Wesley Menke
Sermon 2022.11.13
Last night we enjoyed a sublime concert featuring Tatiana Thibodeaux and Rachel Vetter-Huang. All of the compositions were breathtaking. The quality of music was such that it wasn’t just heard, but the notes themselves painted landscapes of color before our eyes. The last piece though. It left us in a stunned silence. It was a piece composed about war and the ravages of war. This was purposeful because the concert benefited the resettlement of refugees.
Jesus said that there will be wars, insurrections, earthquakes, famines, plagues, and that nation will rise against nation. The question we have to ask ourselves is if this is descriptive or prescriptive?
If it is prescriptive then we go down a road thinking that Jesus intends for there to be war. This leads to Christian nationalism: a belief that Jesus desires certain nations to go to war against others. Martin Niemuller, a German theologian reflecting on World War One commented that the problem was that everyone thought God was on their side. Maybe that’s true, but when God is on your side, God is urging you to de-escalate, and walk toward peace.
I believe that Jesus is not prescribing war; he is describing war. The closing piece of music we heard last night was not a call to war. No way no how. It was a painful retelling of war. Jesus too is preparing us for the worst so that we can strive for something better. One way that we can be peacemakers is to practice less-violence. You have no doubt heard of non-violence or pacifism. I have no problem with pacifism; but I also understand that it is too rigorous for many. If you find yourself to be someone who just can’t get on board with pacifism or non-violence consider less-violence or de-escalation.
In a nutshell de-escalation or less-violence resists aggression through a measured response that uses less violent force than what was perpetrated. How does this work? It works only if there is wide solidarity; that is people in a movement who share and practice the same conviction.
A practical example would be when a gunman attacked a church in Orange County, the parishioners subdued him using not weapons but hymnals, folding chairs, microphone wires, etc. Another example would be how massful peaceful protest has brought wars to an end.
Thinking about the war in Ukraine for a moment. Occasionally I hear people criticize the Russian people for not organizing mass protests to stop Putin. First of all they have. Secondly, where are the peaceful protests here? Why don’t we march in the streets here in solidarity with the Ukranians who suffer innocently and with Russian people who are now being conscripted against their will to fight? We can protest here against that. If we have constitutional protection to protest against our own government, why not protest against other governments? I think maybe we should.
Do we hesitate because of the risks involved? Are there costs involved for publicly denouncing war? Remember that protest is our history. We are protest-ants after all. We are a resistance movement. Consider the costs of not doing anything.
Paul warns us of this in 2 Thesselonians; of idleness. He says don’t be idle. Think of what happened to the Temple in Jerusalem. It happened just like Jesus said, not one stone rested on another. We don’t have the luxury of working for a solution.
Work is nice and all, but the problem with work is that it is too focused on money and merit. When we focus on work we think that we will be compensated properly for what we do. Oftentimes we won’t get what is fair. That is why faith is so important. Faith is about being faithful. If you have faith then you will take your responsibility seriously. Grace tells us the divine nature of all of creation. Grace invites us to love our enemies.
Jesus wouldn’t lie, would he? Because they said that we wouldn’t lose a hair from our head. I wonder if Jesus ever had to clean out a bathroom drain? There is plenty of evidence that we all lose lots of hair on a regular basis. So what did Jesus mean? He meant that our body is his body. We are the body of Christ. We won’t ever lose a hair because nobody can ever be separated from the body of Christ. This matters because sometimes it feels as though we are separated one from another.
Today we say Farewell and Godspeed to a member: Jim Hobgood. He is moving to Kansas. But while we are sad of this geographical separation, Jesus tells us that we are still members of the same body of Christ.
There are other kinds of loss. Sometimes there are estrangements for philosophical differences. This is such a problem that many of us self-censor ourselves. We are afraid that we may offend someone and they no longer choose to associate with us. Jesus tells us that we don’t have to worry about what we should say. “Lead us not into the time of trial” is a phrase we use in the Lord’s prayer. But even if we are, we will have the right words to say. Rev. Jeff Frohner would say, “The best part of the truth is: it’s easy to remember!” That’s what Jesus says here, just tell the truth plain and simple. Make it plain. We don’t need to be overly creative with what we have to say. We don’t have to overly strategize on how to message something. Just speak the truth. If people are offended by the truth; and if they decide to separate themselves from you; know that not even a hair will be lost from the body of Christ. Even though you might be separated from a person against your will; that person is not lost to God.
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