STANDING FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

presentation by Gary Logan

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My Aunt Clara used to gather the children around her and tell tales of the Cherokee “Trail of Tears”. In one of her stories she would describe a "dream catcher." A dream catcher looks like a simplistic version of a spider's web woven on a hoop, adorned with a few decorative feathers and beads.

My Aunt would tell us that before the Trail, when her tribal ancestors lived in peace along the eastern coast of the United States, young parents would hang a dream catcher over their newborn's cradle. The "web" would catch only the child's good dreams, while letting the bad dreams escape through the spaces of the web's strands. This symbolized the hopes of the parents that their young child would grow and mature into the person she or he was meant to be. They would instill in their children the idea that no dream was too great and that dreams can come true. It is a beautiful symbol.

Then came the death and cruelty, violence, injustice and hopelessness of the trek to the Great Plains where they were relocated to “Indian Territory.” As new parents continued to place the dream catcher over the cradles of the newborn, the meaning changed. The dream catcher snagged only the bad dreams; those of hate, despair, envy and vengeance -- and kept these destructive dreams from free-floating around in our atmosphere. The dream catcher then became a symbol of the power within humanity to “catch” our darkside and to protect one another from the nightmares of human behavior.

The nightmares within cultures across the globe such as the continued enslavement women and children, the genocide of aboriginal peoples, the dehumanization and devastation of war and internal conflict, the disenfranchisement of women and the exploitation of emigrants, refugees, and the poor continue to be issues with which the people of God struggle.

Additional barriers are erected by individual choices, our decisions about where we live and with whom we socialize, our belief in stereo types, our refusal to change, our infliction of abuse on others, our self-absorption, our denial that there are such problems all contribute to the creation of walls that divide us. Being created female and male keeps us apart. Class distinctions continue to be embraced. We segregate ourselves by racial designations and sexual orientation. Theological differences can divide us.

High Priests, as followers of Jesus Christ, find ourselves called to ministry with those struggling with the same realities as the larger society. The High Priest is called to stand with those who are living the nightmares of their lives and to stand for ideals, attitudes, practices, policies, actions and organizations which allow those with whom we stand to live their dreams as we would uphold the dream of Zion.

The first step in standing for peace and justice is to acknowledge realistically our own unsuitableness as peacemakers. A High Priest is able to be a minister of peace and justice only when he or she can give up self-righteous judging and controlling and begin to rely on the transforming initiatives of God’s grace.

In ministering on a personal level, we are challenged to have such respect for the worth of others, that we are willing to stand with them in their struggle with issues with which we may completely disagree -this doesn’t mean we support the issue. It means that the bond of God’s grace and love between us is stronger than the issue.

Secondly, a High Priest stands with others in taking transforming initiatives. Jesus consistently places the emphasis not so much on what we are not to do as on transforming initiatives, the way of deliverance. He suggests four specific and surprising initiatives by which High Priests can stand with the people. They are:

Turn the other cheek.
Give up your coat.
Go the second mile.
Give to one who begs.

These are all expressions of seizing initiative that can transform oneself, the other person, and the relationship between us.

Jesus himself was struck and slapped, and his garments were taken from him. Turning from violence, giving of ourselves, making an extra effort are all actions imitating Christ. The call to follow Jesus’ way of peacemaking is also a call to take up his cross. If we accept the challenge of standing in the midst of God’s people for peace and justice, it will involve some sacrifice. But it is not sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice, or for the sake of purity and withdrawal from the world. It is sacrifice for the sake of deliverance from the alienating processes that destroy us. It is sacrifice of our dependence on the vicious cycles that have us in their grip, and it is participation in the redemption of relationships made possible through God’s grace.

Third, standing with others challenges High Priests to affirm efforts to love one’s enemies. Jesus identifies the process of alienation; loving neighbors and hating enemies. Hating enemies is a common human experience, not an Old Testament teaching. Nowhere does the Old Testament or the Talmud teach us to hate our enemies. Many Christians have blamed it on the Pharisees, but Jesus suggests we check out the log in our own eye. Blaming others for what we do ourselves is part of the process of alienation.

Jesus points to the process of deliverance; Love your enemies. Love means action, deeds, and initiatives. Love also means we seek to understand and affirm our enemy’s valid interests. Romans 12:15 says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” This means we affirm their valid interests. It does not mean, however, that we affirm all the enemy does.

Fourth, often the High Priest can end the relational nightmares of those in difficult circumstances just by creating an environment where one can talk with the enemy. People do not resolve conflict if they do not talk. Nations will not solve problems if they do not talk.

Fifth, We have a unique obligation and opportunity to pray with others who are in difficult relationships. Matthew 5:44 says, “Pray for those who persecute you.” Luke 6:28 says, “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” Romans 12:12 and 14 say, “Persevere in prayer” and “bless those who persecute you.”

When we pray for our enemies in the presence of God who is known in Christ as grace, mercy, deliverance, and love, the appropriate prayer includes forgiveness. In the Lord’s Prayer and the explanation following it, Jesus emphasizes forgiveness as strongly as possible: We receive God’s forgiveness only if we forgive others of their sins against us.

The sixth step in “standing with and standing for” is to seek human rights and justice for all, especially the powerless, without double standards. The lack of human rights is itself the absence of peace, holistically understood as shalom.

Oftentimes the church is seen as a mediator of God’s grace. Sometimes it has also been a part of the problem of violence and oppression. There cannot be reconciliation without justice. The church must stand for truth in its entirety if it is to be a witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The spirituality of reconciliation is where the High Priest in the 21st century can take a stand. A new society has to be constructed on the rungs of the old society. The society will need those who will stand with those who are living the nightmare and stand for the creation of communities that promote joy, hope, love, and peace. Reconciliation becomes a calling in which we move to a holy new place where we serve in a prophetic way for the whole of society.