Pastor Amy's Thursday Thoughts

Summer is here and we are just coming off of a month of beautiful celebrations for the first 125 years of God’s Spirit working through PMBC! The Chiltons have made their first two summer beach trips, my mulberry tree is keeping my family and the CCAP food bank in berries, my tomatoes have decided to hyper-drive their growth, and I can feel the slower days of summer coming. (Slow? I’m a gardener - who am I kidding?!)

What doesn’t belong in summer - a season of rest and adventure - is war. In fact, war doesn’t belong anywhere and it definitely should never be tied to God’s name in any way.

The second chapter of Isaiah includes this promise:

In the days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; 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 anymore (2:1-4, NRSV).

This promise of peace is what Jesus and the first century church leaders return to again and again in their teachings on what it means to be a child of God. In the letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul encouraged the Roman Christians to “let love be genuine” (12:9). Genuine love means “so far as it depends on [us], live peaceably with all” (12:18).

War is never holy because destroying God’s beloveds is never holy. Even God recognized this in the story of Noah’s ark, where God repents from violently punishing humanity and promises a peaceful future. The rainbow set in the sky was to remind both God and humanity of this promise.

As we face the reality of war in our own time, let us be a people who seek peace wherever and whenever possible. Let us be a people who pray for peace. Let us people who expect our leaders to rule peacefully.

May the God of peace be with us all during this time of conflict.

Blessings,

Pastor Amy

PS - If you want to listen again to the song we heard during this past week’s sermon, here you go!

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