WHEN LEFT TO OURSELVES WE ARE AN ENDANGERED SPECIES

I don’t know who said it but someone said about us human beings, “When left to ourselves we are an endangered species.”History and current events around the world prove this.  

Human beings don’t know how to share the planet with others.  Ideologies, worldviews, self-preservation seem to be the all consuming passion.  Everywhere we look we see anger, hatred, resentment, name-calling, character assassination (if not outright murder), and countless stories of man’s inhumanity to man.  As Pogo said, “We have met the enemy and he is us” (Walt Kelly, 1970).

There is good news, however.  Into the mess comes the wonders of God.  Instead of writing off humanity as a lost cause, God comes to us as Savior.  He comes not to condemn us but to save us (John 3:17).  He comes to change the human heart so that people “may have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10).  He comes not to shake His Sovereign finger in our face but to die for us on a skull-shaped hill called Golgotha, just outside Jerusalem.

In a world filled with divisions and complications of a thousand kinds, there is One who in His very life is the peace the world so much needs.  Whether or not the world is ready for Him, is another issue.  That the world need peace is beyond debate.  How to get there?  The debate goes on and on and on.  May I personalize Pete Seeger’s words (1955) and ask, “When will we ever learn?  When will we ever learn?”  

So the words comes - When left to ourselves we are an endangered species.  Is this too negative, too pessimistic, too defeatist, too fatalistic, too cynical?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  "Where have all the graveyards gone ... Covered with flowers every one …  When will we ever learn?”

When will we ever learn?

REFLECTIONS ON NOVEMBER 5, 2024 BY ONE FOLLOWER OF JESUS

Attention all political parties, worldviews, theological understandings, races, creeds, and colors, Jesus is still Lord in every way, shape, and form.  Rest assured whether or not your candidate won or lost yesterday, at every level along the way, all the way up to the White House, Jesus is not shocked, stunned, bewildered, confused, angry, or in despair today.  He is not wringing His hands at the right hand side of the Father, fretting over the results of November 5.  The republicans are not lord.  The democrats are not lord.  The independents are not Lord.  The House of Representatives is not Lord.  The Senate is not Lord.  

Half of the country is mourning and the other half is celebrating and, apparently, never the twain shall meet.  What to do?  What to do?  Here is a suggestion: If you are a Republican, climb up on the cross alongside Jesus, and die.  If you are a Democrat, climb up on the cross alongside Jesus, and die.  If the one you voted for won, climb up on the cross alongside Jesus, and die.  If the one you voted for lost, climb up on the cross alongside Jesus, and die.  

Then, get back in the saddle and be the Church of Jesus.  Feed the hungry. Give a drink of water to the thirsty. Take in the stranger.  Clothe those in need of clothing. Look after the sick.  Visit the prisoner.  Invite your neighbor to Jesus.  Embrace the hurting.  Strive for justice for the disenfranchised.  Find a need in your neighborhood, and do what you can do to meet that need.  Help the jobless find jobs.  Be a giver of grace and mercy.  Forgive where needed.  

Jesus is Lord, world. He loves you so very much, and you can’t get out of it.  The purpose and will of God are not set back because of an election.  The crucified and now risen Lord reigns, today as He did yesterday and the day before and the day before.  

On a day when many people are happy and many people are sad, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13)