Today’s scripture: Matthew 5:38-42 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Penny Dean):
When I was 7, my parents took me to Abraham Lincoln’s boyhood home in southern Indiana and his birthplace in Kentucky. Over the next few years, we not only visited his home in Illinois, but also several Civil War battlefields. Thus began my love affair with Honest Abe.
And what’s not to love? Here was a man of humble origin, who, after a series of failures in business, politics, and love, became one of our greatest presidents only to be cut down by an assassin’s bullet after successfully waging the Civil War.
But this success came at great cost, not just to the country, but also to Lincoln himself: his wife was a political liability, his son died while Lincoln was in office, fellow Republicans questioned his leadership, and half of Americans reviled him. If anyone had reason to seek vengeance or become bitter, it was Abraham Lincoln.
He could have divorced Mary, but instead he quietly paid her debts. He could have cursed God for taking Willie, but Lincoln never ceased to refer to “The Almighty” or to study his bible. Lincoln could have ostracized his political rivals, but instead he appointed them to political office and attempted to win them over. Rather, this man who belonged to no church and never described himself as a Christian, made a practice of turning the other cheek.
Lincoln did not have an “us versus them” mentality. Historians largely agree that Lincoln clearly saw his primary responsibility as president to be preservation of the Union at all costs. To that end, when the war was winding down, he said in his second Inaugural Address on March 4, 1865:
“Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish… Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other… The prayers of both could not be answered — that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has his own purposes… with malice toward none; with charity for all… let us strive to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and for his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”
As you can see, Lincoln did not resort to name-calling or mud-slinging. Neither did he suggest that the South be punished. Rather, he realized that for the nation to be fully united once again, healing would have to occur. But that was not to be.
Less than six weeks after this speech, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln. As a result, Republicans wanted vengeance upon the South both for the war and for Lincoln’s death. In the political din that followed, no voice of reason could be heard and we can only wonder what the United States would have been like then — and now — had Lincoln lived.
Lincoln was undoubtedly aware of Jesus’ admonitions in Matthew 5 and Paul’s in Romans 12:17-21 (NIV): “Do not repay anyone evil for evil… If it is possible… live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge… but leave room for God’s wrath… If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.”
Yet to be kind to someone who has hurt us is hard. We want to make them hurt too. But we are commanded to forgive. That doesn’t mean we excuse what they’ve done to us. If it did, Lincoln would not have pursued the war as he did. But when the fighting is over and the smoke clears, if there is no healing, then there is no peace or progress.
Thought for the day: Is there someone in your life who needs your forgiveness? How would that feel?
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.