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Monday, October 23, 2006
Peace By Surprise
Ephesians 2:11-22
If the gospel is true, then it's impossible for a Christian to have even one true enemy in the whole wide world. Oh yeah, you say. Well...
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A sage once said there are two kinds of people in this world: those who divide things into twos, and those who don't.
I think we all do the division thing -- not about things as much as about people!
Consider the Bible's story of Israel as God's Chosen People living in God's Promised Land.
That strong sense of identity and purpose sustained the Hebrew people through centuries of hardship, opposition, persecution, and outright warfare. All their traditions -- rules, rituals, sacrifices, feast days and fast days -- underscored "who we are," "why we are here," and "what we are to do."
Understand, outsiders were welcome. If they would conduct themselves properly. If they wanted to convert. Then they were schooled in the traditions, coached in the beliefs and behaviors, en route to complete assimilation into the covenant community.
Even so, there was a wall of separation beyond which they could not go. Literally. At the Temple in Jerusalem, inquiring Gentiles could mingle in the outermost courtyard with Jewish worshipers. But a wall prevented them access any further into the holy building.
They were still outsiders. Ceremonially unclean, spiritually disqualified.
A classic case of Us vs. Them, Our Kind vs. That Kind.
Our Kind Of People are the ones with whom we share the same assumptions, ideas, vocabulary, and behavior. We feel safe and comfortable. Life is good and relatively easy.
No wonder, then, that other kinds of people put us on guard. They might hurt us. They will certainly change us, given half the chance. Much safer, then, to do all you can to protect your familiar world from the start.
So we build walls. Or worse.
In Fremont, CA last week a woman was gunned down on the street, walking with her 3-year-old daughter on the way to pick up two other daughters after school. Police have no clear idea yet why she was murdered. But she wore a Muslim head covering, so it might have been a mindless hate crime. She was different.
In Nickel Mines, PA a few weeks ago ten Amish schoolgirls were shot by a suicidal gunman. Five of them died. Who knows exactly why that man did what he did. Maybe because the Amish are just so visibly different.
Such extreme Us vs. Them cases chill our hearts and minds.
And yet, all of us are inclined to divide people into two groups. And we tend to put up walls for protection.
But Ephesians says God won't let that be the last word on earth any more than in heaven.
"Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us." (That's chapter 2, verses 13-14)
When Jesus' body hung on the cross, at the intersection of heaven (upright pole) and earth (horizontal pole), his death was "the Lamb of God taking away the sins of the world." (See John 1:29) Once and for all, every impulse not to love our neighbors the way we love ourselves was defeated then and there. In principle. At least, that's what Ephesians says happened.
Our challenge is to work out that principle in real life. So, how does it work in real life?
Let's revisit Nickel Mines, PA.
When the madman announced he was going to kill all those girls, one of them volunteered to be first. Hoping he would stop with her. A second girl asked to be next. Hoping against hope that help would come to save the rest. Willing sacrifices, they were, after the pattern of the Lord they loved and trusted.
A few days later, nationwide fundraising was begun to pay for medical treatment of survivors, and for burial expenses. The Amish families asked contributors to give money to the killer's family as well.
Then they sent a representative to his funeral, to tell everyone there that they forgave him from their grieving hearts. They could do nothing else, they said, if they grounded their whole faith on God's forgiving mercy.
How in the name of real life could those people do that kind of thing?!
What if, in real life, all of us did that kind of thing?
Human nature wants to divide and protect with high, thick walls. Without them we could get hurt. Or worse.
But I'm convinced human nature really wants something else, far deeper and wider than all that.
Every last one of us wants and needs to be taken seriously, to be honored, for who we really are. To be known for once, cared about, cared for, fully accepted just the way we are. On the receiving end of such an unconditional love, our defensive fists can't resist opening out into hugs of welcoming trust.
When your battlefield transfigures into a playing field, where's the room for enemies? All kinds of people are now become Our Kind Of People.
And that simple but profound idea has the potential power to change the world. The real world, in real life!
P.S. The latest issue of Esquire, not your average religious journal, contains an awesome story that illustrates my point. In "The Hug" Tom Chiarella tells about his overnight journey from defensive anger to peace by surprise. I think of it as the Gospel According To Amma.
posted by Jack Buckley at
12:56 PM
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