Beyond Civility
I am praying today…
for the former President and his family, thankful that his life was spared, but knowing that the assassination attempt leaves a trauma that will be long in the healing.
I am praying today for a family in mourning for a husband and father who lost his life shielding his family on that Pennsylvania farm field, and for the two men who thankfully will recover from their wounds.
I am praying today for the family of the shooter- barely out of his teens- turned assassin for reasons unknown. Today they grieve the loss of a son in the shadow of a nation’s judgement.
I am praying today for our nation, yet again torn by the violence that plagues our cities and farm communities alike.
I know you join me in prayer, because there seems to be nowhere else to turn, no other hope to find than in a Sovereign God who can heal even a nation torn and bloodied by our own.
How did we get here, caught in a cycle of violence that seems unrelenting? How ironic, that this assassination attempt happened in a town called Bethel Park. Bethel means House of God in Hebrew. In the Bible, it was the place where Abraham pitched his tent, where Abram first talked with God. But today it is hard to hear the voice of God amidst the harsh tones of our current debate.
Many of us are saddened but not all that surprised by the events of Saturday. We have wondered, even worried that such a moment could happen. We know instinctively that the apostle James was right, that our tongues are like the rudder of a ship, a small tool able to turn even a large vessel. Our tongues are like a spark that can set a whole forest aflame. James writes, “The tongue is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire.” (James 3:4- 6) We see that ancient truth playing out in our nation today. The harshness of our discourse these days, the lack of civility, the comfort with which we demonize one another, the pointing of fingers and laying of blame without any honest assumption of our own responsibility for our current state, the slander that slides off our tongue with righteous indignation… how our tongues have set our homes, our communities, our nation aflame. The apostle James chastises us, “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s image. Out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.” (James 3:9-10) I hate to admit but I am judged and found wanting.
Lester Holt, the anchor of NBC’s Nightly News, concluded last night’s broadcast with the question, “Will civility win?” One has to wonder in the current state of our national debate whether civility is even possible. Yet, I wonder how “civility” has become the high bar for which we strive. As Christians, we are called to more. We are called to reflect the Savior, to love our neighbor, to love even the neighbor who has become our enemy, even to pray for those who persecute us, to bless and not curse. (Luke 6:27) Imagine if we turned our energies from blaming the other to seeking a sustainable way forward through the challenges our nation faces. Imagine if we tamed our tongues. Imagine if we chose kindness.
On March 4, 1865, as the Civil War entered its final weeks, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address from the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. His speech that day was the shortest inaugural address in U.S. history, but perhaps the most profound. With the end of the brutal four-year Civil War within sight, many people on both sides felt anger and frustration toward their fellow Americans. Lincoln attempted to rise above the divisiveness and start the process of healing. Instead of placing blame or rejoicing in the sanctity of the imminent northern victory, Lincoln instead offered conciliatory words to citizens in both the North and the South.
for the former President and his family, thankful that his life was spared, but knowing that the assassination attempt leaves a trauma that will be long in the healing.
I am praying today for a family in mourning for a husband and father who lost his life shielding his family on that Pennsylvania farm field, and for the two men who thankfully will recover from their wounds.
I am praying today for the family of the shooter- barely out of his teens- turned assassin for reasons unknown. Today they grieve the loss of a son in the shadow of a nation’s judgement.
I am praying today for our nation, yet again torn by the violence that plagues our cities and farm communities alike.
I know you join me in prayer, because there seems to be nowhere else to turn, no other hope to find than in a Sovereign God who can heal even a nation torn and bloodied by our own.
How did we get here, caught in a cycle of violence that seems unrelenting? How ironic, that this assassination attempt happened in a town called Bethel Park. Bethel means House of God in Hebrew. In the Bible, it was the place where Abraham pitched his tent, where Abram first talked with God. But today it is hard to hear the voice of God amidst the harsh tones of our current debate.
Many of us are saddened but not all that surprised by the events of Saturday. We have wondered, even worried that such a moment could happen. We know instinctively that the apostle James was right, that our tongues are like the rudder of a ship, a small tool able to turn even a large vessel. Our tongues are like a spark that can set a whole forest aflame. James writes, “The tongue is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire.” (James 3:4- 6) We see that ancient truth playing out in our nation today. The harshness of our discourse these days, the lack of civility, the comfort with which we demonize one another, the pointing of fingers and laying of blame without any honest assumption of our own responsibility for our current state, the slander that slides off our tongue with righteous indignation… how our tongues have set our homes, our communities, our nation aflame. The apostle James chastises us, “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s image. Out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.” (James 3:9-10) I hate to admit but I am judged and found wanting.
Lester Holt, the anchor of NBC’s Nightly News, concluded last night’s broadcast with the question, “Will civility win?” One has to wonder in the current state of our national debate whether civility is even possible. Yet, I wonder how “civility” has become the high bar for which we strive. As Christians, we are called to more. We are called to reflect the Savior, to love our neighbor, to love even the neighbor who has become our enemy, even to pray for those who persecute us, to bless and not curse. (Luke 6:27) Imagine if we turned our energies from blaming the other to seeking a sustainable way forward through the challenges our nation faces. Imagine if we tamed our tongues. Imagine if we chose kindness.
On March 4, 1865, as the Civil War entered its final weeks, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address from the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. His speech that day was the shortest inaugural address in U.S. history, but perhaps the most profound. With the end of the brutal four-year Civil War within sight, many people on both sides felt anger and frustration toward their fellow Americans. Lincoln attempted to rise above the divisiveness and start the process of healing. Instead of placing blame or rejoicing in the sanctity of the imminent northern victory, Lincoln instead offered conciliatory words to citizens in both the North and the South.
With malice toward none with charity for all,
with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right
let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation's wounds,
to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan-
to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace
among ourselves and with all nations.
with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right
let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation's wounds,
to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan-
to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace
among ourselves and with all nations.
May the correction of the apostle James, the God-given vision of President Lincoln, and the call of our Lord Jesus remind us to be light and salt today. May we reflect the Savior’s grace and goodness. May we replace the rancor of our public speech not just with civility but with love, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.
With you, called to be the mission of Jesus Christ to the world God so loves,
Anita
With you, called to be the mission of Jesus Christ to the world God so loves,
Anita
Posted in From The Pastor
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1 Comment
In classic Reformed theology we confess both the sovereignty of God and his Providence. That God is present in all times situations and places and God s Will is expressed in the events of the hear and now. But we do not really know or fully comprehend that Providence on this side of creation. That’s a Heaven and Kingdom of God thing in its fullest. We see all dimly now. One day we see face to face his holy Will
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n If the former president had tuned his head an inch either direction he would have died on that stage. If that did happen would we conclude that God was not present on that stage? As if God was somehow absent that day in Dallas in November 1963 or the box at Ford s Theater in 1965. In faith we know God was there in the motorcade with Kennedy as he was with Lincoln when Booth opened that door. In faith we confess that in both life and death joy and tragedy God is sovereign and his Will though we cannot see it fully now will be fully known in that day of the New Jerusalem. In life and death we belong to him and are give praise to God. Is that easy? No. Faith at times is very hard and requires us confess in seasons of good and bad to give God the glory and we trust in him
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nOur Republic has survived wars Civil and otherwise. Pandemics Depressions and times of savage violence between its citizens. As we have assignations of elected officials. We will survive the elections of 2024. To God be the Glory.
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