On Monday night’s Four Corners program on Marcus Einfeld, he appeared to be asking the public for forgiveness, while at the same time saying: “I lied, but I’m basically honest”. You can watch the program here. I take an interest because I believe that the Marcus Einfeld Story is the Human Story.
Einfeld is a former justice of the Federal Court of Australia; a president of the Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission; a 'national living treasure'; a pillar of society. You might even say ‘an older brother’ in Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal Son.
So why throw that in for a $77 fine?
And yet, I think that the Marcus Einfeld story is the human story. It's our story.
That is, we all have an outward persona. An outward me. A 'me' I want you all to know. An honourable me; an employable me; a proud me.
And there is an inner me. A 'me' that I don't tell you all about. A ‘me’ that struggles with pride; and various other stumbling and bumbling acts. A ‘me’ that my wife can tell you about. And my God too.
The 'me' that I present is not the complete picture.
Now think about Marcus Einfeld and the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Is he an older brother? Or a younger brother? Is he basically, a honourable man who's served his country well? Or a scoundrel who has deserves his pigsty?
My take: He is an older brother who has now been given the opportunity to perhaps realise that he has been a younger brother all along.
Einfeld's crime may feel small. That is: he sped a little; and told a few fibs about it. But this week, no one really believes that. Why?
Because his lie was declared in the one place that lies can't abide: the court.
To let go of his crime is to say that justice never matters; that telling lies in the court is fine, as long as it is small. No. He struck at the very fabric of civil society.
Ben Aveling from Alexandria wrote a letter in the Herald: “Bruce Hulbert writes that Marcus Einfeld is not a threat to society. In what way is actively and repeatedly seeking to undermine the rule of law not a threat to society?”
It is the same with God.
You may be 'good'; you may have been honourable. I hope so. I really do. But the one place where sin cannot abide is before a holy God. We know that lies can't stand in an Australian courtroom. So why do we think they stand before a holy God?
But we serve a gracious Lord. We serve a Messiah, whose love for this broken world is vast. He is bent on loving the world which does not love him back. He loved the world to the cross.
But, like the younger brother, we have to do something. In Jesus' parable, he got up from his pigsty saying: "I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you’." No qualifications. No excuses. No ulterior motives.
We just have to be honest about not being honest.
Discuss!
Justin Moffatt’s weekly blog will be appearing Sundays on sydneyanglicans.net, starting Sunday April 5.
Photo courtesy AAP images
