Peace in the Church

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Peace in the Church

Scripture: Isaiah 48:22, Luke 19:42
22         “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.” [1]
42  “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.[2]

Meditation
            My denomination (the PCUSA) made headlines yesterday and today by voting to change the church’s definition of marriage from “one man and one woman” to “two persons”. Those who have supported the change have been pushing for this for a long time say twenty or thirty years. It has been a fight, sometimes an acrimonious one. The peace of the church has suffered greatly at the hands of those involved in the fight.
            Even now those on the side of the traditional definition of marriage are pledging to get up from the mat swinging and continue the fight. That’s the problem with this church fight, and in truth most church fights, they never end. The church has been fighting itself almost as long it has been in existence. How and if we move on from this fight says a lot about us.
            First we must all come to the realization that the church cannot witness to any kind of peace, whether it be racial, economic, international, or religious peace/justice until we lay down our weapons and live in peace with our brothers and sisters inside the church. Second we need be reconciled to one another so that we can be reconcilers to the world. We need to earnestly seek peace within the church, so that the church can earnestly seek the peace of the city/nation/world where it does ministry.
            We do not need to change our individual minds on the issues of sexuality and marriage, but we do need to live at peace with those of good will who think differently than we do. If this change that the PCUSA has made is in fact a bad decision that fact will become apparent over time and we can change the definition back to what it was, or to something new entirely. The Bible remains the same and all our opinions and votes will never change those facts. Regardless of our interpretations we need to pray that God’s will, and not ours, would be done.  
            Jesus wanted the church to be at peace with herself. We should want the same thing that Jesus wants for the church. Therefore we should want the church to be at peace with herself. The trick will be finding that way forward, so that the least, the last, and the lost, in this world can find peace with and in God.

Prayer
            Help us O God to live in peace with one another. Grant us the wisdom to see a way forward that preserves the peace, unity and purity of the church. Help us give up our determination to have our own way and seek your way instead. Help us to live as Christ would have us live being peace-ful with one another. Amen.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Is 48:22.
[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Lk 19:42.

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