By Pastor Brian Phillips
Originally delivered as an exhortation at Holy Trinity Reformed Church (8/28/22)
In 1912, Winston Churchill, Lady Astor, and several others were gathered at Blenheim Palace for the weekend. Churchill and Lady Astor were long-time rivals. It started as a typical political rivalry, but it became personal.
One famous exchange took place while at Blenheim Palace. One night, after dinner, the group was enjoying drinks, desserts, and coffee. Churchill and Lady Astor were bickering over some political point, as usual, when Lady Astor commented, “Winston, if you were my husband, I’d put poison in your coffee.” To which Churchill replied, “Lady Astor, if you were my wife, I’d drink it.” They exchanged such barbs regularly.
But, when Lady Astor’s husband, Lawrence died, Churchill was leaving the funeral when Lady Astor “ran to him and caught hold of his hand. They stood in silent understanding with tears running from their eyes.”
Theirs was a friendship, a fierce, highly misunderstood friendship; but a friendship nonetheless. They could disagree on policies, politics, and even what was best for their country, but stand hand-in-hand at a funeral.
Disagreements and conflict are a fact of life – always have been. But we live in a time that no longer knows when to hold hands and weep together. Everything is political. Blame must always be assigned. Everyone is a victim. Offense must always be taken and must always be avenged. In a culture that rejects the Gospel, nothing can be forgiven and people cannot change (which is a why something said on Twitter when you’re 16 can still ruin your life).
In Ephesians 4, Paul instructs us: “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” This is not self-help advice simply aimed at making us happy. It is a call to live the Gospel before a world that has no hope, no forgiveness, outside of Christ.
So, as the people of God, let us take two exhortations from this. First, do not be surprised by the anger, bitterness, and hatred of the world. They have rejected the Gospel, so there is no forgiveness of sins (for themselves or for them to extend to others). The world is an angry place because they have rejected Christ. Second, do not fall into the trap of acting as those who have no hope. We are in the world, but not of it. Do not treat others as if the Gospel is not true; rather, live it out before them.