Words for Graduates

Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Last week, I had the privilege to offer the keynote address to Class 23 of the Adult Corrections Officer Core Course at the Santa Rosa Junior College Public Safety Training Center. Here are my comments:

“Pray for the best. Train for the worst.”(The Class Motto)

Congratulations to all of you for completing the program here at the Public Safety Training Center. This experience will serve as the foundation for your careers. It is now time to start applying your skills in the workplace and build the house that represents your professional journey.

I can tell you that after serving 24 years in law enforcement, it is important to keep a positive outlook on life, to maintain your sense of humor and always remember where you came from.

Put together, it means to stay humble and recognize that we are servants to everyone. So in the spirit of humility, I will tell you that the Assistant Police Chief of the Monterey Police Department got his start working at Disneyland. I was a ride operator on the Jungle Cruise, the largest collection of plastic plants and animals ever assembled in one place!

GK Chesterton said it like this: "Humility, the holding of ourselves lightly, prepares us for an infinity of unmerited triumphs.” Let yourselves be surprised at work and celebrate your success!

I would like to share three words with you that I hope will guide your professional path and give you something to hold on to when things are going well and when you face challenges in your service to your communities. 

The three words are Justice, Mercy and Grace.

Justice

As I prepared my comments for today, it occurred to me that your role as a corrections officer transcends all areas of the criminal justice system. From arrest and booking, to trial and conviction and serving a jail sentence; you have a significant role in the criminal justice process.

What this means it is that it is critical that you DO YOUR JOB. At the end of each day ask yourself these questions: First - Did I do my job? Second - Did I do my best to create and maintain a safe community?

Do Your Job means that you think two levels above your position. For people that serve in my department, I expect every corrections officer to think like a lieutenant. This perspective will motivate you to perform at a higher level of service. The expectation is that you give the highest level of customer service no matter if it is a law enforcement officer, a member of the community or a prisoner. Your performance is a reflection of your department and our profession.

Mercy

Mercy is about relationships. Things don’t get much worse than getting arrested. You offer the first act of mercy to prisoners because you are the one taking off the handcuffs.

Mercy means that you can only panic, when I tell you, “You can panic.” In your role, people look to you to set the tone. If you communicate a sense of peace when you book someone into jail, people will be less likely to get agitated. You are a leader and you set the tone.

Keep in mind that there is always more to the story. If you take some time to learn about the people you encounter during a single booking or if the prisoner visits your facility so often they get frequent flyer miles, you have the opportunity to offer a word of encouragement that can change a life forever.

Never underestimate the power of relationships. The great corrections professional is the one who can build a relationship during the 20 minute booking process. Find a way to get people to look past the badge.

Grace

Grace is for people you work with. It is a sure thing that you will get frustrated with your peers, your supervisors and your managers. The ability to forgive others and perform your job beyond their expectations demonstrates a willingness to let the past go and create a highly professional environment. There is always more to the story and people in your organization will look to you, “not to panic.”

Think of grace in the context of getting stopped for a traffic violation. If justice is getting a ticket and mercy is getting a break then grace is not getting a ticket AND the cop gives you a Code 3 escort to your destination AND buys you a doughnut on the way.

Do not hold grudges. Always be hopeful. Remember that you can only change where you are at.

Once again congratulations and hold on to Justice, Mercy and Grace.

"I’m Done"

The final words of Jesus, "It is finished," marked the reconciliation between God and Man. The power of sin and death was broken and yet I think the disciples said something different; “I’m done.” They were exhausted, living in chaos and had no clue what the future held for them. There are times that we all face “I’m done” moments. It seems easier to give up, cut losses and move on. I remember struggling in my first months as a rookie cop, unable to do anything right. Field Training Officers critiqued my performance nightly and I failed miserably. One night, things went particularly bad. I had no self confidence and my trainer gave me the, “Maybe this job isn’t right for you,” speech. I remember walking into a secretary's office at the Police Department and calling my wife at 3:00 in the morning.

“I am going to quit. I can’t take this anymore.”

Marjorie said, “If you quit, we won’t have medical insurance.”

Now where was my supportive wife when I needed her? I made it through the night and returned the next day. The day turned into 24 years and I am now an Assistant Police Chief. Marjorie said what I needed to hear to stick it out. God may not appear to you in a burning bush, but He will find a way to break through your fatigue, confusion and self doubt to accomplish His will for you and through you.

This story is not a cop story, it is the testimony of Julie. I am Julie’s Uncle by marriage and our families spent Easter together in Massachusetts. When we arrived last Saturday, Julie was busy putting together meals for homeless families living in her town. She is a woman of God with a heart for homeless mothers and their children. She lives in Northborough, Mass. and provides struggling families with food, clothing and the basic needs of life. I learned that she started this ministry years before on her own with no assistance from any church or non-profit. She organizes trips to local parks so families can enjoy a few hours of fun beyond the world of seedy motel rooms and poverty. More importantly, Julie spends time with homeless moms and kids to develop friendships and give them hope. She is the hand of Jesus to those that are lonely and struggling to live.

Community members know about Julie’s work and it’s common for food and clothing to show up on her doorstep. On two occasions, workers from the state welfare office called her asking for help. The employees asked if she could come up with car seats and diapers because the local office could not meet the need! Apparently, there was no else to ask except for this mother of five who works full time and does this on the side. Julie called around and got the items requested.

Last month, Julie got a call from a priest asking her to pick up 15 boxes of diapers donated to the church. It was not a good day for Julie. Her husband was traveling on business, she was getting more calls for help then she knew what to with and her kids were driving her bananas. No one was available to pick up the diapers. The Catholic parish was miles away. She was tired of the struggle of finding and organizing volunteers; distributing food and organizing events. She pulled up to the church and decided, “I’m done.”

She walked into the community room next to the church office to grab the boxes of diapers. She could hear a woman in the office asking for gas money to move her things into a new apartment. Julie was not going to get involved. She picked up the first box and to her surprise, could not move her legs. It was as if they were frozen in place. She stood there trying to figure out what the heck was wrong with her and found herself arguing with God. No, she was not going to let this woman’s story get to her. No, she was not going to keep doing this and struggle to find people willing to help. She would deliver these diapers and be done with it. After a moment, she found herself walking out to the car and returned to pick up the second box. She walked back into the building and the woman standing next to the boxes of diapers.

“Can I help you carry these out to your car?”

“I have it, don’t worry about it.”

“If we are not here to help each other, what are we here for?”

Julie said to God, “Seriously? You knew I wouldn’t go to her so you sent her to me!”

Julie gave the woman her cell phone number and told her to call if she needed furniture for her new place. For Julie, she realized that this was the path God wanted her to take. A week later, Julie got a request from an executive manager with the Mass. Department of Transitional Assistance. She asked Julie to meet with her to share what she does as a model for other outreach programs across the state. 

Peter believed that he failed Jesus and the best he could do was to return to fishing. He gave up, cut bait and moved on. Jesus had other plans for him.

"When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?'

'Yes, Lord,' he said, 'you know that I love you.'

Jesus said, 'Feed my lambs.'" John 21:15

Where is God calling you to serve even when you want to say, "I'm done"?

Good Friday

Good Friday was not a time of celebration for those who conspired against Jesus. The Pharisees went to a lot of trouble to stir up the people of Jerusalem during the days following Palm Sunday. It was easy to recruit the merchants. Jesus pretty much got off his donkey and made jackasses out of them, “Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ‘It is written, he said to them, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers.” (Matthew 21:12-13)

Jesus would call out the teachers of the law and the Pharisees in a scathing retribution of how they manipulated and twisted the truth of the scriptures for their own gain.  He labeled these corrupt leaders hypocrites, blind guides and fools. He accused them of neglecting justice, mercy and faithfulness. He labeled them unclean, wicked and descendents of murders of prophets. He challenged them to do what their hearts were already plotting, “Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!” (Matthew 23:32)

His instructions to his followers were direct and to the point, “So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” (Matthew 23:3-4)

They were in charge! They decided who was worthy and who was not! They were not about to let some homeless guy who they believed healed people by the power of Satan and told others that their sins were forgiven usurp their positional and personal power in the Jerusalem community.

G.K. Chesterton offered this insight, “As savage heroes might have kept the sun in a box, they kept the everlasting in the tabernacle. They were proud that they alone could look upon the blinding sun of a single deity; and they did not know that they had themselves gone blind.”

Pontius Pilate was in this too. He was afraid to put Jesus to death because of the risk that he would have to put down yet another rebellion. Pilate knew that two of Jesus’ followers, Judas Iscariot and Simon, were both Zealots and he lost many Roman soldiers to injury or death from Zealot attacks. It would not be a good end to his week making terrorist mad by crucifying their leader. His intuition and experience with the Sanhedrin told him that Jesus was not the trouble maker they made him out to be. Even his wife knew something was different about Jesus and sent Pilate a note during the trial that read, “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” (Matthew 27:19) How to get out of this?

Pilate put the decision in the hands of the people and gave them a choice. “Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd…So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, ‘Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?’ For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.” Offering up Barabbas would be like offering up Charles Manson. The Pharisees and elders were ready for this and the members of this kangaroo jury yelled out, “Give us Barabbas!” “When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood,’ he said. ‘It is your responsibility!’” (Matthew 28) Pilate took the easy way out and ordered the execution of Jesus.

With Jesus gone, they could go back to business as usual – or could they? They had to get beyond the third day after his death to be sure. Jesus said that if they destroyed the temple, he would raise it again in three days. They had to keep his followers from stealing the body and make more of a martyr out of him. Roman soldiers guarded the tomb and a Roman seal was placed on the stone; but fear still gripped them.

It would seem that in the 21st Century, 2,000 years after the resurrection, the crucifixion would not continue to strike fear in the hearts of people. In 2003, I served as a Public Information Officer and one of my responsibilities was to represent law enforcement at a number of civil rights organizations. I attended a monthly meeting of one particular group and the discussion focused on the upcoming release of the Mel Gibson movie, The Passion of the Christ. The movie is a very realistic depiction of the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus. Media reports were out and speculation of the film’s impact ran wild. I was shocked when one member of this “civil rights” group proclaimed, “Temples will burn when this movie is released!” The comments, unchallenged by anyone in the room, demonstrated to me that even after 2,000 years, the cross still brings with it fear and trembling. 

As you contemplate the cost of your salvation today, pray for those who cannot yet comprehend the meaning of the cross. Let us unite in prayer so that those whose hearts are calloused will be able to hear with their ears, see with their eyes and know the grace, peace and forgiveness that surpasses all understanding.

Pushing a Pebble

In December 2009, I completed a Master’s Degree in Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. My thesis examined how shared leadership emerges when people from different public safety disciplines and a variety of jurisdictions have to work together. The research question in a nutshell: Can police officers and fire fighters get along? (By the way, the answer is yes.) 

I started my work by looking through books and articles on shared leadership. The dreaded Literature Review. After a few months, I had more information than I knew what to do with. I feared my thesis would be 300 pages and I struggled to get the focus of the paper to something manageable. One of my advisors offered a perspective on how to narrow the scope of my academic work. He told me to think about my thesis like a pebble. The pebble was the topic of shared leadership. My job was to move the pebble a short distance to discover something new about the subject. It would be up to others to continue the work and push the pebble a little further.  

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the Passion Week and ends with the greatest finale ever, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The week is epic, and yet, the journey to the cross happened by pushing the pebble of salvation over four millennia. The general consensus is that there were 4,000 years between Adam and Jesus. That’s a lot of pebble pushing.

The Book of Luke and Matthew list the genealogies of Jesus. Together, these disciples take us through 40 generations that tell God’s story of redemption for mankind. There were men like Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Solomon. There are women as well: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary. All are part of the reconciliation of God to man. All moved the pebble of salvation from father to father, mother to mother, one after the other.

The family tree was only part of the story. Consider that 1,948 years separated Adam from Abraham. God gave Israel 450 years of judges to lead His people until they cried out for a King. The Kings of Judah spanned another 513 years. The shortest reign was three months, the longest 55 years. Some leaders were righteous and others wicked. The salvation pebble got pushed back and forth but always towards Calvary.

There were also prophets who spoke the word of God to the Nation of Israel over hundreds of years. They told the world that judgment and punishment was the outcome for a sinful, fallen world; but they also shared the hope that a savior would come. Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

It was only after thousands of years of genealogies, judges, kings and prophets that the pebble was in the right place for one last miracle. The pebble became a stone.

“After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” Matthew 28:1-7

Next Sunday, we will celebrate the resurrection of the Jesus Christ, Savior of the World. It was not something that happened over night. It happened over 4,000 years. God moved through men and women; lifetimes and families; tribes and nations to reconcile us to Him. Be at peace this Easter week and know that Jesus is God and crushed the power of sin and death.

“The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. The LORD has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.” Psalm 118:22-24

It is our time to push the stone of salvation throughout the world and be part of God’s story like all those who lived before us. The path is not easy, pushing a stone is work; but Jesus pushes with us and the Holy Spirit gives us the strength for the work at hand.

“Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” Luke 20:18

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-10