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Tragedy In Ohio
This past week we heard the tragic news of a man shooting a 15-year-old
neighbor for walking on his lawn. Charles Martin, who lives in a
community east of Cincinnati, “called 911 on Sunday afternoon, saying
calmly: ‘I just killed a kid.’ ... Larry Mugrage, whose family lived
next door, was shot in the chest with a shotgun. The high school
freshman was pronounced dead at a hospital... Neighbors said Martin, 66,
lived alone quietly, often sitting in front of his one-story home with
its neat lawn [and] well-trimmed shrubbery...” (Associated Press, March
20, 2006).
How did such a tragedy come to be? There may have been several
contributing factors (some of which we‘ll never know), but we believe at
least two are quite apparent.
First of all, Charles Martin had his sense of values all messed up. Do I
have to say it? Human life is more important than a few blades of grass,
folks! (Matthew 6:30) But of course, you know that already, don’t you?
Yet perhaps this incident makes for a good occasion to examine what
we value most in life. To us, what should be most important? Hands
down, the salvation of our soul in the eternal glories of heaven! (2
Corinthians 4:16-18). This salvation comes through our fellowship with
God in Jesus Christ, and this relationship should cause us to place
importance upon that which is truly relevant -- God, our brethren, our
family relationships, and our fellow man. But too often we tend to place
emphasis on those things which are truly irrelevant by comparison.
Perhaps it’s not a yard, but then it might be a car, a music collection,
a golf ball, a place of residence, __________ (you fill in the blank).
And maybe we wouldn’t consider killing anyone for these things, but
could it be that they nevertheless have taken a priority with us? We
need to be reminded that the things of this earth really don’t matter!
“For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are
not seen are eternal.”
Second, Charles Martin apparently had allowed his anger to fester
through the years. The same article reported that he “told police he had
several times had problems with neighbors walking on his lawn... adding
that, ‘I've been harassed by [Mugrage] and his parents for five years.
Today just blew it up.’”
Beloved, we must never allow feelings of malice and rage to dwell within
us. The Scriptures command, “Do not let the sun go down on your wrath”
(Ephesians 4:26). In fact, Jesus taught His disciples that being angry
with one’s brother can eventually lead even to murder, and consequently
He taught us to reconcile quickly with our brethren (Matthew 5:21-24).
Mr. Martin’s actions are reprehensible and to be condemned; but they
ought to cause each of us to seek out and destroy anything in our own
lives that would twist and distort our godly values and emotions.
--Mike Noble
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