Peace depends on the inverted logic of God
November 07, 2017
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Psalm 107: 33-37
33 He turned rivers into a desert,
flowing springs into thirsty ground,
34 and fruitful land into a salt waste,
because of the wickedness of those who lived there.
35 He turned the desert into pools of water
and the parched ground into flowing springs;
36 there he brought the hungry to live,
and they founded a city where they could settle.
37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards
that yielded a fruitful harvest;
It’s never the way the way you think it is.
The psalmist sees rivers turned into deserts and deserts turned into pools of water.
The prophet Micah sees swords and spears being made into tools for farming and he sees a day when nations will no longer train for war.
Jesus says, “the first shall be last and the last shall be first”.
Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”.
In the logic of God so many things get stood on their head and if generations to come are ever to see Micah’s dream fulfilled a lot of things will have to be stood on their heads. We need to train our eyes on the needs of others – not on our own needs. We need to pray and work for a world where we recognise our common humanity with 6 billion others – that is countercultural and it is about standing the whole world on its head.
Almighty and eternal God, though we often despair that peace is a far off dream, remind us of the prophets and optimists who could see the changing shape of things to come. Inspire us to participate in the ministry of Jesus which flew in the face of cultural norms and dared to treat enemies as friends. And when we fall short of the mark or fail to meet our own promises, forgive us and grant us the strength of will to try and try again, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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