"By Christ called: Called into the way of peace."
Matthew 5:43-48; Romans 12:14-21; Psalm 33:10-22

Originally, this Sunday's theme was going to be stewardship, with Lynn Miller as guest speaker. But Lynn had to cancel his trip to town, so we needed to switch gears. I knew this needed to be a Sunday to proclaim peace.

We're still in the throes of a national crisis. Threats of war and threats of further terrorism are in the air we breathe. Everyone is talking . . . some are shouting . . . many are crying . . . most are praying.

This is a time, if ever there was, for the church to get out there in the world and claim and proclaim healing and hope. This is a time for the church to get off the sidelines. This is a time to enter fully into the national and international conversation, and actively participate in a response to this crisis.

But there we have a problem -- a tricky and treacherous problem. The Christian church has some very different ideas of what a Christian response looks like. And some of these ideas are miles and miles apart. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, for instance, have a different vision of the world, than Jim Schrag and Susan Mark Landis, who co-authored the Mennonite Church letter to the president.

But the differences are not just between Anabaptists and televangelists. Jim and Susan, while they spoke on behalf of Mennonites, do not represent the viewpoints of every Mennonite. And the differences are not just within the denomination. We don't have one mind on this matter here at Park View. I pointed that out last Sunday when I preached on Christ's call for unity in the church, despite the deep differences of convictions among us. So what can I say this morning that will bring us any closer to unity?

For much of the past week, I assumed I would be putting together a sermon that would attempt to present a convincing case for our historic Mennonite peace position. Since we are of different minds on this matter, then certainly some compelling teaching will help to clear things up and get us on the same page. And since I do believe deeply in the peace stance of the church, maybe, in these few minutes, I will convince and enlighten those of you on the fence. But I doubt it.

Right now, there is a whirlwind of writing and talking and e-mailing going on across the whole church. We have the official voices of the church, such as the letter to the president, and statements by Mennonite Central Committee, and other groups. And we have lots of other persons, more intelligent and well-read than I am, who are producing volumes of essays, and letters, and sermons, and even poetry and songs. Faculty from EMU's Conflict Transformation Program are writing reflection pieces that are being sent electronically all over the world. Articles of all kinds are being posted on the internet, printed out, photo-copied, and passed around. Two Sundays ago I had three documents copied and on the table in the foyer. I made more than 80 copies each, and they were gone in a flash.

You don't lack for adequate material to digest. I know you are taking these issues seriously, and you're processing them. Many of you are reading "Mennonite Weekly Review" and "The Mennonite" like you have never read them before. And you're reading newspaper editorials, listening to talk shows, and radio commentators, and watching TV specials.

You are talking about these issues in the workplace, you debate them over coffee, you forward e-mails to your friends, you discuss your reactions in Sunday School, and in your small group, you attend lectures and symposiums and vigils.

So I have no illusions about what I can add to the conversation. I want you to know I have very modest expectations for this sermon. I don't expect to speak some profound and powerful word that will radically change what anyone believes about peace. I don't intend to put all these various pieces together so it finally makes sense to everyone. I'm not even going to stake out the peace position, per se. We talk a lot in the Mennonite Church about our peace "position." I'm not really sure that's the best terminology. After all, peace is not a position. Peace is a way. It is a journey Jesus has called us to walk. And I'd rather be on a journey, inviting others to walk with me, than to be at a particular position, and having to defend it. Taking a journey is something you do on the move. Taking a position and defending it is something you do standing still. Give me the journey, any day.

All I really hope to do is point a direction. I want to suggest some ways we can move just a little farther down the road on our peace journey.

These might seem pretty basic, and I guess they are. But sticking to the basics is probably a good idea right now, what with all the confusing and conflicting voices we're hearing. And I'm not saying if we follow these proposals, we'll all end up at the same position on the road. In fact, I'm sure we won't. But maybe we'll find ourselves moving in the same direction, and maybe a little closer to what Christ wanted for us when he called us to walk the way of peace.

First proposal: Let's immerse ourselves in the whole story of scripture. We say we are a people of the book. Let's get serious about the scriptures. We need the scriptures to guide us through these confusing times. No, the Bible doesn't have a chapter and verse that tells us how to respond to international terrorism. Some folks lift out a verse here or a verse there, and declare that "this is what the Bible says." That's not what I mean when I say get serious about the scriptures. I mean becoming familiar with the God of the Bible -- Old and New Testament -- knowing not only the Bible stories, but the Bible story. We Mennonites have our favorite peace texts we turn to. We read some of them this morning. And that's good. They're important. But our convictions on peace are based on the whole of scripture. The Mennonite Church Peace & Justice Committee recently published a book called "Bread for the Enemy -- a Peace & Justice Lectionary." It was compiled by Dorothy Jean Weaver, from the seminary here. It has readings from every book in the Bible except one, I think. 365 passages. One a day for a year. If you get through all these scripture readings, you're bound to have a more complete picture of the God of the scriptures. If you want to learn more about the biblical basis for our convictions on peace, I strongly urge you to get this book. I'll tell you later how to get a copy of it.

Another modest proposal. Let's cling to belief in a God whose heart is for all his children. God loves people. You can't get more basic than that. God has a deep and abiding affection for all human beings, and wants all people to be reconciled -- to others and to God. That is the most basic truth about God we can hold to. In our confession of faith, the article on peace begins with the words, "peace is the will of God." We can be sure of that. It's a core belief we need to cling to. Every person on the face of this earth is God's creation. And God desires reconciliation with all of us.

A third proposal. Let's agree not to take God's job away from God. We humans are very good at usurping God's authority. God is the only Creator and Sustainer of life. God is the only righteous judge of good and evil. Yet we presume to be able to determine which forms of human life are worth saving, and which are expendable. And have you heard some of the rhetoric lately about good and evil? We have been told that the mission of our country right now, is to "rid the world of evil." The scriptures are pretty plain: that's God's agenda, and God is going to do it, in God's time and God's way. "Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord." Sure, we should do all we can to make this world a better place, more just, more peaceful -- but rid the world of evil? That battle belongs to God.

Fourth. Let's not waver from a commitment to make Jesus Lord of our lives, and to follow his example in life. And what does that mean? WWJD is not a bad place to start. Those bracelets and trinkets that ask "What would Jesus do?" -- yeah, they're kind of gimmicky and simplistic. And that question, by itself, may not answer all the complex issues we face in the modern world. But I still say, it's a very good place to start. Can we picture Jesus and his disciples running a bomb squadron, in order to confront the evil systems they had to deal with? They did confront the evil powers in their context, but they used radically different methods. Jesus taught in Matthew 5, the passage we read this morning, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous." We have to come to terms with passages like this. We have to come to terms with the methods Jesus used to confront his own enemies, and the powers of evil that were crushing his people. If we want to make Jesus not only personal Savior, but Lord.

And proposal number five is one I talked about last Sunday. Let's agree to always walk toward, not away from, those with whom we disagree. All of us have opinions on these issues. And all of our opinions have points that can be challenged. We literally need each other in the community of faith. We need diversity of perspectives to find the truth. Everyone suffers from a certain measure of naivete, and if we never lay our convictions out there to be tested and challenged, if we just stick with those who see things our way, we will never discover our blind spots.

Six. Let's always spend more time listening than formulating responses. We have to be quiet long enough to hear what the spirit is saying. If we are always working feverishly making our case, how will the spirit break through to give us new insight? If we are constantly driving our own stake in the ground, in order to defend our position, how will the spirit nudge us a little farther along the road?

Seven. Let's commit ourselves to work for peace with justice. That's the biblical picture. The psalmist sang about justice and peace kissing each other. There can't be lasting peace without justice. In the Middle East, there have been lots of cease-fires, which some people call peace. But the injustice remains, so there's no real peace. And let's not short-circuit justice in the present crisis. It is right that those responsible for these massive acts of inhumanity are called to account for their deeds, and that justice is done. But there is not only one way for that to happen.

Eight. Let's always listen to the wisdom of the church. Notice how I phrased that: "listen to the wisdom of the church." Let's be familiar with our "Confession of Faith." There are good reasons why certain convictions have remained with us for many generations. We can disagree with some of these convictions, but we must take them seriously, and bend over backwards to listen. On the peace issue, as well as other issues we face, some persons take their cues primarily from the secular media, or even from other Christian groups, and then take up an argument with our own church's views. I have a problem with Mennonites who can quote Rush Limbaugh and James Dobson backwards and forwards, but have never taken time to study carefully and prayerfully our own Confession of Faith, and other teachings out of our own tradition. I assure you, Mennonites don't get everything right. You might study our tradition thoroughly, and still find things to take issue with. And that's okay. That's good, even. But do listen to the wisdom of our community of faith.

And nine. I'm stopping with nine, because I don't want anyone to confuse these with the ten commandments. These are modest proposals, not commandments. Before I give you #9, let me just review the other eight.
* Let's immerse ourselves in the whole story of scripture.
* Let's cling to belief in a God who deeply loves all his children.
* Let's agree not to take God's job away from God.
* Let's not waver from a commitment to make Jesus Lord of our lives, and to follow his example in life.
* Let's agree to always walk toward, not away from, those with whom we disagree.
* Let's always spend more time listening than formulating responses.
* Let's commit ourselves to work for peace with justice.
* Let's always listen to the wisdom of the church.

And now nine: Let's never stop proclaiming hope. That's something important we have to offer the world in times like these. Our theology of resurrection is a theology of hope. God can bring life out of death. God can bring peace out of chaos. And God has the last word.

I invite us to proclaim hope right now, with a hymn of hope and peace. It's in the Christmas section of our hymnal, but it's really a powerful peace hymn. #195 "It came upon a midnight clear" We all know this song well. But this morning let's sing it in light of all the things going on in the world around us. I think we'll see something in this song we haven't seen before.

Let's stand to sing.

"It came upon a midnight clear" #195

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Philip L. Kniss, pastor
Park View Mennonite Church
1600 College Avenue
Harrisonburg, VA 22802-5541
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Phone: (540)434-1604
E-mail: phil@pvmchurch.org
Church website: www.pvmchurch.org
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