I want to begin by telling you about something happened to me in college.
I didn’t have a car as a freshman, but in 1959 I got my grandpa’s 1951 Chevy, which I drove from my home in Iowa to Hesston, Kansas, where I attended college. It was a nice car and I liked it. I didn’t drive it much at college. Most of the time it stayed parked.
Toward spring, as the days warmed up, I began to notice an odor in the car. I couldn’t quite identify what it was. The next time I went to the car, the smell was even stronger so I searched the car: inside, under the hood, and then in the trunk where I found the surprise of my life. There lying on the floor of the trunk was a dead coyote. As I recall, I made a quick trip out to the countryside with it. But, even though I washed the car inside and out and used several kinds of deodorizers, I was never able to get that smell out of the car.
I had a pretty good idea who was behind it. Three guys in my dorm occasionally had fun at my expense. For example, I always got up early to read my Bible and pray. I think it was at 5:00. One night someone set my alarm so that I got up at 4:00 the next morning! One guy I suspected was my roommate since he knew where I kept my keys, but I had no direct evidence linking him to the crime. So any attempt on my part to retaliate would likely have gotten me into trouble.
I had absolutely no clue why they might have done it. After all, I was a good student. I followed all the rules. I attended chapel. I always went to church on Sundays. I went to Wichita sometimes to help a city church knock on doors. And I was president of the campus Christian association. So, if anyone had told me then that the way I lived my life somehow triggered this mean response on the part of these guys, I probably wouldn’t have been able to hear it. It’s pretty hard to hear things like that when you are the target of an attack, especially if you think everything you’ve been doing is good.
One thing I knew, though, was that even though I felt wounded inside, as a follower of Jesus I should treat my enemies as Jesus had commanded:
• I should pray for them (which I did),
• I should bless those who persecute me (which I’m not sure I did),
• I should not repay evil for evil (which I didn’t),
• I should leave room for God’s judgment and try to overcome evil with good (which I tried to do).
When we gathered here at church for worship four Sundays ago, none of us had any idea that our world would change so dramatically the following Tuesday and that images of death and destruction would haunt our minds for weeks to come. And it seems to me that right now our nation faces a dilemma similar to the one I faced in 1960, but on a much larger scale.
• We think we know who was behind the attack, although proving it in court would be difficult.
• We can’t figure out why they might have done it because we have the impression that what America does is right and good and surely no one could hate us for that.
• We are not sure what, if anything, God has to do with these events, so our nation has turned to military might to search out and destroy perpetrators and supporters of these attacks.
Hearing God’s Voice
Unfortunately, media reports have focused our attention so narrowly on who was responsible for this attack and how to retaliate that we have not given much consideration to our own need of repentance or to what God may be saying to us. In the Old Testament, when tragedies and calamities struck, prophets preached that God allowed such events to happen so that people would repent of their sins and turn back to God. It’s so easy to justify ourselves that we fail to hear God’s voice calling us to make changes.
Dr. Henry Blackaby, in Experiencing God, said recently, "As I read the scripture, I see a progressive word from God as it relates to the judgment of God. He does not bring a final judgment on a nation in one shot. He will speak to them and the Holy Spirit will convict them of sin. If they don’t respond He will send someone to warn them. If they don’t listen to him, we see that He sends remedial judgments upon the people of God and upon the nation. These are judgments that are not final, but are designed to catch their attention and cause them to return to Him.
"If they will not listen …eventually He withdraws His presence from them. And then, if they don’t respond and return, the final step is full judgment and death." But he went on to say that God’s purpose is always redemptive. God is trying to call us back to him to begin the work of healing.
I know that some of you have been listening to God’s voice. Some of you have been considering what it would mean to change the direction of your life. You have come to the end of your rope and are reaching out for God’s resources to help you cope. Others have been wondering if the only response to enemies is to crank up the level of violence when we’ve already seen so much of it. The Bible has good news. God can help you change and we are not limited to the usual responses to enemies.
In the 20 days since the attack, we have heard about the way diplomats want to treat enemies; we have heard about the way politicians want to treat enemies; and we have heard about the way the military treats enemies. But amid all the talk of smoking them out, gunning them down, and waging war, we haven’t heard much about the way Jesus treats enemies and that is what we need to hear.
Following Jesus
When Jesus approached Jerusalem for his last time, the Bible says, he came near and saw the city and he wept over it, saying "If you had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace!" And he described the way Jerusalem would be destroyed because, "you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God." (Lu. 19:41)
And I wonder how much He weeps today because even we who bear his name don’t always recognize the things that make for peace. We are blinded by political power, national pride, and military might.
The fact is that the coming of Jesus has changed the world, the way we look at the world, and the way we act in the world. It is not just that he came that makes the difference. It’s also the way he came, the way he lived and the way he died. And if we as Christians believe we are called to continue the work of Jesus, then the way we live will be determined by his example and by his standard.
Jesus came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly, the Bible says. He came to break down the barrier that stands between us and God. He came to clear things up between us and God and between each other. And we know that Jesus came, not just for you and me, but he came as Savior of the entire world. Jn. 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that he gave his only son…." He died for all and he cares equally for each person. And it may seem difficult to believe, but He came to save our enemies as well as us. So, we dare not put limits on his love. Christ is not necessarily on the side of the nation with the most weapons. He will not approve of racial superiority or the destruction of his other children. Redeeming love is at the heart of the gospel and it is for everyone. Christ is the savior of the whole world.
Every person I face in a struggle is either a Christian or non-Christian. If I destroy a Christian, I kill the brother for whom Jesus said I should lay down my life. If my enemy is a not a Christian, I destroy a person Christ died for and I take away any opportunity to be a reconciler or to let him find salvation. As John Drescher has said, "War gives death instead of life, hate instead of love, judgment instead of forgiveness, retaliation rather than reconciliation; it is to search and destroy instead of to seek and to save--to use weapons against the very persons to whom I’m told to give the gospel. In fact, to me, engaging in warfare is the supreme denial of the Great Commission and all Christ said and did."
As followers of Jesus we do what he says. We live under his lordship. We follow his example. He demonstrated the way of peace in his life and in his death. And he calls us to saturate all of life and society, not with death, but with life and to demonstrate the reality of reconciliation. This means we can’t add the word except to his commands. We can’t say, "Love your enemies - except in wartime." Jesus said, "If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight…but my kingdom is not of this world." Robert McAfee Brown in his book The Bible Speaks to You writes, "Nothing in Jesus’ life or teachings can be twisted in support of killing or warfare."
I know that Jesus said there would be wars and rumors of wars, but he never said that Christians should fight in them.
An Example of Following Jesus
You have probably heard of Tony Campolo, Baptist preacher and well-known speaker. On the verge of being drafted during the Korean War, Tony had to visit a local recruitment office, where he told the officer, "I feel I need to tell you something."
"What’s that?" the man asked.
"Well," said Tony, "I think I could go through boot camp with little problem. And I could learn to shoot a rifle in target practice. But you need to understand that if I were ever in combat and the time came for me to point my rifle at another human being and pull the trigger, I don’t think I could do that."
"And why not?" the officer wanted to know.
"You see," Tony answered. "I’m a Christian."
"Well," the military man responded testily, "what’s that got to do with shooting someone?"
Tony replied, "What that means is that for me there will come a time when I have to stop and ask the question, ’What would Jesus do.’"
For a Christian that is the important question. Our denomination has opposed war ever since it began in 1708. In 1934 Annual Conference approved this statement: "All war is sin. We, therefore, cannot encourage, engage in, or willingly profit from armed conflict at home or abroad."
That understanding of Jesus’ teaching has often resulted in misunderstanding and even in persecution. I don’t have time to tell you stories of people who have been harassed in the United States and even imprisoned because they tried to be peacemakers. Jesus never said it would be easy.
I Peter 2:21-23 says, "For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly."
Conclusion
So what can we do as the feverish pitch of self-righteous nationalism rises around us? Remember that as Christians our first responsibility is to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. (Mt. 6:33) Then we should look for wholesome and creative ways to express God’s desire for peace in our broken world.
On the international front, world-class mediators have given lots of thought to better responses. The world is tired of taking an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, and then two teeth for one tooth, until soon everyone will be eyeless and toothless as Gandhi said. Look at Israel and Palestine. When will the world learn that violence only begets more of the same? One mediator, whom I know personally, has recently said, "Military action to destroy terror, particularly as it affects significant and already vulnerable civilian populations, will be like hitting a fully mature dandelion with a golf club."
After describing some suggestions he went on to say, "The biggest blow we can serve terror is to make it irrelevant. The worst thing we could do is to feed it by making it and its leaders the center stage of what we do. Let’s choose democracy and reconciliation over revenge and destruction. Let’s do exactly what they do not expect, and show them it can work."
I wish that I had been more positive and creative in responding to my college dorm mates in 1960. I wish that I had tried harder to befriend them and perhaps learn what it was that bugged them about people like me. But, in spite of my dullness and insensitivity to their concerns, all three of these men later had life transforming experiences as Christians and for that I give thanks.
I believe in the power of the gospel and that is what makes life worth living and sharing with others.
So, what can we do about the increasing amount of violence and hatred in our world?
• Befriend someone who looks different from you. In Lima some people of middle Eastern origin are afraid to go outside of their homes. In the La Verne (Calif.) Church of the Brethren, some members are providing an extra measure of safety against hate crimes at an Islamic school in nearby Pomona. (A Los Angeles Times article highlighted the effort.)
• When buying toys for your children and grandchildren, choose items that do not require violent imaginations to play with them. Try to find toys that require cooperation and friendship for play.
• Monitor the television programs, computer games and video games children use. According to Lt. Col. David Grossman, Killogogy Research Group, "Every time a child plays an interactive video game, he is learning the exact same con-ditioned reflex skills as a soldier or police officer in training… Our children are learning to kill and learning to like it."
• If you are "on the outs" with someone, take immediate steps to reconcile. Practice your peacemaking skills close to home.
• Give blood and financial donations. If you wish to give money through the church, designate your gift "U.S. Terrorism Response" and our church treasurer will send it to the Emergency Disaster Fund of our denomination.
• Join others Thursday at 3:30 here to pray for this congregation, its witness in this city, and for world peace.
• Pray
- for victims, survivors and their families
- for wisdom for government leaders
- for Osama bin Laden and others to be released
from the bonds of hatred
- for refugees in Afghanistan
