The Bond of Peace

“… walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, …one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. ”

Peace talks continue today as the sound of bombs punctuate terrorists' statements of disagreement. “Peace is impossible,” a spokesman from a terrorist cell states, “without our enemies departure from this land…”

The world talks of peace, peace on earth, peace in the middle east, peace between the races, peace-not-war: and is there peace? How can there be peace in the world when people fail to follow the Prince of Peace?

What is peace ? Webster's has it: “1. the normal, non-warring condition of a nation, or the world. 2. An agreement or treaty between antagonistic nations to end hostilities. 3. A state of mutual harmony. 4. The normal freedom from civil commotion and violence of a community. Etc.” In most definitions, peace is the absence of something bad, noisy, vicious, or harmful. Is peace just the absence of hostile activity, or it is more?

The Gospel today sees Jesus v. the Pharisees once more, pitted in serious strife over the healing of a dropsy victim, dropsy being painful and excessive build up of fluids, on the Sabbath. He saw them wait for Him to heal, wait their chance to convict Him of a religious violation, and so He first challenged them, “ Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?” The Bible says, “They held their peace.” Peace here means to remain silent, to keep still and refrain from meddling; to muzzle. Peace is hardly peace when it is merely hostility cloaked in silence, is it? Such a peace we see all over the world, even when there is no bomb or gunshot heard on a particular day.

What does the Bible say about peace? There are many degrees of peace, from merely stopping violence for awhile to true harmony and good will, and perhaps three spheres of peace: peace with your neighbor, peace between God and man, and inner peace—the feeling of well being and harmony. We should seek all three, but there can be times when peace simply is not there.

King David lamented : “My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.” Psalm 120:6-7 David, a man of war, longed for peace at his borders, but the Philistines came to contest possession of Israel's lands again and again. God Himself commanded war when He sent His people to battle against pagan neighbors, even to the point of exterminating them. It is a shocking thought, but in Isaiah, God speaks this: “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.” Isaiah 45:7 Now, God does not do evil, but even the devil was made by Him. God does not do evil, but He can use evil to good purpose.

Though battle may sometimes be inevitable, God does command us to seek peace as the ultimate goal. “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” Psalm 34:14 His prophets declare a day yet to come when the world shall be in peace and no longer need to anticipate the vandal, the suicide bomber, the sniper or the foreign army. “…he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Isaiah 2:4 “And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.” Hosea 2:18

Jesus knew that His coming, even as the Prince of Peace, would not end hostilities: it would merely bring war against Himself and His followers. But this war would end in salvation for many, and so the war was good, necessary, inevitable. “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.” Matthew 10:34-36 Yet He declared peace, and He created a peace that can be ours, even today in the midst of a violent world. “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Matthew 5:9 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

St. Paul speaks to this church of peace in his Epistle today, pleading with them to keep unity by God's Holy Spirit in the bond of peace. He cites one body of the church, one Spirit that guides it, one hope to which we are all called, one God, one true faith, one baptism for all believers, one heavenly Father over all of us. Peace is possible between people when peace with God is truly achieved. Nevertheless, that necessitates a real knowledge of God, a complete trust in His promises, a total following of His ways by everybody concerned. At present, there is no such world where everyone is that far along in faith and practice. So strife arises, and Paul instructs his church to endeavor to keep unity in a bond of peace. This bond is an agreement between brothers. If we regard each other as brothers and sisters in a family, headed by Christ, we may still not always act peacefully with each other, but at least the dinner table will be quiet with Him presiding at it.

David again sang of this peace. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Psalm 133:1 Paul wrote it to all his churches. “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” Romans 12:18 “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.” Romans 14:19 “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.” 2 Cor. 13:11

So, what causes strife and antagonism between people? The Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus for simply doing good on their beloved Sabbath. It offended them that He should come looking for the sick and lame to heal when their rules made it an offense against God to lift a finger on Saturday. The Psalmist has it differently: “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” Psalm 119:165 The Pharisees didn't love God's law, they used it as a tool of judgment and for feelings of superiority. Knowing this, Christ challenged their self-righteousness constantly, alienating them but winning the hearts of the people who were sick of these mullahs of Israel. He showed their hypocrisy, in that they would certainly have pulled an animal out of a ditch on Saturday, so why not heal a man in such pain? He saw that the Pharisees gave themselves the best seats, pushing others out of the way, and He taught them all about humility.

Humility is the antidote for pride . Pride motivates most of our hostilities toward one another, even toward God. Pride exaggerates our importance, our rights, our needs, and makes excuses for aggressions because we deserve the best seats, the choice slice, to hold the remote control, to choose the restaurant, to give the orders. Pride makes those we step on unworthy of our consideration. Pride blinds our eyes even toward the truth that we think we represent. At Planned Parenthood , where I stand each Wednesday, a clinic staff member rides her bike daily, in all weather, in protest against war, with a sticker on the back of the bike that reads: No Killing For Oil . My reaction is to silently change it to No Killing For Money . I'm there only on their abortion days. Pride blinds us to our own hypocrisy. So, as hypocrites, we go to war against each other, call people names, challenge their right to speak, pass laws that make even their thoughts illegal.

Training police chaplains this week, I did a unit on hate crimes . Now, at present, hate crimes are already crimes, such as assault or vandalism, but that have an element of hate motivation due to race, religion, or sexual orientation. The expression of bias and hatred during the act makes these crimes punishable up to three years more in prison. Some day, even our thoughts may make us criminals, as is being seen in Canada where Christians are jailed for citing scriptures that speak against homosexual unions.

Love, humility, obeying God's Law, respecting the personhood of others, and trusting in divine justice: these are essential if we are ever to know peace or even understand what it means. Peace at the point of a gun may, for now, be necessary in a violent world. Three times this year Chico Police officers have been forced to shoot real bullets at suspects engaged in crime. Several more times have suspects been tasered, who would have been shot before this tool was employed. Peace at the point of a gun may be necessary, but it is hardly a complete and universal peace. Until every soul is convinced of its life in God, of the obligations and the God-given graces for every human being to love God and love others completely, we will never know true peace on earth, but a temporary cessation of hostilities. Still we reach for that peace that passes understanding and we live peace in our hearts and minds. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26:3

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