November 11, 2007
Text Isaiah 2: 2-5
Beyond words,
beyond battle,
beyond the outcry,
lies silence;
for what words
and what warring
and what anger
has words enough?
It is sacred, this silence;
and holy, this remembering.
For only silent remembering
can carry enough pain
and truth together
to whisper again:
“It is enough.”
Today we mark in memory, Nov 11, 1918. We remember those who died in WW1.
They were young men and women barely older than the singers in Red Velvet.
They believed that they were fighting a war to end all wars. But instead,
after the war began the most violent era in human history. Now, in the year
2007, United Nations statistics tell us that the percentage of civilian casualties
of War has risen to 92%, mostly women, and babies and children. Is there any
conflict on earth that justifies that kind of loss of innocent life? We remember
our dead today, so that their dream of a new Jerusalem will become our dream.
We live in violent times. So violent, in fact, that we are often overwhelmed. How can we make a difference in war zones and in tragedies half way around the world, when we have enough trouble keeping the peace in our own families, with friends at school, with people we work with? Living in peace is hard work, even with the people we love.
The prophet Isaiah says: “come on up the mountain of God. Listen for God. Leave the foggy places – leave the conflict zones and come into stillness where you can hear.
Come into a holy place. Listen for God's wisdom and walk in a new path.
Have you ever received an email that made you really mad? Maybe you read between the lines and heard “tone” or “attitude”. Maybe the sender was having a bad day. Maybe you are having a bad day. Now you have a choice with that email. Will you send off an angry zinger and unload the last week's worth of your frustration on the other person? Or will you take your time and cool off? In fact, maybe you'll call them instead and talk? One choice is like that swishing sword of the Samari warrior, the other is like bowing to the other person in respect and in hope. One is a choice for violence. One is a choice for peace. How often we choose violence.
Isaiah says: “Come on up to the holy place! Come so that we may all learn the ways of holiness and walk in the paths of God.” Come so that you may see clearly and that your brain may be cleared of the fog of violence around us.
The fog of violence is thick around us. Children learn it at play. Video games rewire our kids for violence and revenge. Thriller movies make killing seem exciting, acceptable.
The reality is that we are terribly afraid that we do not have the ability to make a difference. We feel immobilized. We get lost in the fog.
But our prophets and our musicians think otherwise. They hold out a different vision: a vision like Isaiah's that begins with you and me:
