Our scripture lesson today from the
prophet Micah lets us know what it means to walk with God…and all that God
requires of us.
Almost forty six years ago my friends
were being drafted into service for our country. Some were drafted and some of
us enlisted because we knew we were going to be called anyway and we hoped we’d
have some choice in the work we could do.
Almost 100 years ago the outbreak of
the Great War began. It was to be the war to end all wars. We know now it
wasn’t. One hundred years is a milestone but it doesn’t mark the end a journey.
There’s quite a ways to travel before we see peace the whole world over.
God calls us to a journey that’s quite
a bit different than the one some have been on when called to serve their
country.
We are not called because God needs
something but as Micah says we are called and told what the Lord requires of
us, justice, kindness, and mercy. He doesn’t need our sacrifices as the Psalms
say.
It sounds like it should be so easy,
this vision of peace, yet the reality of it is very different. It’s not that we
don’t want peace it just seems like there’s a power prevalent in the world that
creates so much hate and then conflict between people of different cultures.
And when you add the differences in religions and politics it’s like throwing
gasoline on a campfire. Everything just explodes.
A long time ago our ancestors had a
vision of a world where war would be no more. That hasn’t happened yet…and may
never happen. So, we journey on.
Today we again here God’s call to be
reconciled to our neighbors, our enemies, and those who are foreigners in our
land.
Maybe we need to create markers to
remind us what God requires, justice, kindness, and humility. These milestones
should be constructed of materials that never rot, rust, or erode. Markers that
would stand for as long as the world remains. Markers that would remind us of
the vision Micah had for his country.
The young people of my generation
burned their draft cards and some went to Canada to keep from being drafted or
thrown into jail for protesting. They were against the war in Vietnam. They
didn’t see the value in people dying.
Today there are still folks who picket
the military bases in protest. They are willing to go to jail to get their
point across.
We’ve had 13 years of war and I don’t
know how many lost lives. Doesn’t it make you wonder why? What have we gained?
Couldn’t there have been an alternate way?
And so I ask you to pray for peace
remembering God’s word to Micah and Jesus’ words to the disciples about loving
God and neighbor.
Friends, as we, this week, remember our
friends, our family members, and those we never met let us commit to finding
another way. Let’s honor those who’ve died and work to live in peace. The peace
for which they fought so hard.
May we find another way, maybe trying
God’s way. It surely would cost us less than all the lives lost in a war to end
war forever. Our friends the peaceniks were so far off when they talked of
making love not war.
Friends, remember our veterans this
week…and pray for a way to end all war. Pray for the love and peace of Jesus
Christ.
Thanks be to God for his grace. Amen.
