Trayvon Martin

"But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;  for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."  Romans 3:21-26

Now that the not guilty verdict has been rendered in favor of George Zimmerman and many in the Black Community and the public are screaming injustice, I wonder how many of those same people were shouting, "Hallelujah," when O.J. Simpson was found not guilty of murdering his wife and Ron Goldman? Personally, I think too many people fail to realize that Zimmerman wasn't on trial simply for shooting Trayvon Martin. That was not in doubt. He was on trial about why he shot Martin. He was either guilty of second degree murder, manslaughter or not guilty of either charge. Apparently, the prosecution, as with the O.J. Simpson trial, failed to present their case convincinglyenough to the jury. But, all this stuff about racism, when Zimmerman is a person of color himself, is nonsense. That doesn't mean he is not or cannot be racist, but when people bring up the subject it is in the context of Black versus White. The jury was all female, which, in my opinion, was a negative for Zimmerman because of the possibility of them being sympathetic to a mother losing her son.  Anyway, I shutter to think of the people who will use this as an excuse to continue to act as though the United States is the same today as it was as recent a generation ago. Sad as the loss of Trayvon Martin is, this can't be used to obscure all the black teenagers gunned down daily by each other that the 24 hour news cycle ignores because it doesn't fit their template. Nor the thousands of unborn babies aborted in the Black Community on a daily basis. Sad to say there are people out there that love this verdict because it gives them reason to continue to stoke the fires of "injustice" and "racism" so they can keep making money and being in the spotlight. There are people that feed off angst and drama, unfortunately.

Let us also not forget that justice was served in this trial. George Zimmerman was tried by a jury of his peers. The prosecution was able to present all the facts of the case that they had at their disposal. Zimmerman was able to have legal representation to defend himself and the jury, after deliberating the facts, rendered their decision. That is what our legal system is designed to do. Justice being served does not mean that the outcome of a trial is to our liking. It is the process that is just, not necessarily the verdict. If we focus on the Black Community, specifically, how often have we been the victims of unjust prosecution as well as verdicts because of things like racism, inequity in the legal system, lack of resources and having no legal representation? One of the most popular cases in American History involved the murder of 14-year old, Emmitt Till back in 1955. According to Wikipedia, "Till was an African-American boy who was murdered in Mississippi at the age of 14 after reportedly flirting with a white woman. Till was from Chicago, Illinois, visiting his relatives in Money, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta region, when he spoke to 21-year-old Carolyn Bryant, the married proprietor of a small grocery store there. Several nights later, Bryant's husband Roy and his half-brother J. W. Milam arrived at Till's great-uncle's house where they took Till, transported him to a barn, beat him and gouged out one of his eyes, before shooting him through the head and disposing of his body in the Tallahatchie River, weighting it with a 70-pound (32 kg) cotton gin fan tied around his neck with barbed wire. His body was discovered and retrieved from the river three days later ... The trial attracted a vast amount of press attention. Bryant and Milam were acquitted of Till's kidnapping and murder, but only months later, in a magazine interview, protected against double jeopardy, they admitted to killing him. Till's murder is noted as a pivotal event motivating the African-American Civil Rights Movement." Now, that is injustice! 

While some have tried to compare Emmitt Till's murder with the death of Trayvon Martin, I am not one of them. Both are tragic and both ended up in the death of a teenager. In the case of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, one life is lost forever and another life is changed forever. And this doesn't even begin to address the families, friends, associates and communities that have been touched by all of this. Only God and George Zimmerman know what actually went down the night Martin died. We may never know the full truth of the events of that night, but like in any situation, it is possible that something good might come from it. The murder of Emmitt Till was said to be a key moment in the Civil Rights Movement. While we still deal with racism and the tension it causes, nearly 60 years after Till died, racial problems have improved dramatically, regardless of what some might say. There is no reason why we can't see a similar positive result come from this tragic event. Unfortunately, there are some who seem to be more interested in "civil unrest" then "civil rights." For example, two prominent players in the National Football League, Victor Cruz and Roddy White, posted some inflammatory comments on Twitter. Cruz said, "Zimmerman doesn't last a year til the hood catches up to him." White tweeted, "All them jurors should go home tonight and kill themselves for letting a grown man get away with killing a kid." This serves no one and is evidence of the mentality and the hearts of some that have no interest in finding ways to unify and be peaceful. 

Ultimately, we must all step away from the emotion of this situation, the influence of the media, our prejudices about what we believe to be right and wrong, and look at things from God's perspective. Nobody cares more for Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman than our Father in heaven. In fact, all of us, whether we know it or not, whether we think it just or not, were put on trial. In the eyes of God we are all guilty of sin in His eyes. He rendered the verdict. The verdict was guilty. The punishment was death. But, in His love for all of us, Jesus Christ took that penalty. That is the true meaning of love. If you are a Christian, remember what Jesus Christ did for you when addressing what has happened over the last 24 hours with the George Zimmerman trial. Just think about what penalty you deserved from God. Zimmerman was found not guilty, but you were found guilty. Some think Zimmerman deserved imprisonment or death. You deserved eternal separation from God in Hell. Both Zimmerman and you have been set free. My prayer is that both Zimmerman and everyone else touched my this case will acknowledge the bigger picture presented to us. That bigger picture is that the death of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of George Zimmerman will remind us to live our lives in thankfulness for what God did for us in Christ Jesus when He died for us in order that we might be set free in order for Him to live in us. God's justice has been served and we should thank Him for it.