My fine is paid
My fine is paid
17 April 2022
Buying a tram ticket to help someone out is not so easy in Bulgaria.
Australian officer Captain Kathleen Johansson is part of a team pioneering the work of The Salvation Army in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria in Eastern Europe. This work now includes emergency aid and support to refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As Easter approaches, a recent incident on a local tram prompted her to think about the sacrificial and grace-filled love of God.
A few weeks ago, I helped a young woman on a tram because the guards were giving her a fine for not having the correct ticket. She clearly didn’t understand Bulgarian or English and was becoming more physically distressed by the second.
I stepped in and tried to say in my broken Bulgarian, “I will pay for her.”
“Do you know this woman?” one of the guards questioned me in English.
“No,” I replied, “but I want to pay the fine for her.”
Clearly confused by my actions, the guard initially refused to let me pay the fine, which was 30 leva (about $AUD24). Eventually, after a lot of hassle – including telephone calls and attempts to use Google Translate – they found a way and allowed me to pay the fine. This scared young woman was eventually able to get to where she needed to go – a mosque.
I assume that I gave that tram guard something to talk about over the dinner table that night. But more importantly, his words “Do you know this woman?” kept ringing in my ears.
Unconditional love
Jesus was ready to take my mistakes, mess, and shame and pay the price for it on my behalf. And then God the Father said, “Do you know this woman?”
And Jesus said, “Yes, I know everything about her, and I still want to pay on her behalf.”
If someone like me, a timid and newly-arrived foreigner, was willing to intervene in a frightening situation and help a young woman who I did not know, then how much more is your Father in Heaven, through his son Jesus, willing to pay the price for the mistakes you’ve made, to clear your slate, and to pay the fine on your behalf?
He knows you, and he still wants to pay the fine. No matter what.
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