IS AMERICA LIVING BY THE SWORD?

Photo : Peter Kratochvil, all-free download.com

It used to be that the only place you'd find a flower  memorial was in a cemetery or perhaps a church.  Today, a drive through many urban neighborhoods will find flowers, candles, and even teddy bears marking the spot where a life was taken tragically.

It is a common Sign of Our Times!

Monday, May 30 is Memorial Day in our country. It is the official holiday for remembering military, civic leaders, and loved ones passed on into eternity.  For many it is the first occasion for big family cookouts!

 If you live in my vicinity, checkered flags, and race cars decorate homes and businesses, welcoming the thousands of 500 Parade and Race fans that come in for the weekend.  But for others, like myself, it is a trip to burial grounds to pause for a moment to honor the lives of our deceased.  And frankly, We've had far too many of those lately!

Blood Stained Communities Are Weeping!

Photo: Daniele Levis Pelusi on Unsplash

Families in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas are weeping not celebrating this week! What was once considered a typical day turned into a nightmare in only a matter of minutes! Ordinary

people making a quick stop at the grocery store for a needed item and little children putting finishing touches on projects were excited about the last weeks of school. In their excitement they had no idea what was coming next.  These are simple and common occurrences in America, right? Well the violence that ensued has also become quite common. 

How Long and Why Here?

I keep hearing every time there’s a mass shooting that this occurs more often in America than other developed countries! Why is that so?  Let's review our country’s history! Whether you call yourself a “Patriot” or not, guns have been a central part of our quest for “The American Dream”  but now this dream has become an “American Nightmare!”  There have been 17, 913 gun violent deaths this year as of May 30, 2022.  There have been three mass shooting since May 24th!  Both the acts of violence and the advocating for more guns give rise to our current crisis.  Shutting off rhetoric from the arguments of both sides, I shift to a more reliable source, God's Word.

I’m reminded of Jesus’ response to Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Peter thought himself a protector of good against evil by using violence.  He cut off the ear of a servant of the high priest during the arrest of Jesus.  Matthew 26:52-54 records Jesus' response.  After healing the servant's ear he says:  “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.  Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?  But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

I draw your attention to the questions Jesus poses in verse 54.  The call for prayer and the ultimate fulfillment of scripture.  Prayer is always appropriate in times like this and although we've heard over and over from political pundits: "our thoughts and prayers are with you!" I doubt most have actually considered prayer as a serious strategy! 

Next comes the cry for stricter gun legislation!  Indeed, there are some simple yet still elusive regulations that may be helpful but the question inevitably comes up, "Can you legislate morality?"  Martin Luther King, Jr,'s answer is poignant: "It may be true that morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. It may be true that the law cannot change the heart, but it can restrain the heartless. The law cannot make a man love me, but it can restrain him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important also."

Lastly, in considering whether America is  living by the sword. We undoubtedly are horrified by the frequency of the violence we are experiencing but should we be surprised?!  Even as we grow increasingly frustrated with the ineffectiveness of our leaders to do anything we know behind it all is fear or purely selfish motives.   Jesus reminds us that Scripture indeed is being fulfilled not only in this present time but as it has already been done in the past.  Earnest Bible readers will recall this passage in Genesis 6 during the time of Noah:

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Try Living By The Sword of Truth Instead!

Photo by: Aaron Burden on Unsplash

 There is something hypocritical about the numerous references to God and His Word in American culture yet are never considered when addressing societal problems.  In God We Trust is on our money but avarice and greed is the cornerstones of much we deem successful.

  ...And justice For All are words in our Pledge of Allegiance to the United States yet injustice prevails on the backs of unjust laws and use of legal loopholes that ensure it is only available to those who can buy it!

  Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness as stated in the United States Declaration of Independence, is a given right to all humans endowed by their Creator.  But immigration laws block certain people often violently and inhumanely, from these fruits while embracing others who cross over for a better life on our shores. 

Remember however, that there is a sword that one day ALL will live by and it too will bring about death and destruction.  The difference will be Who is Wielding it in Power - CHRIST, THE LORD ALMIGHTY!

From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which

to strike down the nations, and he will rule

them with a rod of iron.  He will tread the winepress 

of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

(Rev. 19:15)

UNTIL NEXT TIME

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