Yesterday evening we witnessed the first presidential assassination attempt in 43 years, when a deranged young man attempted to kill President Reagan. Thankfully, he survived the attack, as did former President Trump, but in both instances, people were hurt and last night an innocent bystander was killed protecting his family. In fact, it can be argued that James Brady, Press Secretary to President Reagan was also killed – eventually succumbing to his injuries sustained in 1981 during the shooting of Reagan. He finally died in 2014.
Whether we have become desensitized to shootings or not since it has been so long since the nation witnessed such an attack on a current or former President, we need to re-dedicate our efforts to tone down the rhetoric. It is imperative that we realize that we can have honest disagreement without resorting to acts of physical violence or undermining the United States.
I am taken back to several notable events that have shown unity in the face of competition. A number of years ago, the Special Olympics held a foot race in a stadium and one of the competitors fell during the race. Rather than continue on, the competitors all stopped, went back, picked up their fallen comrade and locked arms as they crossed the finish line together. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. These challenged kids taught everyone in the stadium a lesson that day… much to the surprise of thousands of adults in attendance.
In Africa, a group of hungry children were enticed to race to a distant tree for a basket of goodies. Instead of trying to beat one another to the prize, they went together and shared the food among all of them. When asked why they didn’t try to beat each other and have the food all to themselves, they remarked that they couldn’t enjoy the victory if they knew that others among them were hungry.
Both of these stories demonstrate the idea of “Ubuntu” – an African concept that means “humanity to others.” It is furthermore described as reminding us that “I am what I am because of who we all are.” It is the idea that we rally together when the chips are down – regardless of political party, race, religion or a host of other things that can, and sometimes do, divide us. We saw this happen when the World Trade towers were destroyed on 9/11. The entire country pulled together to unify and save as many lives as possible. Furthermore, we were unified in our effort to bring the perpetrators to justice. We are America!
I think that part of the problem is that we really don’t understand the meaning of words that we tend to throw around with wild abandon. In fact, I am not so sure that we understand humanity at all. But the apostle Peter understood the concepts quite well.
In writing the book of 1 Peter, the apostle lets his readers know that the oppression by Nero in about 64 A.D. would result in many Christians being martyred. Others would have to take care of the families of those sacrificed, with still others would be called on to pray for those who were suffering. He also intimated that nobody would know in advance what role they would be called to during this extremely dangerous time for Christians. Among other tortures, Nero was known for impaling Christians on spikes and then dipping them in tar before setting them on fire and using the burning corpses to light his gardens at night.
The verse for tonight highlights the way that we should act with one another. It is full of words that we still use today – unfortunately, we really don’t understand the core meanings of these words. Peter tells us, in 1 Peter, 3:8-9, “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.”
Harmony means to be together, not necessarily identical, but working together – think of the harmonies that are created in music. Sympathetic means to be of the same “pathos” or pathology. This means that we are of the same DNA and that when one of us hurts, we are to hurt with them. Conversely, when one of us celebrates, we are to celebrate with them as if we had received the honor ourselves. That’s the way it is to be with us as a nation. Remember, the same DNA – like identical twins…
Compassion is to have concern for the sufferings of others and, finally, humility. The Greek idea is that we are to treat others as better than ourselves. So you get the idea that Peter was preparing his people for whatever role they may be called upon to play in the torture of Christians in and around the middle of the first century A.D.
The overriding idea, even then, was one of “Ubuntu.” My encouragement this evening is that we need, as a nation, to get back to the concepts presented in the Scripture. Especially, we need to focus on unity and bridging our differences. While I fully recognize that we don’t all see politics or religion the same, and that we can defend our legitimate positions, my prayer is that we can engage in civil discourse and and that ultimately, we will all rally behind and pray for the President who is elected in November, in accordance with the will of God. After all, governments are a God ordained idea… Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…