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Breaking the Spiral of Violence · Faith at Work

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: As we begin this morning, I want to name something important, okay?
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  SPEAKER_00: During World War II,
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  SPEAKER_00: 10% of young brethren men served in civil public service,
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  SPEAKER_00: so they didn't go to that war.
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  SPEAKER_00: 10% served in non-combatant roles in the military, okay?
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  And 80% of young Church of the Brethren men served in active
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  combat roles in that war.
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  SPEAKER_00: And since then,
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  SPEAKER_00: many of our young men have served in other wars,
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  SPEAKER_00: Korea,
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  SPEAKER_00: Vietnam,
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  SPEAKER_00: the Gulf War,
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  SPEAKER_00: Afghanistan.
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  And some who made those choices may and probably are with us
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  here this morning.
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  Some of us who are here this morning love or grieve those who
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  did participate in those wars.
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  SPEAKER_00: Hear this clearly, please.
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  SPEAKER_00: This message is not about condemning anyone.
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  SPEAKER_00: Those choices that were made were made,
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  SPEAKER_00: in my opinion,
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  SPEAKER_00: thoughtfully,
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  SPEAKER_00: with courage,
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  SPEAKER_00: and with conviction.
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  SPEAKER_00: They were made with sacrifice in difficult times.
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  SPEAKER_00: So this morning we recognize that as we seek Jesus' way for our time.
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  SPEAKER_00: What I hope to do today is simple.
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  SPEAKER_00: Just...
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  SPEAKER_00: open up what Jesus seemed to be saying and doing in his lifetime,
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  and asking the question how his example shapes the choices that
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  we make today.
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  SPEAKER_00: Friends, injustices and evil feel unending in our world.
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  SPEAKER_00: Retaliation seems justified.
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  SPEAKER_00: Violence feels inevitable.
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  SPEAKER_00: Would you agree?
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  However,
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  Jesus offers a better way to address evil that counters our
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  instincts.
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  SPEAKER_00: Empire says this, peace is forged and maintained through force and war.
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  SPEAKER_00: Is that true?
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  SPEAKER_00: And if it is true, does war achieve what God cannot?
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  SPEAKER_00: Can violence do what Jesus' love is unable to achieve?
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  SPEAKER_00: What does it mean if we claim that?
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  SPEAKER_00: What does it do inside of our souls?
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  SPEAKER_00: Let those questions sink in for a moment.
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  SPEAKER_00: What if God is calling us to refuse warring ways now?
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  SPEAKER_00: Not just out there,
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  SPEAKER_00: but right here in our homes,
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  SPEAKER_00: in our work teams,
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  SPEAKER_00: in our schools,
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  SPEAKER_00: in our churches,
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  SPEAKER_00: in our hearts.
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  SPEAKER_00: What if peacemaking became our family name?
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  Blessed are the peacemakers,
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  Jesus says,
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  for they will be called children of God.
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  SPEAKER_00: Not peace wishers, but peacemakers.
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  And then he goes on to say,
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  you have heard,
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  blah,
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  blah,
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  blah,
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  but I say to you.
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  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus authoritatively breaks the old cycles of payback.
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  SPEAKER_00: for the people.
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  He invites a new imagination,
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  a new articulation,
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  a new manifestation of love in the world.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our governments have told us the only way to peace is through war.
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  SPEAKER_00: But Jesus shows another way.
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  It is costly,
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  it is creative,
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  it is brave,
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  and it is,
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  above all,
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  self-sacrificing.
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  SPEAKER_00: He turns retaliation into reconciliation.
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  SPEAKER_00: Theologian Eugene Boring puts it this way.
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  Violence is a self-destructive and futile,
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  resulting only in a vicious spiral of violence.
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  SPEAKER_00: The way of the kingdom of God is to absorb evil rather than inflict it.
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  SPEAKER_00: And bring the spiral finally to an end.
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  SPEAKER_00: In the scriptures that we read this morning in Gethsemane,
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  SPEAKER_00: when the disciple draws a sword and cuts an ear,
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus stopped the spiral.
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  SPEAKER_00: He said, put the sword back in its place.
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  SPEAKER_00: For all who draw the sword will die by the sword.
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  SPEAKER_00: The spiral.
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  SPEAKER_00: Isaiah proclaimed a prophetic imagination.
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  SPEAKER_00: They shall beat their swords into plowshares.
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  SPEAKER_00: Neither shall they learn war anymore.
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  SPEAKER_00: On our farm, steel works soil as it does on many of your farms.
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  SPEAKER_00: On mine, a no-till plow gently opens the ground so that seeds can grow.
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  Imagine anger forged into tools that feed rather than ones that
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  create famine.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our brethren family has said plainly,
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  we cannot imagine Jesus targeting a missile to destroy those
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  for whom he died.
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  SPEAKER_00: and we bear his name.
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  SPEAKER_00: While I was at NOAC, I saw Frank Ramirez buy this bumper sticker.
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  It says,
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  when Jesus said,
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  love your enemies,
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  I think he probably meant don't kill them.
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  I think you know this,
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  every war,
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  every war claims to be the war that ends all wars.
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  SPEAKER_00: And as I was at Noack,
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  I was speaking to quite a lot of older men who said that's what
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  they heard.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that's why they did what they did, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: Yet they also said,
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  SPEAKER_00: War just breeds war and contempt just breeds contempt.
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  SPEAKER_00: Only love stops the spiral.
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  SPEAKER_00: Peacemaking love isn't passive.
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  SPEAKER_00: It shelters the vulnerable and it tells the truth.
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  SPEAKER_00: It refuses to dehumanize and demonize the others.
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  SPEAKER_00: So what do we do?
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  SPEAKER_00: I was a GM at Ameria.
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  SPEAKER_00: I bring this up a lot.
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  SPEAKER_00: But I learned a lot of really interesting things.
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  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that they trained me in was service recovery.
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  SPEAKER_00: Seek first to understand.
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  SPEAKER_00: They taught me.
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  SPEAKER_00: Listen fully.
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  SPEAKER_00: Apologize sincerely.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then make it right.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's conflict, de-escalation, peacemaking, Marriott style.
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  SPEAKER_00: You can do the same at your place of work.
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  SPEAKER_00: At home, we can disagree without contempt.
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  SPEAKER_00: We can correct without shaming.
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  SPEAKER_00: Students,
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  SPEAKER_00: as you're going to school,
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  peacemaking can be as simple as making room at the lunch table
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  for those who feel
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  SPEAKER_00: lonely.
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  SPEAKER_00: Romans 12,
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  SPEAKER_00: 18 proclaims,
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  SPEAKER_00: If it is possible,
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  SPEAKER_00: which it is,
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  SPEAKER_00: so far as it depends on you,
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  SPEAKER_00: which it does,
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  Live peacefully with all which we can by the power and the
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  presence of Jesus Christ
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  SPEAKER_00: in our lives.
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  SPEAKER_00: So, here's a daily prayer for us.
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  SPEAKER_00: Lord, disarm me first.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then...
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  SPEAKER_00: Teach my hands to reforge swords into plowshares.
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  SPEAKER_00: Violence into restoration.
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  SPEAKER_00: So work on these things this week, if you don't mind.
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  SPEAKER_00: Seek first to understand.
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  SPEAKER_00: Listen fully.
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  SPEAKER_00: Apologize sincerely.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then...
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  SPEAKER_00: make it right.
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  SPEAKER_00: Go that extra mile that Jesus invites us to go.
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  SPEAKER_00: If you're wondering,
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  SPEAKER_00: and I think it's understandable to wonder this,
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  SPEAKER_00: whether this peace approach of Jesus works,
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  SPEAKER_00: well,
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  SPEAKER_00: we can look at Jesus and
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  SPEAKER_00: Refusing the sword didn't stop death from coming for Jesus.
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  SPEAKER_00: But it did stop death from winning.
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  SPEAKER_00: It stopped the spiraling.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that is the invitation this morning.
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  SPEAKER_00: Church, this is our calling.
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  SPEAKER_00: Refuse the wars of words and grudges, of consumption and control.
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  SPEAKER_00: Instead, pursue the costly peace of Christ.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let's break the spiraling with love.