Love and War
Over the past nine days the world has held it's breath as Russia invades Ukraine. Last week we were reminded that God is intimately involved in this world, even in such tragedies as the war in Ukraine. What can we do? We can pray, and we have, through Zoom prayer sessions, gatherings at Christ Church, and within our own spaces. We must continue to pray. Yet I can’t shake the feeling there is more we can be doing as followers of Jesus. What might that be?
Perhaps we can take our lead from David in one of my favorite psalms, Psalm 51, the psalm that David pens when Nathan the prophet went to him and confronted his sin against Bathsheba. It reveals David’s heart, a man after God’s own heart yet still broken and as quick to sin as any of the rest of us. He writes, “Have mercy on me O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions... For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” David is quick to acknowledge brokenness and sin in his own life. Later in his life, David pens another one of my favorites, Psalm 139, praying, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” David is fully aware of his ability to sin and cause hurt, yet he is also quick to press into the Lord and rely on Him in these times.
What does this all have to do with war and suffering? How does checking my heart and reminding myself that I am capable of sin toward others count toward responding to this crisis? I would posit that one aspect leading to war is broken relationships. It’s a distrust of others and a lack of compassion and care for those placed in our lives, just one house over or in another country. It’s getting caught up in our own plan, like David, and failing to see the consequences until the dust settles. It is a failure to see others with value, dignity and worth as our Creator does. In essence, it’s a loss of the imago dei truth; that people are made in the image of God. This truth causes us to love because we see people as lovely. It moves us to compassion because we all have experienced a divine compassion. When we look outside at the devastation going on around us we can respond by looking inward, like David, and cry out to God with, “forgive me for the ways I have sinned against you, and others.”
Over the next four weeks Christ Church is going to focus on healthy relationships, offering a 10am Sunday class called Loving Each Other Well. Love, truth, mercy and grace need to be at the center of our relationships. There must be a willingness to die to oneself, to sacrifice for the sake of others, and to operate in this world with the foundational truth of imago dei. As we hold Christ at the center of our global issues we must also hold Christ at the heart of our personal and communal issues. By looking to Jesus as the Author and Perfecter of our faith, we hope to glean something that aids us in our relationships with one another.
Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash