Ensign: Being Anthony Kennedy

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3 

AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 12 June 2015 

The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

And in Supreme Court news THIS week, there was a six to two ruling against an American citizen born in Jerusalem listing Israel as his country of birth. My understanding of that, and please forgive my lack of a legal background here, is that despite geography and history to allow this to proceed would have undermined the President's (that is, the Executive Branch's) power to extend diplomatic recognition or not. If you've lived long enough there's bound to be a Supreme Court ruling or several that you personally disagree with. Certainly not all of them can be laid at Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy's feet, but for the seventeen years he's served on the Supreme Court he has often been seen as the deciding vote among the nine justices deciding a contentious case.

The Constitution says in Article III, Section 1 that I quote above there must be "one supreme [final, ultimate, can overturn a lower ruling] Court" but any other courts -- regional, state, municipal -- can be ordained and established by Congress (that is, the Legislative Branch, national as well as state legislatures). The current case brought before the Court regarding whether or not a state can allow elected officials to refuse to marry persons of the same gender is likely to be another five to four, with Kennedy likely to cast his vote toward one side or the other. I have people reading this who will say I'm ridiculously oversimplifying the issues at stake, and I'll accept that. For as I said last week, the ruling that comes down from the Supreme Court won't change what marriage is anymore that the ruling that Jerusalem is not the capital -- or apparently in -- Israel will change that.

I just would not want Justice Kennedy's job should it come to that.

This was going to segue into what matters or had better matter to us after we die or are taken into heaven to face GOD'S judgment, but as I was studying in my Bible morning I came to 1 Corinthians 6 where Paul in his letter is speaking about members of the church judging matters among themselves. And I got turned ... if not around, at least perpendicular to where I was going. God has a tendency to do that.

Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.

I couldn't help reading verse four ("If then ... the church.") without a mild appreciation for Paul's snark. It almost sounds like the people who we should appoint judges, or anyone we would have judge a dispute among two or more of us, should be the ones least qualified to do it! I hope we know better than that, but we can see that while God's brought together writings over three thousand years from fifty or so different authors to form the Bible that we read today, He uses all types of people and writing styles to get His Word across.

Really, this could have been settled at a way WAY lower level! While you and I pray on both sides for the outcome we want, we find that the more people will be affected by the Supreme Court's interpretation of several state laws in light of the nine justices' own interpretation of the Constitution (there was a justice in the 1930s who said we live under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges say it is), we need to be able to face our Lord and our God that we ourselves have acted not on what we personally believe, but on what He has already decided. Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name.   

TO BE CONTINUED

David 

P. S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with you, and I hope it encourages you too. If I'm not or you want me to get lost, please let me know -- thank you! 

Thank You, Lord, that we can come to You in praise and prayer and that You provide for all our needs, even the ones we don't know we have! Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence there and around the world. 

Thank You, Lord, for all of us in leadership and service here and abroad, as well as for opportunities we have and the promise of new life! I pray we all seek and have a blessed week. Amen.