Have you the Courage?

Sermon for 9th Nov (Isaiah 2: 1-4; Matt 5:38-41)

A woman and her husband interrupted their holiday to go to a dentist. "I want a tooth pulled, and I don't want painkillers as I'm in a big hurry," the woman said. "Just pull the tooth as quickly as possible,
and we'll be on our way." The dentist was quite impressed. "You're certainly very brave"
he said. "Which tooth is it?" The woman turned to her husband and said, "Show him your tooth, dear."

A story of courage? Today is all about courage, not just about remembering people who had courage, or not in war, but also courage to commit ourselves to preventing war from happening. I am going to suggest two ways we can at least reduce the likelihood of wars happening:
i) – peaceful change - not to assume change requires wars to happen,
ii) – justice - to take away the need for wars.

i) Peace. Our whole society assumes that the only way to peace is have wars; that’s why we spend billions every year on weapons as a nation every year. So what does Jesus say? In the Gospel reading, Jesus has this strange idea of turning the other cheek – does that mean we just give in and become doormats? No. In Jesus time, under Roman law, if you had a problem with an equal you could sort it out with your fists. Now, since they did not use their left fists (as is still the case in that region the left hand is used for wiping your bottom so is ‘unclean’ so is not used for eating of fighting) it meant hitting with the right fist – which cheek? the left cheek. The only way you can hit someone on the right cheek as in Jesus saying, is to slap them with the back of the hand; its an insult to someone over whom you had power. It was a means of control, a humiliation. So is Jesus saying ‘Give in’? No. If you turn to him the other (left) cheek suddenly you put you attacker in a difficult position because the only way to hit the person would be to use your fist; in effect they would have to make them their equal! Your attacker is disempowered from attacking, or the system of abuse breaks down. The principle Jesus is establishing is that it’s not right to give in when someone abuses their position of power; you have to think of ways that take away that person’s power over you. In World War II Denmark, as elsewhere, all Jews had to wear yellow stars. The Danish people chose to all wear stars. The power system broke down. In America Martin Luther King changed America without bloody revolution; this week a black president was sworn in, all through non-violent methods. In India Gandhi threw out the greatest empire in the world for the loss of a few thousand people. In each case it was by winning the moral argument uncovering the evil of the system of oppression. After World War I, the allies failed the world by punishing all of Germany instead of just its leaders, humiliating the nation, making World War II almost inevitable. In the Philippines non-violent revolution ended a dictatorship for the loss of just 121 lives. In Poland Russia’s grip was broken by Solidarity peacefully. In 1989-90 alone, fourteen nations underwent nonviolent revolutions, all but one successful, involving 1.7 billion people. If we total all the nonviolent movements of the twentieth century, the figure comes to 3.4 billion people, and again, most were successful. And yet there are people who still insist that nonviolence doesn't work! There is always a cost but compared to war or revolution its nothing. It’s Jesus way. It’s a costly way. Could you have the courage for this way?

ii) Justice. Why do wars happen? Almost always through injustice. Germany rightly felt aggrieved after the First World War. Terrorism against the West is justified by the injustices by the West against the third world. Wars are fought over drugs; even in this country desperate addicts use violence and robbery to fuel their addiction. Drugs are grown in Columbia and Peru by farmers who get so little for their produce from greedy supermarkets that they can only survive by growing drugs. Iraq only happened because the west wanted control of cheap fuel for their cars. We want things cheap; we can force people to produce desperately cheap; that makes for an angry world. – Rich vs. Poor. While we take advantage of the world, terrorism and the threat of war will always be with us. The papers are rightly saying that Obama’s first objectives will be to undo the damage caused by Bush, but we can play our part. We had to replace our car last week; we’ve bought one a much smaller Toyota Yaris; it does 55 mpg! We’re looking at the feasibility of using solar energy for this church. Reducing our need for fuel will someday save us repeating the Iraq war; it might also even save our planet from destruction. On Friday we went shopping in three Fair-Trade shops and spent about £250 on Fair-Trade clothes and Christmas presents. A drop in the bucket? Yes, but enough drops fill buckets. Enough people change cultures. Saving the environment and Fair-trade are becoming a selling points – our culture of greed is beginning to change. We can help it happen, it costs; it takes courage.

Today we remember wars not to glorify them. This is not about making an eyeless, toothless world. Instead, its about having the courage to reduce the likelihood of wars. In Isaiah's vision of God’s world we stop making ‘spears’ or in our case nuclear bombs and tanks and start building renewable energy plants, and pay farmers fairly; a world where justice, not wars solves our problems. It may not stop all wars. It makes them a lot less likely. Jesus’ way, I believe, is a better way – but it does take courage.