WHEN YOU LOOK LIKE A NOBODY

WHEN YOU LOOK LIKE A NOBODY

 There could be moments in life when your self-perceptions are at an all-time low.  However, appearances can certainly be deceiving.  Although it’s a lengthy story, consider the case of one man whose actions brought about national condemnation and ostracism.

 As a student of history, I love the story of U.S. Senator Edmund G. Ross of Kansas.  Historians could casually label him as ‘Mr. Nobody’ since no national law bears his name.  Not a single list of Senate greats would reference his service.  Yet when Ross entered the Senate in 1866, he was considered a rising star who was destined to surpass his colleagues, but he tossed it all away by one courageous act of conscience.

 Here’s what happened.  In the aftermath of the Civil War, conflict seriously divided our government.  President Andrew Johnson was determined to follow Lincoln’s policy of reconciliation toward the South.  However, Congress wanted to rule the defeated Confederate states with an iron fist.

 Shortly after Senator Ross was seated, the Senate introduced impeachment proceedings against the hated President.  Thirty-six votes were needed and everyone concluded that the thirty-sixth would come from Edmund Ross.  But to the surprise of many, Ross declared that the president “deserved as fair a trial as any accused man has ever had on earth.”  As a result, Ross received an avalanche of anti-Johnson telegrams from every section of the country.

 The fateful day of the vote arrived and courtroom galleries were packed.  Only the vote of Senator Ross was needed to impeach the President.  The Chief Justice asked in a trembling voice, “Senator Ross, how vote you?  Is the respondent Andrew Johnson guilty as charged?”  Ross later revealed his thoughts at that moment: “I looked into my open grave.  Friendships, position, fortune, and everything that makes life desirable were about to be swept away by the breath of my mouth, perhaps forever.”  Then, his answer came, unhesitating and unmistakable: “Not guilty!”  With that, the trial was over and the response was quite predictable.

 Officials from Kansas wired Ross to say: “Kansas repudiates you as she does all perjurers and skunks!”  His political career was in ruins.  Extreme ostracism, and even physical attack awaited his family on their return home.  One gloomy day Ross turned to his faithful wife and said, “Millions cursing me today will bless me tomorrow...though no one but God can know the struggle it has cost me.”  It was a prophetic declaration.  Twenty years later Congress and the Supreme Court verified the wisdom of his position by changing the federal laws related to impeachment.

 Ross was appointed Territorial Governor of New Mexico, and he was thereafter awarded a special pension by Congress.  The national press and people eventually honored his courage which saved our nation from crisis and division. 

 My friend, your current courageous convictions just might cost a great deal – the loss of fortune, or fame, or friendship – but they will surely be affirmed in time by righteous people and honored in eternity by Almighty God.

 Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING. Maranatha!