From Violence to Peace, the Building up of the Household of God

We human beings are tribal people. We love our own kind and stick together through thick and thin.  We often do this by pointing out that we are separate from the other, and most likely, better than the other as well.  In St. Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, St. Paul reminds the Ephesian Christians that they were once different from the Jews; that they were without hope and without God. Now, however they have been brought together by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2:11-22) 

Paul reminds the Jews as well as the Gentiles that they have been joined together by Jesus who is their peace.  Jesus, he declares, has broken down the dividing wall between them. That dividing wall is the hostility between them.  I want to take this idea from Paul and run with it, perhaps to the edge of what some might consider heresy.  I believe that the love of God which those of us who are Christians see in Jesus, can break down the dividing wall between not only Jews and Christians, but the walls between Muslims and Christians and Jews, between blacks and whites and browns, between rich and poor and yes, even between liberals and conservatives and everyone on the scale in between.

I believe Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is an act of God and therefore can defuse the hostility between groups of people who do not believe in him as well as groups of people who believe in him.  I believe St. Paul is correct that God can create one new humanity in place of two, and if God can do that, then God can create one new humanity in place of three or four or more.  As members of one human family we all have access to the Spirit of God and become members of the Household of God.  The Household of God does not exist just in heaven but exists first and foremost on Earth where we are all given gifts and talents to help build and strengthen this Household.

The Household of God is built, according to St. Paul, on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus, himself, being the Chief Cornerstone.” What a great foundation! If we stand on this foundation, we may well be able to see the whole world, not through human eyes, but through God’s eyes.  Continuing with this building metaphor, let’s build the first floor of this house on the late 18^th Century hymn, “In Christ there is no East or West.”

“In Christ there is no East or West, in him no South or North,

but one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth.”

“Join hands, disciples of the faith, what’er your race may be!

Who serves my Father as a child is surely kin to me.”

As I reflected on Paul’s letter and this hymn, I reflected on how the world is and how it could be. I wish that I could get up to preach just one Sunday, and not have to preach on some violent act, some murder that has taken place in our world, as the result of the “horrible divisions between us which destroy the Household of God.  I am pleased this week that most people did not blame all Muslims for the attacks and murders committed by one man in Chattanooga, or blame all white people for the murders in a black church in Charleston. This would have been easy to do, but most refrained from doing so.

After tragedies exemplified by the two I have just mentioned, Christians and other people of good will are called on to do many things.  We are called on to grieve the loss of life. We are called to pray: to pray for the victims and their friends and family; to pray for the perpetrator (I hate it when scripture tells us that Jesus prayed on the cross for those who crucified him.)  And I believe we are called to pray for an end to the fear and hatred from some people of many different races, religions and organizations who influence individuals to committee such violent acts.

Our various faiths do not call or even allow us to hate. Even in the midst of grief we are called to defuse hate, not fuel the hate that is ubiquitous in our nation and our world.  We are called by the “Prince of Peace” to have conversations we would rather not have. We must talk about the issues of the day, even with those with whom we disagree.  We must talk about issues like the Confederate Battle flag and how it affects different people.  We must talk about the nuclear deal between Iran and five other nations. We must talk about equality of marriage.

And worst of all, or maybe best of all, we must be civil when we do so.  I cannot tell you how many times I have seen posts on Facebook that angered me, and my reaction was to go “type, type, type, delete, delete, delete.  If you are a Facebook friend of mine, I do not have to tell you the times I go “type, type, type, type, SEND! You have seen that. The times I have fueled hate rather than defused it.

Yes, there are many problems in the world.  But there are many good things as well. People of good will, people who are members of the household of God, together can work toward the elimination of the problems and the increase of those good things. We seek the truth where it may be found, we create safe places for dialogue, we defuse hate rather than fuel it and we lift up all those who work for justice, freedom and peace.

In the words of the old Sunday School Song: “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” Sounds like a good plan for us as well.