All the world rejoices in the birthing of new life. The faith of followers of Jesus flows from such joy. It is the joy of birth and of rebirth, the Resurrection. The Resurrection is a topic in this Sunday’s Gospel. It proposes that every birth and every rebirth flow from a life-giving Spirit.
One celebration of new life that’s particularly noteworthy this weekend is that of Martin of Tours (316-397). Martin was drawn to the life-giving way of Jesus but he was raised the son of a solider. As such he was forced to take the military oath at 15. He longed for a new life in Christ. As a young adult he renounced the deadly values of the military. Martin gave public witness to his conscientious objection to Militarism and narrowly escaped execution by his band of brothers. The day for celebrating the great peacemaker saint is November 11. On that day, with the hour and minute showing further commemoration (11-11 at 11:11) World War I ended. Soldiers diverted toward death and destruction set aside their weapons of war, as Martin had. They began new lives of peace. The day was thus called Armistice Day; the laying down of arms. Armistice Day was the day the war to end all wars was brought to an end. With war after war after war fought since however, the peacemaker’s witness has been obscured, as has the Christ he lived for. It is obscured by the homage paid warriors. In the U. S. the feast day of the saint who turned away from soldiering for a new life in Christ is obscured, known and celebrated instead as Veterans Day – in Christian churches. There is no new life in Christ when self-titled Christians kill.
New life is not something Christians hope for – it is a revelation of the nature of God and therefore the nature of the life we live. It is in the nonviolent love we express. It is in the peacemaking Jesus practiced and we thus practice. A church cannot claim to be Christian / Christ-like and honor warmakers this weekend. That same church cannot dishonor the peacemaker Martin without also dishonoring the peaceful Christ for whom Martin lived. As they do so they demonstrate they do not believe in new life in Christ.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, may I have the courage of Martin and embrace a new life as a peacemaker.
Question: What actions can followers of Jesus take to end institutional christianity’s subservience to warmakers?
November 10, 2013 – Gospel Luke 20:27-38 Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Tiem