On January 12, 2011 President Obama called our nation to serious soul searching in response to the tragedy in Tucson. He suggested we need to examine the lack of respect and civility in public debate as well as the state of mental health care and access to handguns.
One of my friends put on his Facebook page his appreciation of President Obama’s remarks at the Memorial in Tucson. His post drew an interesting assortment of responses, from a simple “Amen” (from me) to longer responses in support and a few critical of the President. Later a news network reported that in response to the shooting in Tucson several people have posted death threats on Tweeter aimed at Sarah Palin. Here are a few examples:
"My hatred for Sarah Palin continues to grow... I think this woman should be assassinated."
Another user posted: "Sarah Palin should be shot for her encouragement of fanaticism against Democrats."
While the polarized politics in our nation had nothing to do with the shooting in Tucson, the danger posed by this reality has certainly been apparent in the aftermath of the shootings.
All of the Cable TV and Internet pundits will have an assortment of suggested solutions. I am not a pundit. I am a preacher. But, I know the answer to this problem in our nation. The answer is found in the Sermon on the Mount. In fact, the first two Beatitudes are sufficient to change the tone of public debate.
We hear the call to humility in Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In Matthew 5: 4, ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" Jesus calls us to grieve over the fact that apart from God there is no way we can have the authentic humility that will help build a world where there is respect and dignity expressed to all of God’s children.
In this Beatitude the wisdom of God is apparent as we are first comforted by God for the hurts in our own lives which then lead us to grieve over the hurt our sins cause to God as well as our family and neighbors. This awareness leads us to grieve over the state of life in our fallen world.
Some suggest that saying ‘Jesus is the answer’ is way too simplistic. It is, if you think just reading the Sermon on the Mount is going to change anything. Jesus doesn’t call us to read the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus calls us to live it. Living it is neither easy nor simplistic. But, it is life transforming.
