"Father, forgive them for they don't know what they are doing." Jesus said to the Roman soldiers who were crucifying him, to the Sanhedrin (establishment Religious Leaders) who decided he should die, and to those of us who fail to be followers in the ways of the Kingdom of God. It needs to be said loudly and clearly, that those who profess spiritual authority, and yet support the President of the United States after all that he has said and done about Charlottesville and other racist remarks, should know that Jesus forgives them.
But Jesus also said, "As for whoever causes these little ones who believe in me to trip and fall into sin, it would be better for them to have a huge stone hung around their necks and be drowned in the bottom of the lake. How terrible it is for the world because of the things that cause people to trip and fall into sin! Such things have to happen, but how terrible it is for the person who causes those things to happen! If your hand or your foot causes you to fall into sin, chop it off and throw it away. It's better to enter into life crippled or lame than to be thrown into the eternal fire with two hands or two feet. If your eye causes you to fall into sin, tear it out and throw it away. It's better to enter into life with one eye than to be cast into a burning hell with two eyes." (Matthew 18:6-9 CEB)
As a pastor I am finding that many people are withdrawing from the church because they believe that all pastors are like those who support Trump in spite of his being so "un Christ like." It is damaging to the young in faith or little faith, that those who know better, who know Scripture, who walk with Jesus, and pray to God, seem to have such little regard for the witness they are making. Jesus would never support the ideas and attitudes of this President that are so well documented. It's not hearsay, but we have proof of his lack of respect for women, people of color, immigrants, and the list goes on and on. "Many Sides" indeed. I have more respect for the business leaders who withdrew their support of the President over his remarks and attitude who show more of a moral compass, than the pastors who gather around him, lay hands on him, pray and support him and deliver permission to take out the leader of another country. I hope that the stone around their necks will lead to repentance and renewal. Please!
Not just Scripture but political leaders whom we respect show us how to treat and care for one another. George Washington wrote in 1790 to a Jewish congregation as the new nation was being formed. "The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy, a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For, happily, the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support."
Abraham Lincoln, in the midst of the chaos of a Civil War, trying to move forward and offer a vision of a better future said in his second inaugural address, "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." We need this kind of leadership now more than ever. We had for a while a political party that developed to support and sustain the Lincoln wisdom. I so wish it were still true. Perhaps it's time for a new political evolution, that will both look back to that wisdom and toward a future that is hopeful and optimistic. I would like to be a part of something like that.
Jumping ahead one hundred years from Lincoln to John Kennedy, still trying to get our great nation moving toward even greater things. Kennedy in his book A Nation of Immigrants declares that "Immigration is on our blood. It's a part of our founding story. In the early 1600's, courageous men and women sailed in search of freedom and a better life. Arriving in Jamestown and Plymouth, they founded a great nation. For centuries ever since, countless other brave men and women have made the difficult decision to leave their homes and seek better lives in this promised land. In New York harbor, there stands a statue that represents the enduring ideal of what has made this nation great - a beacon on a hill. At her feet, on the pedestal on which the Statue of Liberty stands, are inscribed the eloquent words of poet Emma Lazarus: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shores. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. I lift up my lamp beside the golden door!" We have moments of great inspiration and we need positive influence, not a suggestion that we be rougher on each other.
Some may not read down this far, and I accept that. But I am committed to seeing our nation under the influence of God, be better than it has been, not worse. I ran for Congress the last time, as a Republican candidate in; Maryland's 8th District, because I believe in the power of the great examples, and the wisdom and influence of Jesus, to help us solve our problems and build a better future. Under Lincoln's influence, I tried to make a difference, and I hope others will strive to make a difference as well.
John Wesley put it so well when he said we should "Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can." I want that to be a part of what drives me.,
Will you join with me in doing all the good we can?
Pastor Jeff
