Calls to abolish ICE grew louder this weekend as another protestor lost his life when he interfered with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
It is difficult to watch the video footage.
We all want to put the bullet back in the gun, the words back in the mouth, the forbidden fruit back on the tree. As onlookers, we yearn to do away with the hand that picked the fruit, the lips that spoke the words, the finger that pulled the trigger. We think that if we abolish them, the problem will be stopped. We are as wise as gods, knowing right from wrong.
What fools we are.
The root of the problem has always been the same. Sin brought death into the world. We’ve always wanted our sin without consequences. Abolish consequences. Abolish cost. Abolish pain, grief, and woe so that we can just live our lives in a perpetual state of euphoric pleasure grabbing, bowing to the idol of self.
God allowed death as the ultimate consequence so that He could show His steadfast love and faithfulness in abolishing it. In death, we find our need for life.
Throughout history, we’ve heard about the abolition of slavery, the abolition of abortion, and even recently here in North Dakota, the abolition of property tax. We like bringing unpleasant things to an end.
The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy from prison, where he interacted with men on a power trip as well as men who’d lost their power. He encountered the criminal who’d been abolished and the government officials who needed to be abolished. He recognized the truth that immoral men will want to abolish everyone but themselves.
C.S. Lewis, in his book The Abolition of Man, wrote, “I am very doubtful whether history shows us one example of a man who, having stepped outside of traditional morality and attained power, has used that power benevolently.”
As Paul contemplated the Gospel that had brought him to that prison, he yearned for the abolition of death. He knew his chances weren’t good with Nero as emperor. He’d seen the martyrdom of brothers and sisters in Christ. He’d even approved of the executions before his own spiritual transformation took place. The writing was on his proverbial wall, you might say.
But his hope wasn’t in a benevolent government, a moral police officer, or an effective protest. He didn’t write to Timothy about taking any kind of action on this earth. He wrote of the abolition to end all abolitions.
He wrote of “our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.”
Do what Paul did.
He trusted God and wrote, “But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.”
Paul knew that no riot could take the abolition of death away from him. He knew that no death sentence could remove him from the safety of Christ’s hand. Angry protesters, pepper spray, famine, or sword, could not separate him from the love of God in Christ Jesus his Lord.
Abolish death! The rest will take care of itself.
Sarah Dixon Young 