Taking Your Spot

III.    Vows of Nonviolent Witness

“We pledge to act in allegiance to God alone, and to resist injustice with goodness”

10. I will speak up in defense and protection of anyone, even enemies, who are attacked with violence of word or action, even at the risk of my own life

In the historical World War II movie To End All Wars*, British Prisoners of War (POWs) in a Japanese prison camp in Burma suffer brutal treatment and excruciating forced labor at the hands of their captors. After the killing of one of their lead officers for his disrespect, some of the POWs decide the way to freedom is to organize a prisoners’ revolt. But the fatigued prisoners are unable to carry out the scheme and the leader, Major Campbell, is sentenced to death. Shockingly both to the Japanese and the other British prisoners an opponent of Major Campbell steps up to take his place. Dusty Miller, a soldier newly filled with Christ’s compassionate solidarity, vividly and sacrificially enacts today’s vow on behalf of a fellow prisoner who has treated him so poorly: “I will speak up in defense and protection of anyone, even enemies, who are attacked with violence of word or action, even at the risk of my own life.”

A Soft Answer

II.      Vows of Rejection

“We renounce violence of the heart, tongue and fist, neither willing nor working harm to any”

9. I will reject violence of the fist: I will not retaliate toward anger or assault, provocation or violence, in word or action; I will not seek or inflict any injury, harm or death toward any person.

(by Jesslee Cuizon via Flickr)

Read the scripture for reflection below (Luke 22:47-53) and then read the short account, A Soft Answer by the late aikido teacher, Terry Dobson. (Click the links or scroll to the bottom of this page. Sensitive reader beware, an angry character in Terry's story uses some course language. If you prefer a cleaner account it can be found in print in What Would You Do? edited by John Howard Yoder, pgs. 104-107). 

Notice the ways in which the older man responded in a very Jesus-like manner. In contrast, note the ways in which Terry responded like Jesus’ disciples—passionate, loyal to Jesus, trying to do things right, but not quite getting it.

The Harsh & The Gentle

II.      Vows of Rejection

“We renounce violence of the heart, tongue and fist, neither willing nor working harm to any”

8. I will reject violence of the tongue: I will not speak or write any curse, insult, abuse, slander, deception, falsehood, or gossip

(by Meredith Farmer via Flicker)

My grandmother used to chide (gently) her quarreling grandchildren, “A gentle answer turns away anger.” I loved my grandmother and thought her wise, but I always found it an annoying thing to be told in the heat of a good bicker. As inopportune as it sometimes was, I eventually took the verse to heart. When bullies at school picked on me (I was, after all, a flamingly self-righteous little know-it-all), I tried practicing Proverbs 15:1. But the encounters frequently ended in my stirred up anger…or tears…or both (and the antagonists got what they wanted--a reaction out of me)! By junior high I deemed “the soft answer” only useful for respectable and proper grandmothers. The young life required an eye for an eye, or rather, insult for insult. 

Pure In Heart

II.      Vows of Rejection

“We renounce violence of the heart, tongue and fist, neither willing nor working harm to any”

7. I will reject violence of the heart: I will not harbor anger, resentment, envy, prejudice, or hatred. 

(by h.koppdelaney via Flickr)

When we recognize the violence in our world, it’s often noticed in the form of physical and verbal violence. Yet some of the greatest violence exists within those of us who have never struck another creature or hardly raised our voices. Jesus, as he is fond of doing, flips the conventional picture on its head. You’ve heard it said, “Do not murder,” but I tell you don’t be angry or insult one another! In the gospels, Jesus digs beneath the actions and words of anger to the condition of the person inside. “Out of the abundance of the heart…”

The Word as Our Witness

 I.        Vows of Affirmation

“We devote our daily life to God, and to serving our neighbors as images of God”

6. I will daily read the Scriptures and meditate on the witness of Jesus Christ.

(by Luz Bratcher via Flickr)

There are many ways by which we seek to discover new things and model new habits. We peruse books and talk shows and magazine articles drawing on social science and psychology and economics and health sciences and counseling and trade guilds and sports or political analysis. We reflect on our own experience or draw on conventional wisdom and tradition. Sometimes we watch or read maestros and imitate their work. When it comes to being the church as a community of disciples, though, these sources of knowledge and formation and practice take at least a secondary role. We trust—even though we sometimes doubt—that God’s way of peace in the world is shown in the full life of Jesus, depicted in Christian scriptures.

In our modern world where nonviolence and conflict can be studied from so many helpful  and necessary angles beyond the apparent treatment of the Bible, what makes it important for you to ground your discipleship-peacemaking in Christian scripture?

In Secret

I.        Vows of Affirmation

“We devote our daily life to God, and to serving our neighbors as images of God”

5. I will daily seek to do good for someone without reward or recognition.

Diana Kathrina Leomo via Flickr

We love to make our decisions on cost-benefit analyses. Will the costs and the gains at least equalize if not bring significant reward? But the way of Jesus often leaves behind this safe, business-wise pragmatism—at least at first glance. “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you for righteousness sake and utter all kinds of evil against you on my account.” Really!? The costs look a lot more clearly painful than the ambiguous “blessedness” looks like gain! “Love your enemies, do good, and lend expecting nothing in return.” What kind of foolish risk is this? 

Cup of Hospitality

I.        Vows of Affirmation

“We devote our daily life to God, and to serving our neighbors as images of God”

4. I will think, speak and act with courtesy, respect, and hospitality toward friend and enemy, neighbor and stranger.

There is a growing set of true stories sharing surprising outcomes to encounters with a violent enemy. One goes like this: A couple is asleep in their bed-and-breakfast home. As a man with a knife crawled in the open window, the wife awakens to see him approaching through the dark. As he nears she speaks out, “You can kill us, but first let me make you a cup of coffee.” The startled intruder gradually accepts the offer and over a hot cup decides against his original violent plans.  

The Fruitful

I.        Vow of Affirmation

“We devote our daily life to God, and to serving our neighbors as images of God”

3. I will live, speak and act with truth, compassion, kindness, gentleness, mercy, patience, generosity, and expectant hope that others will respond in kind.

In our modern world, we often label things in their proper categories. This filing folder is for my tax documents, that shelf is for my cookbooks, that hour is for watching The Bachelor.  When it comes to spiritual and religious life we may make similar divisions, thinking of living peacefully as one arena over here in one box to be used at certain times, and over in another container is missional living, and living worshipfully is over there in yet another distinct arena of our lives. But these discrete divisions, while they seem neat and tidy, do not very adequately describe our following all of Jesus in all of life. 

 And the call to Christian peacemaking is no exception. It is not some side show to discipleship that can be separated out from other practices like prayer, service and generosity. It involves our whole being and takes place in the whole of life. It involves our daily thinking and speaking as well as our acting. It is in part a product--or a fruit--of God's Holy Spirit within us. And these many diverse fruits of the Spirit do not simply each hang on their own vine, with peace over here and patience over there. They come together in a whole cluster!

The Very Image

I.        Vow of Affirmation

“We devote our daily life to God, and to serving our neighbors as images of God”

    
       2.  I will seek the image of God in each and every person;  
               I will treat them as fully worthy of the good I desire for myself.

It’s the cashier at your grocery store, the neighbor whose name you don’t know but you wave to every morning, the sleazebag womanizer on that “reality” show, your favorite song leader at church, your most opinionated and least favorite coworker, your implied national enemy, it’s the gaggle of high schoolers each with eyes and thumbs locked to their phones,  it’s your mother.  The image of God. It is in all of them, it’s in you fractured and trampled in the mud though it may be. 

By Through Painted Eyes via Flickr

“Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness…

So God created humankind 
     in God’s image,
     in the image of God 
          he created them;
     male and female 
          God created them.”

Our Most Basic Offering

 I.        Vow of Affirmation

“We devote our daily life to God, and to serving our neighbors as images of God:”

1. I will daily offer my life to God with reverence and a living faith; I will daily pray to be used as a servant by God for the good of my neighbors near and far. 

(Photo by justin tippins via Flickr)

During the opening to Lent, we may sound like a recording from the first week of the New Year: “I resolve to eat less and healthier, to be a nicer person, to turn this resolution into a new habit.” How many of us really make it through more than a few weeks of our resolutions? 

But the commitments we make at the beginning of Lent are of a different nature. Unlike most New Year’s resolutions, Lenten vows are made as a covenant between us and our God (and hopefully our faith community). The focus shifts toward serving God and others more than just our own self-improvement.  And rightly focused, God—more than our human initiative and willpower—becomes the source of our resolve and strength to carry out our Lenten vows.