The final week of 2006 saw the passing of two prominent world figures—a pair of former leaders whose lives could not have been more different.
Gerald R. Ford, our 38th president, was suddenly thrust into the world spotlight in 1974 following the resignation of President Richard Nixon. An unassuming person of quiet faith and humility, President Ford helped to bind up our nation’s wounds following the tumultuous Watergate scandal. Respected and trusted by lawmakers of both parties, Jerry Ford seemed to have just the right temperament and character to lead us through those challenging days of transition and recovery. Even Ford’s successor in the White House—President Jimmy Carter, who defeated him in the 1976 general election—paid tribute to his predecessor in his inaugural address, thanking him for all he had done to heal our land. To this day, Gerald R. Ford is universally remembered as a good and decent man.
How very different was the life and political legacy of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. For three horrific decades, he ruled his nation through intimidation, coercion and brutality. Those who dared to exhibit even a hint of opposition or criticism toward his evil regime were systematically and sadistically eliminated. Saddam’s cruel, iron-fisted reign of terror saw an estimated two million of his own countrymen go to their deaths. He was both feared and despised as a leader, a merciless and manipulative egomaniac with no regard whatsoever for human life. Even in recent days, as the end neared for Saddam, he remained unrepentant and defiant, spewing venom until his very last breath.
Ford and Hussein truly lived lives that were polar opposites. In death as well, they proved quite a study in contrasts.
Gerald R. Ford, our 38th president, was suddenly thrust into the world spotlight in 1974 following the resignation of President Richard Nixon. An unassuming person of quiet faith and humility, President Ford helped to bind up our nation’s wounds following the tumultuous Watergate scandal. Respected and trusted by lawmakers of both parties, Jerry Ford seemed to have just the right temperament and character to lead us through those challenging days of transition and recovery. Even Ford’s successor in the White House—President Jimmy Carter, who defeated him in the 1976 general election—paid tribute to his predecessor in his inaugural address, thanking him for all he had done to heal our land. To this day, Gerald R. Ford is universally remembered as a good and decent man.
How very different was the life and political legacy of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. For three horrific decades, he ruled his nation through intimidation, coercion and brutality. Those who dared to exhibit even a hint of opposition or criticism toward his evil regime were systematically and sadistically eliminated. Saddam’s cruel, iron-fisted reign of terror saw an estimated two million of his own countrymen go to their deaths. He was both feared and despised as a leader, a merciless and manipulative egomaniac with no regard whatsoever for human life. Even in recent days, as the end neared for Saddam, he remained unrepentant and defiant, spewing venom until his very last breath.
Ford and Hussein truly lived lives that were polar opposites. In death as well, they proved quite a study in contrasts.
President Ford’s quiet passing at the ripe old age of 93 was marked across America with flags flown at half staff, warm words of tribute and remembrance, a national day of mourning, and—in California, Washington D.C., and Michigan—public viewings and funeral services befitting a beloved national leader. On the other hand, the 69-year-old Saddam Hussein’s gruesome death by hanging—carried out by hooded executioners, in compliance with his conviction as a war criminal—was greeted in Iraq with cheers, celebratory gunfire, and dancing in the streets, followed by even more outbreaks of sectarian violence in his war-ravaged homeland.
One eventful week…two very different deaths…two very different men…two very different legacies.
One a healer. The other a butcher.
One a good man. The other an evil one.
One fondly remembered. The other universally hated.
These recent events serve to remind us that death is no respecter of persons. All of us ultimately must face it. And in facing death, all of us must meet our Maker for a final accounting of our lives.
According to those closest to him, Gerald R. Ford had an authentic faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Muslim, clearly did not. Today, Gerald R. Ford is with his Savior, because the Bible tells us that for the believer “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” We’re certain, however, that Saddam Hussein has arrived at a far less pleasant destination.
But please know this. It’s not the evil that Saddam did that sent him to Hell, anymore than it’s the good that Gerald Ford did that sent him to Heaven. Actually, our eternal destiny is determined solely by our rejection or acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord, and of the free gift of eternal life He purchased for us through His death on the cross. Don’t confuse the fruit with the root. The evil deeds of man are but a symptom of a deeper sickness…a rebellion against the authority of God in one’s life. And here’s something else. You don’t have to be a Hussein or a Hitler to go to Hell. You can be a seemingly good and decent guy who just does his own thing and never sees the need for God in his life. He just goes through life being a good neighbor, a good citizen, a good family man, a good Joe, but he never acknowledges his own sin, his own personal need for Christ, or the essential sacrifice that Jesus made on his behalf.
When your life is over and they write your obituary and have your funeral, people may say a lot of nice things about you. But the big question will be this: Where did you stand with God?
When Gerald R. Ford stepped into eternity just a few days ago, it ultimately didn’t matter one iota that he had been President of the United States and, thus, for a time, the most powerful man on earth. All that mattered at that point was that he knew Jesus as his own personal Lord and Savior. For, in the final analysis, all the power & prestige, fame & fortune, achievements & accomplishments the world has to offer can’t earn you a place in Heaven. Only Jesus can provide that. It’s too bad that Saddam Hussein never even came close to understanding that reality.
Pastor Danny
