Yesterday I sent too many...today it is late. We continue with Stanley Hauerwas and the connection he makes between the temptation of Jesus and Israel...and the Reign of God (temptation #2).
Again the devil tempts him, this time with dominion, with kingship even greater than that of the great David. It is a dominion that can bring peace to the nations, since one powerful king can force all to his will. But again Jesus rejects such dominion. God's kingdom it seems, will not have peace through coercion. Peace will come only through the worship of the one God who chooses to rule the world through the power of love, which the world can only perceive as weakness. Jesus thus decisively rejects Israel's temptation to an idolatry that necessarily results in violence between peoples and nations. For our violence is correlative to the falseness of the objects we worship, and the more false they are, the greater our stake in maintaining loyalty to them and protecting them through coercion. Only the one true God can take the risk of ruling by relying entirely on the power of humility and love.
"Our violence is correlative to the falseness of the objects we worship." I suppose we could direct this comment to the religious extremist that have turned to acts of terror in our day. Then again, we could also turn this comment and direct it at ourselves. The ways of war - no matter how we choose to wage war - reflect the objects we worship...and as Hauerwas notes - their falseness. When we are hungry for the wealth and power of petroleum, we will do anything to keep it as a vital part of our lives...anything. How do we worship the Prince of Peace when we pledge allegiance to false gods that demand that we sustain them so that they can survive. Isn't odd how we build up objects of worship. They are supposed to be a force greater than us...and yet, they demand that our blood be spilled and that we sacrifice the welfare and the shalom of the world for the sake of propping up what we think is so vital to our lives. The one true God does indeed risk being something new among humanity. We are invited to be a part of that new age and new way - shalom.
Connection: It is not easy to come to grips with the things and forces of our lives that we have turned into gods for which we are willing to kill and go to war. Every day it is good for us to look again at all that attempts to rule us.
Come, O Lord of Peace, and teach us again the ways of your loving power so that we do not fall for the games of war anymore. Amen.
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