An Evening Liturgy in a Time of War The Cathedral Church of Saint Paul, Burlington, Vermont March 20, 2003 Lessons: Micah 4:1-5; Psalm 85:7-13; Ephesians 2:13-18; Matthew 5:43-48 Sermon by the Right Reverend Thomas C. Ely Loving Our Enemies and Praying For Those Who Persecute Us

Tonight we gather as people of faith amidst a reality that none of us hoped for—War. Some of us are deeply discouraged and sorrowful that, despite our fervent efforts in pursuit of diplomacy and peace, the situation in Iraq has come to destruction and bloodshed. Some of us are convinced, more than ever before, that war is never a justifiable choice. Some of us are persuaded that this war is a necessary, albeit regrettable, course of action. Some of us are angry with the political leaders who have declared and support this war. Some of us believe that this is the best and perhaps only way to achieve peace. And, some of us remain profoundly conflicted.

Many of us have friends and families serving in the Armed Forces, who are now engaged in the carrying out of their military obligations amidst grave danger. The lack of direct communication with them, along with the uncertainty of their location and their engagement only adds to the anxiety. Our prayers of love and concern for those men and women and their families are heartfelt and constant, as are our prayers for the innocent people of Iraq.

Amidst all the reality, uncertainty and anxiety of war, the Bible readings, prayers and hymns of tonight’s liturgy focus our attention on peace because Christ IS our Peace and the Gospel of Christ IS a Gospel of Peace. Tonight, Jesus, our teacher, calls us to embrace the same fundamental, challenging instruction that he gave to people from the war-torn region of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, from what is now Iraq, Jerusalem, and from what is now known as Israel/Palestine 2000 years ago: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy,’ but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:43,44)

The essential quality of peace we are invited to contemplate tonight is the capacity of people to get along with each other, to live into the prophet Micah’s vision of a time when one nation does not lift up sword against another nation, a time when neither learns war any more, a time when all might sit “under their own vines and fig trees, unafraid.” To reach that prophetic future requires human beings to do the hard work of truth telling, repentance and reconciliation with those with whom we have severe disagreement. It also requires us to change our ways, our habits, and our behaviors in the pursuit of peace, “to beat swords into plowshares, spears into pruning hooks.” People of faith live into this mission—into God’s mission—with trust and confidence in God’s love, mercy and pursuit of justice.

Some find this prophetic vision too absurd to take seriously in the world in which we live. I do not. Some find the words of Jesus too naive to live out today. I do not. Some say that in the current situation we have done all we could toward this ideal, and perhaps we did, but the truth remains that we have fallen short of the teaching of Jesus and that deep longing of God for reconciliation, restoration and peace that forms the basis for his teaching and Micah’s prophetic word. Relying on ourselves alone, we always will fall short.

As the Reverend Michael Battle, one of the chaplains to the House of Bishops, and author of Reconciliation: The Ubuntu Theology of Desmond Tutu, said to the Bishops of the Episcopal Church earlier this week when preaching on this same gospel passage; “This Gospel text is interesting because it seems that 2000 years ago, Jesus knew the exact lesson to teach…Jesus knew what lesson would be most difficult for us to learn. “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?…” (Matthew 5:46)

Michael also reminded us that in this text Jesus makes a parallel connection between loving and praying for those who persecute you. He said, “To love our enemies does not mean putting flowers in our hair and listening to Bob Dylan. To love our enemies does not mean weakness. To love our enemies is not some axiom only to appreciate for its aesthetic value but in the real world to disregard.”

“ The thrust of this lesson,” Michael told us is this: “If you want to know that you are more than the reality of violent animals, you will have to behave as if prayer is more than talking to yourself. Jesus’ lesson for that day was for this diverse crowd to learn the desire to pass beyond their own individual understandings of reality made only for themselves into a reorientation toward the ways of God. Jesus is teaching them [and us] the hard lesson that if we can write the correct answer to the test on our hearts then loving those outside of ourselves, our cultures, our nations, even our worldviews, opens us up to the higher reality that we are all children of God.”

Tonight, we gather to pray and it is right that we do so. We pray for ourselves, for our enemies, for those engaged in battle, for the innocent in harm’s way, for the leaders of the world, for all the peoples of the earth, and for peace. Tonight Jesus, our teacher, reminds us that prayer is more than words and that the higher calling is to pray, not just with words, but also with the working out of hard, perplexing relationships like those between ourselves and our enemies. As Michael Battle said to the Bishops of our Church, “to learn to see our enemy as our sister and brother is the truest form of this prayer.”

The learning and living of that lesson has seemingly escaped its full incarnation in us yet again, but perhaps not forever. For indeed, Christ continues to come and proclaim peace to those who are far off and to those who are near. (Ephesians 2:17)

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Note: The Reverend Doctor Michael Battle, Assistant Professor of Spirituality and the Black Church at Duke University, is one of the two Chaplains for the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church. Michael is not only a great teacher and preacher. He is a faithful companion in the pursuit of reconciliation and peace through non-violence. His sermon on the text of Matthew 5:43-48 preached at the House of Bishops on March 15, 2003 was particularly powerful for me, and I am grateful for its inspiration, as well as for many of its words, in the preparation and offering of my sermon in this time of great crisis and conflict. May Christ, who is our Peace, continue to teach us peace and grant us peace.