The movie Miss Congeniality with Sandra Bullock is a parody of beauty pageants–oops, I mean “womens’ scholarship programs”.  Of course, every contestant’s answer to the competition’s final question is: “world peace” (no matter what the question is).  Cue the laughter.

But world peace is no joke for Isaiah, who envisions a day when conflicts will be arbitrated and disputes will be settled without resorting to swords, spears, bombs, tanks, missiles, WMDs and drones (Isaiah 2:2-5).  Instead of turning to weapons of war, nations turn to the Word to learn a new way–a ‘just’ way which makes war so obsolete that they cease to manufacture weapons and close their military schools.

But Isaiah isn’t naive.  Even in the last days, there are conflicts and disputes.  Nations have issues with other nations that need to be arbitrated.  God’s shalom is not the absence of conflicts.  God’s shalom is the presence of resolutions to conflict that preserve the safety and dignity of all and do not require taking up arms.   God’s way results in win-win.  War is always lose-lose.  For too long, we have learned our conflict resolution strategies from West Point, Annapolis and the School of the Americas.  In these last days, we need to go to the Mountain for some retraining before we destroy ourselves.

Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

We live in a world of division; where everyone is categorized (and pigeonholed) by their differences.: gender, ethnicity, language, orientation, race, status.  And difference often leads to suspicion, fear, exclusion, hatred and violence.  I find it fascinating that we deal with essentially the same divisions as the early church over 2000 years ago (Colossians 3:11).  “But the apostle Paul makes a bold statement:  HERE, there is no division.  HERE, Christ is all and is in all.  Christ is the great uniter.  Christ is the great equalizer.  But where is ‘here’?

I believe the question is answered by one of Paul’s followup statements:  “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace.”  (Col. 3:15)  HERE is where the peace of Christ–shalom–guides all decisions about the ‘ordering’ of our social relationships.  And since Christ is ‘in all’ and we are ‘members of one body’,  an ordering that excludes is ‘dis-order’ –the very antithesis of shalom.

It is so easy to fall back into categorization of one another.  We are called to live by a new ‘rule’–a different ethic.  Only when we are ”ruled” by the peace of Christ can we begin to watch the walls fall down and a new ‘ordering’ take shape among us.

Shalom, my friends.

Observation: People are violent.  Parallel realization: dead people can’t be violent.  Interesting corollary:  resurrected people can choose violence or nonviolence (though only nonviolence makes sense given their new state of existence).  (Colossians 3:1-10 and Romans 6:2-4)

Second observation:  We are resurrected people as followers of the resurrected Christ.  As resurrected people, we are part of the new creation and the image of God in which we were first made (Genesis 1)  is being renewed in us through knowledge of Christ. Violence is no longer a ‘given’.  Daily, we can ‘put into practice’ the ways of the ‘new self’ and refuse to resurrect our old violent way of life.  We have a choice.  Free at last! Free at last!

So, why do I struggle so much with violence?  Maybe it’s because I forget to remind myself that I’m alive–I mean really alive.

Spoiler Alert!  I’m preaching on Romans 12:14, 17-21 tomorrow (4/10), so you might want to just wait to hear the sermon and not read this entry.  But if you aren’t located near 3551 W. Diversey Ave. in Chicago, you’re welcome to continue.

We’re so used to thinking that revenge is the appropriate response when we have been wronged.  Movies glorify it (Kill Bill, Kill Bill 2, Kill Bill 3–BTW, how many times must Bill die?), we teach it to our children (if he hits you, flatten him!), and we equate it with “getting justice”–an interesting use of the ‘J” word.  But Paul–and Jesus in Matthew 6–gives us another option: a counteraction that prevents the situation from deteriorating into more violence and bloodshed and pushes both parties toward peace. “Bless….  feed…. Give a cup of cold water….”

That’s crazy talk–or so we think.  It won’t work (we assume) so we don’t try it.   It would seem that if we bless, feed and water the one who has wronged us that (s)he has won and gotten everything (s)he wanted in the first place.  So, it would seem, BUT….

Paul’s reference to “if your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat, etc” is a direct quote of Proverbs 25:21-22.  Paul omits the last line of Prov. 25:22: “And the Lord will reward you.”   God blesses those who refuse to return violence for violence.  God’s blessing is about experiencing “shalom’–becoming whole and living in fullness.  When I carry out revenge, a part of my humanity dies.  When I respond with a curse for a curse, my soul atrophies.  I will never experience the abundant  life in Christ if I insist on taking up the actions that lead to death and destruction.

Bless, feed, water….  Maybe we should try it.

In the virtual relationship Facebook world in which we live, the word ‘friend’ doesn’t mean much.  It has lost it’s depth.  I ‘friend’ my co-worker’s second-cousin’s dog-walker whom I’ve never met.  So when we read “friendship with the world” in James 4:1-10, it seems innocuous.  What’s so wrong with friendship?  It’s doesn’t really mean anything anyway.

So, I’d like to propose an alternative wording to help us get inside James’ concern:  “Don’t you know that having sex with the world destroys fidelity with God?”  (James 4:4)  Of course, sex can be as shallow and empty as Facebook ‘friending’, but in it’s highest form, the act of sex is about intimate connection and an expression of the intertwining of two lives–not just two bodies.  Sex expresses our desire for full participation in the life of our partner.

James says (in essence) that when we unite ourselves to a world system that uses violence, coercion and domination to fulfill its goals, we embrace the very same practices.  We become full participants in the ways of the world.  And when we embrace violence, coercion and domination, we reject God’s way.  We reject relationship with God.

If we want intimate connection with God, we have to humbly evaluate and acknowledge our participation in destructive systems of ‘the world’, reject those systems and unite ourselves to God.  And God promises to lift up (embrace) those who do.

Smack talk.  Tongue lashings.  Verbal abuse.  Violence is frequently found inside our mouths.  Who needs fists when the tongue can be just as effective?  And since there’s no blood, we don’t consider “curse words” violent at all.  James would beg to differ (James 3:6-9).  He uses strong language to describe verbal violence–evil, corrupt, deadly, poisonous, destructive, from hell.

We all grew up with the “sticks and stones may break my bones” myth.  We all have been on the receiving end of words that deeply wound and break our spirits.  Words DO hurt.  And words linger in our psyches, effecting our self-image.  “Curse words” draw boundaries for our lives and we struggle to become free.  Even a comment as innocent as “you’re not very good at math” binds us for life.

We know the destructive power of curses.  So, why would we use them on others?  Good question.  But once a hellish fire is started, a heavenly fire extinguisher is required.  We need Holy Spirit control.

I’ve never done a thorough study of the dynamics that occur when two people first meet, but I can tell you from firsthand experience that there is a rapid assessment and evaluation based upon appearance, demeanor and social context that will either result in pursuit of a relationship or a polite, “well, it was nice meeting you”.   In large part, pursuit of the relationship is based on whether I believe that my life will somehow be improved or enhanced by this new contact.  The pursuit is based on self-interest.  What can this person do for me?  What networks will I can access to?  Rejection is also based on self-interest.  What will this person demand of me and my time?  What will happen to my status if I am in this relationship?

The assessment and evaluation also occurs in group settings.  Which is where the church comes into the picture.  We ask the same questions in the plural:  What can this person do for us?  Will this person bring resources to us or take resources from us?  Will this person advance our mission and enhance our image in the community?  And James nails it (James 2:1-4).  Money (or the appearance of money) gets attention because most churches need it.

But James also reminds us that showing favoritism is incompatible with our faith in Jesus Christ, who became poor, who had no place to lay his head and who spent most of his time with people who were “poor in the eyes of the world”–those God chose to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom (James 2:5)

We reveal who we are by the relationships we pursue.

Reflecting this past week on the first two chapters of Amos has been challenging–not just because of the brutal violence that is recounted, but because it has been too close for comfort.  Our own nation’s domestic and foreign policies have been violent and destructive to people of color, the poor, the native, women, the vulnerable.  In the name of “National Security” we have assassinated democratically elected world leaders, created internment camps for US citizens and broken treaties when it suited our interest.  In the name of “Economic Development”, we have enslaved Africans, forcibly removed Native Americans from their homelands and supported foreign coups.  In the name of “Patriotism” we have silenced the prophets–either through murder or through defamation.  Our hands are full of blood.

And here’s what I really struggle with: I have been the direct beneficiary of all this violence.  My great-great-grandparents were homesteaders in central Illinois–farming land that the government practically gave them in it’s westward expansion and Indian resettlement initiatives.  My college education was paid for in large part through the sale of that same farm land.

I’ve also participated in my nation’s violence–not just through paying my taxes (which I have struggled with especially this year since April 15 is smack in the middle of Lent!) but through my 401K investments (yes, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Rayethon are listed in the prospectus).

What am I to do?  (Sounds like a question that people asked of John the Baptist!)  I am embedded in an unjust system.  I cannot change my heritage or the past.  However, I can acknowledge the sin of the the past (confession) and then change my present and my future (repentance).  I can begin to make informed choices about things like investments and use my social and financial capital to advocate for just foreign and domestic policies.  I can join my voice to the choir of the prophets–and not the ones that are chanting the “God bless America” mantra.

National sin is complicated and disengaging from it completely is almost impossible.  But the greater sin is blindly accepting and supporting the actions of our government and wrapping our faith in the ‘red, white and blue.’

These Amos passages are depressing.  Nation after nation is placed under scrutiny and found to be lacking.  Slavery, war atrocities, imperialistic ambition.  One would hope to find at least one nation that is trying to be nonviolent in its domestic and foreign policies.  One would hope that a nation that lives by a higher law would be different.  Sadly, Amos doesn’t find any difference in Judah or Israel–nations that have been founded upon God’s law (Amos 2:4-8).

The nation of Judah has rejected God’s law and is following other gods.  And Israel has become a nation of powerful ‘haves’ who live in luxury along side vulnerable ‘have-nots’ who are kept in poverty by the practices and policies of the wealthy–all while maintaining a facade of religiosity.

I think the sins of Judah and Israel are worse than that of the other nations because they should know better.  They have a Law that expressly prohibits taking advantage of the poor.  They have chosen to replace God’s law with domestic policies that give advantage to certain groups of people.

I can’t help but think about our own domestic policies that have systematically kept some people away from enjoying a slice of the economic pie.  Suburban expansion occurred when WWII veterans were given access to cheap home loans upon their return.  By policy, African-American veterans were refused access to those loans.  The result:  white veterans moved up into new suburban single family housing while black veterans remained in the urban centers as renters.  All that while we, as a nation, maintained a facade of God-fearing religiosity!

More war atrocities (Amos 1:11-2:3).  It is hard to even read about pregnant women being ripped open, killing them and their unborn children.  Horrible.   Who could do that?  Why would they do that?  The end justifies the means, right?  No wonder God responds with disgust.  One nation enlarges their borders at the expense of another nation and the vulnerable always pay with their lives.  Makes me wonder what God thinks about our own imperialistic ambitions.  And how many pregnant women have died as a result?  Bombs don’t discriminate.