Supplemental Lesson 2
by
Steve Bryant
Miriam and Deborah: Two strong women confronted by the reality of war. Dale
Lindsey Morgan’s second lesson in the 2004-2005 Horizon’s Bible Study causes
me to ask some serious questions about myself, the Word, and my Lord.
Am I a hawk or a dove?
My heart is as soft as a dove’s feather when it comes to puppies and little
children, old folks and people who are hurt and lonely. But there are other
times in life when I’m much less the dove and more the hawk. I’m the hawk
when it comes to protecting and defending my family, my Country, my Church,
and my faith. Frankly, I find it hard to pin myself down and I wrestle with
the Christian’s truly Christlike response to war. How about you?
What about the Bible? Is the Bible a book for pacifists or warriors? Well,
any honest reading of Scripture would have to say that the Bible is not a
dove’s coo, nor is it the hawk’s talon. It is a book that faces up to all of
life; the good, the bad, and the ugly.
And how about Jesus? Is Jesus, as He is revealed to us in the Gospels, the
Dove or the Hawk? He is the Dove known unto us as ‘The Prince of Peace.”
_Name some occasions in the life of Jesus when He modeled what it means
to be a peacemaker. Share them with the members of your group._
Again, is Jesus the Dove or the Hawk? Be careful how you answer the
question. Don’t be too quick to label Jesus as strictly pacifist. Do you
remember the time when Jesus said *’I came not to bring peace, but the
sword.”*
_Can you think of any times in the life of Jesus when He didn’t seem to
be acting the part of the pacifist? Share you thoughts with the members
of your circle._
The truth of the matter is that we can’t pin Him down any more than ordinary
people like you and me can pin ourselves down. What we see in Jesus is God
in human flesh. We see in Jesus the very heart of God, in all God’s beauty,
mystery, and complexity. Ahh, there’s a good word to describe the times in
which we live, and the Christian’s response to awful realities like war.
Complexity!
We have read how Miriam and Deborah responded to war, we will continue to
wrestle with it. But’s look more closely at Jesus. Let’s look at a time in
His life when He truly faced the enemy with the swords and spears trained
upon His person.
*Read John 18:1-11*
One of my favorite passages in the Passion Narrative is John 18:6
*’When Jesus said, I am He,’ they (the soldiers with ‘torches and
weapons”) drew back and fell to the ground.” *
Do you know why? Because they sensed that their weapons of war were impotent
in the presence of the Prince of Peace. What happens next is a perfect
illustration of a strength so powerful and loving that we will hardly be
able to comprehend it.
*’Again He asked, Who is it that you want?’ Jesus of Nazareth,’ they
repeated. I have told you that I am He,’ Jesus answered. If I am the man
you want, let these others go.”’ *(John 18:7-8)
You know, it takes an enormous amount of strength to face up to one’s
enemies in life, to look them dead in the eye without backing down.
Certainly we see that amazing strength and courage in our Lord. But it takes
even more strength to *’love thine enemies,”* to let them haul you away to
be the sacrifice for their sins! And that is exactly what Jesus did.
Do you remember the photograph that appeared in virtually every newspaper
across the land in first few days of our troops entry into Baghdad? Let me
describe it to you:
It was an action shot. Filling the frame, was the tall muscular body of an
American soldier. He wore the suit of war. Hand-grenades hung from his
chest. His machine gun was strapped across his body. He was running toward
safety, but not for himself. Across his broad athletic shoulders, he carried
a scrawny little wounded Iraqi soldier. He was carrying that wounded enemy
to safety, and he literally had him draped across his own shoulders, just
like that old Sunday School picture of Jesus, the Great Shepherd carrying
home the lost lamb.
And Jesus said, *’Love thine enemies.”*
And that is exactly what was done to that Iraqi soldier. Our man, placed him
on a stretcher and carried him to our field hospital. And our medics treated
him and cared for him and sewed up his wounds, and in so doing, that Iraqi
soldier no doubt received the best medical he had ever experienced. Jesus
said, *’Love thine enemies.” *
In life there are times of peace and there are times of war, but we can know
our marching orders for every kind of time:
Jesus said, *’Love thine enemies and pray for your persecutors.”*
(Matthew 5:44)
He commands us to do good to our enemies. ‘*There must be no limit to
your goodness, as your Heavenly Father’s goodness knows no bounds.”
*(Matthew 5:48)
I don’t know about you, but sometimes, I find it awful hard to love that
way. Why? Because in my most honest moments, I have to confess that my love
is so very unchristlike. It expects something in return. But the love of
Jesus, to which we should all aspire, is not a love based on feelings. A
love like Jesus’ is a love that keeps on loving in spite of your feelings.
When you feel like wringing someone’s neck, love. When you feel like
cursing, Jesus commands us to love and bless them. When you feel like
lashing out in anger, Jesus invites us to the supreme self-control of
prayer.
On my own and by my own resources, I’m a dismal failure when it comes to
loving that way. But the Good News is that when I am in Christ, and when
Christ is in me, together we can love even the most unlovable person.
Friends, think about the person who has hurt you them most:
Jesus says *’love them.”*
How? Where do we find the capacity to love people like that?
A. Remember that you are loved by Jesus and you have done nothing to
deserve it.
B. Ask Jesus to come deeper into your heart. Ask Jesus to love that
unlovable person for
you, when you find it humanly impossible.
C. Remind yourself that you really don’t know the real reason that
hurtful person acts the way they do. Lord only knows how they may have
been hurt in the past.
Jesus said, *’love thine enemies.” * And I know what some of you are
saying:
_But what about that person that hurt me so deeply that I feel as though
I’m scarred for life? Surely I don’t have to love that person so I? It
just seems so impossible for me. I don’t want to love them. _
You’re not listening. Jesus said, *’love them.”*
_But you don’t understand, Jesus! _
Oh yes He does! He understands perfectly well. Just sit at the foot
of the cross for a little while and listen. *’Father, forgive them
for they know not what they do.”* Sit there a little while longer,
and when you’re ready to listen, get up and start living as He lived
and loving as He loved. *’Love thine enemies.” *
For use as a closing prayer:
Lord, we are about ready to leave this place and enter once again into a
world caught between the joys of peace and the horrors of war. We
desperately want to be faithful to you, and we confess our confusion
sometimes as to what it means to be Christian at times like these. But we
give you thanks and praise, that we have Jesus to show us the way. So, give
us a heart like Jesus; a love that isn’t bound by the good we might receive
in return. Give us hearts that are even willing to try loving thine enemies.
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