Peace of Christ

I still clearly remember September 11, 2001. I was in 9th grade, and my first class of the day was--ironically enough--World History. These were the days when every classroom had a small, boxy TV mounted in the corner of the room. Our teacher came in, turned on the TV, and we watched in stunned silence as the World Trade Towers were hit and demolished.

Each generation shares a world event that they'll never forget where they were when it happened--JFK's assassination, the moon landing, 9/11--and yet it feels as though those unprecented events have turned into what now feels like our "normal".

As people of faith, we are called to turn to God in all things, but especially in our times of need, fear, anxiety, and confusion. We look to God's written word and the Living Word that is Christ, our highest authority and greatest source of clarity and comfort. 

Prompted by the attacks on the US in 2001, in 2004 the ELCA issued a social statement titled, "Living in a Time of Terrorism". Like all our denomination's social statement, it is not church doctrine. It's meant to be a guide and a resource as we ask questions and wonder what our tradition might say about these things, guided first and foremost by Scripture.

Paul writes to the church in Rome, "Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). This peace is both future and eternal, not yet our lived experience, and yet already ours.

It's an important reminder because we know that none of this is a simple situation, with a simple solution, or with a quick fix. 

In a statement shared by his office today, Presiding Bishop Yehiel Curry reminds us of the Prophet Isaiah's promise, "They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more" (Isaiah 2:4).

Bp Curry goes on to say, "In our Lenten journey, we are reminded of our dependence on God, and we are sustained by hope in the future peace God has promised. As war involving the United States, Israel and Iran intensifies and spreads, we lament how far off that promise seems."

Lent is a time to really, truly acknowledge that everything isn't ok, that we aren't doing fine, and that we aren't just keeping on keeping on. There are no easy answers to being human.

So we lament, and we pray.

We lament that our world is so broken and so hurting, and we pray that God makes a way where a way seems impossible.

We lament at the innocent lives that have already been lost, and we pray that God delivers everyone to safety.

We lament the cost of life to our service members, and we pray that God would comfort and sustain their families.

We lament the further "othering" of war, and we pray for our beloved siblings in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL).

Above all, we trust that God is with all of God's people, that God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us, and that God always keeps God's promises.