OH, THAT. It’s difficult to read the Bible without tripping over the word “peace” as a core imperative.
“Oh, yeah.”
“Oh, that.”
We assume we know what it is referring to, gloss over the word, and read on for the “real meat.”
THE REAL MEAT. What if peace IS the “real meat?” What if we are inadvertently minimizing, by sheer familiarity with a word, something vital to faith and action?
LOOKING OVER A... Of the numerous references to peace, I’ve tended to gloss over its mention in the birth of Jesus narratives most. There’s old Zechariah declaring, in his prophetic response to the birth of his son John and in reference to the impact of the coming Christ, “to guide our feet into the path of peace” (Luke 1:79).
EASY WORD? There’s an angel choir singing to Shepherds, on the eve of Jesus’ birth, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14).
HARK TO A PATH. These birth narrative references are the first of many mentions of peace at critical moments in the Gospel story. They hark backward in reference to a peace that was possible but perhaps lost, latent, or unfulfilled. They hark forward to a way—a “path”—and present quality of life in this life, here and now.
GREETING CARD PHRASES? Was peace just a convenient word for Luke? Were these greeting card phrases only? If so, dismiss them as pabulum. If not, should we not explore their intended meaning as they take their place in the story of grace?
A PATH. What is the “path of peace” into which we are to be guided? Is it significant that the message is of peace ON EARTH and TO PEOPLE? What are we to make of this blessing?
Saturday, December 18, 2004
WAGE PEACE
PEACE IS ITS OWN METHOD. I am thinking that the message of peace, of necessity, implies the method of conveying it, teaching it, living it—even waging it. Peace is its own method. It bears its own ethic.
WITH THE POWER OF INTENTION. I have chosen the word “waging” intentionally. The image is not inconsistent with its ethic or spirit. Peace is to be waged, no less intentionally and intensively than war is waged. But peace is to be waged not combatively, not harmfully, not insultingly, not belittlingly, not in any way that mitigates against its very spirit.
ENDS BESPEAKS THE MEANS. Whereas war is a violent, destructive means to—some would say—a hopeful end, peace is a constructive, nonviolent means as much as its intended end. It does not do harm to resolve it. Peace is a way of approaching problems and conflicts that incorporates the intended result into the first word and in every mediating action.
LOCKED IN A STRUGGLE. That does not detract from the image of “waging.” Core spiritual principles and life-or-death-determining challenges must be engaged with vigor, with intelligence, with savvy, with effort, with soul—peace must be waged with all legitimate capacity and every possible life-giving resource.
INTENTIONAL AND INTENSIVE. Let us lay aside our images of peacemaking as a soft or weak way. Let us conceive of peacemaking as an intentional and intensive response to discord, strife, and open conflict that calls upon our highest energies and deepest devotions. Let us wage peace in such a way that we bear and share its fruit even as we move toward its fullness.
WITH THE POWER OF INTENTION. I have chosen the word “waging” intentionally. The image is not inconsistent with its ethic or spirit. Peace is to be waged, no less intentionally and intensively than war is waged. But peace is to be waged not combatively, not harmfully, not insultingly, not belittlingly, not in any way that mitigates against its very spirit.
ENDS BESPEAKS THE MEANS. Whereas war is a violent, destructive means to—some would say—a hopeful end, peace is a constructive, nonviolent means as much as its intended end. It does not do harm to resolve it. Peace is a way of approaching problems and conflicts that incorporates the intended result into the first word and in every mediating action.
LOCKED IN A STRUGGLE. That does not detract from the image of “waging.” Core spiritual principles and life-or-death-determining challenges must be engaged with vigor, with intelligence, with savvy, with effort, with soul—peace must be waged with all legitimate capacity and every possible life-giving resource.
INTENTIONAL AND INTENSIVE. Let us lay aside our images of peacemaking as a soft or weak way. Let us conceive of peacemaking as an intentional and intensive response to discord, strife, and open conflict that calls upon our highest energies and deepest devotions. Let us wage peace in such a way that we bear and share its fruit even as we move toward its fullness.
PERFECT LOVE...AND WAR
A CHRISTIAN SHALOM. Amid the beginnings of America’s attack on Iraq, and while on a plane from Kansas City to Indianapolis, I began reading Perfect Love and War. The 1974 book published by Evangel Press is a compilation of papers presented at a symposium on the topic among holiness theologians and thoughtful practitioners. I’m grateful to Stan Ingersol for putting me on to the book. It includes a history of holiness advocacy for peace by Donald W. Dayton and a piece by Timothy L. Smith titled: “A Christian Shalom.” The following are a few excerpts from Dr. Smith’s article:
A BROADER DEFINITION OF 'SHALOM.' 'Peace' – 'shalom' – cannot, for us, even us who believe afresh in an imminent Second Coming, denote merely otherwordly hope in Christ’s apocalyptic settlement of the world’s strife. We recognize, rather, a responsibility to advance the alternatives to war which human beings can realistically hope for now.”
PEACE AMID CONFUSION. “The shalom which [Jesus] pronounced was a promise that His grace could make them disciplined disciples, able to obey His call to personal holiness in a world of sin. His ‘peace be unto you’ was a confirmation of what He had declared on the eve of Calvary. Their hearts need not be troubled; they believed in God, they could also rely on Him. You can rest at ease, He said on that dark night of confusion and betrayal; your souls can be secure; you shall indeed live for Me and walk in the way I have charted for you.”
SET TO PEACE-BRINGING. “Eternal life began in a special sense for them that Easter night, in the grace of shalom, in the gift of the Holy Spirit, Who would abide with them forever. Temporal holiness and everlasting salvation thereafter were two sides of the same priceless coin… The cross, and the resurrection which triumphed over it, had brought them a shalom which the world could neither give nor take away. It would heal their wearied and sin-bound spirits, and set them to bringing peace on earth and good will among men.”
WAGE WAR ON WAR. “What we set about when we began following Jesus was to become radically Christian persons linked in Christian compassion to a world of great evil… We really can’t find anything better to declare than ‘the peace of God that passeth all understanding.’ His shalom can fill those who trust in Him with the spiritual resources which will enable them to wage war on war, and provide them with weapons which by their peaceableness partakes of the nature of the kingdom for whose coming they both pray and work.”
A MORAL GAUGE. “Jesus’ words become for us who live in a war-cursed world a moral gauge of political action and conviction… We are trying by our professions of love to share with all mankind those hopes which our personal experience with Christ makes valid… The model of faithfulness, of peaceableness, of shalom, which exists within the Christian community is the ideal toward which we must try mightily to move the world.”
ETHICS OF PEACE TO INFORM OUR ACTIONS. “Though [the disciples] might not expect to see a completely peaceable society in their time – nor we in ours, so intractable are the political structures and social conventions by which men order their lives – yet, so as we are friends of Jesus, living in and caring for the world, the ethics of peace must inform our every political act and conviction.”
WAR AS EVIL. “My own existence as a person of peace, and the witness which I must bear to all mankind about spiritual as well as political shalom, depend on my rejection of war as basically evil. Being evil, it impoverishes all of a nation’s moral resources, weakens all of a people’s tendencies to gentleness, truthfulness and thoughtfulness, and frustrates the hopes which all political ideologies nurture.”
STRIFE IS DESTRUCTIVE. Smith concludes: “Jesus is trying to say to us that strife, considered both as the fruit of an egotistical will to power and as a customary way of securing it, is fundamentally destructive of the best which is in human beings.”
A BROADER DEFINITION OF 'SHALOM.' 'Peace' – 'shalom' – cannot, for us, even us who believe afresh in an imminent Second Coming, denote merely otherwordly hope in Christ’s apocalyptic settlement of the world’s strife. We recognize, rather, a responsibility to advance the alternatives to war which human beings can realistically hope for now.”
PEACE AMID CONFUSION. “The shalom which [Jesus] pronounced was a promise that His grace could make them disciplined disciples, able to obey His call to personal holiness in a world of sin. His ‘peace be unto you’ was a confirmation of what He had declared on the eve of Calvary. Their hearts need not be troubled; they believed in God, they could also rely on Him. You can rest at ease, He said on that dark night of confusion and betrayal; your souls can be secure; you shall indeed live for Me and walk in the way I have charted for you.”
SET TO PEACE-BRINGING. “Eternal life began in a special sense for them that Easter night, in the grace of shalom, in the gift of the Holy Spirit, Who would abide with them forever. Temporal holiness and everlasting salvation thereafter were two sides of the same priceless coin… The cross, and the resurrection which triumphed over it, had brought them a shalom which the world could neither give nor take away. It would heal their wearied and sin-bound spirits, and set them to bringing peace on earth and good will among men.”
WAGE WAR ON WAR. “What we set about when we began following Jesus was to become radically Christian persons linked in Christian compassion to a world of great evil… We really can’t find anything better to declare than ‘the peace of God that passeth all understanding.’ His shalom can fill those who trust in Him with the spiritual resources which will enable them to wage war on war, and provide them with weapons which by their peaceableness partakes of the nature of the kingdom for whose coming they both pray and work.”
A MORAL GAUGE. “Jesus’ words become for us who live in a war-cursed world a moral gauge of political action and conviction… We are trying by our professions of love to share with all mankind those hopes which our personal experience with Christ makes valid… The model of faithfulness, of peaceableness, of shalom, which exists within the Christian community is the ideal toward which we must try mightily to move the world.”
ETHICS OF PEACE TO INFORM OUR ACTIONS. “Though [the disciples] might not expect to see a completely peaceable society in their time – nor we in ours, so intractable are the political structures and social conventions by which men order their lives – yet, so as we are friends of Jesus, living in and caring for the world, the ethics of peace must inform our every political act and conviction.”
WAR AS EVIL. “My own existence as a person of peace, and the witness which I must bear to all mankind about spiritual as well as political shalom, depend on my rejection of war as basically evil. Being evil, it impoverishes all of a nation’s moral resources, weakens all of a people’s tendencies to gentleness, truthfulness and thoughtfulness, and frustrates the hopes which all political ideologies nurture.”
STRIFE IS DESTRUCTIVE. Smith concludes: “Jesus is trying to say to us that strife, considered both as the fruit of an egotistical will to power and as a customary way of securing it, is fundamentally destructive of the best which is in human beings.”
Friday, December 17, 2004
THE HOLINESS CHURCHES: A SIGNIFICANT ETHICAL TRADITION
THREAD OF HOPE. Donald W. Dayton's article, The Holiness Churches: A Significant Ethical Tradition, is perhaps the most vital thread of evidence and hope I have in the discovery of a rich peace tradition in holiness circles. If you're not familiar with the American holiness movement and doubt whether or not it has relevance for the peace tradition, this article will begin to shine light.
HOLINESS & QUAKER CONNECTIONS
NORTHWEST YEARLY MEETING. I've had some conversation with a few folks about connections between holiness and Quaker folk. The Northwest Yearly Meeting appears to be an expression of the Society of Friends that connects these dots in faith and practice.
A PRAYER FOR THOSE ENGAGED IN WAR
FROM FLETCHER TINK. Fletcher Tink is a teacher, writer, minister in my holiness tradition. He penned the following prayer, "A Prayer for Those Engaged in War," on March 25, 2003. Remember what was happening then?
Oh, Father God, we, as fallen humans in a corrupt world, confess our collective failure to find peace. In our desperateness, we seek your divine help. . .
For the spirit of confusion that enshrouds us, give us your mind.
For the spirit of fear and panic, temper us with perspective and peace.
For our lies and euphemisms, nurture in us childlike honesty and transparent language.
For our reckless might, extend to us your divine power.
For our callous and cold calculations, renew in us warm and sensitive hearts.
For false hopes and illusions, reshape us with a realism of the hope found only in you.
For our guilt and shame that harbors blood on our hands, give us pardon and cleansing.
For our arrogance, wet our eyes, bend our knees in dependency on you.
For rabid enthusiasm, caution us with measured confidence born only in your coming Kingdom.
For ugly rhetoric and dogmatism, frame our mouths into prayers.
For the pain of combat, the agony of injury, extend your hand of healing.
For excruciating loss and violent death, embrace us with your arms of comfort.
For the tragedy and horror of war, offer us a peace beyond understanding that will unite that which has been fractured, into your transforming, ennobling and liberating self.
For these gifts, unworthy as we are, we plead,
Amen.
Oh, Father God, we, as fallen humans in a corrupt world, confess our collective failure to find peace. In our desperateness, we seek your divine help. . .
For the spirit of confusion that enshrouds us, give us your mind.
For the spirit of fear and panic, temper us with perspective and peace.
For our lies and euphemisms, nurture in us childlike honesty and transparent language.
For our reckless might, extend to us your divine power.
For our callous and cold calculations, renew in us warm and sensitive hearts.
For false hopes and illusions, reshape us with a realism of the hope found only in you.
For our guilt and shame that harbors blood on our hands, give us pardon and cleansing.
For our arrogance, wet our eyes, bend our knees in dependency on you.
For rabid enthusiasm, caution us with measured confidence born only in your coming Kingdom.
For ugly rhetoric and dogmatism, frame our mouths into prayers.
For the pain of combat, the agony of injury, extend your hand of healing.
For excruciating loss and violent death, embrace us with your arms of comfort.
For the tragedy and horror of war, offer us a peace beyond understanding that will unite that which has been fractured, into your transforming, ennobling and liberating self.
For these gifts, unworthy as we are, we plead,
Amen.
TO BE PEACEMAKERS
IN THE DAYS AHEAD. Johann Christof Arnold of The Bruderhof posted a concise response to the November 2004 election, something all Christians would do well to take to heart in the days ahead:
"Whether we are saddened or elated by the prospect of another four years, now is not the time for depression or gloating. Jesus called on his followers to be peacemakers, and told them that they would be called the sons of God. This promise still exists for us today. These are simple but powerful words. If they worked in Christ’s time, why shouldn't they work today as we struggle to rid the world of terror? It is easy to pay our taxes, abide by the rule of law, and otherwise dutifully give to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But what about the second half of that commandment? In the end, only when we each become a peacemaker will we achieve the unity that politicians of all stripes are fond of giving lip service to."
WHAT'S PEACE GOT TO DO WITH HOLINESS? AND VICE VERSA?
“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14
I want to understand what this means…and live it.
Two words. Peace. Holiness. Are they worlds apart?
Does international disarmament, interpersonal nonviolence, racial reconciliation, and pursuing peace have anything to do with personal piety and Christian holiness?
My name is John Hay, Jr. I’m a Christian minister in the Wesleyan/holiness tradition seeking to explore peacemaking as a lost spiritual and ethical heritage.
Honestly, I find hardly anyone within my “holiness” faith tradition talking about peace other than a “Jesus gives me peace” personal experience. We don't talk about it as a social imperative of the Gospel.
I was raised in a faith tradition called “holiness.” We Free Methodists, Nazarenes, Wesleyans, and Salvation Army folk talked about peace of heart but not about peace in the world. Our diminished outlook could be summed up with a bumper sticker: “No Jesus, No Peace; Know Jesus, Know Peace.”
We thought it possible to live in peace with close relationships and local toughs because of inward grace. We just didn’t think that applied on an international or global scale. In fact, we were suspicious of those who talked about world peace; we linked such talk to anti-Christ. Following the declaration of “peace and safety” sudden destruction could be expected.
Sound macabre? Welcome to the theological milieu of my upbringing. It was not uncommon among evangelicals.
I think we sold ourselves short. We were onto something. The holiness part, that is. But we thought only in personal pietistic terms. We didn’t let our hearts range far from our little experience. We asked for peace in the midst of our personal storms, but that was far from expecting peace in the midst of international conflicts. We surrendered everything but our politics and prejudices to Jesus.
The experience of holy love filling one’s heart is no mere illusion. At times it has translated into an outgoing, collective, fervent love that transforms social fears and hatreds—holy-fired folk advocated for the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, labor relations, and rights of the poor. Donald W. Dayton and Timothy L. Smith make this clear. Holiness of heart can translate into holiness of life at both personal and community levels.
They say there is a peace tradition within my own Wesleyan/holiness theological and church tradition. They say it’s there, somewhere, I just haven’t yet found it. If it’s there, whatever significance it had in history has apparently not translated into contemporary faith and practice of any Wesleyan/holiness churches or associations of which I am aware. If it is there, I will find the strain and amplify it.
But it is possible to explore the implications for peace and witness as part and parcel with the holiness ethic without having historical precedent. We are not called to be mimickers of the ways of our forebears so much as we are called to be witnesses to present grace as it intersects the issues that confront our generation.
There may not be a more critical witness of holiness in this generation than that of peace. Perhaps this is a test of the relevance of the ethic for the present and future.
I don’t know much about peace. But I am going to learn. You’re welcome to look over my shoulder as I do. I must learn quickly. There is urgency to learning and applying what I discover. Think of this as a project in process. I will post what I am discovering about peace and holiness. You’re welcome to contribute what you know and discover.
I want to understand what this means…and live it.
Two words. Peace. Holiness. Are they worlds apart?
Does international disarmament, interpersonal nonviolence, racial reconciliation, and pursuing peace have anything to do with personal piety and Christian holiness?
My name is John Hay, Jr. I’m a Christian minister in the Wesleyan/holiness tradition seeking to explore peacemaking as a lost spiritual and ethical heritage.
Honestly, I find hardly anyone within my “holiness” faith tradition talking about peace other than a “Jesus gives me peace” personal experience. We don't talk about it as a social imperative of the Gospel.
I was raised in a faith tradition called “holiness.” We Free Methodists, Nazarenes, Wesleyans, and Salvation Army folk talked about peace of heart but not about peace in the world. Our diminished outlook could be summed up with a bumper sticker: “No Jesus, No Peace; Know Jesus, Know Peace.”
We thought it possible to live in peace with close relationships and local toughs because of inward grace. We just didn’t think that applied on an international or global scale. In fact, we were suspicious of those who talked about world peace; we linked such talk to anti-Christ. Following the declaration of “peace and safety” sudden destruction could be expected.
Sound macabre? Welcome to the theological milieu of my upbringing. It was not uncommon among evangelicals.
I think we sold ourselves short. We were onto something. The holiness part, that is. But we thought only in personal pietistic terms. We didn’t let our hearts range far from our little experience. We asked for peace in the midst of our personal storms, but that was far from expecting peace in the midst of international conflicts. We surrendered everything but our politics and prejudices to Jesus.
The experience of holy love filling one’s heart is no mere illusion. At times it has translated into an outgoing, collective, fervent love that transforms social fears and hatreds—holy-fired folk advocated for the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, labor relations, and rights of the poor. Donald W. Dayton and Timothy L. Smith make this clear. Holiness of heart can translate into holiness of life at both personal and community levels.
They say there is a peace tradition within my own Wesleyan/holiness theological and church tradition. They say it’s there, somewhere, I just haven’t yet found it. If it’s there, whatever significance it had in history has apparently not translated into contemporary faith and practice of any Wesleyan/holiness churches or associations of which I am aware. If it is there, I will find the strain and amplify it.
But it is possible to explore the implications for peace and witness as part and parcel with the holiness ethic without having historical precedent. We are not called to be mimickers of the ways of our forebears so much as we are called to be witnesses to present grace as it intersects the issues that confront our generation.
There may not be a more critical witness of holiness in this generation than that of peace. Perhaps this is a test of the relevance of the ethic for the present and future.
I don’t know much about peace. But I am going to learn. You’re welcome to look over my shoulder as I do. I must learn quickly. There is urgency to learning and applying what I discover. Think of this as a project in process. I will post what I am discovering about peace and holiness. You’re welcome to contribute what you know and discover.
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