As Jesus followers we are called into the Kingdom Life. This blog will help us converse and learn what that means. It will contain thoughts on Scripture, Sermon Reflection, Leadership Training and interesting reads. -Pastor Jeff

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Holy Irresponsibility - Peace-Making is Ridiculous

Read Isaiah 11:6-9, Hebrews 12:14-15
"And the wolf will live with the lamb..." Is. 11:6
"Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord." Heb. 12:14

In a world hell-bent on conflict, the prospect of making peace is a ludicrous venture.  One might wonder if the words of Jesus have any place in a world that has come to adopt so fully the idea that the only way to preserve and protect one's life, security, and future is by striking first.  His promise, "Blessed are the peacemakers..." falls on deaf ears, as we fill our minds with thoughts of anger, malice, vengeance, bitterness, and retaliation.  Not only does such admonition seem irrelevant, it can even be considered irresponsible.

We live in a real world...Jesus.

It's a world where we speak softly and carry a big stick.  It's a world where the one that shouts the loudest wins.  It's a world where there are only two sides, "my side and the wrong side" and anyone not on "my side" is an enemy.  It's a world where churches wrap themselves in the flags of their nations rather than in sackcloth with ashes.  It's a world where children are taught that fists and insults are the best ways to deal with a trouble-maker.  It's a world where spouses increasingly have difficulty communicating outside of hate-filled words, blame, condescension, and sarcasm.  It's a world where we stand poised for the next threat, the next attack, the next conflict, the next battle, the next moment when we will be forced to still our soft voices and unload the crushing power of our big sticks.

In such a world, peace-making is irresponsible.  It fails to see the importance of standing ready to swing back or swing first to protect and preserve our futures.  That appears the only option in a world when everyone stands carrying a "big stick."

But I wonder...

What if we as followers of Christ have been called to holy irresponsibility?  What if peace-making isn't idealistic but the suffering faithful response to a God who has made peace with the world through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  What if Jesus wasn't joking or drinking the hippie kool-aid when he said, "Blessed are those that give peace a chance?"

You can't escape it.  The vision is there throughout the Scriptures.  It's a vision of a Peaceful Kingdom.  It appears as the promise of God and the command of his people.  I know, I know...what about the commands of war in the Old Testament.  You know why we run to those passages?  We do so because we are naturally inclined to conflict and seek justification for our violence.  To us, those passages make sense.  But what do you do with the visions in Isaiah of swords being beaten into plowshares (Is. 2:4)?  What do you do with the promise that one day the lion will lay down with the lamb (Is. 11:6)?  What do you do with a Savior who refused to return evil for evil but who "himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility..." (Eph. 2:14)?  What do you do with the vision that comes to dominate the whole of Revelation, where "on each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit in every month.  And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations." (Rev. 22:3)?

But Jeff...those moments are somewhere out "there" in a better distant eternity.  "Here" big sticks win.

What if Jesus' call to the peacemakers is a call to live in ludicrous faith and holy irresponsibility, living now as though we are giving witness to what is to come?  What if living as peacemakers is putting into practice our prayer, "May your Kingdom come here on earth as it is in heaven?  Acting as peacemakers is a way to remind the world, our schools, our homes, and our communities that the "big stick" option isn't the only way.  If one is willing to live and look ridiculous in this world, jesters and fools for Jesus, then there is another way.

But how...how is this possible?  You will have to tune in tomorrow for that...But today...

I want you to spend today of your journey in Lent asking the question, how much of my life is wrapped up conflict?  Have I come to assume that "big sticks" are the only way?  Does peace-making seem ridiculous, foolish, and weak to me...and why?  How does the life of Jesus challenge my assumptions that striking back and striking first is the only "real" way to live in this world...especially when He seems to assume that He is the "way the truth and the life?"  Survey the landscape of your life and ask...how might the practices of peacemaking change my surroundings?

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