Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Seventh Sunday after Pentecost - 07/03/16 Sermon - “The Justice of Freedom"

Sunday 07/03/16 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “The Justice of Freedom”

                            

Old Testament Scripture: 2 Kings 5:1-14

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Galatians 6:1-16

Gospel Lesson: Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

          My friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ, welcome again on this the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost. Seven Sundays after the Holy Spirit moved so long ago in that Upper Room in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Seven Sundays after those first disciples of Jesus Christ were filled with the Holy Spirit, and then went forth loving, healing, forgiving, and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

          Since that first Pentecost a lot has happened in nearly two-thousand years. During these nearly two-thousand years Christianity grew into what is now the world’s largest faith. During this nearly two-thousand years, countries and empires rose and fell. Wars were fought. Violence occurred. Today, nearly two-thousand years later, we still have wars, we still have incredible violence, and even mass shootings. We still have the governments of some nations that seem to be hostile to the governments of other nations. We still have alliances like NATO, the European Union, NAFTA, the OAS, OPEC, and etc., and etc.

          Tomorrow, or for some of us also tonight, we will go somewhere to watch fireworks. Perhaps we will watch these fireworks alone, or with our families. Whether we decide to go and see fireworks or not, tomorrow is a federal holiday in these United States of America. As we all know, tomorrow is the Fourth of July. Many of us love this holiday. How many of us love the 4^th of July? Many people get a day off of work tomorrow, and many people get together with friends and family. Some people host barbeques, and hang up American flags.

          I think that so often though, when we have major holidays that many people never stop to consider the deeper meanings and the deeper roots of the holidays. Holidays like Memorial Day, or Veterans Day, and tomorrow July 4^th.

So just what are we celebrating tomorrow on July 4^th? Some would say that we are celebrating the United Sates becoming a new country. Yet our Declaration of Independence that was signed on July 4, 1776 was not the end of this story of independence. Tomorrow, July 4^th, 1776, our founders, like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson, declared to the massive power that controlled us, the British Empire, that we were now an independent nation.

          The response of the King of England at the time, George III was to send over massive amounts of soldiers and armaments to crush us and our rebellion. To force us back into a state where King George III and the British Empire would control us, oppress us, tax us, and exploit us.

          Now as I said just a minute ago, since the Day of Pentecost, which is the birthday of the Christian Church, and before and after, we have continued to have wars, violence, alliances, oppression, and etc. While many of us will celebrate our July 4^th holiday tomorrow, the question that I want to look at this morning is this, are there “just wars”? What I mean by this, is while war is awful, and while I hope that once day wars will cease to exist, is war ever necessary? More specifically, as Christians, do we think that war is ever something that sometimes needs to happen?

          In our gospel reading this morning from the gospel of Luke, Jesus commissions 72 people to go out and to spread the good news of God’s kingdom (Lk. 10:1, CEB). Jesus tells these 72 people that “the harvest is bigger than you can imagine, but there are few workers” (Lk. 10:2a, CEB). Jesus orders that these 72 people be beholden to the hospitality of the people they encounter, knowing that some of the people that these 72 people will encounter will be unfriendly and unhospitable. Jesus tells these 72 people, “Go! Be warned, though, that I’m sending you out as lambs among wolves” (Lk. 10:3, CEB). It would seem that Jesus is telling these 72 converts that there are “wolves” in the world (Lk. 10:3b, CEB). That there are people who might not love you, and might even try to hurt you. In this case Jesus tells them to dust there sandals off and move on (Lk. 10:11, CEB).

          Many of know that Jesus told us to beat our swords into plowshares, and our spears into pruning hooks. Jesus also told the Apostle Peter after he had cut of a guard’s ear in the Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew 26:52 “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Mt. 26:52, CEB). For some Christians they are opposed to war under all circumstances. Some Christian groups like the Quakers, the Amish, the Mennonites, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and etc., as religious communities, have historically been pacifists. By pacifists, I mean they oppose violence and war, no matter what. They will not enlist in the military and will not fight under any circumstances.

          Even with all of the wars and the violence, and all of the other things we have had before and after the day of Pentecost, my question this morning is, is it ever “just” to have a war? This is why my sermon title this morning is called the “Justice of Freedom”. When if ever, is it ok to take up arms and fight? Some Christians would say never, and not under any circumstances.

          Well as many of you know my Step-Father Mike Therio retired as a Master Sargent from the United States Air Force. After 26-years of active and National Guard duty, my Step-Father retired as a chaplain’s assistant. This means that he assisted the on base chaplain with ministering to all the soldiers and their families. In my family then, we have a strong and proud military tradition. Our theology is one of protection and defense. We do not seek to harm others, we do not like wars, but believe in protecting the innocent, in defending the helpless. My family, generally speaking, believes in what is called the “Just War” theory. The “Just War” theory, is a theory that was supported by great saints of the Christian Church, such as Saint Augustine, and Saint Thomas Aquinas. These supporters, which also included John and Charles Wesley, argued that sometimes people are being so oppressed, so abused, so exploited, and so disrespected, that war is the only way to freedom and peace. That wars must be fought swiftly and powerfully, so that peace can prevail. Now again, we have some Christians that say never ever war. These same Christians would also say, we will not fight in a war, and we will not serve in the military. My guess is in the American Revolutionary War that formally starts with our Declaration of Independence tomorrow on July 4, 1776, that some Americans refused to fight. Some of these Americans likely said it was against their religious and or moral beliefs.

          Many of us also remember learning about the Declaration of Independence in school. How we had “taxation without representation”. How we had to quarter and care for British soldiers in our own homes, and how had to put up with countless abuses. Our founders who signed the Declaration of Independence that we celebrate tomorrow, argued in the Declaration that the British Government under King George III was oppressing and harming us. In the Declaration of Independence our founders claimed that they had petitioned King George III with grievances and requested over and over. They claim that they tried just about everything, and to no avail. Due to this, our founders created the document that celebrate tomorrow, the Declaration of Independence.

          After we signed this document and then sent it across the ocean to the British King George III, George III responded with sending thousands of soldiers here. We then were engaged in a bloody and a ruthless war, for about five years. In 1781, the British surrendered to us, and then they formally recognized us a sovereign country, after five years of bloody fighting. I wonder if we could have achieved this new country without war? As Christians we are supposed to avoid violence and war, yet our founders, some of whom were Christians, said that war with the British was the only way. Where they right or were they wrong? I ask these questions, because I want us to consider these things when we celebrate our July 4^th holiday today and or tomorrow. As we “count the costs” if you will, of how we became this country, the United States of America.

          When this country was founded, we also still had slavery, all white men could not vote, and women could not vote. We didn’t have many of the freedoms, laws, and protections that we have today. About 85-years after the Declaration of Independence that we celebrate tomorrow, we then went to war with the Southern half of the United States in the American Civil War. The Southern half of our country declared that they were leaving the United States and forming their own country, which would continue to have the institution of slavery. Our President Abraham Lincoln then waged war on the Southern States in the Civil War, to bring them back into the United States, and to end slavery. Was the Civil War a “Just War”? Was it just to have this massive war against the Southern half of the United States, in order to preserve the Union, and to end slavery? I myself, believe that it was a “Just War”.

          Now sisters and brothers, some of you might be pacifists, and that means that maybe you are against war and violence under any all circumstances. Perhaps some of you though come from a military family like I do. Perhaps you see the need to serve and to protect the innocent, the weak, and the helpless, as I do. For example, if I was in a village in Syria and ISIS came in with the intention of raping, pillaging, and murdering, I would defend those people. I don’t want to kill a bunch of people, but I want to protect the innocent. Some Christians though, say no war never ever, under any circumstances. What do you say? Are there “Just Wars”?

          When we rid the world of Nazi tyranny in World War II, was that a “Just War”? To me, Adolph Hitler had to be stopped. Mohandas Gandhi however, was able to free India from the same British Empire that we fought against during the American Revolution using non-violent resistance or civil disobedience. This is the same methods that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s. Some of us remember the marches, the sit-ins at lunch counters, and the peaceful push for civil rights. While they were attacked, and sometimes harmed, they never attacked or harmed others. Could the American Revolution have been resolved that way? Could the Civil War or World War II again Adolph Hitler have been resolved with using non-violent resistance or civil disobedience?

          It seems that sometimes we have this great divide in our country between diplomacy and negotiation and fighting. As many of you know, our President continues to order air strikes against ISIS and their affiliates. Would it be possible to just sit down with ISIS and talk it out? I don’t think that it would, but maybe I am wrong.

          War friends, is a terrible, and an awful thing. Tomorrow on the 4^th of July we declare our Independence as a new nation. Yet after the excitement of tomorrow ends, we then fight for five brutal years to achieve that independence. Again, what I am hoping for with this sermon, is that we can consider today, and tomorrow, the “Justice of Freedom”. How far are willing to go for justice and freedom? Are we willing to fight? Are we willing to go to war?

          This morning, Jesus Christ, the son of the living God sends forth 72 new converts, and then tells them, “Go! Be warned, though, that I’m sending you out as lambs among wolves” (Lk. 10:3, CEB). Again, Jesus says, Jesus tells these 72 people, “Go! Be warned, though, that I’m sending you out as lambs among wolves” (Lk. 10:3, CEB). It would seem that we will always have evil and sin in the world, until the Lord returns in glory.  How do we as followers of Jesus Christ respond to these “Wolves” though (Lk. 10:3, CEB)? Do we try to love them, and negotiate? If necessary do we ever need to fight? To go to war?

          Friends, I hope and pray that we will one day very soon have a world with no more war and no more suffering. I also hope and pray that you all have a safe and happy 4^th of July. As you celebrating today and tomorrow, consider the “Justice of Freedom”. Consider the cost of becoming this nation, the United States of America. May the gospel of Jesus Christ work in us and through us, so that we may continue to create a world of peace, love, mercy, justice, and prosperity. I bring you this message in the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. Amen.