Overcoming Violence

This sermon was preached by the Rev Dr Graham Adams of Lee Street Congregational Church, Manchester. Graham grew up at Highbury and is currently Minister at Lees Street; he teaches on the Congregational Federation's Integrated Training Course.

Readings

Micah 4: 1-4
1 Samuel 17: 33-50
John 8: 1-11

Introduction: Throwing stones

What are we to make of the violence in our world? And can we overcome it?
From Libya, & recent unpleasant images from there, to the riots in our own cities,
contemporary events bring these eternal questions into focus – and we still feel helpless.
In fact, we often feel a real fear of violence, & often think it is getting worse,
even though there is much evidence that it is not –
that over the centuries we have become much less tolerant of awful violence
and much more inclined to see it as a problem to be overcome, not a contest to be won.

But it means working at being empathetic, more inclined to listen to one another,
less inclined to put our desires for revenge into action –
so the question for us as Christians is, can the Bible help us to overcome violence?
The reality is that many people do not see the Bible as the answer to this problem
because it is too blood-thirsty, too gory, including portrayals of God demanding violence,
so how can it give us resources to help us overcome it?
If it was written in a time when violence was seen as a contest to be won
then how can we claim that it inspires in us our faith in a peace-loving God?

It’s important to hear these questions, and to wrestle with them honestly:
but still I believe we can maintain that the Bible has to contain violence
because the Bible has to reflect the real world, which is indeed a violent place.
The question remains, though, whether we can look to it for resources to help us
if we want to find ways of overcoming violence – of believing it can be overcome –
rather than treating it as something inevitable, a contest that will just always go on.
And I hope we can discover that even violent stories in the Bible give us cause for hope,
that it does offer resources to help us find ways of overcoming violence,
especially if we read it not as a contest between two violent parties,
but as a choice between the ways of violence & the ways of the peace-loving God.

OT Reading: 1 Samuel 17: 33-50

2) Reflection: choosing stones

The problem is, we feel too small.
There are many Goliaths in our world which make us feel too small:
poverty, inequality, hunger, the crisis in the world’s economic system, or climate change –
all these things are like Goliaths which feel too big for us to handle and defeat.
But this evening we’re focusing particularly on the Goliath, the giant, of Violence:
and although this may seem a strange story to draw on, because it uses violence itself,
it captures how we feel – as small as the shepherd David – in the face of something
that we cannot imagine overcoming … but are we really so powerless?
What if we approach this story as a choice between two ways of living in the world:
the Goliath way is the way which holds sway –
the belief that Violence is basically inevitable, so let’s resign ourselves to it;
let’s accept that bullies are bullies, & those with the levers of power & strength always win;
we know of bullies in many walks of life, who are never far from imposing their will –
in schools, at work, in situations of domestic violence, or the lobbyists of big business,
up to arms dealers, & dictators.
There’s something about the power of the world’s Philistines, represented best by Goliath,
which means we cannot help but take the way of violence for granted. It is awesome.
And yet there is another way, a smaller way, embodied here by David –
imagine that he represents those instincts within us which we often suppress,
the belief that another way is possible, that the underdog can win – and sometimes does,
even without using the same tactics as the world’s bullies & mobs.
The David instinct is often overwhelmed in our cynical, weary world
because we’re so used to accepting that things are just the way they are –
but this small boy dares to believe in an alternative way.
At first, Saul mocks the idea that someone so fragile could be a match for Goliath.
That’s only natural: we all feel like Saul when others tell us the world could be different –
they sound so naïve, so unreal, so idealistic,
perhaps they’ve not lived enough, but soon they’ll realise it’s not so straightforward.
But even when he persuades Saul to let him have a go,
by reassuring him that he has won other battles, even if only against wild animals,
even then, he is forced at first to play by the Big Boys’ rules, to use the world’s tactics:
for he is made to wear the armour & take up the heavy weapons, to be a man of steel.
But in David’s case that way is ridiculous: the armour is too big.
The ways of the world do not fit …
for he knows another way – just a simple sling and five small stones.

So what might be our different way? What might be our sling & our five small stones
in our quest to overcome the Goliath of violence in our world?
We might, for instance, pressurise banks not to invest in the arms trade,
e.g. the RBS was recently forced to stop investing in companies making illegal cluster bombs;
or we can support campaigns of the Fellowship of Reconciliation or other peace movements –
I preach here to myself, too, as I’ve only started to look at this & will try to act on it.
Or imagine if churches were better known as communities who promote understanding
rather than prejudice – if we encouraged people to understand those who differ from us ...
Or if we committed to de-escalate any situation of conflict, to crank tension down, not up,
by encouraging each other to debate constructively, to talk rather than react anxiously.
These are some small stones we might offer – as well, of course, as prayer.
Each on its own may not suffice, though we can take heart from David’s success with 1 stone,
& may we be encouraged to believe that, together, we can make a real difference.

Our next hymn is a prayer with other thoughts on becoming channels of peace …

Make me a channel of your peace …


NT Reading – John 8: 1-11


3) Reflection: dropping stones

In the light of the David story, this story from the life of Jesus reminds us that,
no matter how much we feel the stones we carry are good ones, & that we are different
because we only have good intentions - even if we struggle to put them into practice -
the truth remains that we are carrying stones which have the potential to do harm:
after all, we live in a complicated world
where the system we are part of, the history that is behind us, how we spend our money,
all have unintended consequences we know little about, so we’ll never be totally innocent:
somewhere, somehow, our lifestyle hurts other people, whether or not we know it;
& so, like the crowd gathered around this condemned woman, we don’t see it:
even if we try really hard to live peaceful lives, & to promote peace,
we are still very much part of a world which hurts vulnerable people, & we need God’s grace.

And yet, by the end of this story, one by one the crowd has dispersed,
their stones are lying on the ground, having done no harm, and the woman is safe.
There is something about the personality & impact, & community, of Jesus of Nazareth,
even as he bends down & writes in the sand, that disarms an otherwise dangerous crowd.
The community of Jesus is called to follow in this way, to disarm an otherwise dangerous world,
but the church has not always grasped this –
sometimes we have done hurtful things claiming they are in the name of Jesus Christ –
but we see here that, with barely any words, he can still disarm a violent world.

So we pray that this story will speak to us:
that it will help us to drop our dangerous stones – the wounds we carry,
the hurtful things said to us, the chains which hold us captive, the resentment we feel,
the longing for revenge on those who have hurt us, or on people who seem like them,
the desire to punish those who upset our view of how the world ought to be …
May we pray that this story,
the story of a condemned woman & a crowd anxious to make her into a scapegoat,
will become for us a means of dropping the stones we carry
& learning to find a better way of putting the world to rights –
not lashing out, not condemning, not acting so indifferently to others’ life-experiences,
but being as aware as possible of our own failings, the danger we sometimes each represent,
and the need to put healing before hurt, hope before hate, peace before violence.
May we pray, not only that we choose our stones with care, in the cause of peace,
but that we know when to let go, when to be disarmed, when to be vulnerable
to the peace of Christ working in us.
Amen.


Prayers
For the wisdom to choose our stones carefully in the battle against violence …
For the wisdom to know when the stones we carry are still dangerous to others …
For the wisdom to let go, to drop our dangerous stones, to be disarmed by Jesus Christ

For situations of conflict … for the needs of our neighbours, far away & close to home …
For all who long for peace, shelter, freedom, hope, healing or compassion …


Micah 4: Hear these words of encouragement, again, from the prophet Micah:

‘Come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples and shall arbitrate between strong nations;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
So be it. Amen.


Blessing -
May the peace of God give us courage to confront Goliath with a new way of living.
May the peace of Christ give us wisdom to know when to let go of the stones we carry.
May the Spirit of peace live in our hearts & inspire us, now and for ever, Amen.