With a rifle in his hands, and Donald Trump’s head in the crosshairs, a young man pulled the trigger and came within a hair’s breadth of assassinating former president Donald Trump. It was the final act of the young man’s life. Seconds later he was dead, his fate that which he had wished for Trump, for the Secret Service sniper had not missed his target.
As I mulled over that televised Saturday night event, I thought of two men with rifles in their hands, each with a different reason. Then I remembered a message written by my son Matt to his congregation, the people of First Methodist Church in Wetumpka. His message was about hands -- my hands, his hands, the hands of his people, and the hands of others across the world. It was a message of gratitude, hope, and an invitation to extend hands of love to our neighbors. Matt began with thoughts about his Dad’s hands, my hands, on a Bible I had given him:
“On January 11, 2003, as I was beginning my life as a pastor, he gave me one the many Bibles he had used during what is now 74 years of ministry. It was precious to me, a Bible Dad had carried in his hands everywhere he went, including the Sacred Desk from which he proclaimed the Word of God every Sunday. Along with the Bible, he had written this note: ‘Matt, this is the first of my Bibles the Lord has led me to give away. It was once greatly treasured by me. I did a whole lot of preaching out of this Bible. It was my preaching Bible during most of the years in Demopolis, where you graduated from high school in 1976. Now it belongs to you. I hope you will treasure it as a gift from your Dad. I rejoice in God’s use of your life! I love you, Dad.’”
Matt continued by writing: “For the last 20 years I have treasured that gift because I knew my Dad’s big but gentle hands had been all over the pages of God’s Word. Those same hands helped me up when I was down. Those same hands corrected me when I did wrong. Those same hands applauded me when I did right and those same hands held mine when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. All across the world men and women alike extend their hands to one another as an expression of friendship and greeting.
“It is interesting to remember how Paul was received by the disciples in Jerusalem after his Damascus Road conversion experience. When Paul tried to join the disciples, they were afraid of him at first. At this point, however, something beautiful happened: “Barnabas, however, took him by the hand and introduced him to the apostles” (Acts 9:26). It was surely the Holy Spirit who caused Barnabas to take Paul’s hand and lead him into the circle of life.
“Today,” Matt continued, “that same Holy Spirit is touching the hearts of men and women across our nation and moving them to take the hands of their neighbors. We see this happening in our own community as Christians respond to one another in love. The hands of many are being joined together.”
Then Matt asked his people, “Whose hand do you need to take today, so that the circle may be enlarged?”
That is the question each of us needs to answer in these days when civility in the political arena has been displaced by repulsive name-calling, character defamation and malicious criticism. For civility and respect for others to be restored in our nation, it must begin locally with each of us. We must learn to work together for the common good so that someone perceived as an “enemy” might become a friend or brother. Acts of kindness can restore sanity to our rhetoric. It can begin by extending a hand. How we use our hands will affect the future of our country.
In the interest of achieving a more civil society, to whom do you need to extend your hand?