LET’S FINISH THE PEACE

A meditation by the Rev. Dr. James G. Kirk

Harundale Presbyterian Church

Glen Burnie, Maryland

April 6, 2003

Text: “I will be their God.” (Jeremiah 31:33)

First Reading: Hebrews 5:5-10

Second Reading: John 12:20-33

This past Thursday Tom Friedman had another good article about where we are with the war in Iraq. He was in Cairo and attended the American studies class at Cairo University. He writes how “the professor, Mohamed Kamel, summed up the mood. ‘In 1975, Richard Nixon came to Egypt and the government turned out huge crowds. Some Americans made fun of Nixon for this, and Nixon defended himself by saying, ‘You can force people to go out and welcome a foreign leader, but you can’t force them to smile.’ Maybe the Iraqis will eventually stop resisting you. But that will not make this war legitimate. What the U.S. needs to do is make the Iraqis smile. If you do that people will consider this a success.” Friedman concludes, “In short, we need to finish the peace better than we started the war.” (The Sun, Thursday, April 3, 2003. Page 21A)

That’s exactly what Jeremiah is telling his readers this morning, “we need to finish the peace better than we started the war.” Throughout his ministry Jeremiah had preached that Israel had to repent. It could not participate in a better order nor have peace with God until its ethical and religious life underwent a radical transformation. Hosea had known that. Isaiah had known that. But it seems as though Hosea had had more of an influence on Jeremiah. This transformation would have to be inward and spiritual instead of dwelling on the outward alteration of civic life. Jeremiah believed that peace would only come when the people had God in their hearts. In short, he wanted the Israelites to finish the peace better than they had started the war with God.

The other night at Rotary there were five of us at the table: one was a financial planner; another was an administrator with Anne Arundel Community College; the third was a high school teacher at Glen Burnie High School; the fourth was the county sheriff and myself. Of course, the conversation got around to how people thought the war in Iraq was going, but it took a decisive turn. The financial planner said how anxious his people were because of the economic uncertainty of the times. The community college administrator commented how the students were anxious, because they were unsure what the future would hold for them. The high school teacher said many of her students were having trouble sleeping and sleep deprivation was taking its toll on their attention span. The sheriff told us how domestic violence has increased. People are expressing their anger in more aggressive and public ways.

I, of course, had been thinking about Jeremiah and it became clear to me that Jeremiah might just be on to something that could help all of us in these uncertain and troubling times. Think about the covenant Yahweh has in mind! “I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts.” Peace of mind begins within us. It doesn’t come from having financial security. Governments can’t guarantee it and no amount of laws will bring it about. And what God is saying in Jeremiah’s covenant is that we can trust God to give us peace.

“I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” This God wants to get personal with us. The other day we celebrated Betty Litz’s life. One thing the kids kept saying over and over again was what a mean soft-shell crab sandwich Betty made. Time and again, when people celebrate the life of someone who’s just died they remember the good times they had around the meal table. One of the most personal times we have together is sharing a meal. That’s why this morning is so important as we break the bread and share the cup. In Jesus Christ God guaranteed just how personal God was going to get with us.

The covenant continues, “No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord.’ God not only wants to get personal, but God’s going to be right there for us. Again, around the table Christ is present by the power of the Holy Spirit. Remember what Revelation teaches us: “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to them and dine with them and they with me.” Or again, “Come to me all you who labor and are heavily burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly of heart and you will find rest for your souls.”

Back to Jeremiah, “For they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord.” One of the greatest stories of the war in Iraq is the saving of Pvt. Jessica Lynch. She had lain in a bed in an Iraqi hospital for six days, a prisoner of war, subject to beatings at the hands of the attendant’s and without anything to eat. A civilian Iraqi had witnessed the beatings and decided to alert the American forces. The plan was made to rescue her and soon we hear “Jessica Lynch, said the commando in full battle gear, taking off his helmet. ‘We are United States soldier, and we are here to protect you and take you home’” There they were, the greatest military might in the world rescuing one who at the hands of the enemy had become the least.

Jeremiah concludes, “for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.” You’ll remember the other day I talked about entitlement. People nowadays feel that they’re entitled. They’re entitled to whatever they want. They’re entitled to a good life. They’re entitled to behave pretty much any way that they please. When in fact, we’re entitled to nothing! There’s nothing we can have, nothing we can do, nothing we can be that is not by the grace of God. Whatever we have is the gift of God’s grace. Whatever we are able to do is by the grace of God. Whoever we are is God’s grace. Entitlement breeds arrogance and everything that Jeremiah was railing against.

But remember; let’s finish the peace better than we started the war, and whatever war is going on within us God promises that God will give us peace. God wants to get personal with us, not only get personal but be right there for us. And the beauty of it is that no one is least in God’s eyes. Again that’s arrogant thinking; that’s not God thinking. With God’s pardon, all of us time and again will feel the refreshing waters of our baptism and be able to stand before God’s throne of grace and say, “thanks be to God.”

Amen