Christmas Hope

"Adoration of the Shepherds
G. vanHonthorst, 1622

Professor Lewis Smedes said “Keep hope alive and hope will keep you alive.” Those powerful words have stuck with me over the years. For most of us, it is natural to hope for our own well-being, to hope for a good future. It’s a way of affirming the life God gave us and generating excitement about future possibilities.

It’s natural and healthy to hope for ourselves, but it is narrow-minded and self-destructive to hope only for ourselves. Biblical hope, the hope that accompanies the celebration of Advent and the birth of the Prince of Peace, “has a wide-angle lens.” That’s how Neal Plantinga describes it and I have learned much from his insights.

Biblical hope takes in whole nations and peoples. It brings into focus the entire created order. In Plantinga’s words, “this webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets called shalom. We call it ‘peace,’ but it means far more than just peace of mind or cease-fire between enemies . . . In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, all under the arch of God’s love. Shalom, in other words, is the way things are supposed to be.”

For years, my colleagues and I on the staff of the American Studies Program (a public policy work-study program in Washington, D.C.) taught our students that injustice and oppression in our world need to be addressed by Christians who respond by saying “It doesn’t have to be like this!” We encouraged our students not to become cynical or hard-hearted, but to become agents of hope.

In the middle of the world’s brokenness and pain, we need to center our hope on Jesus Christ, the Lord of the cosmos. There are no other gods, no other foundations, upon which to base our hope. That’s the great joy of Christmas. God intervened in history and gave us his son -- and this son is the promised Prince of Peace.

Jesus taught us how to be people of hope, how to creatively live according to his commandments, and how we will one day see him return in glory. Our biblical hope looks forward to a whole “new heaven and new earth” in which pain, mourning and death will no longer be present. This is the “big picture” seen through Advent’s wide-angled lens. Let’s celebrate!

So What?

• Cornelius Plantinga Jr.’s book, Engaging God’s World, is a treasure and I would encourage you to get a copy. I read and re-read it regularly, especially when I feel overwhelmed by the challenges I face both in Russia and here in the States.
• Have a blessed Advent season and work on expanding your sense of hope so that it becomes a “wide-angle lens.”

Seek the Peace of the City

Building a Community Garden

There are times when I feel like I am in exile in a foreign land, both when I am in the States and in Russia. Trying to follow Jesus in a post-modernist world, where religion is privatized and marginalized – and often treated as irrelevant to life by the opinion makers – can be a struggle. In times like this, I can identify with the Jews who were literally in exile and to whom the prophet Jeremiah shared powerful insights about how to live in these conditions.

Let me briefly set the context for the exile of the Jews. Jeremiah lived during the tumultuous days when the Kingdom of Judah was a pawn battered about by the “superpowers” of his day. The land of Palestine was a battleground for the ravaging armies of Egypt, Assyria and Babylon and the Jews were caught in the middle of the violence. As if this weren’t bad enough, Jeremiah told the people of Judah that God’s judgment was coming for their disobedience and that their sins of idolatry and injustice would result in the collapse of their small, beleaguered kingdom.

After they had been carried off into exile by the Babylonians, Jeremiah sent them a letter with a surprising message: build houses, plant gardens, marry, have children and “seek the peace and prosperity of the city” (Jeremiah 29:7) in which they had been relocated. Jeremiah gave them a message from God to seek shalom within the borders of the empire that had just conquered their land and deported them.

Sometimes followers of Jesus are caught in political situations beyond their control. They are forced to flee their mother country, are trapped in nations with repressive political regimes of the Right or the Left, or are politically powerless because of economic deprivation or other reasons. Or, like disciples in secular societies in Western Europe and America, are treated as narrow-minded sectarians because they believe the Bible to be God’s Word.

Building Homes
(c/o Habitat for Humanity)

The Biblical message for practicing peacemaking has relevance in all of these contexts: seek the peace of the city where God has put you. Even if you are not able to have an impact on the national or international level, everyone can be peacemakers in their city, neighborhood, and family.

Like the exiled Jews, followers of Jesus can be people of hope because they know God’s promise: “For I know the plans I have for you . . . plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV). The practice of peacemaking for ordinary Christians begins right where we are.

So What?

• Can you identify with this sense of being an exile? Often, when attending foreign policy conferences where religion is ignored or quickly dismissed by secular-minded analysts, I get this feeling of being an exile. Does this happen to you in your work place or school setting?
• Can you think of some practical steps you can take to “seek the peace of the city” where you live?

Peace and Justice

Pastor Tim Keller’s book, Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just, gave me some fresh insights on the topics highlighted in the title of this post. In fact, this topic of the relationship between justice and peace will be a subject frequently discussed in this blog. Keller brought in a third dimension and I want to share his insights with you.

Keller’s discussion is set in the context of the creation story and how radically different the Jewish Scriptures are from every other ancient account of the beginning of the world. Except for the Bible, most ancient cultures depict creation as the result of a battle or a struggle between warring cosmic forces. But the people of Israel, unlike any of their neighbors, did not believe any other divine power was on par with God. They believed that creation was the work of God without a rival, and that God created the world like an artist paints a picture or shapes a sculpture. God is a craftsman, an artist.

The Old Testament uses two kinds of imagery to describe the creation of the world. One image is architectural – God built the world like a person constructs a home or a royal dwelling. But the Bible also describes the creation of the world as the weaving of a garment. The fabric metaphor conveys the importance of relationships. If you throw lots of pieces of thread onto a table, no fabric results. The threads must be carefully woven together, one thread over and around many others.

This, in Keller’s judgment, is what God did at creation. He created “all things to be in a beautiful, harmonious, interdependent, knitted, webbed relationship to one another. . . . This interwovenness is what the Bible calls shalom, or harmonious peace” (p. 173). Keller is in agreement with the argument I made when I began this blog -- the English word “peace” simply does not adequately convey the true biblical meaning of this word shalom. Keller defines shalom as “complete reconciliation, a state of fullest flourishing in every dimension – physical, emotional, social and spiritual – because all relationships are right, perfect, and filled with joy” (p. 174). I think this is a great definition!

When sin entered the world, it defaced and marred everything that God had made and ripped apart the harmonious relationship between God and human beings. The whole world stopped “working right.” Because our relationship with God has broken down, shalom is gone.

Keller argues that if we desire to “do justice” as God commands us, we need to live in a way that generates a strong community where human beings can flourish. To “do justice” means to go places where the fabric of shalom has broken down, where the weaker members of society are falling through the fabric, and to repair it. Keller stresses that “the only way to reweave and strengthen the fabric is by weaving yourself into it” (p. 177).

This is a powerful metaphor and it accurately describes how Jesus lived his life. He spent his time and energy repairing the broken and torn “fabric” of first-century Palestine. If we choose to follow Jesus, we need to learn how to repair torn fabric and re-weave the broken strands in our society.

So What?

• To be a peacemaker, we need a vision of God’s shalom and an ability to articulate what it is that we are working for in the context where God had placed us. Making “right relationships” so everyone can flourish is a big vision -- but we can participate in this venture.
• Buy Keller’s Generous Justice – it has helpful insights and you will be blessed by this short book! Keller’s strength is highlighting biblical truths and then giving them practical application. Let me know if this book was helpful to you.

The Apostle Paul’s Practical Advice

Saint Paul Writing His Epistles,
V. de Boulogne c. 1594-1632

As we have noted in recent posts, the Apostle Paul emphasizes the importance of the gospel as a message of reconciliation. He highlights the fact that God has given us the task of being his agents of reconciliation in the world and that’s part of our witness as followers of Jesus.

But then Paul offers some very practical advice on what this means in terms of our daily lives:

• “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4, NIV).
• “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” (Romans 14: 19, NIV).
• “Live in peace with each other. . . . Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances. . . . Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil” (I Thessalonians 5: 13-22, NIV).

Practical advice like this is hard to follow in our rough-and-tumble world. But Paul gives us an assurance that if we are ”in Christ,” we are a “new creation.” He goes on to write that God has committed to us the message of reconciliation and “we are therefore Christ’s ambassadors” (II Corinthians 5: 17-20, NIV).

So God is telling those whose sins have been “blotted out” (forgiven) by Jesus’ death that now they have the privilege of carrying that message to the rest of the world as royal appointees of the King!

So What?

• An ambassadorial appointment – not bad for people like us! I remind myself periodically when I am meeting with government or business leaders in Russia that I am there on an “ambassadorial appointment” and therefore have no reason to be fearful. This gives me strength and courage, in times when I could be intimidated.
• What a radical concept in our culture – make the interests of others, not just of yourself and your family, a priority! “Consider others better than yourselves” – what a testimony this would be in our world if we practiced this teaching!

Jesus Holds All Things Together

The Apostle Paul,
Rembrandt c. 1633

The Apostle Paul was a Jew, trained in the finest religious instruction available at that time. Fervent in his faith and committed to eliminating false religious beliefs, he was a zealous persecutor of Christians before his conversion on the road to Damascus. How did he understand Jesus’ teachings and deeds related to peacemaking? Recently we discussed other disciples and their views on this topic, but how about the Apostle Paul?

When Paul was in prison in Rome, he wrote a letter to the church at Colosse that was arguing over different views of who Jesus was. Paul’s epistle to the Colossians is a marvelous statement of the role of Christ and, in fact, biblical scholars believe that six verses (Colossians 1:15-20) of this letter may have been an early Christian hymn, used to teach important doctrines.

Take the time to read these powerful verses. The text begins by establishing Christ’s reign over all of creation, both in the spiritual world and the physical world. Paul emphasizes this point by deliberately referring to things in heaven and on earth; to make sure the point is not missed, he then refers to the visible and the invisible.

Paul describes Jesus’ central role in the process of redemption and summarizes Christ’s ministry as one of reconciliation. God the Father chose to reconcile all things in creation to himself by “making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” For the Apostle, the gospel message was summarized in the concept of reconciliation and peacemaking. It was not reconciliation merely on the spiritual level, but – as these verses make clear – a reconciliation that included all the dimensions of shalom described in the Old Testament and reinstated in Jesus’ “manifesto.” For indeed, “in him all things hold together.”

So What?

• I find great comfort in the fact that in Jesus all of creation holds together. When things seem so out of control in our world or in our personal lives, it is reassuring for me that the Bible teaches I can trust God because “he’s got the whole world in his hands.”
• The Apostle Paul also teaches me that reconciliation and peacemaking is not just an abstract theological concept, but is practical – it relates to “things on earth.” God is in the reconciliation business, making people whole, making communities whole, and that’s part of our calling as well.
• To be Christ-like, then, means to work for peace and reconciliation. This is what it means to “follow Jesus.”

Try a New Greeting

I have a challenge for you. Are you willing to try something new? I would like to encourage you to change the way you greet people and to use the word “shalom” or “peace” instead of the greetings you normally use. It can also be used as a farewell.

In our culture, the typical greetings are “Hi!” or “How are you doing? (for which we do not really expect an honest answer) or “What’s up?” or “Hey!” If we are in “polite company,” we might say “Good morning.” None of these greetings really say very much, so how about being creative.

The same is true with our typical farewells: “Take care,” “Don’t work too hard,” “Good-bye,” or “See you later.” I think we can do better than this.

Let me tell you why I think it is a good idea to greet friends, especially Christian friends, with the words “shalom” or “peace.” During the first century, church leaders often used the words “grace” and “peace” to summarize the heart of the gospel. It then became a standard practice in the early church to greet other Christians with these words and to bid them farewell in the same way.

For them the words were not a casual greeting, as many of our present-day greetings or farewells are, but were powerful reminders of the essence of the Christian faith. Every letter written by the Apostle Paul begins with a greeting that includes the words “grace” and “peace.” Paul’s standard greeting is: “Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:7). Most of Paul’s letters end in a similar fashion, usually with a benediction about God’s peace. In the letter to the Romans, for example, he writes: “The God of peace be with you all. Amen” (15:33).

The Apostle Peter follows the same pattern in his two letters, greeting his readers as follows: “Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” (II Peter 1:2). Jude, the brother of James, uses a slightly different greeting: “Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance” (v. 2). For the disciples empowered by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the “good news” of God’s grace and peace – their summary of Jesus’ message – was always on their lips.

I am not proposing that we use the full greetings of the Apostle Paul or the Apostle Peter, but how about a shorter version? Do you remember some of the early posts in this Blog where we talked about how shalom incorporates interpersonal relationships, good health, the well-being of society, and living a full life? It is a beautiful word, a rich word, that includes everything humanly speaking you could desire for a friend.

I try to make this a habit in my correspondence or when I meet people. I sometimes end my e-mails to friends with “Blessings!” because I want them to know I wish God’s richest blessings on them and their families. A few are starting to send this blessing back to me.

Some friends I know say “shalom – salaam,” using both the Hebrew and Arabic words for peace. I like this as well. Why not greet and say farewell to friends with words that have substance, words that encourage them? Why not use this greeting or farewell with new people you meet? They might even ask why you use these words – and you have a chance to share something about your beliefs.

Any of you willing to try it? Soon it may become a habit and you’ll be blessing people who come into your life.

So What?

• If you try this for several weeks, let me know about your experiences and any responses that you might get – either good or bad.
• I’ve talked about the “pluses” of greeting with the word “peace” or “shalom.” Are there “minuses” or issues arguing against this? What might they be? Do the “pluses” outweigh the “minuses” or not?

Overcoming the World

For many of us, just surviving is a big challenge. Our lives are full, our work days are long, and our free time is very limited.

So what do we do when, as followers of Jesus, we are commanded to “overcome the world”? Not only does the Bible tell us this, it gives us a radical strategy for making it happen: love. The Apostle John makes this case most powerfully.

Apostle St. John the Evangelist,
El Greco, c. 1612

John was a disciple of Jesus and one of his closest companions. Along with Peter and James, John developed a special friendship with Jesus that provided opportunities for him to know Jesus more intimately than the other disciples. John was the one who rested his head on Jesus during the “Last Supper” (John 13:23-25) as an expression of their close friendship and he was the only disciple who faithfully remained to witness Jesus on the cross first-hand (John 19:26).

The Apostle John wrote the Gospel of John, Revelation, and the three Letters of John. In the first of his three Letters, John insists that the true test of a disciple’s life is whether or not the love of God is evident in that person’s relationship with others. John emphasizes that loving God means keeping his commands and, in doing this, followers of Jesus “overcome the world” (I John 5:4).

Although John did not use the word “peace” to describe the gospel message as frequently as the Apostles Peter and Paul, for example, the substance of his teaching is the same. The Apostle John preaches the love of God like no other first century church leader. He has a clear memory of Jesus’ gift of peace given to the disciples after the resurrection (John 20:19-23). For him, peace with God, a “right relationship” with Jesus, means living a life of love for others.

There is power in the simplicity of John’s words: “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God has overcome the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (I John 5:3-5).

Stressed out? Too busy? Just trying to “make it”? This radical teaching by the Apostle John is good news if we are followers of Jesus and if we choose to live out the love of Jesus in our daily lives. John’s words are words of triumph because the love of God will “overcome the world.”

So What?

• This truth is so hard to hear and understand, right? In our rough-and-tumble world, how can love overcome anything? It’s force and power that seems to be dominant. Have you seen any examples of love “overcoming the world”?
• What can you do in a practical way to begin implementing these teachings? Are you willing to trust the Apostle John’s teachings that love is God’s radical strategy for “overcoming the world”?
• Think of a person who is difficult to love, or a situation that is difficult to handle in a loving way. Then think about how you could change your approach to this person or this situation in a loving way, beginning first with prayer. Ask God to help you to take this approach of love and see what happens in the course of a month or two.

Patient Peacemakers

Being patient does not come easy with me. I am not a patient guy. But I have learned, especially since coming to Russia twenty years ago, that patience is a Biblical virtue. Waiting five years to get a construction permit, instead of the normal eighteen-month wait because we would not pay bribes, taught me about patience. It is also an important reality for peacemakers.

"St James the Elder"
Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1612

The Apostle James, the brother of Jesus, developed into a major leader in the first century church. Although he did not believe in Jesus as the Messiah and even challenged his claims (John 7:2-5), James became a believer when he saw the resurrected Jesus. The Apostle Paul referred to James as a “pillar” of the church (Galatians 2:9) and Luke records James’ critical role as a mediator during the debate at the Jerusalem council over whether or not Gentile Christians must observe Jewish practices required by Mosaic law.

The Book of James was written to a Jewish audience and is one of the earliest of all New Testament writings. James’ letter shows his great familiarity with Jesus’ teaching and its central concern is the vital link between faith and works. James persuasively argues that “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (2:17).

James then goes on to compare two kinds of wisdom, “earthly wisdom” and “wisdom that comes from heaven.” In ways that would be very familiar to his Jewish readers, James describes the relationship between God’s wisdom and shalom – “the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all, pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” And then James adds this note: “Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness” (3:17-18).

To Jesus’ brother, sowing in peace would result in creating conditions of justice. But James also warned the followers of Jesus to be patient: “See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the fall and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm” (5:7b-8a).

James’ message is clear – and we all need to hear it: Be an obedient peacemaker and trust that God will bring a “harvest of righteousness” in his own timing, as he promised.

So What?

• Do you find it as hard as I do to be patient, especially when you feel you’ve done something important and are waiting for the results? Can you think of any example in your life? How do you handle this timing of waiting when patience is needed?
• Being patient is not an act of passivity – it requires actively trusting in God’s promises that he will bless your efforts at peacemaking and reconciliation in his time. Has this been your experience?

The Big Story

Do you wake up in the morning sometimes, look around, and wonder what is going on in our crazy world?   I do.   When this happens, it reminds me of the observation made by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge in their book, The Sacred Romance, that “most of us live our lives like a movie we’ve arrived at twenty minutes late.  The action is well underway and we haven’t a clue what’s happening.  Who are these people?  Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys?  Why are they doing that?  What’s going on?  We sense that something really important, perhaps even glorious, is taking place, and yet it all seems so random.”  This insight appears in a chapter in their book entitled “A Story Big Enough to Live In.”

For many of us, when we read the Bible, it can be a confusing book and it is hard to understand what the principal themes are and how they hold together.  How do the Old and New Testaments relate to each other?  More importantly, where do we fit into this story, if at all?

Theologians talk about a meta-narrative– about the big story – of Scripture and it seems to me that getting a firm grasp on this big story is very important if we want to live as disciples of Jesus, if we want to be peacemakers in our broken world.

           

Recently I gained a fresh insight on the subject of “the big story” that I am excited to share with you.  Oxford Professor N.T. Wright suggests that we should view the Bible as a drama in multiple acts.  The creation story is Act I, where God’s plot for the world is initially revealed; Act II is the fall, where there is conflict in the story.  The remainder of the drama is the torturous resolution of this conflict and it can be divided into four further acts. 

Act III is the story of Israel, Act IV is the story of Jesus (who begins to unravel the plot conflict at is deepest roots), Act V is the story of the church, and the sixth and final act is the consummation when God’s intentions for creation are fully realized and when Jesus returns to earth in glory.

What is unusual about the Biblical drama is that the script breaks off in the middle of the fifth act, resulting in a sizable gap between Act V, Scene I (the story of the early church) and Act VI.   While there are hints in the Bible about how the story will end, there is no clear line leading from the break in Act V to the conclusion of the drama.

William Shakespeare

Professor Wright offers a creative insight on how we can think about “the big story” in the Bible and figure out where we fit in.  Suppose, he says, that there exists a Shakespeare play whose fifth act had been lost.  The first four acts provide a wealth of characters and a crescendo of excitement within the plot and those who found the lost play agree that the play ought to be staged.

The challenge is how to write a fifth act.   The best solution, Wright argues, would be to give key parts to highly trained, sensitive and experienced Shakespearian actors, who would immerse themselves in the first four acts, and in the language and culture of Shakespeare and his time, and who would then be told to work out the fifth act for themselves.

The first four acts, existing as they did, would be the undoubted authority for the task at hand.  The experienced Shakespearian actors would now have to improvise without developing behaviors that were inconsistent or unrelated to the existing text.  These actors would have to improvise and be innovative, while staying faithful to Shakespeare’s authority.

It is not necessary to draw this out much further.  When I read Dr. Wright’s insights on this, I was immediately drawn to the power of this analogy.  What a great way to think about our role as disciples in light of the authority of God’s Word.   As disciples, we need to be like highly trained, sensitive and experienced actors who know God so well that we can improvise and figure out how to live according to his teachings in our own particular context.  We need to immerse ourselves in God’s Word, so we can speak and live in light of the big story God has unfolded for us in Scripture.  Our job is to figure out, in light of God’s character and the teachings of Jesus, how we ought to live now.  This is an essential part of our calling as Jesus’ disciples.  It is indeed “A Story Big Enough to Live In”!

So What?

• Does this analogy help you?  In what ways?

• If one of your colleagues at work asked you to explain why you go to church and what your religious beliefs are, how would you answer their questions?  How would you explain “the big story” in the Bible?

Taking Shalom to the Streets

For many of us, there is a very long distance between our brains and our hearts. Those twelve inches can stretch into miles. I know I struggle with this. What I believe sometimes doesn’t make much difference in how I act.

Jesus knew this and that’s why he constantly reminded his disciples to listen to what he said and then to do it! The Apostle James repeated this message: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22).

My recent posts have discussed what Jesus taught about shalom, about being a peacemaker, and how his disciples interpreted this message and put it into practice in their own lives, after Jesus’ ascension to heaven.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

One remarkable example of how Jesus’ teachings were put into action comes from the civil rights movement under the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. If you wanted to be a volunteer and serve as part of his team, you had to sign a pledge agreeing to the following:

•  Meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus.
•  Pray daily to be used by God in order that men might be free.
•  Walk and talk in the manner of love, for God is love.
•  Sacrifice personal wishes in order that all men might be free.
•  Observe with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy.
•  Seek to perform regular service for others and for the world.
•  Refrain from the violence of fist, tongue and heart.
•  Strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health.
•  Follow the directions of the movement and of the captain of the demonstration.

Martin Luther King, Jr., whose statue and memorial are now located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., claimed that his civil rights efforts were grounded in the Sermon on the Mount, combined with Mahatma Gandhi’s method of nonviolent resistance. He said “It was Jesus of Nazareth that stirred the Negroes to protest with the creative weapon of love.”

Birmingham police with dogs
confront peaceful demonstrators

King took Jesus’ teachings to the streets where he lead peaceful demonstrations against the discrimination that Blacks faced in America. Like many other peacemakers, he sacrificed his life to do what he was called to do.

So What?

• Reading about King’s life and his role in the civil rights movement has been inspiring to me. While other black radicals called for violence and riots, he remained committed to the way of peace. Can you think of other people who lived out Jesus’ teachings on peacemaking and who took their beliefs to the streets?

• Do you agree that the pledge that King’s volunteers were asked to sign is not only applicable to the civil rights movement, but it is good practical advice for how we ought to live every day as followers of Jesus? What would you add to this list?

• I was really struck by the pledge to “refrain from the violence of fist, tongue and heart.” How do you understand “violence of the heart”?

Live In Harmony

Jesus’ disciples help us by giving practical illustrations and guidance on how to live out the “gospel of peace.” They witnessed how Jesus lived and heard what he taught on this subject and after Pentecost they became bold witnesses for Jesus and implemented a life of peacemaking as they understood it.

As a leader in the first century church, the Apostle Peter’s actions and teachings give us helpful insights. As we saw in my last “Reflections,” Peter’s vision and his subsequent journey to the house of Cornelius provide evidence of how Peter understood the message of Jesus about peacemaking in a very practical way. He now realized that the good news of the Kingdom of God was for all people and that God was not limiting his message to the Jews. This meant that Peter had to violate practices of his day that forbade association with non-Jews -- which he did and for which he was repeatedly persecuted.

Peter’s first letter, written to Jewish and Gentile Christians scattered throughout Asia Minor, was intended to encourage these young believers to live holy lives. After explaining that the God who called them was “holy,” he argued that Christians should therefore “be holy in all you do.” Peter then described what this meant in terms of practical living.

Here are Peter’s insights in his own words (I Peter 3):

• “Live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic and humble.”
• “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing . . . .”
• “Turn from evil and do good; . . . seek peace and pursue it.”
• “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

Peter’s instructions are not idealistic, utopian statements, but practical counsel that he learned from Jesus. Later Peter warned that people would speak maliciously against Christians and that they will suffer for their faith, but he encouraged his readers with these words: “It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil” (I Peter 3:17).

In a similar way, the Apostle James, the brother of Jesus, also shared with his friends what it meant to follow Jesus and to live as a peacemaker. In his letter to a Jewish audience, one of the earliest of all New Testament writings, James demonstrated his great familiarity with Jesus’ teaching and his central concern that faith be linked to action. James persuasively argues that “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:17).

One of James’ great insights is his discussion of how wisdom is related to shalom and then how shalom is linked to the “harvest of righteousness (justice),” a link that reminds us of Isaiah’s prophecies. James puts it this way: “The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow peace raise a harvest of righteousness” (James 3:18).

To Jesus’ brother, taking actions that nurture peace would result in creating conditions of justice. But James also warned believers to be patient and trust that God will bring the “harvest of righteousness” he promised.

So What?

• The Bible is a helpful guide for living a productive, healthy life. It has so many powerful insights about how to live in peace, how to confront injustice, how to deal with conflict, and how to build a more just world. This is why regular Bible reading is such an important discipline for followers of Jesus. Have you made it a part of your daily routine?
• I am not a “bumper-sticker guy,” but once in awhile I see one that really grabs my attention. Here’s a favorite: “Peace & Justice: Weapons of Mass Instruction.” Have you seen any lately that focus attention on peacemaking?
• Have you had any experiences within your family, social life or work you can share that helped you see some of the powerful links between peace, justice and wisdom?

Breaking Down Racial Barriers

So we have had a chance to see how Jesus lived and what he taught about peace. Now the question is: Did it matter? Did his closest friends, his disciples, take these actions of Jesus and his teachings and put them into practice in their own lives? This next series of reflections will look at this.

When the disciples were “filled with the Holy Spirit” at Pentecost, everything changed for them. They were no longer afraid for their lives nor did they hesitate to talk about their faith in the risen Jesus. They were now fearless witnesses of the gospel of peace.

The Gospel of Luke gives us numerous examples of how Jesus offered reconciliation between people despite their racial and cultural differences. In the same way that Jesus freely offered salvation to the Samaritan woman and to her neighbors, the Book of Acts makes it clear that the disciples now understood that the gospel was not just for Jews, but for all people. Societal prejudices that forbade communication or friendship with Gentiles were to be ignored. The gospel of peace was a message of harmony and love not to be constrained by racial or national distinctions.

"Philip Baptizes Eunuch"
Abel de Pujol

The Apostle Philip went to Samaria and preached the gospel to people whom the Jews traditionally hated. He was soon joined by Peter and John and they all traveled throughout Samaria preaching the message of peace (Acts 8:25). Philip also witnessed to the Ethiopian eunuch and “told him the good news about Jesus” (8:35).

After Pentecost, the Apostle Peter began to live out his faith with a freedom and exuberance that was contagious, but that also generated considerable opposition from Jewish religious leaders. One of the most powerful illustrations of what the gospel of peace meant to Peter in practical terms is recorded in Acts 10. Here we read about Peter’s vision and how God vividly illustrated how the gospel involved overcoming differences that divided people and kept them from hearing the truth about Jesus. When the three men sent to Peter by Cornelius, the Roman centurion, came to his house, Peter invited them in – an act in itself that was a violation of Jewish practice at that time.

Peter’s practical actions were a clear sign that he was a different man now, that his attitude and behavior toward non-Jews had changed. He was becoming a peacemaker, a reconciler between people.

"Peter Baptizing Cornelius"
Francesco Trevisani

When Peter went to the house of Cornelius, accompanied by Cornelius’ two servants and one of his soldiers, he explained to these non-Jewish listeners who Jesus was. What did Peter say to them? God does not show favoritism to certain people, but accepts anyone who believes in him and lives accordingly. He then summarized the message of Jesus by describing it as “the good news of peace” (Acts 10:36).

Of all the words Peter could have used to briefly describe Jesus’ teachings, he chose the word “peace.” The Old Testament promise of shalom was now fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Reconciliation was now possible between people of different languages and races. For Peter and his friends who went with him to Cornelius’s home, the gospel of peace had real practical application – it meant breaking down racial barriers.

So What?

• I remember my first trip to China in 1984. We met with Chinese Christians through some secret connections and I have vivid memories of standing in a circle with them, holding hands and quietly mouthing the words of several hymns. It struck me that these men and women were my brothers and sisters in Christ and that they were “family members” of mine. In fact, my relationship with them was closer than to my non-Christian neighbors back in the States. Have you ever had an experience like this where differences of language and ethnicity seemed to dissolve?
• Can you think of examples from your own experience where you saw racial barriers overcome and people of faith engaging with others with whom they normally would not relate?
• Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Had a Dream” speech is one of the most powerful statements I have ever heard on the “gospel of peace” and its reconciling power to bring different races together. Do you know of others?
• How can you apply this practical application of peacemaking in your own context?

One of My Heroes

Do you have any heroes?  More than one or two?  Who are they?  I have a small number of heroes in my life, some that I know or knew personally and others who I have only read about.

I’d like to share with you one of my heroes, a man who exemplifies a peacemaker or reconciler who chose to stand up against evil and resist oppressors even at the cost of his own life.   He was a man who was a committed follower of Jesus, who served other people – especially young people, and who wrestled with how he should live out his faith in a country increasingly captivated by Adolf Hitler.   I am focusing on this man because he had to make some very difficult decisions, decisions that some of us today might question.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian born in 1906.  A number of his books were influential in my own understanding of the Christian faith, particularly The Cost of Discipleship and Life Together.  This brilliant man, who was the sixth of eight children from a prominent middle-class family in Breslau, was an exceptional pianist as well as an outstanding student and he earned his doctorate in theology at the age of 21 from the University of Berlin.

While I read these books by Bonhoeffer years ago, I’ve been thinking about him lately because I recently finished an outstanding new biography about him by Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy.  Metaxas tells the story of Bonhoeffer’s amazing life and his incredible moral courage in the face of monstrous evil. 

As he witnessed acts of violence against Jews, he was troubled by how other Christians were manipulated by Hitler’s cronies into supporting “German Christianity” – a mixture of Nazi beliefs and traditional Christian teachings. Eventually Bonhoeffer decided to join forces with a small group of German leaders who planned to assassinate Hitler, a plot that failed and resulted in his arrest, imprisonment and execution in April 1945, only 23 days before the surrender of the Nazi regime.

Metaxas quotes a speech Bonhoeffer gave in August 1934, as he struggled with how to respond to the evil of the Nazi regime.  Here are the words of the 28-year-old pastor:

There is no way to peace along the way of security. For peace must be dared, it is itself the great venture and can never be safe.  Peace is the opposite of security.  To demand guarantees is to want to protect oneself.  Peace means giving oneself completely to God’s commandment, wanting no security, but in faith and obedience laying the destiny of the nations in the hands of Almighty God, not trying to direct it for selfish purposes.  Battles are won, not with weapons, but with God.  They are won when the way leads to the cross (p. 241).

Bonhoeffer had no idea in 1934 how prophetic his words would be in terms of his own life.  I see him as a hero because he understood that following Jesus in the modern world can be a dangerous undertaking and that being a peacemaker does not mean tolerating injustice and evil.  He lived what he believed, no matter the cost.  I will never forget his words “Cheap grace is the mortal enemy of the church.  Our struggle today is for costly grace.”

So What?

• I encourage you to take the time some day soon to think about and write down a list of your heroes and then some short observations about why you chose them.
• Being a peacemaker is not necessarily a safe way to live.  Can you think of some peacemakers in recent history?  What happened to them?
• Bonhoeffer recognized that the energy and strength he needed to be a peacemaker – to defy Hitler’s call to make war on the innocent – came from the Holy Spirit’s work in his life.  Have you ever experienced this in your life?

Forgiveness & Peacemaking

I am not very good about forgiving people who have hurt me. Sometimes the pain is deep and when the hurt comes from someone you are close to, it is especially difficult to handle emotionally. One powerful lesson that Jesus taught his followers was the importance of forgiveness, a lesson I need to keep relearning. Being able to forgive is an essential quality for peacemakers.

Rembrandt's "The Denial of Peter"

Do you remember when Jesus is in the Upper Room, during the days before his arrest and execution, and tells his disciples that “one of you will betray me”? Later that evening, Peter boldly declares that he would lay down his life for Jesus. But Jesus tells him that “the rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times.”

Following Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, his beloved disciple Peter does indeed deny he knows Jesus, not once, but three times as predicted, out of fear for his own life. How painful that must have been for Jesus to have one of his closest friends betray him!

Jesus Eats With His Disciples
at the Sea of Galilee

After his resurrection, the third time Jesus met with his disciples was when they had breakfast together on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. During their breakfast, Jesus asks Peter three times “Do you love me?” Here is Peter, who had boldly stated he would lay down his life for Jesus and then shortly thereafter denied he even knew him three times. But Jesus restores his relationship with Peter. He asks him three times if Peter loves him and then makes it clear that he is forgiven by inviting Peter to “Follow me.” Do you think Peter got the message, especially the third time Jesus questions him? What an incredible act of forgiveness!

So What?

• On a personal level, we all know this, right? Unless we are willing to forgive someone who we think has wronged us, a healthy friendship with that person is not possible. Jesus teaches us to be people who forgive others, just as God forgives us for our sins. That is a key part of the Lord’s Prayer – “forgive us our debts as we forgive the debts of others.”
• Another important lesson to be learned here relates to how the lack of forgiveness on the part of the person who has been hurt keeps them a victim with continuing anger and bitterness. God knows this and instructs us to forgive because he wants our lives to be full of joy and peace – an inner Shalom.
• In our broken, violent world, forgiveness is an important beginning for any healing to take place on a national level. We saw this in South Africa, when after years of apartheid, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was formed to bring together the various racial communities of this country, to share their personal stories of what had happened – to tell the truth, but to also forgive those who had done wrong. It began the difficult process of healing.
• In many autocratic regimes where much violence has been perpetrated by the ruling elites on the majority of the population, there have never been apologies by anyone accepting responsibility for past or current injustices. A healthy, just society can never be built on the basis. In the early 1970s, Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote an essay in which he said that Russians needed to stop blaming others for their troubles and start searching for their own errors and sins. Then they needed to ask for forgiveness because repentance “is the only starting point for spiritual growth.” The same challenge applies to the countries in the Middle East who are wrestling with popular opposition movements.
• The importance of forgiveness and its relationship to peacemaking has application on the personal, national and international levels. Can you think of some examples in your own life where, if you forgave a friend for something that they did that hurt you, a relationship could be restored? Just do it!

Fired Up

Portion of El Greco's
"Pentecost" (c. 1600)

Being a disciple of Jesus in the first century was not easy! As we have discussed in previous posts, some of his teachings were very difficult to follow and some of his actions broke all of the rules of good behavior set by the Pharisees, who were respected by Jews in conservative religious circles.

When he touched lepers, recruited a hated tax collector into his inner circle of disciples, talked with a Samaritan woman, healed people on the Sabbath – these were all actions of an unusual teacher. This rabbi was challenging the religious establishment of his day, with all of their rules and prohibitions about not dealing with the outcasts in society or their neighboring Samaritans, and the disciples had to figure how to be faithful followers.

Then comes the Passover Feast when Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey and the crowds cheer him and hail him as a political liberator. This seemed to be the time when Jesus would truly become the King of the Jews and together they would break the bonds of Roman oppression. But what does Jesus do? As we discussed in the last post, he withdraws from the crowd, loses all of this momentum, and winds up being arrested, tried and executed.

Before he died on the cross, Jesus promised to send his disciples a “Counselor” or “Helper” and he repeated this promise when he met them following his resurrection as they hid out of fear that they would also be arrested and punished. Of course the disciples were excited when they learned the news of Jesus’ resurrection, but they were still confused about his mission. On the day of Jesus’ ascension into heaven, forty days after his resurrection, the disciples were still wondering when Jesus was going to “restore the Kingdom to Israel” (Acts 1:6).

Let’s face it – the disciples were like us. Being a disciple of Jesus in the twenty-first century is also not easy. There are times when I am also confused about what God is doing in this world and how I am to follow his commands, times when I just don’t seem to get it. Having to suspend RAI’s undergraduate program after fourteen years is an example where I thought I was doing what God wanted me to do. Only now am I beginning to see that God’s plan may be much more significant than I understood it to be.

Things changed for the disciples ten days after Jesus’ ascension, when the promise of the “counselor” was fulfilled. At Pentecost, the disciples were “filled with the Holy Spirit” with dramatic results. No longer would they flee persecution as they had on the night of Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. They were now “fired up” and became fearless witnesses of the gospel of peace!

So What?

• When facing difficult challenges, we need to remind ourselves that God has given us the power, the strength, to persevere -- this is the gift of the Holy Spirit. We can’t make it on our own, but God does not leave us on our own. We have a promised “Helper” and this makes all the difference.
• The change in the disciples after Pentecost is truly amazing. If you want to study this further, get the book by Professor Michael Green, Thirty Years That Changed the World. Here’s his summary: “Three crucial decades in world history. That is all it took. In the years between A.D. 33 and 64 a new movement was born. In those thirty years it got sufficient growth and credibility to become the largest religion the world has ever seen and to change the lives of hundreds of millions of people.”
• If you have doubts about your faith or are confused about how to live as a follower of Jesus in our world, don’t be distressed. Doubt is not the opposite of faith, fear is. Doubt can eventually lead to a stronger faith, to a better understanding of God’s Word, if you ask God to help you as he promised through his Holy Spirit.

The Power Source

Where do we get the energy, the strength, to be a peacemaker in the middle of a violent, chaotic world? My recent posts have discussed some of the hard teachings of Jesus about loving our enemies and turning the other cheek – radical teachings for sure, so how can we do this?

There have been many times in recent years when I have faced some difficult challenges in Russia, when bureaucrats or political extremists have tried to block our efforts to build a school. My initial response to opposition is to fight back, but when I reconsider and decide to respond as a peacemaker, I then often get very discouraged because I sometimes lack the energy for another struggle. It is times like this when I have learned that I need to find energy, to find power, in another source. That’s what I want to share in this post.

Da Vinci's "Last Supper"

When Jesus met with his disciples in the Upper Room during the week before his trial and crucifixion, he said some remarkable things that the Apostle John recorded in his Gospel. But first let me set the context. After Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem during Passover week, he withdraws from the crowds who celebrated his donkey ride into the city. Instead of seizing the opportunity to mobilize the crowds who hailed him as a political liberator from Roman rule, Jesus orders his disciples to rent a private room where he pours out his heart to these twelve men.

You can sense the intensity of Jesus’ words to his disciples as you read through chapters 13-17 of John’s Gospel. Jesus washes their feet, talks with them about being servants, and predicts his own betrayal. Then he tells them that he will ask God the Father to send “another Counselor [Helper] to be with you forever.” He explains that “the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, . . . will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you“ (John 14: 15 and 25-27).

Jesus summarizes his message in the word “peace” (shalom), the gift he would give to his followers, a gift promised by the Old Testament prophets. Jesus says: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14: 15 and 25-27). His gift of “peace” was not something that non-believers would understand, but it was a fulfillment of his life, death and resurrection.

Caravaggio's "Doubting Thomas"

After his resurrection, the disciples are hiding behind locked doors because they fear they will also be arrested and possibly executed. Jesus enters the room and says “Peace be with you!” This was not a typical “Hello.” After showing his followers his wounds, Jesus breathes on them, a symbol of the Holy Spirit, the “breath of God.” What Jesus had promised in the Upper Room, he gives them this night in anticipation of Pentecost, fifty days later when he poured out his Spirit in ways the disciples never expected.

Jesus gave his disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit and he offers this same gift to us. Jesus knew that his followers would never be able to be peacemakers and reconcilers in a broken world without the power and energy that they receive from the Holy Spirit. We simply are not able to be people who live a life of shalom without the presence of the Holy Spirit in us. But with the presence of the Holy Spirit, we can do amazing things -- in fact, Jesus said we will be able to do greater things than he had done (John 14:12)! Isn’t that incredible? Why are we so fearful and unwilling to take risks as peacemakers, when we have these promises from God?

So What?

• One of the key issues followers of Jesus face is whether or not we trust the promises he makes to us. God is a God of covenants, of promises, yet isn’t it easy to forget these when we face tough situations?
• Can you think of a circumstance in your life when you faced a difficult time, but chose to believe in God’s promises despite what others might be saying?
• We need to remember that God desires to use us to achieve his purposes in our world, but that our ability to be used for making the world a better place is not because of our talent, but because of the Spirit of God in us. Doesn’t this help us to relax?

Loving Your Enemies

Carl Bloch: "Christ Mocked by a Soldier"

If you think non-retaliation is a tough principle to live by (see my post of June 20, 2011), what about Jesus’ teaching on loving your enemies? The commands to “love your enemies” and “pray for those who persecute you” seem beyond my reach. What about yours?

Matthew 5, verses 43-48, begins with Jesus’ statement summarizing the conventional religious wisdom of his day: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’” This conventional religious wisdom that Jesus quoted is a perversion of Mosaic law, a perversion that omits the words “as yourself,” excludes enemies from the category of “neighbors” and adds the command to hate them instead.

In stark contrast to this perverted religious teaching, Jesus commands his followers to love without boundaries. It is a love that reflects the love God the Creator has for the world. It is a love that creates the conditions for shalom.

The Jews were a conquered people with an occupying foreign military presence in their land. They were also one of the most heavily taxed people in history. To his Jewish audience, “love your enemy” might have brought to mind images of abusive Roman soldiers who treated them as despised slaves or arbitrary tax collectors who could charge whatever they could get away with.

Did Jesus follow this difficult command himself? He sure did! Jesus’ actions during his arrest and trial are vivid examples of how he chose to live and how he wanted his disciples to live. Immediately following his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, the armed crowd of temple officials and guards brought Jesus before Annas and then Caiaphas, the two leading Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem. When blatantly false charges were made against him, Jesus remained silent. He was slapped by one of the officials and later spit upon, then blindfolded and beaten, while the guards mocked him. Jesus did not retaliate in word or action.

The next morning they dragged the beaten prisoner before Pontius Pilate, who surely knew of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem several days earlier. In his conversation with Jesus, Pilate asked him if he was “king of the Jews.” Jesus agreed, but explained to Pilate that his kingdom was “not of this world.” The promised Messiah was ushering in a different kind of Kingdom, not one built by warfare or political intrigue as Pilate’s had. The good news of shalom that he preached was not linked to any political or military empire nor was it established by violence. It was a gospel of grace and love.

Jesus’ illegal trials by both Jewish and Roman authorities led to his crucifixion, a brutal form of execution routinely used by Rome, especially against political revolutionaries. Even in the midst of the painful agony of his crucifixion, Jesus practiced what he preached. In an act of incomprehensible love, he prayed “Father, forgive them [the soldiers] for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:24).

When Jesus taught his disciples to love their enemies and to pray for those who persecuted them – and then did so himself, he demonstrated the radical character of the gospel of shalom, a message of love in the midst of a world of hatred and violence.

So What?

• Can you think of examples or situations in your own life where you faced opposition (“enemies”) and could have responded differently than you did if you had followed Jesus’ teachings?
• Can you think of examples in history where someone chose to show love, rather than hatred, toward an enemy? Share these examples with other readers.
• Isn’t it true that we are often tempted to “spiritualize” hard teachings like this from Jesus and conclude that Jesus really meant we needed to pray for those people we don’t like. To actually “love an enemy” is something most of us would never even try. Yet it is a command, not a suggestion, from Jesus, right?

What Kind of King Is This?

The last week of Jesus’ life on earth involves a sequence of events that is extraordinary. Like his “surprise birth” (see my post of April 11, 2011), this week is not what anyone would expect, certainly not for the expected Messiah or someone proclaimed as the “King of the Jews.” Once again we see that God’s ways are not our ways. God is indeed a God of surprises.

On the day we now celebrate as Palm Sunday, Luke tells us that Jesus approached Jerusalem from the east on the road up the steep incline from Jericho. He mounted a donkey and, as he approached the city, crowds of people gathered along his path and started shouting “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord” (Luke 19:38). What an exciting time this must have been for the disciples. This was what they were hoping for. Their rabbi would announce a new kingdom, which meant freedom from the Romans, and the people would rise up in support of King Jesus.

As Jesus crossed the crest of the Mount of Olives and saw Jerusalem, Luke tells us that a surprising event happened -- Jesus wept (Luke 19:28-44). This is hardly the act of a conquering military hero! Jesus’ heart was full of grief because he knew that the people of this city did not know or understand the shalom he could bring. Jesus wept when he saw the city he loved and when he thought about the judgment that would come for rejecting his gospel of peace. The Son of God wept over sin and disobedience. No other religion in the world believes in a God like this!

Following the exhilarating experience of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, the disciples must have been perplexed when Jesus subsequently withdrew from the limelight. Was he truly the Messiah? Was this the time when his Kingdom would be inaugurated? The people seemed ready and Passover Week, with its commemoration of the liberation from slavery in Egypt, reminded everyone of their present bondage to the occupying armies of Rome and the promise of a Davidic king who would bring freedom. Momentum was on their side and the time seemed right to the disciples for a bold assertion of power.

But then Jesus made some decisions that were not fitting of a revolutionary leader. He hosted a “last supper” over a Passover meal where, in addition to washing the feet of his disciples like a common household servant (John 13: 1-17), he spoke of his suffering and death that would come soon.

After dinner, Jesus led his disciples across the Kidron Valley to the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem. It was there that his betrayer, Judas, accompanied by armed guards and religious officials, found him. All four Gospels report this arrest scene, but John’s record adds some important additional details. John tells us that as the crowd of officials and soldiers approached, Jesus identified himself as the one they were looking for. When he did that, they drew back and fell to the ground (John 18:6). Luke tell us that the disciples then asked if they should defend themselves with their swords and one of the disciples was not willing to wait for an answer, so he attacked the High Priest’s servant. Peter, identified only in the Gospel of John (John 18:10) as the one ready to fight, had to be angrily rebuked by Jesus who, even in the time of crisis, called for peace and stopped to heal the severed ear of the injured man.

The promised Messiah was the “Prince of Peace.” He was not a revolutionary political leader out to overthrow Rome and to instigate insurrection, a point he clearly established when he denied leading a rebellion (Luke 22:52). Jesus chose not to use weapons of war to bring in his Kingdom. The gospel of the Kingdom was a message of shalom and its inauguration came not by force. Jesus taught about being a peacemaker and now he demonstrated once again how that teaching should be lived out.

So What?

• The Biblical descriptions of Jesus crying, both on his approach into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and at the news of his friend Lazarus’ death, is very moving to me. It says, among other things, that there are times when faced with injustice and evil that the only response can sometimes be tears. Do you agree?
• Do you know of any other peacemakers who consistently lived out what they taught on this subject? What other world figures come to mind?
• If you were one of Jesus’ disciples witnessing this week’s surprising sequence of events, what do you think your reaction would be? What would you be thinking?

Jesus’ Teachings Cause Division

Sometimes Jesus’ teachings are hard to understand. Let’s be honest and admit that this is true. Let’s also not skip over passages in the Bible that we don’t like, if we are trying to understand shalom.

In Matthew 10:34, Jesus says “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law – a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household’.” This statement, including the quote for the prophet Micah, is one of those difficult passages in Scripture that requires careful study, because it seems to contradict everything we have learned about shalom so far.

If our beginning assumption is that the Bible does not contradict itself, which is my belief, and if God is the author of truth and not deception, which is also my belief, then where does this leave us? How do Jesus’ words square up with Isaiah’s description of the Messiah as the Prince of Peace? What, then, does Jesus mean when he announces that he brings a sword?

In my earlier posts, I looked at Old Testament passages that clearly establish God’s desire for shalom in his creation and his hatred of violence and conflict, although God will use war as an instrument of his judgment. We also established the fact that the prophets described the promised Messiah as a king who would rule with justice and in peace, a promise Jesus identified with when he began his public ministry. One thing therefore seems clear: Jesus is not advocating violence in this verse.

Jesus’ statement was meant to describe the effect of his coming, not the purpose of his coming. The gospel message that Jesus shared does, in fact, cause division. Sometimes it generates conflict within families, between parents and children, or brothers and sisters.

Jesus knew about this through his own personal experience: even his brothers did not believe in him until after the resurrection (John 7:5). By quoting Micah’s prophecy about conflict within families (Micah 7:6), Jesus was warning his followers that the cost of discipleship might be rejection by their own family.

Being a follower of Jesus requires a willingness to bear wounds, often painful wounds, from family and friends who reject the Messiah and instead create and follow their own gods.

Jesus, the Prince of Peace, wanted his followers to understand the cost of their discipleship. He was not going to hide the price they might have to pay. After all, he knew that he would soon face death – a man of peace, who selflessly helped others selflessly, but was executed as a criminal.

Being a peacemaker is not a safe calling -- let’s be clear about that!

So What?

• Have you ever experienced opposition and conflict among friends or family related to your faith in Jesus? How does a peacemaker respond to these kinds of challenges?
• Would it be fair to assert that if we have not faced any opposition during our lifetime because of our faith, that might be an indication that our faith is too well-hidden?

Non-Retaliation

Let’s be honest. Jesus’ teachings on peacemaking are radical. Not only does Jesus take actions that alienate most of the respected religious leaders of his day, he also gives his followers new commandments that are hard to believe and even harder to follow – both then and now!

Shortly after the Beatitudes recorded in Matthew 5, Jesus shares some of the most radical of all his teachings. He begins by quoting the Mosaic law (Exodus 21:22-25) that established the principle of exact retribution. This Mosaic law was revolutionary in its time because it limited compensation due to a victim and restrained revenge – contrary to the common response to injustice in the culture of that time, especially if a family feud developed.

Although Jesus does not contradict the principle of retribution, he states that this principle is not applicable to our personal relationships where love, not justice, ought to be the dominant characteristic.

What a difficult teaching! Jesus says our duty to someone who wrongs us is not retaliation, but acceptance of the wrong without a spirit of revenge. Jesus illustrates this radical teaching with four examples taken from the everyday world of his listeners, examples that must have been painful to hear.

The illustration of being struck on the right cheek was not taken from a fist fight, but was rather the back-handed slap of a master to a slave, a Roman to a Jew – the demeaning blow of a powerful person to the face of a weak, vulnerable one. In a similar way, going the second mile was a clear reference to the practice of the occupying Roman army to commandeer Jews to do forced service.

Jesus is teaching his disciples to avoid revenge and to practice non-retaliation in their personal lives. We must not conclude that Jesus is prohibiting the administration of justice or suggesting that we acquiesce to injustice. Rather, Jesus is forbidding his followers from taking the law into their own hands.

An “eye for an eye” is a principle of justice that belongs in the courts of law, but in our personal lives, Jesus teaches that we must not repay evil with evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). If, in response to a blow to the cheek, we retaliate with a return slap, then the perpetrator has taken control of the situation and determined our reaction. Jesus gives us the freedom not to respond according to the actions of our attacker, but to respond in love.

So What?

• These teachings of Jesus are hard for me to share with you, because I really struggle with them in my own life. I am someone who hates injustice and wants to deal harshly with its perpetrators. I can’t stand it when people cut in line in front of me, make fun of minorities, or take illegal actions for their financial benefit at someone’s expense. How do you deal with these kinds of issues?
• It is hard for us to understand the radical examples Jesus used because we don’t live in a country occupied by foreign soldiers who exploit us. Can you think of some examples that fit our cultural context?