I came home from shopping today to find my husband in the middle of a sport's documentary. I was immediately drawn into the story, not because of the teams or the sport, but for the human interest. The entire documentary was centered around a fan who, during the playoffs 13 years ago, reached to grasp a fly foul ball and in the process the player on the field was unable to catch it. The poor fan didn't even get the ball. It bounced off his arm and landed in the hands of another fan.
Immediately the crowd went into riot mode, turning on their own fan both inside and outside the ballpark. Chants began of, "Die @##$%^&!" In fact, the entire stadium and surrounding streets began to chant those words. The fan, a young man, sat silently as people from several rows away began to throw anything in their hands at him. Sportscasters and camera men replayed the foul ball scene over and over and over, each time giving a close-up of the man's face. Eventually as the riotous crowd grew worse, Security came and took the man away, hiding him from the crowd.
This was not the first incident of it's kind. Many others like it had occurred at stadiums across the country over the years, yet this young man received death threats. I have never hurt for someone more in my entire life. He was not the only fan reaching for that same foul ball. There were at least 5 others doing the same thing, it just happened that the ball hit his arm and bounced off. He became, as a minister in the documentary put it, the scapegoat for that horrible loss.
I could write an entire post on the scapegoat issue, but the minister did a wonderful job covering it. What struck me so and brought me to this writing is a clip shown during the aftermath of the game. Before I take you there, I first want to go to a scripture that is probably very familiar.
Matthew 7:1-2 (New American Standard Bible)
"Do not judge so that you will not be judged. for in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you."
I have heard a portion of this verse taken out of context many times and used inappropriately. It is a convenient portion to use when trying to justify an action, but let me tell you a little secret: you must read the entire segment. This verse is referring to a principle in Judaism known as "measure for measure."
It also falls under a section on lashon hora: evil or negative speech. The regulations surrounding lashon hora is so intricate it required an entire book called, Chafetz Chaim. The book can be summarized with one statement: Always speak and judge favorably. Wow! That's it? Yes.
In the principle of measure for measure, (just read the verse), it was said by the sages that G-d told His court to judge a man. They asked, "But what judgement should he receive?" To which G-d replied, "Give him a situation similar and however he judges, use that judgement upon him." (This is not talking about eternal judgement.......different story and principle....just so you know.)
That situation is found in the book of 2 Samuel 12. King David has sinned with Bathsheba, (who is now pregnant with David's child), and ultimately sent her husband out to battle to be killed. Nathan the prophet goes to David and presents him with a situation. At the end of Nathan's story David blurts out a judgement on the rich man in the story. In verse 7 Nathan replies:
Nathan then said to David, "You are the man!"
David is given his "judgement." The baby would die. This sounds extremely harsh to many of us, but remember that David first pronounced the judgement giving the heavenly court his own sentence. He had ruled horribly unfavorable on another, thus himself.
Now back to the documentary. A poor fan doing what any other fan would have done was judged by a crowd of millions. He really did nothing that others had not done, nor did he do anything wrong. His arm was within the stadium wall, not over it. His name and face will be forever known to an entire city and much of the country.
As the documentary showed various video clips of fans and sports commentators voicing their opinions, one clip had a picture of the governor of that particular state. In this clip that Governor spouted off, "Let me tell you something about that guy, whoever he is, if he ever commits a crime, he will never get a pardon out of me." (Oh the upper hand of seeing something after the fact!) Immediately my husband and I turned to the other and laughed boisterously. Not at this man, but at the statement.
The governor who made that statement would, on Dec 7, 2011, find himself on the way to a 14 year prison sentence. That would mean sitting in a prison cell until 2025. Not only that, but just two weeks ago on Aug 9, 2016 a Federal Judge upheld that 14 year sentence. Always judge favorably....
Judaism calls this principle measure for measure. Other religions call it karma. Call it whatever you choose, but please always call it favorably!
