The Lord Makes Wars to Cease to the End of the Earth, Breaks the Bow, Shatters the Spear, Burns the Shields with Fire

The day after French planes bombed Raqqa in retaliation for the terror attack in Paris, my daily prayer journey through the Psalms again encounters me with intense challenges. Today, Psalms 46 and 76 point in directions contrary to popular and political reactions.

Praying to God who is our refuge, strength and very present help in trouble, before appealing to God for anything, I affirm that I, no we, will not fear through the whole earth should change, the mountains shake in the heart of the sea and tremble with the tumult of waters roaring and foaming. The nations are in an uproar and tottering. (Psalm 46:1-3,6) Surely the recent violence perpetrated on Baghdad, Beirut and Paris feels as though any stability and safety anywhere in the world is threatened. And so we are afraid.

The Psalmist diagnoses this fear as a symptom of not taking refuge in God. I certainly do not expect government policy taking refuge in God, nor do I believe that would be possible or healthy. That is for we who are people of faith in communities of faith to do on behalf of not just our own societies but on behalf of all of the world’s people. By our own fearlessness, we witness to responding in love rather than reacting out of fear.

I have frequently observed that the opposite of fear is not courage but love. And the opposite of love is not hate but fear. Heroes do not inject themselves into danger to demonstrate courage but to protect those they love. As 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” I contend that we almost always make the wrong choice when we react out of fear.

In our world in uproar and tottering, can we – will we – trust the God who makes wars cease to the ends of the earth, break the bow, shatters the spear and burns the shields with fire? Do we know the Lord of Hosts is with us and not presume to take matters into our own hands? (Psalm 46:6,8-9; 76:3) Of course, this is counter-intuitive, counter-cultural and subject to accusations of fatal impracticality even cowardice. That is exactly why it is totally of faith that the God who shall not be moved is in our midst and will help when morning dawns. Political and military strategists cannot embrace such radical faith. Only the community of Jesus’ disciples can witness to this confidence.

I would not presume to advise military or political leaders. I would not even presume to tell my fellow disciples of Jesus what opinions to hold or even how to pray. But I do boldly assert that these Psalms 46 and 76 are appropriate for our prayers in this difficult time. Soak them in and let the Holy Spirit prompt you to pray (Romans 8:26-27). Don’t limit your love to the people of Paris or even of Baghdad and Beirut, but let your prayers pour out love – God’s and your own – for the people of Raqqa, most of whom are hostages of terrorism and not its sympathizers.

Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord? O God, why do you cast us off forever?

I have prayed through the Psalms monthly for almost all of my adult life, and I have practiced Benedictine lectio divina for meditating and praying with the Scriptures of the Common Lectionary for nearly as long. Through these many years, I have been impressed and often startled by how directly the Scripture that is encountering me speaks pointedly to current events: global, national, local, familial and personal. Of course, I do not think that somehow God micromanages world affairs to match the schedules of the lectioners or the sequence of the Psalms. Rather, I think Scripture is so well attuned to the human experience that it consistently points us to the hand and heart of God if we will only pay attention as the Holy Spirit illuminates it.

For something over 500 times, on the 14^th of each month, I have prayed through Psalms 14, 44, 74, 104, 134. With the tragic news of last night’s massacre in Paris still reverberating in my head and heart, Psalms 44 and 74 voiced to God my tangled emotions and reactions. I am still contemplating these Psalms that I typically pray through in a somewhat detached way, and I encourage all who are praying for the people of Paris and the other victims of violence around the world to let these Psalms inform, shape and empower your prayers.

Both Psalms cry out to God for explanation and for action. “How can you let this violent cruelty go on? How can you let your people suffer at the hands of your enemies? When are you going to do something, God? When?!” Who of us has not cried out something akin to the lines lifted from these two Psalms for the title of this column?

Of course, these Psalms were composed in the context of ancient Israel’s unique relationship with God, that neither France nor the United States (nor any modern nation for that matter) has any right to claim. While those perpetrating these atrocities are certainly a small portion of the world’s modern Muslim population (and they have been soundly condemned by a broad spectrum of Muslim leaders), the religious rationale for these attacks is inescapable. Paraphrasing from these Psalms, these attacks come from those who are the enemies of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of the prophets and apostles; the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I know that Islam traces its roots to Abraham and the Koran speaks respectfully of the prophets and Jesus. I do not take these Psalms in terms of how Christians and Muslims can or should relate to each other in our modern world. My focus is on how these Psalms shape my prayers in response to this unconscionable brutality. As I prayed through these Psalms today, I used the “enemy” lines to be honest with God and myself about my animosity and relinquish it to God.

These Psalms stretch my prayer beyond the current news, beyond the people I know most about and feel most kinship with. Yes, this was a spectacular catastrophe in a part of the world among people who presume they can live without daily fear. However, earlier this week there was a suicide bombing in Beirut killed 40 people. Thousands are fleeing rampant violence in Syria and other areas of the region. Our news gives these scant coverage because violence in so common in those areas, because we don’t understand and identify as easily with the culture and religion of people in such places. As I bring my natural impetus to pray for the people of Paris to these Psalms, the Holy Spirit expands my prayers to encompass people far beyond customary range without reducing my prayers for those who come readily to mind.

These Psalms also inform the substance and content of my prayers. I have often commented that our habitual, routine prayers often sound as though we think God is stupid and needs us to tell Him what needs attention and what do to about it. I contend that more mature prayer is about tuning into God’s perspective and power. I understand these Psalms to assure us that God does hear our prayers of desperation and is not offended by our honesty. Our complaints to God lead us to be paying attention to God and to recognize God at work in unexpected ways. This is not a simplistic solving of our problems but a much deeper release of ourselves and our concerns to God.

Do Not Be Alarmed!

Stones at the base of the "Wailing Wall" at the site of the former Jerusalem Temple

Without doubt the political season amplifies the alarm that seems to spread as epidemic contagion. From conjuring up imaginary attacks on Christianity in holiday greeting to the terrorist violence of Islamic extremism, alarms are sounding in the newspapers and newscasts, on internet social media and opinion columns, in the debates and campaigns of presidential candidates. At least those of us who aspire to follow Jesus Christ are in dire need of the word he spoke to his disciples in Mark 13:7, “Do not be alarmed!”

This counter-cultural word comes to us in a timely fashion in the Gospel reading suggested by the Revised Common Lectionary for this coming Sunday, November 15, 2015 – Mark 13:1-8. This compact vignette is a window into how our distorted perspectives rob us of joy and cripple our spirits.

Yes, the disciple who was in awe at the size of the stones in the Jerusalem Temple may have belied his small town Galilean provincialism, but we all are susceptible to overplaying human significance. The problem here was not so much undue respect for the engineering feat of building the Jerusalem Temple, but a short sighted assigning permanence to the transitory. Forgetting that construction of the Temple had only begun one generation earlier by Herod the Great, they imagined it could not be destroyed. So they could hardly grasp that Jesus said all those great stones would be thrown down, not just a physical demolition but the end of Israel as a political entity for nearly 2,000 years. The destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple by the Romans in 70 AD came in the lifetime of at least some of those who heard Jesus’ words.

Especially in the political season we hear candidates accusing each other of threatening the American way of life and the US Constitution, as though they should be eternal but could be brought down by the opposite party. Adopted in 1789, the US Constitution has served well for over two and a quarter centuries, longer than the founding document still in used today by almost any country in the world, and I expect will persist for a few more generations. As amazing as the US Constitution is, it is not divine (it doesn’t even mention God) and is not eternal. Whether in the flow of history or in apocalyptic climax, the United States and its wonderful constitution will pass from the scene of human affairs. While 226 years is a long time, it is a mere blip on the flow of God’s salvation history tracing to the call of Abraham (more or less) 4,000 years ago. (I won’t even venture a guess at understanding the timing of Genesis 1-11.) When we are alarmed about unsettling trends in our own time, we will do well to take a dose of humility as an antidote to hubris, easing anxiety with perspective on God’s hand in the broad flow of human history.

Jesus’ inner circle of first called disciples – Peter, James, John, and Andrew – want to know when this catastrophe will occur. Like many Christian through the centuries, they crave the power in insider knowledge. They want to be one up on the other disciples. They want to be able to assign special meanings to the events they witness. With periodic regularity, some self-proclaimed Bible scholar claims to have cracked the code of the last days and will let you in on the secret for the price of a book or movie or with a solicitation of a contribution to a broadcast or an organization. Not knowing their hearts, I can’t say that some of them don’t mean well, but Jesus would remind us that, at best, they are self-deluded, and he warns us not to be led astray or alarmed by them.

Human history seems to be the ebb and flow of perpetual warfare. I am writing this on Veterans’ Day 2015, which was originally called Armistice Day and celebrated the end of World War I, then called “The Great War” and “The War to End All Wars.” In retrospect, we see how The Treaty of Versailles negotiated between the Allies and Germany in June 1919 sowed the seeds that spawned World War II. Though many individual wars have started and ended, the world has floundered through perpetual war ever since.

I well remember growing up hearing how the Soviet Union was not just a threat to world peace but fulfilled the prophetic conditions to release the apocalyptic cataclysm with nuclear weapons that would precede the Second Coming of Jesus. In our time, many view Islamist violence in a similar way. I have to admit that as I observed the fading of communism and the rise of radical Islam, it seemed a closer fit to the spiritual struggles of the last days as described in the Bible than an atheistic philosophy and economic system. However, Jesus told his disciples that they would hear of wars and rumors of wars, but they were not the end. Therefore, they should not be alarmed. I believe Jesus also says to us, “Of course you are hearing of wars. Why would you expect anything else from the world? They are not the end. Do not be alarmed!”

Jesus also mentioned widespread earthquakes. Without a doubt the instant news media keep us informed about earthquake and other natural disasters from Haiti to Nepal. We even have less destructive earthquakes in previously seismically stable areas, attributed to fracking and drilling though not without controversy. The changing climate, also politically and economically controversial, is bringing not only powerful storms and rising sea levels but also drought and flooding.  My point is not to invoke Jesus in those political controversies (at least not here), but to recognize that Jesus indicated such things were commonplace and not signs of apocalyptic catastrophe but were the beginnings of birth pangs, so “Do not be alarmed!”

Having witnessed my wife’s birth pangs when she delivered our three sons, I have safely witnessed that anguish without experiencing it myself. I know it is real and at some moments can seem endless. Yet, Jesus purposely used birth pangs to describe the things about which we are easily alarmed. Birth pangs are necessary and inescapable to bringing new life into the world. If we will listen to Jesus in this compact conversation, I believe we can hear him tell us, “Do not be alarmed! New life is on the way! We may experience some of that new life ourselves as Jesus lives in and through us on our journeys, and he will give us perspective to perceive the new life that is out there beyond our personal horizons.

Learn pray from Elijah

Prayer overflows from Scripture

Deuteronomy 28:23-24; 1 Kings 17:1; 18:45; James 5:17-18

Seek God’s reputation, not your own comfort or convenience

1 Kings 18:36-37

Puts us in touch with God, and does not try to convince God to do what we want. Contrast “prayers” of the prophets of Ba’al with Elijah’s prayer

1 Kings 18:27-28; 36-37