Let us pray: God of History and Hope, how good you have been to us, how generous to generations yet unborn! We thank you for the witness of our loved ones, past and present. We thank you for the sacred ties that bind us together. . We pray that, encouraged by their example, we may be diligent followers and that nothing will be able to separate us from your love in Christ Jesus. Amen.

It is always sad when nations go to war. In recent years the sadness is magnified because just a little more than a decade and a half ago, we seem so close to lasting peace.

The wall comes down in Berlin. Eastern Europe opens up. The cold war with Russia thaws. We think, “Finally! At long last, we live in a peaceful world.”

Then, on August 2, 1990, Iraq invades Kuwait, launching a crescendo of events that pulls us into the Persian Gulf War. Ten years later, September 11th leads to the War on Terror, prompting military action in Afghanistan, and again in Iraq.

Tomorrow, our Chancel Choir on tour in France visit The Spirit of Youth at the WWII American Cemetery on Omaha Beach in Normandy. They read the names of our veterans. To honor that connection, I want to talk about war from a Christian perspective. My hope is that we can be more informed by our faith as we grapple with the decisions that send our loved ones into combat.

Let me admit that I am certainly no authority on this complex matter. Back during the 1960s, a woman reporter asks Elvis Presley what is his solution regarding the war in Vietnam. Elvis answers, “Ma’am, I just sing songs!” In like manner, I just preach sermons…and I know less about war than Elvis did.

But, I serve churches in Colorado Springs and in Cheyenne where faithful Christians embrace the vocation of soldier. I pray over weapons of mass destruction when I bless the promotion of officers who have oversight for launch decisions. I officiate at countless twenty-one gun salutes and presentations of flags to families. My candle represents many who serve, past and present.

The Old Testament often presents war as a CRUSADE, a conflict between the forces of good and evil. Among the oldest is the story of Deborah the prophetess who strengthens the will of Barak against Sisera and the army of Canaan. Deborah does not offer her own advice. Rather, she says, “The Lord…commands you” to fight against Sisera’s army. The God of Israel “will give him into your hand.”

And we learn that the oppressing Canaanites are thoroughly defeated. Deborah exalts over the victory that the Lord has given to the people. There is no hint of moral ambiguity. There is unrestrained jubilation. The song concludes, “So perish all your enemies, O Lord!” (5:31)

Since biblical times, leaders call for crusades. Pope Urban II in 1095 calls Christians to liberate the Holy Land from Muslims, whom he calls, wicked.

In the wars that follow the Reformation, Protestants fight against Catholics, all in the name of God and without moral restraint.

Crusaders see war as a conflict between good and evil. The moral distinction is absolute and unambiguous: true believers against infidels, righteous people against the unrighteous.

The goal becomes unlimited victory. When the ancient Romans finally defeat Carthage, they raze the city, spreading salt over the ground, so that Carthage can never exist again.

The strength of the crusade is its conviction that the causes for which countries go to war are religiously significant. But therein is its problem. This is an inadequate understanding of God. Crusaders talk as though God does not care for our enemies and does not lament the loss of enemy lives. This is indeed the outlook as Deborah sings “So perish all your enemies, O Lord!” Because they believe that God does not value the enemy, crusaders’ reaction to the killing of the enemy is one of rejoicing.

PACIFISM may represent the opposite side of the Christian perspective on war.

Prior to the year 312, no Christian approves of going to war. Christians are expecting the early end of this world and are reluctant to join the army of their persecutors.
But a more enduring reason is the belief that killing is simply incompatible with Jesus’ love command. Christian pacifists point to Jesus’ commands not to resist evil and to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (5:44).

Pacifists point to the vision of world peace in the Old Testament: “They shall turn their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4).

Christian pacifism persists today in the peace churches: the Mennonites, Hutterites, Amish, Quaker, and Brethren.

When the Roman persecution of the church ends in the year 312, many Christians begin to see the Empire’s use of force in a different light. They come to believe that under some conditions it is justifiable for the state to use force.

The first theologian to set forth a Christian theory of JUSTIFIABLE WAR is Augustine, a bishop in the late fourth century.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be children of God.” In this spirit, Augustine says that among the peacemakers are also those who wage war to bring back the benefits of peace.

When it is simply the self’s interests that are at stake, one is to turn the other cheek. But when the danger is to others, then the soldier is inwardly to refrain from selfishness but outwardly to resist, even if that requires taking the attacker’s life.

These principles define Christian just war thinking.

Just cause. A nation may not go to war unless its rights have been violated.

Right intention. The end result is justice, not power.

(Legitimate authority) War may not be waged except when authorized by those who have a mandate to act.

Last resort. If the issues can be settled by negotiation, this should be done. Violence must be avoided when possible.

(Prospect of success.) War should be waged only if there is the prospect of success. Otherwise the damage would be inflicted in vain.

(Proportionality.) War is permissible only if the benefits can be achieved without inflicting disproportionate damage.

(Protection of the innocent.) Aggressors may be resisted; but, care should be taken to avoid damage to innocents.

Just-war thinking takes seriously the moral dilemma that arises when war is the only way to restrain grave wrongdoing.

When countries are riding roughshod over the lives of others, and when going to war is the only way to prevent this, we face a moral tension.

Is it better to allow the injustice, or to prevent, or reverse, it at the cost of war’s destruction?

Or does a just-war approach merely serve as a rationalization for whatever the government does? This can happen. Some leaders may use the criteria as a check list to try to show that, at every point, a war is justifiable, but without any moral self-examination. When this happens, the criteria are reduced merely to verbal weapons against those who disagree.

Someone has said that war is too important to leave to the generals. It is also too important to leave to presidents and congress. We provide the people who fight wars; we pay the bills; we suffer the loss that war brings. We need to think carefully about armed conflict.

I share an open letter that I write to my 10-year-old nephew who asks, “Why does there have to be war?”

Dear Collin,

As we celebrate your 10th birthday today, I want you to know how special you and Emma are to me and Uncle Bob.

On your last day of 9-years-old, you asked me a very important question: “Why does there have to be war?”

Since I’m still struggling to find an answer, I’m sharing this letter to you with some friends who may be struggling as well. Their children are asking the same question. We want to give the best answer that we know, in words that our children can understand.

I know that you’re old enough to understand that some questions don’t have simple answers. “Why does there have to be war?” is one of those questions. You know that people can disagree about something and still be kind to each other. But sometimes disagreements are complicated, and the things that people disagree about can hurt other people. So they fight, and the fight becomes a war. The people who fight believe that war is the only way to keep something worse from happening.

As long as people have been keeping their history – even before there were written words, and they told stories about their past – they’ve remembered times when disagreements couldn’t be solved any other way except by fighting. Big fights, between lots of people, became wars.

The Bible has stories that remember wars. A long time ago, God’s people believed that God helped them win wars when they were faithful, and lose wars when they weren’t living like God wanted them to live.

Jesus taught his first disciples that there would be wars in the future (Matthew 24:3-8; Mark 13: 1-8). He also teaches us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44). The more people love each other, the less they will disagree. The less they disagree, the less they will fight. And the less they fight, the fewer wars there will be.

I know war is scary. It makes us wonder what might happen tomorrow. Your Mom and Dad are being really picky about what the family watches on television because we believe that we really don’t need to see all of the stuff that’s on almost all of the time from Iraq. Mom and Dad are also making sure that they take time to listen to what you and Emma say about what’s happening because this world is yours as much as it is ours.

I believe there is an Iraqi boy whose 10th birthday is today. I believe his family loves him very much, and that they want him to be able to grow up in a world without war. That’s what Uncle Bob and I want for you, too. And that’s what Jesus wants for all the children in the world.

Happy birthday, Collin!

I love you,

Aunt Janet