Luke 19:41-42; 2 Corinthians 5:16-20
"As Jesus came near and saw the city (Jerusalem), he wept over it, saying, "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes."
For those of us who long for a better, more peaceful world, it’s painful to see so much of what’s going on in the world… in our nation… and in our communities. It can make us weep!
For many of us, it’s the images of
children that haunt us the most. A
staggering number of Syrian refugees are children and teens. We were shocked and grieved a few weeks ago
to see the photo of the body of a toddler washed up on the shore. And now we learn that another refugee child
has been found dead on the shore, and more are missing at sea.
Many
of us mourn when we remember there are millions of other children who die each
year on this planet with little notice-- of malnutrition and of illnesses that
could be prevented or treated if the world cared enough.
Here in the
United States, the Department of Agriculture reports that around 10 percent of
households with children are food insecure—unable to provide adequate,
nutritious food for their children. More
than 1 in 9 children in Michigan live in extreme poverty, at less than half the
poverty-level income.
The rate of
gun deaths in children and teens in the United States is shockingly high.
Many
of us are troubled by events like the massacre of 9 African-Americans gathered at
Emanuel AME Church in Charleston for Bible study in June by a white racist and other race-related violence.In a neighbor city—Sterling Heights—there’s an ugly conflict over a request to build a new mosque.
The list could go on and on…
I don’t know about you, but I find
myself mourning all this violence and need and destruction… and longing to do
something. But it feels overwhelming.
So--
what can we do? In the midst of
all the violence and hatred and apathy in our society… in the midst of racism
and Islamaphobia and anti-Semitism… in the midst of all the need-- it’s easy to
feel overwhelmed… and despairing. What
can one person or just a few people do?
We can begin by praying together…
and forging bonds of friendship and solidarity… getting to know one another
better… opening our hearts and minds to one another… and finding ways to work
together to change the world.
Some of us have been working on
these things. Imam Elahi and I have been
getting to know each other and working together in our Dearborn Area Interfaith
Network group (and its predecessor Dearborn Area Ministerial Association) for
the last 18 years. Cantor Roger Skully
has been involved with other interfaith groups in metro Detroit.
Some of you are part of one or more
interfaith Facebook groups whose purpose is to build bridges of
understanding—hence the names “The Bridge” and “Our Bridge.”
In the Christian tradition, we
believe that Jesus came to embody God’s love in the world. When people came to Jesus and asked him which
commandment in the scriptures was the most important, Jesus answered, “’You
shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your mind.’ This is the
greatest and first commandment. And a
second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
In Luke’s version of this, he tells
how someone said, “Who is my neighbor?”
and Jesus went on to make it clear in the Parable of the Good Samaritan
that our neighbor is anyone God puts in our path-- even someone we might have considered to be
an enemy.[1]
In the center of the passage we
heard a few minutes ago from the apostle Paul’s letter to the church at
Corinth, we hear that God has reconciled us to God’s self through Christ, and
has entrusted us with the ministry of reconciliation. Christians are not to look at anyone from a
human point of view. We’re not to see
people who are different in some way as those other people. We’re called to look at people through God’s
eyes of love and to see our common humanity.
I think we need to spend more time
doing interfaith scripture study, so I could share a passage like one of the
ones we’ve heard today, and say, “Here’s a text that’s important to our
faith. What’s a text from your tradition
that connects with it? Where’s the
common ground?” Can we do that? Will we
do that?
Our commitment to peace and justice
and reconciliation, and our love for our own children, demands that we provide
a better inheritance for them.”
On this Sunday before International
Day of Peace, we are challenged to re-commit ourselves to PEACE… to live our
lives as if we believe that peace is possible.
Christians…Muslims…Jews…Sikhs…Hindus…Buddhists…
and all people of faith and goodwill —this is a time for us to find ways to
come together and work for a better, more peaceful world.
There’s hard work to be done. But we can work together to make a
difference.
After worship, we invite you to stay for a
time, to enjoy refreshments and conversation.
I hope you’ll make a new friend
today. Talk with one another about your
families—especially your children or grandchildren and what kind of a world you
want to leave for them.
U2 sings a song that begins like
this:
“Every generation gets a chance to
change the world….”
Today, let’s renew our commitment to
change the world, beginning today.
May it be so!
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