The Peacemaker

On a recent Sunday I heard a pretty good sermon on the general subject of having a vision, that is, something toward which one moves as a person. If you want to succeed in business then you will surely have a "vision" for what the company can do and your place in it, etc. The pastor, on the other hand, talked about Christians having "visions" that motivate their lives and clarify their spiritual focus. A good thought.

As the pastor spoke I wondered how his sermon might go over in Jerusalem on this Sunday morning. The "Holy Land" has now for several weeks been ripped with violence between Palestinians and Israelis. The violence is for some a "holy war." Two communities relatively close to one another in their belief in one God are at each other's throats over very difficult political issues. At the time I wrote this commentary a hastily arranged summit was being called by President Clinton in Egypt to see if the peace talks between the two countries could in any way get moving again, however slowly. I wondered what kind of "vision" the pastor might speak about in Jerusalem, to the Christian community and to the warring factions.

While the Christian Church as a whole has been undecided on the role of war in human affairs, and what that means for the Church itself, it is clear that Jesus, the Head of the Church, is for peace. That is easy to say, of course, and the Church can say the same, as do the Palestinians and Israelis. But Jesus, as peacemaker, not only talked about it, he illustrated what peace would cost in a rebellious world. I say it frankly that I do not think the world, nor even the Church at times, is will to follow Jesus' lead in self-giving in order for peace to happen. In a very fine book on violence, Paul Tournier, a Christian psychiatrist, said Jesus broke the cycle of violence caused by sin by absorbing punishment and not striking back. That is, Jesus showed on the cross that, "The problem stops here!"

A vision for peace in the Middle East, or in Lexington, is essentially the same: following Jesus' radical peacemaking by not striking back. Impossible! I can hear it now, impossible! The plain truth seems to me to be that someone will have to stop retaliating and begin to do good instead. A good first move in this direction would be a public apology, with expressions of repentance, by a leader and a personal pledge to work actively for peace in a way that did not include violence. Both leaders would be good too.

To be honest I agree that such a vision is impossible as things now stand. A very important part of this peace quest is turning to Jesus himself. If Jesus is just a pious memory then this too is folly. But if he is a living Savior, to whom everyone can come with his or her problems, then we are talking about another matter. Becoming Christian is the answer? I did not write that. I said that following Jesus through repentance, looking to him for grace, and acting as he did toward people is the only path to lasting peace in the world. Let Jesus be the peacemaker and then follow him is being peacemakers. Call it what you will or call it nothing at all. The main thing is to listen to him and act with him.

Jerry Mercer