Visions of Peace
John Wilkinson Third
Presbyterian Church November 2, 2003
Psalm 146
Several words of encouragement this morning. You have by now
received a mailing from the Stewardship Committee outlining
our hopes and goals for 2004. As you read that material, it
seems to me that two significant points come across: the very
real needs and the very great opportunity. We are seeking a
significant increase in our pledged giving for the next year,
in large part because we seek to return our use of the church
endowment to a more appropriate level.
But a greater part of the increased need comes in the form
of opportunity. We are a church that is growing and on the move,
and the financial resources to support that growth simply need
to be re-discovered.
Next Sunday is Stewardship Sunday, and we will speak of these
things more directly. Today, however, immediately following
the meeting of the congregation to elect new church officers,
we will show the new church video right here in the sanctuary.
Don't move. Don't touch that dial, unless you have
already seen the video at one of the October home gatherings.
And would a rerun really be so bad?
And please also consider returning to the church this evening
at 7:00 p.m. for a wonderful concert that focuses on themes
of peace. A deep word of gratitude this morning to all of the
musicians for sharing their gifts - to the orchestra,
to the Chancel Choir, as always, to Peter DuBois, for the skill
and creativity this is surely his gift, to Lucinda Meredith;
and a very special word of welcome to our guest organist Angela
Kraft Cross. We are grateful for your presence with us this
morning, as well as in this evening's concert.
*****
It is called the "just war" theory, which seems
to me to be something of a misnomer. The just war theory was
formulated by theologians over the course of several centuries,
culminating in the 1500's and 1600s, a very long time
ago. Our tradition - the Reformed Protestant tradition
- has grafted the theory onto its broader theological
tradition, as have most Christian traditions, with the notable
exception of what are sometimes called "pacifist"
traditions, the peace churches, the Quakers and Mennonites among
them.
"Just war suggests" that there are justifiable
reasons in the course of human events for going to war. The
tradition has even developed a list over time. The cause must
be just. The warring parties must have properly established
authority to wage war. War itself must be the course of last
resort after all other courses have been pursued. And the use
of means must be proportional to the end.
New challenges have presented themselves since the period,
several hundreds of years ago, when the just war theory came
on the scene, even over the past half century. From the 1950s
to the 1980s and 1990s, for example, the Cold War to the fall
of the Berlin Wall and the fall of Communism in the U.S.S.R.,
the question posed by the concept of "proportionality"
was heaviest on our minds and psyches, in the face of what we
have come to know now as "weapons of mass destruction."
In our era, which may be described in many ways including the
post-September 11 era, the pressing issue of terrorism pushes
the boundaries. The just war theory presumed nation states battling
nation states, with clear and agreed upon rules of engagement.
Terrorism throws all of that out the window, it may be argued.
The just war theory got a workout over the past months, as
the United States debated the invasion of Iraq, and took that
debate to places like the United Nations and the court of global
opinion. Some of us thought that to be the proper decision,
others did not, and we as a nation will continue to debate the
rightness of that decision. What we know is that people continue
to die on the streets of Baghdad. It is my hunch that those
of you in the room who know warfare firsthand saw that coming,
that getting out is more difficult than getting in, whether
you thought the war itself was a proper idea or not.
The point for this morning is echoed in the title of Haydn's
great work, "Mass in Time of War." We will always
be at such, it seems, in a time of war, because the actions
of our hearts and the actions of our nations will reflect the
inherent brokenness of the human condition. We heirs of Calvin
would not pretend otherwise; but we would also not presume to
ignore the testimony that would acknowledge our brokenness and
seek redemption, redemption even of our warfare through visions
of peace and justice.
There is not the time this morning to think about these things
fully, and the music of Haydn will do so much better anyway,
but I can't help but think that in this remarkable, complex,
conflicted, diverse world of the early 21st century into which
we are living and raising children and grand-children, we have
been presented with a critical call to action. I am not so sure
that the church is hearing that call all that clearly.
We, the church, on the broader cultural landscape, seem to
me to be so focused on things of a lesser nature, beating each
other up and immobilized by a sense of decline, which we have
lost sight of the calling of the one whom we continue to call
the Prince of Peace.
These are big picture questions, but here they are. And I would
invite us - through our prayers and Bible study, through
our adult education and outreach work, in our life together
and in our life dispersed, in our parenting and neighboring,
to be about their pursuit.
Might we ask...
>Just what does a "just war" look like in these
times? How do we debate about what some have called the "least
bad option?"
>How do we, as ethicist Jean Bethke Ehlstain asks, "respond
justly to injustice?" (Christian Century, November 14,
2001, page 27)
>What does justice look like, and what does mercy look like
- for us, for the United States, for the global community
of nation, for those in power and those out of power?
>How do we, as people of faith and as citizens, participate
in the work of diplomacy and statecraft, when less of us are
voting and the polls indicate that less of us really care?
>How can we possibly get along with so much diversity, or,
rather, how can we NOT get along in a world that is increasingly
fragmented and fractured?
These are big questions whose solutions will not come about
in one sermon, or any sermon. But I believe that we are called
to pursue them with a new sense of urgency, born of hope, as
young soldiers die in the streets of Baghdad, as the nuclear
threat of North Korea looms, as Israel and Palestine remain
locked in seeming eternal and deadly conflict. These are complex
questions, whose complexity might not have been anticipated
by our medieval forbears, but whose presence was surely foreshadowed
by them.
They are our questions. We pursue them through the theological
task and the musician's craft. We pursue them, even more
so, in a church that yearns to make peace and seek justice.
And to be sure, we pursue them in the name and the power of
the one who said, long ago, blessed are the peacemakers. May
it be so. For Christ's sake. Amen.
Morning Prayer
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. As we pray today,
gracious God, we would pray for peace in the world, for those
places in headlines and front pages and buried in the back pages
of our media and memory. People are fighting around the world
- people are dying and children are suffering - and we pray
for peace. We beg for peace. We ask your forgiveness in whatever
our complicity may be. We ask your righteous activity, and spirit
of justice to move throughout the world, in the battlefield,
in corridor of power, in boardroom and through diplomatic channels.
We pray especially for the leaders of the world's governments,
that they may receive a full and extra measure of wisdom and
providence to lead us in the things that make for peace.
We pray for peace in our own city, in the face of a new series
of violent deaths. We pray for peace in our own hearts, wherever
they may be troubled, and especially if the struggles we face
could ever lead to violence.
We would add our prayers to the many voices concerned by fire
in California. For property lost and more so for life lost,
and for firefighters and others who have bravely faced this
threat.
We pray for the church of Jesus Christ in many places, and
for our Episcopal brothers and sisters.
We pray for the county of Monroe as it faces an important election
that will certainly impact our life together. Be with those
who run and seek to serve, and be with all of us as we exercise
the special franchise given to us, the right and ability to
choose our leadership.
We pray for those in our church family whose struggles are
known to you, and to us, who grieve of spirit of ache of body.
Bring healing to them this day, and allow us always to serve
as agents of your healing.
And we would give you thanks for all the saints, who from their
labors rest, who thee, by faith, before the world confessed.
They in glory shine, and we thank you for their witness to us,
even now. They prayed these words, and we share them now saying
together...Lord's Prayer.
