Remembering Jimmy Carter

 

The first time I hear about Jimmy Carter was when I was talking about politics with my Dad. When I grew up, our family was always interested in politics. We would watch the party conventions on television and talk about the candidates who were running for President. I remember in January of 1976 asking my Dad who won the Iowa Caucuses. "James Earl Carter" he said. I had never heard of him—of course, I was only twelve years old. 

My hope is that Jimmy Carter’s recent passing will cause all of us to reflect on what it means to be a servant leader. Because by all definitions Jimmy Carter was one of the best servant leaders of our generation. 

He wasn’t viewed favorably as the President. I remember the taking of the American hostages in Iran and the seemingly inability of President Carter to get them free. He was challenged by Ronald Reagan  in the 1980 Presidential race and only won six states and the District of Columbia in the 1980 election. .

 

But his success as a person happened after his Presidency. 

According to the Dallas Habitat for Humanity web site:

“It all started in 1984 when Jimmy Carter was speaking at a local church in New York City. He passed by a Habitat for Humanity build site and stopped in to say hello. He had volunteered with Habitat previously in Americus, Georgia, where Habitat was founded.

At this particular site, there seemed to be a shortage of volunteers. “We need to bring some volunteers in to help,” said President Carter. So he and his wife picked up a few dozen volunteers and showed up to help renovate a six-story apartment building. This brought safe and affordable housing to 19 deserving families.

Since then, the Carters have personally worked alongside 103,000 volunteers in 14 different countries to repair, renovate, and build over 4,331 homes. That’s 38 years of volunteer work. ..."

In an interview with PEOPLE magazine in 2019, President Carter said, “We knew that we had undertaken a major and very enjoyable hobby on the side. We stayed busy doing other things, but we devoted 36 years to Habitat.”

 Carter goes on to say that it’s his faith that has kept him building houses for those in need. “One of the things Jesus taught was: If you have any talents, try to utilize them for the benefit of others,” says President Carter, now 97. “That’s what Rosa and I have both tried to do.”

My family was influenced by President Carter’s commitment to Habitat for Humanity. I remember when I was in college my parents took the youth group of our church on a Habitat for Humanity trip. They were inspired by the example of Jimmy Carter. When I worked as a youth director in New York in seminary, I took a group of youth to New Jersey to work on a Habitat for Humanity project. Jimmy Carter was our inspiration.

It still touches me that a man who was the most powerful person in the world would be willing to get on his knees and pound nails so a person could live in an affordable home.

 

Only two years after his Presidential defeat, President Carter began the Carter Center. He and Rosalynn sought a way to use their influence to improve the life for the world’s poorest poor and to advance peace and health worldwide. 

Because of the work of the Carter Center, guinea worm disease is close to being the second human disease after smallpox to be eradicated. It has been done without the use of a vaccine or medicine.

 President Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He closed his speech by saying the following:

“The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices. God gives us the capacity for choice. We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes – and we must”.

President Carter taught Sunday School at Maranatha Baptist Church for decades. People would have to arrive at 5am to attend his classes. My parents went once to a class of his. What a testament to faith that President Carter even into his late nineties would teach Sunday School.

And perhaps what is most remarkable to me is he was married to Rosalynn for 77 years. They both grew up in Plains, Georgia. They met when he was three years old and Rosalynn was one day old.

In my sermon yesterday I concluded by talking about President Carter’s faith. I said this,

"Jimmy Carter studied every part of the Bible, and let the Bible influence his life. Jimmy Carter knew about the anger of God—he was a Baptist. But he was inspired by God to change the world. He did. Through his work with Habitat for Humanity and his development of the Carter Center—he did change the world. His faith propelled him.           

Carter’s Bible lessons focused on central themes: God gives life, loves unconditionally and provides the freedom to live a completely successful life. Like Jimmy Carter may all of us embrace God, and follow God to help create the world that God desires for us."

May we all look up to President Carter as a role model for morality. He did all that he could to make the world a better place. The world is a better place for his success.