Sermon, Thursday, March 30, 2003
At the Outbreak of War with Iraq
The Rev. Lowell E. Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Sermon, Thursday, March 30, 2003
At the Outbreak of War with Iraq
The Rev. Lowell E. Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas
There is an ancient spiritual truth that is also confirmed by modern psychiatry. If you do not have a place to put your anxiety, you will project it onto others; if you do not have a place to put your anger, you will project it onto others; if you do not have a place to put your fear, you will project it onto others. For us as Christians, the place we put our anxiety, anger and fear is on the cross of Jesus. If we can do that, we can live in peace as people of faith, people of hope, people of love. If we cannot do that, we are likely to add to the sum of suffering and destruction in the world.
Tonight we come together into this holy place, this sanctuary, bringing the anxiety and anger and fear that are the predictable byproducts of war. Everyone feels that. Some of us are anxious for loved ones that are in harms way. We don't know what will happen. Will weapons of mass destruction be released? Will innocent civilians and children be killed? Will terrorism increase? Our anxiety has much to energize it.
Probably everyone in this room is angry, but that anger takes many forms. For some, it is primarily anger toward Saddam Hussain for the threat he has posed to his own people and to the world, anger toward the French and other allies who have not supported our nation's cause, anger toward the protesters and others who have not trusted our leaders and who have opposed our use of force to protect the world. For others, there is anger toward President George Bush for insisting upon a military solution to a questionable threat, for treating international negotiations with contempt, for ignoring the cries of allies and citizens. We are a divided world and nearly everyone is angry.
And there is fear. Fear is especially threatening to peace. It is fear, not hate, that is the opposite of love. Our nation has been feeding on fear for many months. In an atmosphere of fear, it is hard to love.
Unless we deal constructively with our anxiety, anger and fear, we will project it onto other human beings and we will add to the world's anxiety and anger and fear, perpetuating the vicious circle instead of healing it. All of us deal with our anxiety, anger and fear by blaming others and creating enemies. It makes us feel better. That's how we all make war of some kind. The cross is the church's answer to this violence.
Take your anxiety and anger and fear, and instead of projecting it toward Saddam or George or your spouse, coworker or child -- or yourself through depression -- send your anxiety and your anger and your fear to the cross of Christ.
On the cross, God shows us what divine love does with our violence and our hate. God soaks it up and does not give it back. God absorbs our anxiety, our anger and our fear and instead of reacting with wrath and punishment, God does something utterly unpredictable. God brings resurrection. Oh, death happens. Death of some kind is always the bitter fruit of anxiety and anger and fear. But death is not the last word when God is at work. God takes everything our human ugliness can dish out, God accepts it and absorbs it into Jesus on the cross. And God returns only forgiveness, which when planted for three days blooms into resurrection faith which overcomes anxiety, resurrection hope which cools anger, and resurrection love which casts out fear.
What do we need in a time of war? We need the three great theological virtues -- faith, hope and love. It is faith that trusts that God is working and God will always prevail. Believe that God can bring unpredictable good out of every possibility -- out of nails through hands and feet as well as out of missals and germs and chemicals. Trust that God and only God is truly powerful, and true power always overcomes mere force in the end. We need faith, deep trust in God.
We need hope. It is hope that can free us from the hot bondage of anger. Not hope in the form of expectations. Expectations are only our projection of our wishes and solutions on the future. Those expectations motivated by anger always see some form of violence as our first option. No, hope in God; a God who can bring Easter out of Good Friday, a saint out of a sinner, a peacemaker out of a bully. Bring an abundant spirit of hope to every desperate situation. When tempted to anger, see beyond the tears of rage and let hope rest in new possibilities that only divine wisdom can create.
We need love. Wrap yourself in love. Not just any love. It is perfect love and only perfect love that casts out fear. God is perfect love. None of us receives perfect love from a human source. But God loves us all perfectly, infinitely, without qualification or reservation. Soak in that acceptance and love until you fear no more.
If you want to help the world, if you want to be of service, become a person of faith, a person of hope, a person of love. When you do that, you do the ministry of Christ. Soak up all of the anxiety and anger and fear that is thrown at you, accept it but do not give it back. Instead of projecting your anxiety and your anger and your fear, put it on the cross of Christ. Nail it there with all of the other suffering of the world. Go to the cross in your imagination and in your prayer, and let the unconquerable faith of Christ be yours, trusting even in the face of death. Let the unquenchable hope of Christ be yours, courageous in the presence of the impossible. Let the infinite love of Christ be yours, benevolent and compassionate in the face of all that threatens.
The world is still a beautiful and wonderful place, infinitely loved by God. Don't get sucked in by the fascination of evil. Don't spend hours in front of the television while spring is blooming. Don't fight the dragon, lest you become the dragon. Don't be seduced by the invitations to anxiety, anger and fear. These are temporal things, passing away. Live in the Spirit which alone endures to the end, the Spirit of faith, hope and love.
Listen to these words from just a few days ago, a poem written by Peggy Hays a priest of our diocese who serves in her retirement as our chaplain.
War is so close we can almost smell it,
And the daffodils and japonica are blooming.
The stock market soared yesterday as a response to probable war,
And there is a gorgeous, bright full moon.
The guns are aimed,And the children are in school.
The planes are loaded with bombs,
And people are at work and the grocery store.
The gas masks are in place,
And the birds are building their nests.
There is conflict between countries who are traditionally friends,
And the sun came up this morning and will tomorrow.
There is agreement between countries who traditionally are at odds,
And the trees are budding.
We are living in a time of chaos and divisiveness,
And there is an order to the universe.
No matter what we do or don't do,
God's order is the foundation of life -- and death.
And Easter always comes after Good Friday.
Maybe living in this awareness brings peace -- even in war.