War, What Is It Good For?
Service of Worship
Eastern Parkway United Methodist
Church
August 15, 2021
Rev. Natalie Bowerman, Pastor
Prelude
Greeting
and Announcements
Mission
Statement: We are a faith community striving to be, to nurture, and to send
forth disciples of Jesus Christ.
Call to
worship
Give thanks to God!
We thank God for joy, for
laughter,
for abundant blessings of every kind.
Give thanks to God
at all times and for everything!
We thank God, when we can and
as we can,
for struggles, for solitude, for fears.
Give thanks to God
at all times and for everything
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We thank God that, in Christ,
our joys as well as our pain,
our losses as well as our laughter,
are in God's heart and hands.
Hymn 139:
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
Praise to
the Lord, the Almighty,
the King of creation!
O my soul,
praise Him, for He is thy
health and salvation!
All ye who hear,
Now to His
temple draw near;
Sing now in
glad adoration!
2
Praise to
the Lord, who o’er all
things so wondrously reigneth,
Who, as on
wings of an eagle,
uplifteth, sustaineth.
Hast thou not seen
How thy
desires all have been
Granted in
what He ordaineth?
3
Praise to
the Lord, who hath fearfully,
wondrously, made thee!
Health hath vouchsafed
and, when
heedlessly falling, hath stayed thee.
What need or grief
Ever hath
failed of relief?
Wings of His
mercy did shade thee.
4
Praise to
the Lord, who doth prosper
thy work and defend thee,
Who from the
heavens the streams of
His mercy doth send thee.
Ponder anew
What the
Almighty can do,
Who with His
love doth befriend thee.
5
Praise to
the Lord! Oh, let all that
is in me adore Him!
All that
hath life and breath, come
now with praises before Him!
Let the Amen
Sound from
His people again;
Gladly for
aye we adore Him.
Prayer of
Confession
You must shake your head in wonder at
our ways,
Keeper of the Covenant.
How can we say we want wisdom,
when we foolishly squander the knowledge we have of your ways?
How can we claim to follow you,
when we walk the slippery roads of the world
not caring where they lead us?
How can we desire your great and steadfast love,
when the simple seductions of our society are in full view every day?
How can
you have mercy on such unwise and unfaithful people,
Perfect Wisdom?
Yet, that is exactly what you do:
and our greed turns to gratitude,
our pettiness to praise,
our tantrums to thanksgiving,
as hope and joy become our blessing
through the One we call our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Assurance
In Christ, God sent
redemption for all.
In Christ, God feeds our hungry souls.
In Christ, God gives the cup of salvation
to thirsty people.
We give thanks to God for everything:
forgiveness, hope, new life. Amen.
Ecclesiastes
3: 1-8
3 There is a time for
everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be
born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to
heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time
to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give
up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Matthew
26: 47-52
47 While he was still speaking,
Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with
swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the
people. 48 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with
them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” 49 Going at
once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.
50 Jesus replied, “Do what you came
for, friend.”[d]
Then the men stepped forward, seized
Jesus and arrested him. 51 With that, one of Jesus’
companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of
the high priest, cutting off his ear.
52 “Put your sword back in its
place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by
the sword.
A
Message
“War,
What Is It Good For?”
This week's topic about war was specifically Sean's suggestion, so
you can thank Sean for this entire sermon. We were talking about this at dinner
one night, so this was where this idea came from, because Sean elected not to
use the cardboard box. I guess being married to me comes with privileges of
being able to bypass such things. Anyway, he told me, "I would really love
to hear a sermon about war. What should Christians think about war?" I
said, you know, "Wow, a really great sermon could come from that." I
said, "You know what though? I have to make the title, War, what is it
good for?" And then Sean said, "That was my idea!" So then we
high-fived over it, and thus you have a sermon this morning. I just couldn't
resist. Thank you for indulging me in my sense of humor. War, what is it good
for?
The reality is that even though you can make light of it, at least
a little bit, this is a tough topic for us, war and warfare. The United States
still has troops deployed in various places in the Middle East. As we sit as a
country, we're in an uncertain place. That's always true. We never know when
something might happen, something very unexpected. It seems like, especially in
the last few years, we're in a place where we could be potentially pulled into
another foreign conflict, and a lot of us have anxieties about that, that we
have to find a way to make peace with. It's really a frightening reality
because foreign relations are constantly changing. There's so little we know
about some of the dynamics going on in the rest of the world.
It's part of what causes war in the first place, the fact that we
don't always understand each other very well, especially when our cultures are
so diverse. We jump to fear, and then fear so often leads to violence, and then
to warfare. Especially when we have real threats out there in the world, like
in the way of groups like ISIS, we really never know what's going to happen. We
don't know when we might be pulled into conflict against our will, because
another country attacked us. These things happen. It's something we have to
live with.
Historically, the United States has spent a huge proportion of its
existence involved in war. The United States has averaged a war every twenty
years since the country was established. Many of us, right here in this room,
have had some portion of our own formative years shaped by either a war, or by
an event that pulled our country into a war. Some of us are of a generation
that might still be able to remember the attack on Pearl Harbor that pulled us
into World War II. If you're closer to my parents' age, your younger years
might have been shaped by the War in Vietnam. If you're a little older than me,
your generation might have been shaped by the Cold War, or by the War on the
Persian Gulf. And if you’re closer to my age, then your childhood might have
really been shaken by the terrorist attacks on September 11th. Surely, if
you're older than me, that day definitely changed things for you, no matter
what.
It's really impossible to talk about this conversation in just a
straight-up, academic, theoretical way. There's a lot of theories and a lot of
ideas that go into warfare, but wars aren't fought by ideas, and theories, and
principles. Wars are fought by people.
This reality is very close to home if you serve in the military,
if you know anyone who serves in the military, or if you love anyone who is a
veteran or has given up to their life in service to the military. We lift up
all of those people who are so brave to do that.
We hold a lot of different feelings about war, and we hold them in
this balancing act. As United Methodists, our stance on war is a little
complicated. We have no reservations at all in saying just how strongly we
support our troops, and how grateful we are to all of those who have served our
country in the military. We hold that idea in balance by saying that supporting
our troops doesn't require a person to support any particular war, or the idea
of warfare in general. You can have both of those ideas at the same time, but
it's a delicate balancing act.
We officially teach as United Methodists that war is incompatible
with the teachings of Jesus and his nonviolent practices. We as United
Methodists stand behind people who conscientiously object to all wars, who
would never be willing to serve in the military and who would object to any war
that their own country might be involved in, because they’re pacifists. But we
also stand behind those people who believe war is not preferable, but it can be
necessary sometimes, and that it would be better to have war then it would be
to have unchecked tyranny, oppression, and cruelty exist in the world. War is
sometimes justified.
Our scripture touches on both ideas, too. It strikes a similar
balance. Our Old Testament reading from Ecclesiastes teaches us that there's
this rhythm in this world of good things and bad things, and that all of those
things are part of God's plan, even those things that we perceive in a negative
way. There is a time for birth, but there is also a time for death. There is a
time for peace, but there is also a natural time for war. There is a time for
building, but there is also a time for destruction. We can believe that, but if
we believe that just on its own, it excludes the teachings of Jesus, so we have
to be careful to weave that in there.
Jesus taught us to be exclusively nonviolent, and Jesus lived his
life that way. He refused to fight even out of self-defense, or to defend
another person. The story that I picked for our Gospel reading is one that I
hold pretty close to my heart when I think about things like this. On the day
that Jesus was arrested, one of his disciples attempted to defend him from the
people who intended to take his life, by taking out his sword and attacking one
of the people arresting him with that sword, and Jesus chastised him for it. He
said, "If you live by fighting, you will die by fighting." These are
words that we have to take very seriously.
United Methodists tend to sit closer to the side of pacifism, but in
the event that we do see a war happen, we also have a whole bunch of follow-up
resolutions. When war becomes unavoidable, we have a lot of ideas about things
that no country should ever resort to doing or using under any circumstances.
You can find all of these spelled out in two places: our United Methodist
Book of Discipline, which is our official rule book, and then our United
Methodist Book of Resolutions, which is a whole book filled with these
kinds of social policies, and “What do United Methodists believe about X?"
Those are two big, thick books, and we have them both here in the church.
United Methodists are officially against preemptive attacks on
other countries. We are against violence toward civilians during times of war.
We are against cluster bombs. We're against land mines. We're against nuclear
weapons, chemical weapons, and biological weapons. We are against torture. We
are against terrorism. We are against war crimes and genocide. We are against
crimes against humanity, and we are against the selling of arms to other
countries for the purpose of helping them in war.
So naturally, as you listened to that list, you're going to notice
that those are all things that we have seen happen in the world in recent
years. That is the reason why United Methodists decided to vote on those issues
and take up an official stance on them. The Book of Discipline and the Book
of Resolutions are both living documents that change very frequently, and
we should expect in future generations in the event of other wars, more things
will be added to that list of things that United Methodists do not approve of.
We've seen things happen, very negative things as a result of them.
That certainly gives us a ton of food for thought when we think
about how we should think about war. The general concept, and whether or not we
should support our country’s involvement in any particular war.
Yet, that's all it is. At the end of the day, it's thoughts,
ideas, and theories. But like I told you before, we can't possibly keep this
conversation strictly theoretical. War isn't about theory. I told you, war is
about people. It's people that go to fight, and it's people that have to live
with the consequences of warfare for the rest of their lives.
There's really no limit to the number of stories that convey this
truth. Some of us probably, right here in this room, have stories from our own
lives about how war affects people. I found one that was really inspiring that
I wanted to share with you. This is a story about a man from Japan, who passed
away about twenty years ago. His name was Nobuo Fujita.
Fujita fought for Japan in their armed forces during World War II.
In 1942, Fujita flew planes that dropped devastating fire bombs over the United
States' West Coast, hitting Oregon particularly hard. The goal in dropping
these bombs on the West Coast of the United States was to cause enough damage
to the country's West Coast to put pressure on America to take our
military action away from Japan and away from the Pacific, and to turn our
attention back toward defending our own country. That was the goal, and even
though that goal failed—the United States remained in combat, it remained on
the Asian front and the Pacific front, and ultimately, the side that the United
States was on won the war—still, Fujita goes down in history as the only
foreign threat to ever successfully bomb the continental United States. That's
the only time it's ever happened. It was in 1942.
The Japanese military rejoiced in these bombings. Even though the
main goal they had for them had failed, they still saw it as a successful
attack on the enemy.
But Fujita didn't feel that way. Fujita was haunted by these
bombings. For a long time in his life, he felt a very deep sense of shame for
attacking innocent people. He had to carry that with him long after the war
ended. He wasn't proud of his military service, he didn't even want to bring it
up. He lived a very quiet, kind of reclusive life, and he didn't like to share
his war stories with other people.
The town in the United States that suffered the most damage was
this really small town in Oregon called Brookings. It was a little town whose
economy was based mostly on logging and farming. They were surrounded by trees
and forests, so these fire bombs that hit, hit them and their economy pretty
hard. They did recover though, and twenty years after this attack, in 1962, the
Town of Brookings extended a formal invitation to Fujita to come and visit
them. Their local churches and businesses raised the money to pay for Fujita's
plane tickets, so that he could come and join them in Oregon.
Fujita was still living with a very deep sense of shame for his
role in the war. He was convinced that the people of Brookings invited him to
come join them so they could gang up together and kill him. Fujita went through
with this visit, but he brought with him a 400-year-old Samurai sword that was
a family heirloom. His intention was to bring this sword with him, go visit the
town of Brookings, and if the people demanded it, to complete the Japanese
military ritual of dying by falling on your own sword, rather than being killed
by your attacker.
But that wasn't what happened at all when Fujita visited Oregon,
and he was shocked by what happened afterwards. The people of Brookings had
absolutely no ill will toward Fujita. They had totally forgiven what had
happened in the past. Actually, the reason why they invited him was because
they wanted him to be part of a town party. He was absolutely floored.
Fujita was so touched by the love that was extended to him by
people that used to be his enemies, by people that he attacked, that he handed
over that Samurai sword as a gift to the town. After that, they hung it up in
their library as a symbol of peace and reconciliation.
This was a life-changing moment for Fujita. He had lived with so
much shame before this visit, but afterwards that shame about his role in the
war was transformed into this new sense of purpose. Afterwards, he started
devoting his life to peace-building.
So he began that peace-building mission by donating a thousand
dollars to the Brookings Library, the same place that now hangs up his sword,
for the purpose of purchasing children's books about Japan, so that they could
have a whole section in their library so that children could grow up learning
about Japan, so that our two cultures could understand each other better and
there would not be war between America and Japan in the future.
He invited several people from Brookings to come and visit him in
Japan, and they took him up on that invitation. He visited the United States
several more times in his life so that he could go back and plant trees in all
of the places that he bombed before.
When Fujita passed away in 1997, the town council in Brookings
named him an honorary citizen and an "Ambassador of Goodwill." He
died with honor, and he died with incredible peace.[1]
War might be a temporary, current reality in our world. But there
is something in the future that is so much better. Our very good human spirits
already know this. We haven't let go of it. All of the warfare, all of the
fighting, all the bombings, and shootings, none of that can shake this really
good piece of our human spirit because God put it there, so nothing can put it
out. This human spirit knows that we're not called to make war. We're called to
be peace makers. This is what Jesus instructed us to do. Even though wars may
happen in this temporary sense, in the long run, it is God's will for human
beings to create peace, and reconciliation, and love. And God's will is always
done.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
[1] Kristof, Nicholas. “Nobuo Fujita, 85, Is Dead; Only Foe to
Bomb America.” The New York Times [New York], 3 October 1997.
Hymn 474: Precious Lord, Take My
Hand
Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on, let me stand
I'm tired, I'm weak, I'm worn
Through the storm, through the night
Lead me on to the light
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home
When my way grows drear precious Lord linger near
When my light is almost gone
Hear my cry, hear my call
Hold my hand lest I fall
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home
When the darkness appears and the night draws near
And the day is past and gone
At the river I stand
Guide my feet, hold my hand
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home
Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on, let me stand
I'm tired, I'm weak, I'm worn
Through the storm, through the night
Lead me on to the light
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home
Time of Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Eternal God, we thank you today for your goodness. You have given
us beautiful days. You bless us richly with goodness daily. We thank you and
praise you.
We live in a time of considerable confusion. We ask today for your
wisdom as Solomon asked for wisdom.
We are often fearful as was Solomon. We live in a time of peril,
war, and world unrest. Different and competing interests strive for our attention
and loyalty. Help us, O God, to pray for wise and discerning spirits.
- Give us
wisdom to know good from evil.
- Give us
wisdom to assess the clamoring voices and concerns with which we are daily
bombarded.
- Give us
wisdom so that we might learn to be accepting of all the diverse people
you have created.
- Give us
wisdom to be peacemakers and mediators of understanding where there is
conflict.
- Give us
wisdom when we are in conflict to make it possible both for us and for
those with whom we differ to save face and win and move forward hand in
hand.
- Give us
wisdom not to violate any of your creatures by discriminating against
them.
- Give us
wisdom to discern what is of ultimate value for our souls and to make wise
choices.
O God, give us wisdom.
O God, give us discernment.
O God, give us the will to be faithful.
O God, give us the power to love. Amen.
Our Father, Mother, Creator God, who art in heaven, hallowed be
thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those
who have trespassed against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory forever. Amen.
Offering, doxology, and prayer of
dedication
Hymn 132: All My Hope is Firmly
Grounded
All my hope is firmly grounded
In the great and living Lord;
Who, whenever I most need him,
Never fails to keep his word.
Him I must
Wholly trust,
God the ever good and just.
Tell me, who can trust our nature,
Human, weak, and insecure:
Which of all the airy castles
Can the hurricane endure?
Built on sand,
Nought can stand,
By our earthly wisdom planned.
But in every time and season,
Out of love's abundant store,
God sustains his whole creation,
Found of life for evermore.
We who share
Earth and air
Count on his unfailing care.
Thank, O thank, our great Creator,
Through his only Son this day;
He alone, the Heavenly Potter,
Made us out of earth and clay.
Quick to heed,
Strong in deed,
He shall all his people feed.
Benediction
Go forth into the world trusting with your hearts
the wisdom God bestows upon all who seek to follow God’s will.
When called to lead, do so with humility and confidence in God.
Be in this world a sign of Jesus’ presence.
Share compassion with all whom you encounter.
Live wisely in God’s name,
and glorify God in all you do.
And may the grace, mercy and wisdom of God
be our support, guidance and strength
from this day forward and for ever more. Amen.
Postlude
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