"The Buck Stops Here"

My church, St. John's Lutheran, always has its members write daily devotions during the Lenten season, that are emailed to the rest of the congregation. I wrote my first a couple years ago - this year, in lieu of trying to stretch my writing skills, I volunteered to do three. It's really been a blessing to me, so I thought I would share them here as well. I hope they can be a blessing to you too! This was my first this year, it went out this morning....

Luke 23:6-12 (MSG)

When Pilate heard that, he asked, “So, he’s a Galilean?” Realizing that he properly came under Herod’s jurisdiction, he passed the buck to Herod, who just happened to be in Jerusalem for a few days. Herod was delighted when Jesus showed up. He had wanted for a long time to see him, he’d heard so much about him. He hoped to see him do something spectacular. He peppered him with questions. Jesus didn’t answer—not one word. But the high priests and religion scholars were right there, saying their piece, strident and shrill in their accusations. Mightily offended, Herod turned on Jesus. His soldiers joined in, taunting and jeering. Then they dressed him up in an elaborate king costume and sent him back to Pilate. That day Herod and Pilate became thick as thieves. Always before they had kept their distance.

Have you ever had a problem that you didn’t want to deal with? Maybe you tried to find a way to wiggle out of it and pass the buck to the next sorry chap? In this excerpt from Luke, Herod and Pilate are playing the ultimate game of “Not My Problem” with Jesus. No one knows what to do with him, so they just keep sending him back and forth between cities. As soon as Pilate finds out Jesus is from Galilee, you can practically hear the relief in his voice – “Oh, so he’s a Galilean!?” Pilate found his way out of the problem, and he gladly handed him off to his neighbor to deal with.

This, sadly, reminds me a lot of the way we treat certain situations or people in our own lives as well, because we don’t want to deal with them. We say “that’s not my job” or pull a Cain and ask “am I my brother’s keeper?” We look for ways to shirk responsibility. Or worse, if we can’t find a friend/family member/co-worker to hand the responsibility to, we pass the buck to God and tell Him it’s His problem to figure out for us.

Another part I found interesting about this excerpt, is that Herod was initially delighted to see Jesus. So what gives? Why all the ridicule and mocking later? Well, it says that Herod had hoped to see Jesus perform a miracle, or sign of some sort. But when Jesus did no such thing, Herod became offended and sent Him back to Pilate. Again, a similar way we treat other people or God. We expect something from them. When it comes to other people, we might value them based on what they can do for us, and get disappointed when they don’t meet our expectations. When it comes to God, we view a problem not as an opportunity for US to grow and learn, but for God to show off a bit, come to our rescue, perform a miracle, work our problem out for the good, “do something spectacular”. But when He doesn’t answer the way we want or do any such thing for us, we get miffed and turn on Him.

One last significant note – look at what Herod’s displeasure did to his relationship with Pilate. It brought them together, making them “thick as thieves”, as the Message translation so eloquently puts it. And this from two men who had hated each other before. The King James Version says they were previously at “enmity” with each other. This is a much stronger word, and paints a better picture of just how deep their dislike for one another was rooted – it means a mutual hatred, demanding action, being actively opposed to or hostile towards something. So how could two people who hated each other so vehemently suddenly become BFF’s? Well, let’s admit it – what else can bring two people together but a common rancor towards someone ELSE? Haven’t we all experienced this in our own lives as well? It’s our nature to band together when we find other people with a similar problem as us. When that problem is a person, we even tend to “gang up” on them.

It’s time we stop trying to pass off our problems and circumstances to other people or God. It’s time we stop expecting other people or God to solve our problems for us and then get upset when they don’t. The phrase “the buck stops here” is a pretty commonly known phrase in our culture. It was popularized by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, who kept a sign with that phrase on his desk in the Oval Office, as a reminder that the President has to make the decisions and accept the ultimate responsibility for those decisions. It’s time we all start adopting the phrase “the buck stops here”, and accept responsibility for the circumstances in our lives – whether they are there as a consequence of our own actions, or because God has allowed them – and ask Him what He wants us to do with it.