Waging Peace: So Far as It Depends on You and Me
“If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all”
—
The Romans originally began their calendar in March. The weather became more predictable in their Mediterranean climate at this time of year. The ground began to dry. Military leaders could maneuver their troops more readily. For the Romans, waging war became easier and more tempting with this late winter and early spring season.
Words from Vinnystia, Ukraine: We had a brief glimpse of war last week. Pastor Andrei Babiy of Grace Baptist Church in Ukraine spoke honestly, and with humility. His words provided a stark reminder: our world can be a dangerous and difficult place.
Russia’s unprovoked invasion of his land shocked the world three years ago. And for a small city like Vinnystia, Grace Baptist Church continues to offer vital ministry to countless people across the central part of the that beautiful country. I was so thankful to have him share their way of coping with the horrors and indignities of war. They are “waging peace.” And they wage it with grace.
They are not naïve about the challenges they face. Tragically, the people of Ukraine continue to be traumatized by this ongoing invasion now entering its fourth year. And yet, while they courageously combat a foe that has more soldiers, greater resources, and fewer scruples about civilian casualties, they still go about daily life doing good, sharing what they have (often more than what they have), attempting to bring healing to lives shattered by multiple hardships.
Pastor Andrei gave us glimpses into the other aspects of their challenges. Areas outside of Vinnytsia struggle with unemployment, depression, alcoholism, and poor health care. They face daily struggles and daunting problems. Yet they persist. They remain steadfast, resilient, faithful and devoted to following Jesus’ call (repeated by Paul in Romans) to “so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”
In many ways, the tasks in our own land, while currently less tragic, are no less dramatic. Caustic, polarized antagonisms create swirling dynamics of name-calling, finger-pointing, posturing, and unhindered manipulation. All this merges daily with the rising temptation to hate those who oppose us. We cast blame, one to another, one side against the other.
Yet we all share equally in our guilt. Honesty demands open appraisals of history. And the truth is, to quote Romans again: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
I must confess this along with each of you and with any whose views I or we oppose. And yet, we attempt to stand firm, plea passionately, post persistently our beliefs, attempting to do right as we hope to stand and live rightly. I, like each of you, seek a lifestyle of grace and peace that offers some glimpse of God’s vision for us. And I fall short. So do you ( “… for all have sinned and fall short” Romans 3:23).
From our own catastrophic Civil War and the lingering wounds Lincoln sought to heal in 1865, I sometimes hear his echoing sentiments with a distant hope:
“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds … to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations” (The Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865).
His prescient sentiments, spoken almost exactly 160 years ago, still pulsate with necessity. What I have italicized remains crucial. This brief clause still should catch in every heart; it also dissects our complicated motives. I confess my own short-sightedness, my own limited vision, my own potentially skewed perspectives. And so must you. This is where we are stuck: “as God gives us to see the right.” Clearly my sacred insight is limited; so is yours. We suffer the common plight of remaining all too human, of assuming we know the “right.” Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don’t.
Therefore, together, this much-needed quest for waging peace with grace, this ability, however fragile, to be firm in the right “as God gives us to see the right” rises before us with looming dangers. We wage peace sometimes with haughtiness. Guilty as charged I’m afraid. A precarious balance, however elusive, must remain: unyielding passion linked intimately with honest humility. This is a delicate balance indeed. So we need help.
Let us try our best to balance one another. We can constructively challenge each other with patience and understanding; let us treat others with respect, dignity and the necessary memory of our adversary’s child-of-God-ness. And like our brothers and sisters in Vinnystia, may we strive to live out the right as we can see the right, offering hospitality, forgiveness, compassion, humility and love.
And in this common quest, we, too, might live peaceably with all, so far as it depends on you and me, and the grace of God.
May this March bring you unexpected goodness, and an unquenchable desire to share it.
Love,
David
David Jordan
Senior Pastor