³⁶ Jesus said, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If it did, my servants would fight so that I would not be handed over to the Jewish leaders. No, my kingdom is not an earthly one.”

John 18:36

Jesus makes this statement at his trial before Pilate, confirming that though he is a king, his kingdom is not bound by the typical definitions and identity markers. When you think of earthly kingdoms, what comes to mind? How is Jesus’s kingdom different? Jesus says that his followers wouldn’t take up arms to defend it, yet the church has a long history of taking up arms in Jesus’s name. What do you think changed? Can a militarized church accomplish Jesus’s mission? Why or why not?

Each day (except Sundays) during Lent, we will post a Scripture for reflection on our theme, “Military Withdrawal.” Together, we will learn to walk in God’s ways of peacemaking and reconciliation. These posts are meant to stimulate conversation and interaction. Please post your thoughts and comments.

For over 70 years, there has been ongoing conflict over what has often been referred to as “the Holy Land.” Following World War II and the Holocaust when millions of Jews were killed as part of Hitter’s Final Solution, the United Nations proposed creation of a Jewish state on the land of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judea. However, there was a problem. The land was already occupied by a people group known as Palestinians. The original UN proposal included the creation of a second Palestinian state, but it was rejected by both sides. Over time, the Israeli government has expanded into traditional Palestinian land. In the 6-Day War in 1967, Israel took control of the West Bank–an occupation that continues to this day. The Palestinians have been systematically removed from their homes and sent to separate areas and have been replaced with Jewish settlers. Many Palestinians have been sent to Gaza, a small strip of land along the Mediterranean coast. Observers call this the Israeli apartheid.

Palestinians have resisted the resettlement and have fought back. Israeli forces, supplied with weapons from the US, have bombarded Gaza in response–most recently in May, 2021, destroying homes, killing hundreds of Palestinians, and creating a humanitarian nightmare. To understand more about the history of this “unholy war” for the “holy land” and the continuing impact, watch the following video that was produced by Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization committed to protecting Palestinian human rights.

To learn more about Gaza and efforts to promote peace, go to American Friends Service Committee, an international Quaker organization that is working for justice in Gaza.

⁸ But God has shown us how much he loves us—it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us! ⁹ By his blood we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by him from God’s anger! ¹⁰ We were God’s enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God’s friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ’s life! ¹¹ But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God’s friends.

Romans 5:8-11 (GNT)

Have you ever thought about yourself as “the enemy”? This Scripture says you and I were the enemies of God? What made us God’s enemies? How did God act toward us? How might God’s actions guide our actions toward those we would consider our enemies?

Each day (except Sundays) during Lent, we will post a Scripture for reflection on our theme, “Military Withdrawal.” Together, we will learn to walk in God’s ways of peacemaking and reconciliation. These posts are meant to stimulate conversation and interaction. Please post your thoughts and comments.

¹⁹ It is central to our good news that God was in the Anointed making things right between Himself and the world. This means He does not hold their sins against them. But it also means He charges us to proclaim the message that heals and restores our broken relationships with God and each other.

²⁰ So we are now representatives of the Anointed One, the Liberating King; God has given us a charge to carry through our lives—urging all people on behalf of the Anointed to become reconciled to the Creator God. ²¹ He orchestrated this: the Anointed One, who had never experienced sin, became sin for us so that in Him we might embody the very righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:19-21 (Voice)

Instead of using the word “representatives,” many translations use the word “ambassadors” in verse 20. What does the word “ambassador” communicate about your role in relationship to God and others? If we are God’s representatives of reconciliation, what do you think God wants us to do when people don’t listen to the message?

Each day (except Sundays) during Lent, we will post a Scripture for reflection on our theme, “Military Withdrawal.” Together, we will learn to walk in God’s ways of peacemaking and reconciliation. These posts are meant to stimulate conversation and interaction. Please post your thoughts and comments.

¹⁶ So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:16-19

Think about how Paul once viewed Christ – heretic, blasphemer, enemy–but he understands Christ as the one who brought reconciliation through his death and resurrection and has inaugurated the “new creation.” How does that change is view of others?

What does it mean to only view someone from a worldly point of view? How does the reconciling work of God challenge and change your view of others–including those we often consider “enemies”?

Each day (except Sundays) during Lent, we will post a Scripture for reflection on our theme, “Military Withdrawal.” Together, we will learn to walk in God’s ways of peacemaking and reconciliation. These posts are meant to stimulate conversation and interaction. Please post your thoughts and comments.

⁵¹ Not long before it was time for Jesus to be taken up to heaven, he made up his mind to go to Jerusalem. ⁵² He sent some messengers on ahead to a Samaritan village to get things ready for him. ⁵³ But he was on his way to Jerusalem, so the people there refused to welcome him. ⁵⁴ When the disciples James and John saw what was happening, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy these people?” ⁵⁵ But Jesus turned and corrected them for what they had said.^[b] 

Luke 9:51-55 (CEV)

Footnote: 9.55 what they had said: Some manuscripts add, “and said, ‘Don’t you know what spirit you belong to? The Son of Man did not come to destroy people’s lives, but to save them.’“

Pastor Ray referenced this incident in his sermon on Sunday, March 20. James and John took offense at their treatment by the Samaritans and offered a solution: Genocide. Are you surprised by their response? Was it a justifiable response? Is calling down fire (or bombs) ever justified? What do you think Jesus would say?

Once again, we feast with God, the Peacemaker, who broke down dividing walls of hostility and created a new humanity at the cross–a new creation where reconciliation is the order of things.

We feast on reconciliation in the midst of escalating wars in Ukraine, Yemen and multiple other global locations – wars that are the fruit of wars fought in the past and that sow seeds of wars in the future. The cycles of revenge and retribution continue unabated. And we feel powerless to stop it.

Honestly, our Lenten Compact isn’t going to put even the slightest scuff mark on global conflict. Our collective commitment to “study war no more” isn’t going to drown out the voices those who loudly insist on military action as the means to end military action. However, to say nothing or do nothing is to become complicit in the destruction.

Our Compact is about changing us and inching us closer toward God’s reconciled humanity. However powerless and pointless it seems on the global scale, our “military withdrawal” is an act of resistance against the push for escalation and the resulting death and destruction.

Peace begins with people who resist. So today, we resist. Today, we worship the Reconciler of All and become the practitioners of reconciliation.

¹³ You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. ¹⁴ For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Galatians 5:13-15

The command, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” has been the primary text used to oppose war and militarism because war and militarism destroy those whom Scripture would define as my neighbor. Yet, a majority of Christians regularly support war as an appropriate response when there is a national or global threat. Why do you think that is? How would you respond to someone who held that opinion? Is there an alternative? If so, what?

Each day (except Sundays) during Lent, we will post a Scripture for reflection on our theme, “Military Withdrawal.” Together, we will learn to walk in God’s ways of peacemaking and reconciliation. These posts are meant to stimulate conversation and interaction. Please post your thoughts and comments.

 ⁹ The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”^[a] and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Romans 13:9-10

We have often used the question, “What would Jesus do?” to determine what action is best in a situation. Maybe we should ask ourselves a different question: “DTDH – Does this do harm?” Although, that raises the question, How do I define “harm?” How would you define “harm?” Is this helpful to determine how to love your neighbor as yourself? Why or why not? How does this impact your thinking about militarism and the war machine?

Each day (except Sundays) during Lent, we will post a Scripture for reflection on our theme, “Military Withdrawal.” Together, we will learn to walk in God’s ways of peacemaking and reconciliation. These posts are meant to stimulate conversation and interaction. Please post your thoughts and comments.

All eyes and ears have focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the past month. Meanwhile, back in Yemen, the 7-year war, has resulted in what the UN is calling the “world’s worst humanitarian disaster.”

For many of us, the Yemeni civil war has never been on our radar. Sadly, the humanitarian crisis is not getting the attention (or the funding) it needs. According to the UN, more than 377,000 people have died during the war both directly and indirectly through hunger and disease. Children account for 70% of the deaths. Eighty percent (80%) of the population is in need of humanitarian assistance and fully half of children under 5 are suffering chronic malnutrition.

The UN has said that $4.3 bn is needed to alleviate the hunger crisis in Yemen. So far, only $1.3 bn has been pledged. And there is no end in sight to the war. To understand more about the crisis in Yemen, watch the video.