Between us and a terrible unknown.
Ordinary Sunday 23: 8th September, 2002
Fr John Davis, Vicar of St Peter's, Eastern Hill
Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. (Rom 13:10 NRSV)
Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour; that is why it is the answer to every one of the commandments. (Jerusalem)
Two different versions of part of the epistle set for today. Two perspectives on the one teaching that is perhaps at the centre of Christian ethics; on the living out of the Christian faith in the daily acts of life. This morning in Children's Church, we took as our theme 'caring for others', using the Lord's summary of the Law – love God, love neighbour and this text as our base. The children and of course all of us, were encouraged to reach out in acts of caring, even to those who are far away from their immediate circle. The current TV advertisements for World Vision, powerfully urging Australians to take on the monthly payment towards to care of children in places like Africa and saying what a good thing it is to do, is another example of a similar approach.
In our own parish life this year we have ourselves been involved in projects and events that have offered support both near and far. We have got a Landrover going again as the parish car in a remote parish in Papua, covering the substantial and necessary repairs, registration and insurance that was quite beyond them. We have heard that this has made an enormous difference. Also in PNG we have supported trainee nurses, and a special program for mothers and young children. Closer to home we have responded to the needs of our friends from the Solomons, who are now living with us as part of our parish family. We rejoice in the gift they are to us. We have become more aware of the appalling situation so many who are made refugees have to face. We have been able to offer care and compassion. In this we ourselves grow. We continue to support the great work of the Sisters in Footscray and admire their steady faithfulness. And our biggest effort in both time and resources relates to the homeless and the needy right on our own doorstep in the city through our Lazarus Centre breakfasts and emergency support schemes. That is just this year, and it does not include all that we try to do. But I note this, not in order for us to bask in self-satisfaction, but really rather to say that with one like Our Lord as the one we follow, we can do no other. This approach is a given, a requirement, a joy and a hope in a world that needs much more of this, always.
Paul's letter was full of guidance to those Christians in Rome that he was shortly to join and later to die with. His instructions were not just about living within the community of faith. They were broader in their application. Today's gospel on the other hand does have as its focus the vexing problem of dealing with when things go wrong within the community. A pattern and an approach is actually suggested: seeking to talk things through, working one to one and then if necessary in groups, seeking to discern the best path for the common good and yes, finally exercising responsibility, together. Some of that is potentially very painful. But as in all relationships also very necessary.
We are also I think challenged to consider what either or both of these teachings have to say to us about the current world situation. It is not possible for anyone who reads a newspaper or who watches television to be unaware of the first anniversary that is upon us on Wednesday. I am very sorry for anyone who has a significant day on September the 11th. It will be hard to concentrate. I was listening to some discussion from many people who said that they would choose not to watch any of it. Just a short time with my two Saturday papers yesterday left me feeling sick in the stomach. The horror and the fear of it all came back.
Of course I can remember exactly where I was and who I was with when I first heard what had happened in New York this time last year. Like with the shooting of President Kennedy, for someone of my generation, I will never forget what was for me a very early morning. And I will not forget the tears and the agonised cries of pain from at least one friend that I had to tell. This is not how things should be. That pain and that fear go very deep. Other generations in other times have other defining horrors that are theirs. But this is ours and it is by no means over.
One of the most worrying aspects of all this talk of war rather than of love, is that war has a habit of producing unexpected and unanticipated outcomes, as well as unimaginable suffering and pain. This can still be seen two generations afterwards in the eyes and the heart of a grieving individual person. High power politics is also a casualty though. Would those who so robustly went to war over that incident in Sarajevo in August 1914 have done so had they known the multiple millions of deaths that would follow? This is not to mention the mass destruction of treasure and property, as well as the collapse in revolution of three empires and the beginning of the end of a fourth?
Is the cost justified? Is this way of war the best or sadly the only way of solving profound and pressing challenges? And on top of all these perennial questions of war and peace, we are today confronted with not just the exploration of our involvement in what is termed 'a just war'. We are also confronted with the leaders of our side suggesting that it is moral and ethical to be the ones who not only contemplate but also actually do make the first strike. So this one is different to all the wars of our 20th century experience: different to 1914 or 1939, different to Korea or even Vietnam. Despite the absence of any public evidence in any way connecting Iraq or Iraqis with the outrage of September 11th, yet the emotion, the sadness, the fear and the anger that this anniversary will release is somehow all to be tied up together with the perceived potential danger that the Iraqi regime presents. This is very dangerous for us all.
It seems quite remarkable that included in the widespread calls for care and caution, and for the pulling back from the idea of a pre-emptive strike to begin another Middle East war, are so many with direct military experience. This includes it seems many who were in the fighting in the Gulf War of 1991. Within America itself there is clearly division and unease. In Australia those who are not supporting war now includes the RSL at the national level. This was very widely reported last week. It includes our wheat farmers and the Wheat Board. It includes it seems all of Europe except perhaps the British. Obviously it includes the entire Arab and Islamic world and communities. It includes church people of all descriptions, right across the ecumenical spectrum. It includes the Christians in Iraq. It includes the Primate of our Anglican Church of Australia and the Presiding Bishop of our sister Church in the United States of America. It includes our articulate and inspiring Archbishop of Canterbury designate, Rowan Williams.
Justifiable frustration with the weakness and ineffectiveness of our international structures and in particular with the United Nations does not help. But perhaps that is all we have between us and a terrible unknown. At the very least, any and all of these other paths need to be utterly exhausted, first.
A just war is where an act of aggression clearly established and identified is appropriately responded to. Second guessing what might happen if we ourselves do not make aggressive war, perhaps rightly perhaps wrongly, is not the position of the high moral ground. International Law says that. And so does the Teacher who taught about turning the other cheek and not taking an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
So today's texts of Scripture that remind us of careful process, of our inter-connectedness and our interdependence, and above all which call us again to work for lives that are guided and shaped by love. These are texts that are worth really grappling with in a week that includes September 11th. Those who would call themselves Christian have this as an obligation.
Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour; that is why it is the answer to every one of the commandments. (Rom 13:10)
The Lord be with you.
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