When our son moved to Brooklyn after graduating from college, our family friend, Harry Knox, was living there and he offered to take Sterling under his wing. As part of that friendly gesture, Harry told me, “I will get him out of jail once, but only once.” I wasn’t sure whether to be offended that he thought my son might end up in jail or that he would only get him out once. In the end, I decided to just be grateful for his generous offer! (Thankfully Harry never had to rescue Sterling from the criminal justice system in Brooklyn!)
I have never had to get anyone out of jail. I have never paid bail for anyone. I imagine that the whole process is annoying, frustrating, costly (time and money!), and probably degrading.
In Psalm 107 we are told about God redeeming people. The psalm begins:
O give thanks to God, for God is good;
for God’s steadfast love endures forever.
Let the redeemed of God say so,
those whom God redeemed from trouble. . .
For us, the idea of redemption has been overlaid with much theological significance. But at heart, redemption refers to a legal process involving prison. When a person was put in prison, often for debt, a family member was allowed to “redeem” the person; to get them out of jail. To vouch for them and pay a fee for their release. We may think of “redeem” in terms of using a coupon to get a discount, and maybe that translates theologically to God giving us a discount on salvation. But redeem is more closely related to our idea of bailing someone out of jail. And who can we count on for that but family or devoted friends.
When the psalm says that God redeems people in trouble, this implies a familial relationship. It implies intimacy. It implies kinship. It’s almost like saying let those whom God has bailed out of jail, thank God. Let those whom God has gotten out of trouble, thank God. There is the implication of God helping us as one family member helps another in time of need. And, of course, there is the implication that we will get in trouble.
With the familial implications of redemption, I am wondering how we are family to one another. Who would you call if you needed to be bailed out of jail? Who would make that effort for you? Family? Friends? Your pastor? And who would call on you to bail them out of jail? Who do you know that would count on you for that? Who feels that close, that vulnerable, that they would ask you to head to the jail, money in hand, and go through the arduous process of getting them out of jail? So, God is treating us like family, but how are we doing with one another?
As I said at the start, I decided to just be grateful to my friend Harry. If he is ever in jail, I hope he knows that he can count on me!
Prayer
In our troubles we need to know who we can count on. God is there for us, yes, but God needs people willing to help. May we be those that God can count on to do the redeeming in this world, to help people out of trouble. And may we know that there are those we can count on when the chips are down to help us. We are one human family. May we take our familial bonds seriously. Amen.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 