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IN
THE WAR:
Sermon, 4th Sunday of Lent, Year B A
Meditation on Dying and Caring Good morning. Our hearts are heavy. We are drawn to the radio, television, the internet and newspapers for reports of the war in Iraq, a war that touches us all, including this parish. A war, reported in real time like none before it. A war with images that sear our consciousness. Images of soldiers and civilians who have breathed their last. Images of refugees on the move with what little possessions they can carry. Images of US or British soldiers giving candy to smiling Iraqi children — even a picture of adult Iraqi women wearing black burkas smiling as a Brit soldier hands them candy. An image of two small Iraqi children holding hands to stay together at a refugee camp. An image of a little American girl wiping her tears as she holds a picture of her Dad in military uniform who was just leaving for Kuwait. An image of an American soldier at a US airport, on his knees overwhelmed, as he has just left his family. The pictures of the two 19-year-old missing US woman soldiers. An image of one of our soldiers carrying an Iraqi child wounded in the cross-fire of an ambush. We hear of an Iraqi woman who waved to Coalition troops along a road; later that day they saw her hanging from a lamp-post. We ache. We are numb. We don’t know. We cry. These images tell us and move us to realize we are one in humanity, with the same needs. A wounded child is a wounded child, and is grateful for care. A person who is hungry is hungry, whether skin is this color or that. People want to be home, however humble that home may be. I have been struck and humbled by the courage of our soldiers who, at mortal risk, hold themselves to a high standard to avoid loss of innocent life -- soldiers who are putting all they have on the line as they peek around the corner of a building, see a white flag, oversee humanitarian aid, or come to the aid of a wounded companion or a wounded Iraqi. But it is so confusing. An Iraqi soldier, perhaps believing he is becoming a martyr, detonates the taxi he is in at a check-point and kills four US marines with himself. We have to know, for all the unspeakably evil deeds of Saddam Hussein and his henchman, that many Iraqis are brave and honorable as they seek to protect their homeland and long to live peacefully, securely, freely, with those they love and their friends. We are gathered here today as Christians. What does that have to do with the war in Iraq? I said these images show we are one in this humanity, caught up in this great struggle together. That is not a statement of philosophy. It is what we profess and re-affirm every time we are present at the baptism of a new Christian. Some of the questions at the Baptism Covenant, to which we respond, “I will with God’s help,” are: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? Note, it doesn’t say, “Will you seek and serve Christ in all Christians, or all people like myself.” it’s all persons. Let’s turn to a few thoughts from today’s readings. The story from the Old Testament involves the Israelites, who are impatient with God and Moses as they continue the Exodus in the wilderness, and are beset by poisonous snakes. Moses prayed and the Lord said to him to make an image of the serpent, mount it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten should look upon it and they will live. And the reading says it worked. It’s instructive to know that later in the Old Testament, a faithful King named Hezekiah, destroyed the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because people were making offerings to it as an idol, and its association with pagan worship. This teaches us that what initially was a sign of God’s providence— like a car or money when needed — should not become an idol by itself. The reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians celebrates our faith. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God — not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” Why is one person given the gift of faith in Christ Jesus and another not? I don’t know. Why does faith come to some early, and some later on who seem so unworthy— like the Apostle Paul himself, dramatically struck by faith on the road to Damascus, he who was on his way to persecute Christians? I don’t know. Does the gift of faith not ever come to some persons, or what of those persons to whom it was given, and then it seems to slip away? I don’t know. But if everything were known to us, there would not be faith. I believe that God’s justice and love is bountiful beyond our imagination. I believe that God knows what to do with a person who doesn’t know what to do with himself. I believe that God’s time is God’s time, and that, in the meantime, as in our Baptismal Covenant: we should continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers, preserve in resisting evil, and when we fall, to repent, get up and go on, proclaim by word
and example the Good News of God, and strive for justice and peace and respect the dignity of every human being, With God’s help. In the face of total sacrifice and human anguish, we may wish that we could somehow help directly. In faith, you can, by striving faithfully to live out these Baptismal vows. And for those who are married, to live out our wedding vows. Married or single, young or old, love like you’ve never loved before. The Lord gives power to the faint, wait for the Lord, and you shall mount up with wings. Emerge to others, emerge to yourself. Bring good news to the oppressed; bind up the brokenhearted, comfort those who mourn. And, as in the reading from John’s Gospel today, Do what is true, Be a witness to the Light that shines in the darkness. Live guided by the hope and faith that One gave himself that we may live, and that the darkness shall not overcome the Light. Pray. Pray from the bottom of your heart, which may be beyond your control. Pray with others, pray alone. Pray in spoken words, pray in hymns, pray without words in the still presence of God. Pray for a discerning and grateful heart. Pray for those who are in grief. Remember the resurrection of the dead. Connect with those around you, and be mindful of those who have gone before you. Pray for peace. Pray for those beset by fear, hunger and thirst. Be a witness to the love of God, remembering that God’s hands include your hands. Pray for the courage to preserve and love, and the gift of joy and wonder in God’s works. Amen. © Stephen
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