The Things which Make for Peace

Cliff Loesch
December 2, 2007
Peace Sunday
Romans 14:29 "…let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace."

     An earnest young man approached a wise old professor and asked, "Will the human experiment end in war, or love?" The professor smiled and said, "Ah, but that is the experiment." Patricia Sprinkle relayed this story but then added that it makes her a little uncomfortable-especially at this time of year, at Christmas. After all, there are reminders everywhere of God's great experiment of love: angels, shepherds, wise men, and especially (and all of it pointing to) the birth of Jesus. Even our decorations and our many traditions are there to remind us of these events and the way God has reached into our world in love. Patricia Sprinkle used this contrast as a time for introspection. When she looked into her own heart she found what almost all of us find: there were a lot of people she had a trouble warming up to, or people who were simply difficult to love. She specifically noted that "their politics, [their] values, [their] lifestyles, or sometimes their differing church traditions strain my tolerance." But again, this is the time of year that we hear the angel sing, "Peace on earth and goodwill to all." Jesus tended to be quite patient with people who were very different from each other and who were very different from him. [See Daily Guideposts, 12/21/1986]

     So how does this apply to us? And how does this apply to peace on earth? When we recall John 3:16, that God loved the whole world and has reached out to everyone in Christ, we realize that our love should strive for the same thing. May our prayer be for a greater degree of acceptance for all God's children.

     I like to emphasize peace on this first Sunday of December each year. This morning I want to share a few stories that look at the theme of peace from slightly different angles. First of all, we remember God's great experiment in love-reaching out to all the world through Christ. And we ask ourselves how we are part of that great experiment. Does God's love continue to reach out through us?

     On February 26, 1860, President Abraham Lincoln visited Plymouth Church in Brooklyn where Henry Ward Beecher was the pastor. Visiting the church was a way for President Lincoln to show his public appreciation for the work that Beecher did for the abolition of slavery. And it's an event in the life of that congregation that is forever remembered and celebrated.

     James McDermott, a member of that congregation, sees a deeper lesson in this visit by the President. McDermott says, "One would think, given their prominence and common goals, that Lincoln and Beecher would have admired one another. But this was not the case: Lincoln felt that Beecher was too flamboyant and sensational; Beecher thought Lincoln indecisive and unsophisticated. Nonetheless, Lincoln made an extra effort to pay a respectful visit, and Beecher treated Lincoln as an honored guest. They were able to put aside their personality differences in order to pursue what both perceived to be the common good."

     McDermott goes on to add that all these many years later, "what do we remember about these men? Few recall their private opinions about one another. Most remember that they dedicated themselves to ideals of personal freedom that shaped our nation." And he says, "I've often thought that one of the keys to their success as leaders was the fact that each could set aside petty personal differences (or ego) in favor of a greater end. And that's something we can all try to remember when differences of opinion with others threaten mutually held goals." What small sacrifices can we make that will lead to the common good-and that will lead to peace? [Daily Guideposts, 2/8/1986]

     But is that really a good story to share on a day where peace is the theme? After all, despite their best efforts at ending slavery peacefully, as we know, a terrible Civil War erupted. On the contrary, I maintain that if people stop giving their best efforts to resolve differences peacefully then our world will end up in much worse shape than it is.

     Listen to this story by Eleanor Sass. She remembers the day that World War II ended in 1945. She says, "I was eleven years old that day when the news was announced over the radio in my little hometown on Long Island. I recall the shouting, the smiles, how joyful everyone was. Mike Spina, a young soldier who happened to be home on furlough, rounded up all the kids in the neighborhood to form a parade. Everyone who had an American flag carried it. My cousin Daniel ran to get his trombone; a friend Freddy Demarest beat his drum. Up and down the streets of our town we marched. It seemed as if everybody's parents and grandparents had come to stand on their sidewalks, laughing, crying, applauding. As we marched past Mrs. Lagenfeld's house, she rushed up to Mike, her apron flapping in the breeze, and gave him a big hug. 'Now my Johnny will be coming home!' she shouted." Ms. Sass says, "I have never forgotten that association of peace with coming home." And it made her think of our ultimate, heavenly homecoming someday-where we will experience a level of peace that we've never been able to fully realize on earth. But she goes on to add, "Meanwhile"-between now and then-"shouldn't we be trying to make the dream of world peace a reality?" And she encourages everyone to make praying-really praying-for peace a priority.

     Now I have to say that the task is not small. Eleanor Sass's memories of the end of World War II and her encouragement to us to pray daily for peace were published in Daily Guideposts in 1990. And there have been a lot of wars and conflicts in this world just since 1990. Let me read you a list. This list includes conflicts where the death toll was 20,000 people or more. There was the Gulf War in late 1990 where there were somewhere between 20,000 and 100,000 deaths; the Rwandan genocide of 1994 with over half a million deaths; the Civil War in Sierra Leone (which lasted about eleven years) with 20,000 deaths; the Algerian Civil War (which also spread over about eleven years-from 1991-2002) had over 150,000 fatalities; the Afghan Civil War in the early 1990s had between 25,000 and 125,000 deaths; Civil War in Tajikistan-over 50,000 deaths; Bosnian War-over 96,000; the first Chechen War-over 58,000; the First Congo War-about 200,000; there is the Iraq war, of course, and numbers vary widely for this one-about 100,000 and up (possibly way up); and the Darfur Conflict-over 200,000. And I've been quoting the more conservative estimates of deaths in these conflicts. The list I used did not have figures for the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan. And I want to say again that I only mentioned conflicts where the death toll estimates started at 20,000 or higher. There are dozens-and I do mean dozens-of other conflicts around the world between 1990 and the present where the death tolls were less than 20,000 or where the numbers are unknown. [Info retrieved 12/1/07: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars#Wars_by_country]

     Indeed the task is large. And we may be tempted to say with the poet, Henry Longfellow, "And in despair I bowed my head: 'There is no peace on earth,' I said, 'For hate is strong, and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men.'" Indeed, we may be tempted to quote Scripture that says there will always be wars and rumors of wars-and perhaps more-so at the end of time. And we may be tempted to think of prophetic passages that talk about Armageddon. We may be tempted to think there's nothing we can do and that things are just going to get worse no matter what. But is it right to allow ourselves to adopt a fatalistic view of this world in which we live? Is it right to simply detach ourselves from the hope of making this world a better place?

     I don't have any illusions that we can make this planet 100% peaceful. But I will remind you of this: It was not into some perfect world that God sent his son. It was into this one. It wasn't a planet-full of perfect people that "God so loved." It was all the people on this planet.

     And I will also venture to say this: You know those conflicts I listed a moment ago that have occurred in just the past seventeen years (including the several dozen that I did not specifically mention)--I believe that if there were not people all over this world who were working for peace on every level that you could probably take all those conflicts and multiply them times ten.

     Working for peace does make a difference. And praying for peace makes a difference. God so loved the world that he sent his son. This month we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. May each of us see the importance of this event in our lives. And may each of us recognize that God wants to use you and me to continue reaching out with the love of Christ to the world. I encourage all of us to pray daily for peace, and to pray that God will show us those ways that we can help make peace in our world.