The story out of Afghanistan
yesterday only got worse. The report of
a US Army sergeant going down a village street, kicking in doors, and gunning
down civilians; 16 in all, mostly
women and children, was beyond heart-breaking. Grim news continues to flow out of
Syria where hundreds are dying, caught in the cross fire of a civil war, the
flames stoked by money from powers outside of that small nation. The unending
conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis meant that they were trading
rocket fire, the cycle of revenge and killing unbroken! The demons dance. The
profiteers of war rejoice. People die!
Guns and violence are
glorified in our culture. Our movies create imaginary heroes who solve major
problems with a spray of bullets. Our kids play video games in which they learn
to kill efficiently. It is as if the only answer to evil in the world is making
more bullets! Politicians afraid to appear weak and willing to exploit the
fears of people vote for more ‘defense’ spending, building an ever bigger
machine of war, consuming our national treasure and lives in ever greater
numbers. And the Church is largely silent; unable or unwilling to challenge the
insanity. Prayers for peace are offered
tepidly from a few pulpits. On the whole, Bible-quoting devout Christians seem
blind and deaf to the message of the Gospel, which is opposed to war and
violence. Jesus said that “peacemakers
are blessed and will be called the children of God.”
God loves life! Those who love
Him will highly value life as well. The culture of death is intolerable to one
who is filled with God’s Holy Spirit. Murder came, the book of Genesis tells
us, on the heels of envy when Cain killed his brother, Abel. Before that
murder, we read the Lord’s call to Cain, one we need to hear anew. "Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are
you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be
accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must
master it.” (Genesis 4:6-7, NIV) By the power of the Spirit, our hearts
transformed by the Gospel of Christ, we can defeat the temptation to violence,
first in ourselves, then in our culture.
Christians need to remember
that God defeated evil, not with an awesome display of angelic armies on the
loose, but with the offering of His Son on the Cross. In the surrender of
Himself to suffering and death, He broke the power of the Devil and in dying
gave us life. In that moment of apparent powerlessness, a man of war, the Roman
centurion, stood by and uttered those memorable words, “Surely this man was the Son of
God!” (Mark 15:39, NIV) He conquered with love, bold and active; and so
must we!
We must not be complicit with this
culture of death. We must raise our voice, even if it means ridicule or even,
at the most extreme, our own death! We must insist that God loves life –
starting with the life of the weakest, the unborn child. We must give witness
that He is on the side of the poor and those who have no voice cannot be subjected
to violence because they have no defender. We come alongside and stand with
them, in the Name of Christ.
Today, prayerfully read this
story that Jesus told. My prayer is that in its simplicity, it will pierce us
through the heart with Truth. May each of us ask again – “Who is my neighbor?”
and hear the answer of Christ.
"But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
(Luke 10:29-38, NIV)
"But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
(Luke 10:29-38, NIV)
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