They didn’t know each other.. .
She: second row at the Hoogland Center for the Arts last Sunday He . from Jacksonville. . .with his wife in the third row, directly behind her. She was from Williamsville, 84 years old a firebrand liberal. Marched at Selma. He was a conservative, member of the NRA and although a good friend of mine, often messaged me to complain about my progressive Coonridge newspaper column.
It was a Hootenanny. . a sing-a-long. Sunday matinee, lots of singers in the crowd. I’d asked them to bring the houselights up . . . could see them both and hoped that no one mentioned politics. Then we began to sing. . “This Land is Your Land,” “You Are My Sunshine,” “Amazing Grace.”
She: a delightful habit of being the best laugher in the audience and she always says things when she laughs. . “Oh My. .!” “Oh yes. . !” “Oh Wow!” etc. He and his wife were delighted by this and at intermission they introduced themselves and told her that they enjoyed her laughter. After the show in the lobby she told me she’d met my friends from Jacksonville.
Could not find two more opposite people, but when they turned their attention to singing “In 1814 we took a little trip” and “Irene Goodnight” they were in perfect harmony. When they looked in the direction of what they had in common they made beautiful music. . . . where we look. . . where we turn our eyes.
When we turn our eyes in a common direction, we achieve peace. Simple as that.
A beautiful hymn: Missionary Helen Lemmel, 1918. Covered by Michael W. Smith, Alan Jackson, Newsboys Page _____ of your hymnal. . stay seated. Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in His wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Last summer was without doubt the most interesting of my life. . and in a very strange way, one of the best. Chemo. . radiation. . .major surgery. I had the best medical expert in America as the head of my medical team. . Nancy Bradbury. . and she also had a few folks from Passavant, Memorial and Barnes hospitals assisting her.
Most meaningful experiences. . .talks, messages, the people who would stop by to pray. . that I’ve had in my life. When you’re diagnosed with cancer you don’t talk much about the Cardinals or why drainage on Morton Avenue is so bad after a rainstorm. You turn your eyes to what’s important. Like a plane going down and they hand you a parachute as the thing is headed toward the Atlantic Ocean. Your priorities suddenly change. You no longer feel like complaining about the temperature of the coffee they just served you or the kid who keeps kicking the back of your seat. You focus on what’s important. . .what we all have in common at that moment. Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
We are now being tested. . .the body of Christ in our country is going through a trial. We are being divided. . . purposely. There are many would gain if we turned against ourselves. Lincoln “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” So. . How are we reacting to this? In some cases, not well. Ghandi: “If it weren’t for Christians, I’d be a Christian.”
How do we react to division? Not . . which side are we on. Not immigration or the environment or collusion. . but how we react to division. Some churches add fuel to the fire. Some churches ignore it at the risk of being controversial. But what must our reaction be? Forgive the cliché, but “What would Jesus do?”
We don’t have to search very far in the scriptures to find out: Romans: Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. , “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; .” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Philippians: Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 1st Corinthians If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; And from the Sermon on the Mount. “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the Children of God. I find no mention of Republican, Democrat, conservative, liberal, Trump, Hillary Clinton, Obama or Fox News or CNN. How much plainer can it get?
We are being observed by others. . how do we react? Where do we turn our eyes? . . .to our own prejudices or to the example of Jesus Christ?
Many years ago. . . Peoria. . Caterpillar on strike . . Labor and management at an impasse Me: Don’t dress your job. . . come in the clothes you wear around the house Stagger the seating. . . don’t sit with your group When I arrived: all dressed jobs, management on one side of the table and labor on the other. A complete failure. . and one long, painful morning.
To achieve peace, we must want peace.
I often do teachers’ workshops opening the school year. Two years ago a district in Central Illinois. . .two faculties. . grade and high school. . didn’t get along well with each other. Principal said, “Please try to bring us together.” A tough assignment. I began with “Who, when they were little, used to take one large step. . ?” “Hole to breathe through. . ?” “Who was afraid to tell parents that they no longer believed in Santa Clause for fear the Christmas presents would stop?” “Tell me something you did wrong as a child that your parents never did find out about.”
It was such a simple exercise, but oh, the effect it had. . . finding that the most basic things in our lives we had in common with others. Making peace. . . turning our eyes in a common direction.
Our crisis is not employment or the economy or tariffs or even nuclear war, but simply keeping the truth alive. Simply learning to keep listening to each other. Simply keeping our discourse civil. Simply following the teachings and the example of Christ. Simply. . . making peace.
I don’t know why anyone would invent the technology to download and create a gun made of plastic. I don’t know why we have the ability to feed everyone in our nation yet 1 in 10 Americans aren’t sure where their next meal is coming from. I don’t know why we seem to be lacking leaders who put the nation ahead of their own interests. I don’t know why these things happen, but as a follower of Christ that should not be my concern. My concern should be simply to seek peace so these things can be solved, to turn my eyes toward Jesus.
So. . .how do we do it? How do we make this peace? It seems impossible. How can we accomplish Christ’s mission? It’s simple. I don’t know. You don’t know. But if we pray for that knowledge. . . pray that we be shown how to heal our nation. . .perhaps our town. . perhaps our church. . . perhaps even our family. . . God will make His way plain to us. I promise you that. The biggest mistakes I have made in my life is to pray that God do something then proceed to tell Him how to do it. That’s just not the way it works. How do you work for peace? I don’t know. But I know that God will show you. He will tell you. He will make it obvious. Why? Because that’s what He wants, too. You will be praying God’s will. . . and that prayer is always answered.
I know that if we don’t do the healing, if we don’t do the listening, if we don’t show some courage and speak up for what we know is right, then Christ died for nothing. . . and we know that’s not true.
God is creative: There’s a film now in some theatres that recently set the record for the highest grossing bio-documentary of all time at $20 million. It’s about a Presbyterian minister. . and it’s called “Won’t you be my neighbor.” The story of Fred Rogers. I was once shoved into a closet with Mr. Rogers If you take all the things that make good television and do the opposite you have Mr. Rogers neighborhood. . low production values, slow moving, no star. And it was a hit. From a review of the film: “The documentary makes clear that Mr. Rogers, an ordained Presbyterian minister, upheld Christian standards in his life and on his show, but refrained from blustery denunciations. It becomes clear in the documentary that Mr. Rogers saw his ministry as not to sit in judgment and condemn, but simply to love others. He was content to leave the ultimate judgment of individuals to God.”
I remember.. during years of school segregation when black families were bullied out of public swimming pools, he invited the neighborhood cop, an African American, to share a footbath in a kids’ swimming pool.
In other words, he knew how to cause peace. . to make peace. . .to bring peace. .
Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in His wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace
“Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Won’t you be my neighbor?”
Matthew 5-7 Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. He said: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.