This Sunday’s Old Testament reading concerns Yahweh. Yahweh is the Lord of ‘Hosts’ – which means Lord of ‘Armies.’ Yahweh is a warmaker and is ordering obedience. It is the same obedience ordered by the warmakers who invented Yahweh; warmakers such as Moses. The Gospel reveals Jesus is not a warmaker but a peacemaker. Jesus rejects the warmaker Moses and his obedience legacy; “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses… do not follow their example.”
Jesus being a peacemaker and not a warmaker is not always respected – by self-titled Christians. One example of this lack of respect happens when self-titled Christians call peacemaking disciples, pacifists. Since peacemaking disciples follow Christ’s behavior why are they not called Christian, Christ-like? This is especially odd since many people who call themselves christian / Christ-like act warrior-like. The aberrant titling is due to institutional christianity being coopted by the religion of Militarism. Militarism is an exceedingly pervasive religion. It influences people to use its warmakers and their values as standards for what is supposed to be a peacemakers Jesus’, faith community. Thus, it is warmakers who coined the term pacifism and use it to divert people from Christ-like peacemaking. The term pacifism was coined by French warmaker Émile Arnaud (1864-1921). Pacifism means “tending towards peace, being conciliatory.” Arnaud coined the term pacifism for a new political movement to offset what he viewed as the hostilities of Socialism and Anarchism. Though Arnaud spoke in favor of humanism, acceptance, and charity he was a warmaker. Arnaud also spoke in favor of the peacemaker Jesus but he volunteered for warmaking in the trenches of WWI. He earned medals for killing his brothers and sisters. Pacifism is a manipulative word that dilutes powerful peacemaking.
“How, then, was it possible for the Gospel doctrine of peace, which does not permit men to take vengeance even upon enemies, to prevail throughout the world, unless at the advent of Jesus a milder spirit had been everywhere introduced into the conduct of things?” (Contra Celsus – Origin)
Prayer: Spirit, we live in the power of peacemaking.
Question: How can I give greater witness to peacemaking?
November 05, 2017 Gospel Matthew 23:1-12 Thirty First Sunday in Ordinary Time
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