Today’s Scripture Reading (September
28, 2014): Matthew 21
The battle against
the Islamic State has begun in earnest. We are now a few days into the conflict
and every communication out of the White House seems to have stressed two
things. The First is that this is coalition of nations against the IS which
includes five Arab nations from the immediate area. The inclusion of the Arab
nations stands as a proof that this is not and will not be America’s fight.
America is simply joining the world in the battle. And the second thing that we
are hearing is that there should be no expectation that this is going to be a
short fight. If the World is going to stand against the IS, then that stand
will have to be a persistent one.
I have to
admit that whole situation has left me more than a little conflicted. I hate
the name Islamic State. Once more it seems to convey that the fight is against
Islam, and nothing could be further from the truth. The world needs to
understand that Christians want nothing more than to stand together in peace
with our Islamic brothers and sisters. We want to recognize the good that is in
the other, something we don’t see too often in the media, and support each
other to the best of our abilities. I know we have theological differences, but
rather than judge each other we need to be willing to sit down together in open
discussion – sharing both of our hopes and our dreams. This cannot become
another example of us versus them. Above all of this, at my core, I admit that
I am a pacifist. But I struggle when my pacifism takes place in relative safety
while others are in the line of fire. I desperately wish that there was another
way to solve the problem of terrorism in the Middle East, but I have to admit
that I have not been able to come up with any that don’t sound trite as people
are being killed, including Christians, Muslims and Jews, by terrorists chasing
after power. The fight is about the respect for people – all people – and our
right to live on this planet and become what God (Allah) intends us to be.
Jesus enters
into the temple and he sees the business that is going on. Too often we have
misunderstood the intent of this passage. We have made it about a stand against
commerce in the church. But that is not what is at the heart of this passage. What
Jesus was witnessing was the religious elite taking advantage of the poor. They
had become terrorists in their own land and they were bending the precepts of
the law so that they could become rich by taking everything that the poor had to
give. And Jesus was a pacifist, but when he saw this abuse of the people, even
Jesus reacted violently upsetting the tables and chasing off the wares (sheep
and pigeons) that were for sale. And in the midst of this he resets the purpose
for the temple – it is to be a house of prayer. It is a place where the person
is valued in the sight of God (because he hears our prayers), and a place where
we recognize that God is a part of the very fabric of our lives. But instead of
fulfilling this holy purpose, the religious leaders were robbing the people
blind.
To be
honest, as Christians I think that we have a lot to learn about prayer from our
Muslim brothers. And as we watch the action beginning once again in the Middle
East, maybe it is time for Christian, Jew and Muslim to stand united in prayer –
and in the recognition that God (Yahweh, Allah) sees all and that God (Yahweh, Allah) is in
all.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 19
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