We're going to be focusing most of our attention on verses two and three, but we'll get there in a moment.

Four years ago, one of our Hennepin district court judges was censured for 10 engagements with a 26 year old prostitute.

Last week, another judge was removed from office for having sex with 15 male prostitutes.

One of the state's... male prostitutes.

One of the state Supreme Court justices

had to abstain from the consideration of that decision

because he's being investigated by the Board of Standards for

ethical investigations and violations, it wasn't a good week for the Minnesota

judiciary and it goes a long way to encouraging the

and it goes a long way to encouraging citizen suspicion that there's rottenness all through our

system.

But what I want to illustrate from these happenings this morning is the meaning of the word

worthy. We might say the judge was not worthy of his judgeship or we might use the adverb and say he did not live a life worthily of his high calling as judge in the

Hennepin District Court.

And what I would mean if I said that

was that the office of judge is worth more than it got from him.

It deserves better from the man who was filling the position.

The judgeship deserved a better man.

Now note, even though I said the man was not worthy of his

judgeship, what I mean to call attention to is the value of the position,

the honor and the esteem that that position should have invested him with.

And it didn't and it brought the position into disrepute and the man.

...