try and protect the reputation of the football program and the University.
If that was the goal it backfired and now there will be a hefty price to pay.
Recently I watched a story on 60 Minutes about the family of Bernard Madoff who used a Ponzi scheme to bilk people out of $50 billion over a period of many years. He now sits in jail where he will remain for the rest of his life. His family is disgraced; one of his sons has since committed suicide; his other son’s life has been devastated and his wife’s world came crashing down around her and she has finally turned her back on her husband and considers him despicable.
Hmmm… When all of their misdeeds were happening over those many years, it appeared as though they were getting away with it and their sins would never catch up with them.
This is an age old situation. The prophet Habakkuk lived 600 years before Christ and wailed and complained to God at a time when Judah was rapidly beginning to decline and injustice and immorality were rampant. He demanded to know why God wasn’t doing something about it?
Eventually through prayer and listening to God Habakkuk was humbled and came to understand that God’s justice would prevail at a time and place of His choosing and that justice delayed does not mean justice denied. Eventually everyone’s sins in Judah caught up with them and God did act.
Often the media focuses almost exclusively on the perpetrator when things like the Sandusky or Madoff matters come to light. I think more about the victims. What about all of those kids who were sodomized and raped? How are they coping with the feelings of shame and guilt? Did they turn to violence, alcohol, and drugs? Are they suicidal? What about those who lost their retirement and savings? How can they afford to live right now? Are the charities that lost their entire portfolios still in existence? Like Habakkuk have these people been angrily petitioning God and asking, “Why don’t you do something about this?”
There is a passage in the Bible in Revelation that opens a window to heaven and we can glean a look at Christian martyrs who lost their lives because they followed Christ. They are robed in heavenly glory in God’s presence sitting at the base of His throne petitioning God to usher in justice and asking God to, “Avenge us!” Asking how long He will delay in vindicating God’s holiness with His judgment.
God made clear to these martyrs that their deaths were an appointment and not an accident and that others would join them. He thereby established that even in the death of His people, nothing is left to chance, God is always in control, and there is nothing to fear. The saints of heaven know that God will eventually judge sin and establish righteousness in the earth but they do not know the exact schedule.
It’s coming though…
We cannot escape God’s judgment. The best advice is not to have that affair – end it; don’t cheat on your taxes, don’t engage in that unethical deal, don’t sell something to someone who doesn’t need it, don’t lie, don’t cheat, report crooks and perverts, and on and on. Think about it and do what is right.
Justice is as sure and certain as the sun coming up in a few.
Psalm 106:3
Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right.