Dear Trekker,

A song of a generation ago by the Rhythm Corps has been circling in my 86-year-old brain with great rapidity the last few days! A catchy phrase then, more so today I would say. In the midst of a country torn by COVID 19, riots supposedly disguised as peaceful protests, and in an election year to boot, is there common ground where we can come and “reason together” to borrow an old Testament phrase (Isaiah 1:18-20)? I think there is. And I want to explore the possibility this month.

If there is common ground, I would submit it is special, or what the Scriptures call holy or sacred ground. “Take your shoes off, Moses, you are standing on holy ground” (Exodus 3:5). Can any terrain/place be holy ground? Probably so if God so designates! The principle is clear – some things are holy when/if God designates them as such. Following this pattern, some things/people are special when God says they are. The Hebrew people were special because Jehovah God chose to reveal Himself uniquely to them throughout history. Thus we have the Old and New Testament Scriptures.

If we can summarize the teachings of Scripture in a paragraph or less, God, who is, was and always will be holy, just and forever loving toward man, continually seeks the man He created who is bent on going his own way, not seeking or wanting God (Isaiah 53:6). This pattern is repeated over and over in the annals of time.

Enter the New Testament message… God shows up in human form to rectify the alienation for all time and eternity. Culminating His love with death on the cross, could it not just be holy ground/common ground at the foot of the cross, applicable to all? I believe at the foot of the cross is holy/sacred/ common ground since all are sinners and come short of the glory of God who died for them (Romans 3:23).

So what is our response to God’s initiative? Of course there is no vaccine to inoculate us from being guilty of racism or any other evil. Or is there after we put faith things first?

One of my favorite individuals in history is Jesus’ cousin John. He was a rugged individualist if there ever was one. He makes John Wayne look like an imposter when it comes to individualism. He was different, he acted differently, his habits were out of step with his time and he thought uniquely about life (see Matthew 3:1-6).

What did John (the Baptist we know him as) do that might herald the recognition of common ground? Surely the emergence of John was a heralding of the eminent presence of God in Jesus the Christ. What was John’s message: He fearlessly pointed out evil in the Jewish nation, starting at the top, and he rebuked the evil he saw. He was like a fresh wind that swept through the Judean hills. John called for people to repent and return to God!

Why was/is repentance so key? I believe the answer is key to any people living in darkness (John 3:19). God is gracious and good. Every sovereign initiative by God is for the blessing of mankind. But man goes his own way, ignoring God and his initiatives as if God did not exist or set any behavioral tracks for man to follow. Hence, John’s message of repentance (and Jesus’ too – Matthew 4:17) was key to common ground for the Jews of his day.

Now, the Jewish nation of 2,000 years ago, and the United States of America today are not the same, but can/do divine principles apply? I believe they do! After God reveals Himself and His divine order; when man in any generation ignores the Divine grace and order God has offered, thereupon preferring darkness to light (John 3:19 again), what is there for man? This is not rocket science, trekker, even though repentance is a foreign concept in a world that has forgotten God.

Repentance is thinking anew and changing direction by our resolve and follow-through action. Repentance is simply the description of what returning to God looks like. Rather than ignoring Him, we embrace Him. Such knowledge and action consists of holy ground, which becomes common ground for all to reach understanding and common, settled agreement on how we should then live! Such unity is absent today because God is ignored, much less honored in repentance.

The Spirit lays II Chronicles 7:14-15 once again on my heart: “If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.”

Trekker, what is key to open the door (Revelation 3:20) to common ground?  Humility, prayer, seeking God, turning from wickedness! Four things! Humility is not thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought. We are not God; we are not self-directed. We belong to God… He is sovereign, calling all the shots. So we pray for change and seek His blessing and fellowship, turning from the darkness of wicked ways to the light of His presence and peace!

Our culture needs to sound the mea culpa gong individually and collectively. We are at fault. We have denied God! Thank goodness He has not denied us! He has just left us to our devious devices until we regain our common sense and return to Him. Repentance means to turn from our wicked ways to God and Him alone, through receiving Jesus Christ. Make no mistake, trekker, the world of people needs Jesus alone. No Jesus, no peace! Know Jesus, know peace and common ground. It all begins as we kneel at the foot of the cross and say with the centurion who crucified Him, “Surely He was (is) the Son of God! (Matthew 27:54).

Let’s be His followers, trekker. Repentance and restoration begins with us.

Your friend,

Jim Meredith