The passage
read from Saint Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (Ch.
13) is one of the most beloved biblical texts. It speaks of love's
centrality in the Christian life, and it applies to one's relationships with a
partner as well as with others. Consistent with Paul's message, Jesus'
Summary of the Law is our foundation: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God,
the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with
all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." The second
is this, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Mark 12:29) In
other New Testament passages, we discover many applications of Jesus'
Summary, such as: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you
on the cheek, offer the other also … Do to others as you would have them
do to you." (Luke 6:27-31) And, "…Put your sword back into its
place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword." (Matthew
26:52)
Throughout
the ages many Christians have adopted a strict pacifism as a response to evil.
Non-violence has been their trademark. During wartimes "conscientious
objectors" served in unarmed capacities, such as medics, and they suffered a
great deal of public hostility. People of other religions have also adopted a
pacifist stance, among them Gandhi.
Yet, in a
contradictory manner, we heard the Gospel account (John 2: 13-16) of
Jesus' behavior as he angrily made a whip and used force to drive the
moneychangers out of the Temple. He dumped over their coins and overturned
their tables. He bellowed at them to take the stuff out and to stop making his
Father's house a marketplace. He did not first confront the temple leadership
and try to convince them to eliminate the offending practices; he did not
negotiate. Without warning, Jesus stormed in and attacked the people conducting
business.
Consistent
with this confrontational use of force, Jesus also makes the following
statements: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have
not come to bring peace, but a sword." (Matthew 10:34) "The Son of Man
will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of
sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 13: 41-42)
We might
observe that he did not whip anyone to death, which would have been
disproportionate to his goals! He employed a measured response to the temple
sacrilege. Continuing to ponder more, we might ask whether Jesus would ever
have killed anyone. If someone were about to attack his mother Mary with lethal
force, might Jesus have defended her with a heavy club to the attacker's head?
What about the Commandment "You shall not kill?" Well, there is no such
Commandment. The meaning of the words in Hebrew is "You shall not
murder!" Not all categories of killing are prohibited in the
Bible. What is prohibited is the wrongful killing of the innocent, and
that is murder. (In our Prayer Books it is correctly translated "murder"
wherever the Commandments are cited, and it is deceptive to use the word
"kill.") If Jesus struck the attacker with a club and killed him, that would
most likely not have been considered murder. Would he have done that? I don't
know, but from his behavior in the Temple and some of the other things he said,
he was not a pacifist. Would he advocate war under any circumstances? I don't
know, but he never prohibited it.
Even Gandhi,
in a little known statement, leaves the door open to violence. Hear his words:
"I have come to see, what I did not so clearly before, that there is
nonviolence in violence. This is the big change which has come about. I had not
fully realized the duty of restraining a drunkard from doing evil, of killing a
dog in agony or one infected with rabies. In all these instances, violence is
in fact non-violence.1" How far Gandhi would
have elaborated on this comment, we're not sure.
In the early
church, war, along with capital punishment, were taken for granted as
permissible when very carefully considered and implemented. Nevertheless,
throughout history faithful Christians have differed sharply on the use of
force, including war. Some have and still do absolutely prohibit participation
in war. Some others have viewed particular wars as divinely sanctioned. In the
middle, some have proposed only a "just war," qualified by a number of criteria
applied to specific circumstances. However, among proponents of "just war" we
discover sincere Christians disagreeing with each other as to whether a
particular state of affairs truly qualifies as "just." In any case, permeating
the New Testament and early church is the theme of spiritual warfare
against injustice and evil; within this perspective, we sing such hymns as
"Onward, Christian Soldiers" and "Fight the Good Fight."
Perhaps some
of you have been annoyed during this sermon as you wonder what moral resolution
I am leading up to with regard to current international tensions. Will I
propose pacifism? Will I suggest that God is calling us to war now? Will
I evaluate current circumstances within "just war" criteria?
Perhaps I
will now irritate everybody! I'm not going to offer any recommendations!
Scripture, reason, tradition, and Christian experiences vary considerably on
nearly every life issue. I am hard pressed to state THE Christian
position on the many dilemmas facing humankind. Absolutely correct solutions
are in the mind of God. However, you and I do not have straightforward access
to God's mind. The Creator has endowed us with free hearts and minds, so that
we might reflect vigorously on the predicaments facing each of us personally
and corporately. The best that you and I can do with all issues is to gather
available information, reflect with others, perhaps pray (which does not
guarantee infallibility), and act in accord with an informed and humble
conscience. Policy makers, who in the last analysis make the decisions about
national and international matters, do the same. We choose to live in a great
nation where the Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court make many of
the colossal decisions; the buck stops with them, and they make no claims of
perfection. 2
My simple
point tonight is that there is no method by which Christians can discern and
declare, with absolute certainty, God's mind on Iraq and North Korea. No one
can correctly say, "THE Christian view is" such and such. On the other
hand, individual Christians and Churches may certainly campaign for their
divergent viewpoints. In any case, paraphrasing the Collect prayed earlier, you
and I in our own small ways can strive to set aside the arrogance and
hatred which infect our hearts; we can accept spiritual strength to
break down walls that separate us; you and I can attempt to unite in the
bonds of love; and, we can strive to be open to God's nudgings in our
struggles and confusions to accomplish God's purposes on earth; with our hope
that eventually all nations and races may serve God in harmony, with justice
and peace for all.
The Collect of the Day: O God, you
made us in your own image and redeemed us through your Word: Look with
compassion on the whole human family; inspire us to set aside the arrogance and
hatred which infect our hearts; strengthen us to break down the walls that
separate us; empower us to unite in bonds of love; and guide us to work through
our struggles and confusions to accomplish your purposes on earth; that all
nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. [adapted from The Book of Common
Prayer, p. 815]
1 From Erikson, GANDHI'S
TRUTH, p. 374
2 In a news release from the
Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS3287, Feb. 1, 2003) the Episcopal Church's
Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold is quoted: "I will not second guess those
who unquestionably have better information than is available to me about
options for action in response to Iraq. However, I call on President Bush to
exhaust all diplomatic and multilateral initiatives as the alternative to
waging war."
The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians
13
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of
angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if
I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if
I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am
nothing. 3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so
that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient; love
is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not
insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice
in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. But as for
prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for
knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy
only in part; 10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.
11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned
like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now
we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only
in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 And now
faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
The Gospel According to John 2
13 The
Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple
he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated
at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the
temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the
money changers and overturned their tables. 16 He told those who were selling
the doves, 'Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a
marketplace!'