54 MILLION DOLLARS!!! What is this world coming to?
A judge in Washington D.C. is suing his dry cleaner for 54 million dollars for losing his pants. Check out the story here. I know this post probably doesn’t exactly fit the flow of what I have been writing on this blog, but I need to say something…because seriously…is a pair of pants really worth 54 million dollars? I guess if they were gold plated with diamond studs running down the seams with a solid gold belt bucket then I could begin to understand. But at last check…they were a pair of suit pants. Sort of looked like a pair that I have (and mine are not gold plated with diamonds).
The judge here is claiming that this mom and pop business is engaging in deceptive business practices with two signs that say: "Satisfaction guaranteed" and "Same day service". Seriously…if you are not satisfied with the service most places will make it right — if they don’t is the "damage" really worth 54 million dollars (unless of course we are dealing with gold plated pants with diamond studs and a solid gold belt buckle — hmmm…I better be careful here…this judge might sue me for 54 million dollars for writing this. <UPDATED> "God, forgive me…I need to be nice here").
Anyway…to my point: Where does forgiveness play in this case? I am not saying this judge should just ignore the fact that his pants were lost but at what point do you "turn the other cheek"? In 2 Samuel (the Old Testament text for Sunday June 17) king David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed to cover it up. Of course God was not too pleased and sent Nathan to confront him. After David learned of his sin and was caught red handed he pleaded to God for forgiveness. God spared David’s life when the sentence should have been death, but God DID punish David by killing his son with Bathsheba…seems like an appropriate punishment. God did not go overboard. There was forgiveness and there were also consequences.
In our legal system AND in our world there needs to be some grace but there also needs to be accountability and punishment when deserved. In the case of the missing pants isn’t grace deserved somewhere? Isn’t a more lenient punishment justified (if indeed the dry cleaner is guilty)? At what point do we cross the line and go too far?
I don’t know all the facts in this case so I will stop short at passing judgment on this judge (even through my rant at the beginning may communicate otherwise). What I want to do is pray that this man experiences God’s forgiveness in his life. For when we understand how much God forgives us through Jesus Christ (see the woman from Luke 7:36-8:3) then we are able to show much love.
Mr. Judge person…Jesus Christ died for you. Jesus Christ loves you beyond measure. Jesus Christ offers forgiveness to you. Can you show this love to your neighbor (including your dry cleaner)? Won’t you please live in peace?
We have an awesome God! Love as if you have been forgiven much (and you have). Praise be to God, always and forever. Amen!
-edh-
The Heart of a Pastor 
My husband likes a quote that goes something like this: Imperfect ourselves, let us be gentle with one another. Ghandi. I haven’t been able to find that in writing anywhere.
The OT lesson clearly shows that forgiveness is real even though it doesn’t take away the consequence of sin.
I like that quote — it says so much with few words. It is also convicting. Thank you.
It also reminds me of something I wrote in response to a post about the Luke 7 text on Unlikely Conversation: A Lectionary Blog. This is what I wrote: “Funny how forgiveness works. When we do something wrong we often expect people to forgive us, but when the something wrong is done by somebody else, our tone changes. We have played both roles: the woman and the unforgiving man. Hypocrits I say…we are all hypocrits…and yet Jesus forgives us anyway.”
I got a little worked up this morning but thank God for unlimited grace.
Eric
hey that story almost seems like the OPPOSITE of the woman who was forgiven much. to NOT FORGIVE much. (5 million worth). Thanks!
I must be out of style because I still have pants with cuffs. I’m also glad that the judge is not greedy; he only wants 2M for his inconvenience.
In the case of the missing pants isn’t grace deserved somewhere?
If it’s deserved, it isn’t grace. Though I am inclined to agree that a lesser punishment is deserved.
The huge dollar amount does sound ludicrous. But I had a lawyer friend explain how such figures make sense in certain cases. Say the coffee spilled at MacDonald’s. In that case, the company had been warned not to serve coffee that hot, and had ignored warnings. They figure their practices based on economics. And they make so much off their coffee that it takes a big hit for it even to register. So argued the prosecution, anyway. A mom and pop company could not take a loss like this, however.
Most of the damages sought are not for the plaintiff.
I don’t think that “forgiveness” is what is needed here, though. If he allows this to go away, lots of other people will be mistreated by the business. He is doing a service to his neighbors, if his claims are correct.
I will admit that I was a little fired up when I first heard about this story. I know that there is a lot I do not know about this case and the legal system — so I need to be careful and reserve judgment and let the courts handle this.
Thank you, Rick, for the insight you shared from your lawyer friend. That indeed makes sense. There needs to be forgiveness AND accountability in our society. Christian forgiveness needs to play a part here but we just can’t let people off without punishment. The issue at hand is how far is too far?
And again you are right, Rick, if it is deserved then it is not grace. I think that I used the wrong word. I was thinking more about leniency not grace.
Thank you for the comments.
Eric
Even if the store wins or the case is thrown out, the store owners have big legal bills. My friend was taken to court 8 times by a woman who had free legal representation due to being poor. The cases were all thrown out or settled in not too difficult a way. But my friend’s legal bill was over $20,000. These were dopey cases, like claiming that my friend’s son bumped her daughter in the hallway at school. My son had to testify in that case. It was hard to keep a straight face in the court room.