"PEACEMAKING"

 “PEACEMAKING”

Yesterday was World Communion Sunday, and in the Presbyterian Church, it is also Peacemaking Sunday.  Earlier this year the PCUSA  asked me to write a short meditation on peace as part of a series for the month of September.  I wrote mine on II Corinthians 5:16-21, and here is that Scripture passage and my meditation on it.

II COR 5:16-21

“16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the human point of view. Even though we once regarded Christ in this way, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are  a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to God’s self and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to God’s self, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making an appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake God made one to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Christ we might become the righteousness of God.”

The Biblical idea of peace points us toward a connected community of humanity, centered on inclusion, justice, and equity.  Our Scripture for today reminds us that developing such a community is very difficult.

Paul begins by saying that he previously saw Jesus (and everyone else) from a human point of view, using the categories of the fallen world to judge others.

I grew up with this human point of view – racism, sexism, materialism, militarism, nationalism – I judged others to be inferior to the white, straight guy that I took myself to be. It was deeply imbedded in me because people who loved me and whom I loved, taught me this perspective, this “human point of view.” To use the biblical image, I was captured by these categories, and I had no idea how to find the way to peace.

But, as Paul puts it so well in this letter to the Corinthians, Jesus was coming for me, not the white Jesus whom I had been worshipping, but a new and surprising Jesus whom I had trouble believing.  Jesus sent prophets to me again and again, and I began to shift my perspective to view Jesus and everyone else from God’s point of view, not from my human contextual point of view.  These ”fallen categories of the world” are still deeply imbedded in me, and I am wrestling with them all the time, but I know that Jesus continues to come for me and for all of us in our captivity.

PLAN OF ACTION – We are asked to become ambassadors of reconciliation – to recognize our captivity, to trust others to point out our continuing captivity, to begin to trust ourselves to become those prophetic voices, to be those ambassadors of Christ to others, seeking to build a community built on inclusion, justice and equity.  These are the building blocks that lead us all on a path of peace.

PRAYER

     O God, thank You for calling us to walk on a path of peace.  Send us Your Spirit so that we may comprehend the joy of seeking to see others as You see them.  Strengthen us so that we may persevere in the times when we are asked to be prophetic voices. Help us to hear that we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.  We pray in Your holy name. Amen.  

BRIEF BIO

 I was a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War 1970-72. I am a retired Presbyterian minister, having been pastor of Oakhurst Presbyterian in Georgia for 33+ years.  My spouse, the Rev. Caroline Leach, and I were recipients of the Peacemaking Award from Greater Atlanta Presbytery.  We also received the Church Women United Human Rights Award. I am the author of 5 books, including the award winning “Passionate for Justice: Ida B. Wells as Prophet for Our Time.”