Well, It’s another Sunday Morning. So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Acts 10:34-35 (ESV)
I was a young boy in the early sixties, life was a lot different then. There were signs that told people who could drink from what fountain or go into what store or even use which bathroom. There was a military draft to select which young man would be the next to be hustled off to a war that no one really wanted to be in. It truly was a time of massive change for the people of our country. I really didn’t totally understand the magnitude of what was going on in the world at that time. The peace marches that was protesting the Vietnam War. The equal rights movement that was asking for equality for all people, it all kind of blended together into a time of people speaking out with their loud voices wanting to make sure that what they had to say was going to be heard. I didn’t know at the time, that what was taking place would change the world we knew so much as it did.
The music we listened to spoke of love and freedom and yes, it spoke of war too. My dad hated our music at the time, He would say, “It’s too loud and it doesn’t make sense.” See, it wasn’t the same as he grew up with, it wasn’t the big band music of his youth. The music of the sixties truly spoke of a time of trouble, but in other ways it spoke of a time of love for our fellow man. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (ESV) Tells us this about love, Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
It wasn’t that there was no violence during this period of time, there was a lot of it. So many of the peace marches, and the equal rights marches were met with violence, but the love for each other endured. See, God’s abundant love will always overcome what Satan puts in our path. In John 15:13 (ESV) we read this, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” The truth is, God wants us to be there for each other and to share our greatest gift given to us freely with others, our love. That sharing of our love was exactly what was being done by most during that crazy time of the sixties.
We didn’t have video games, we didn’t have smart phones or home computers. What we had, was books to read, a TV, with three channels and you were the remote, and we had each other, in person. That is how we communicated, that is how we shared our love with each other.
There are people these days that only text others, they probably wouldn’t recognize the voice of the person they are texting on a phone call. They say they are friends, I am not sure without contact in some way that you can share the love that needs to be shared to really be what God intended us to be and to truly be friends.
See, God set specific standards for us to follow, even in our love. In Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV) we read this about love, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” We are to love everyone, regardless of their skin color, their sex, their religious beliefs, their sexual preference, the color of their hair, the way they look, the way they smell, the way they walk, we are to love everyone even if they don’t love us in return. We are not put here on this rock to judge others, we are put here to love and share the good word of our LORD and Savior.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Said in one of his famous speeches this, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” I believe Dr. King had the right idea and I still pray for that very thing.
So here’s the thing, the sixties really was a very crazy time, the seventies wasn’t much better. They were full of really great things and really bad things both. We learned to love each other better during that time period. It made us better people. We all grew and learned to accept the times changing around us. I personally saw older men that was hardened to what was going on, soften their stance on things and embrace others with the love God intended us to share. As a matter of fact, Later in life I would hear my dad break out singing a Beatle’s song now and then, I just kept my mouth shut and smiled, thinking to myself what a wonderful loving God we serve. God wants us to share the abundant love He gives us freely with others so I will do that right now, God truly loves each and every one of you and so do I.
