Proclaiming God's mighty acts

J. Daryl Byler
Director of Washington Office
MCC U.S
Ohio Peace Gathering
Columbus, Ohio
October 29, 2004

1 Peter 2:9-10

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Introduction

We live in a nation whose military and economic power is unprecedented in the history of the world. And yet many live in fear because of repeated predictions that there will be new attacks on U.S. soil at any time. In Washington, D.C., many folks are on edge -- just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Our son Jeremy goes to a public D.C. high school which is near the World Bank and International Monetary Fund buildings. These are two of the buildings thought to be on the terrorist target list. So public safety officials are jittery. Jeremy's school doesn't have a cafeteria, so the students can go to local eateries for lunch. In early September, one of Jeremy's classmates was eating lunch at a fast food place connected to a large office building. This student accidentally discharged his girlfriend's pepper spray, which wafted into the ventilation system of the adjacent office building, causing dozens of people to start coughing. City officials thought a mass attack was underway and responded with a large number of emergency vehicles. News of the incident hit the wire services and sent the Dow Jones plummeting by 70 points within minutes.

We recently marked the third anniversary of the terrible attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. All of us remember where we were when we first heard the news of airplanes flying into the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon. I was in a meeting half a dozen blocks north of the White House listening to a speech by Dennis Ross, the Middle East envoy under the first President Bush and President Clinton. Ross was lamenting the breakdown of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the seemingly unending cycle of suicide bombing and military attacks. As Ross was finishing his remarks, someone walked in to report that the Pentagon and World Trade Towers had just been hit.

The meeting was quickly adjourned and we quietly filed outside where we could see smoke rising from the Pentagon several miles to the southwest. People were pouring out on the sidewalks and streets, heading home. On the long walk back to the MCC Washington Office, I remember wondering how the United States would respond to these acts of terror. Would we enter the very same cycle of violence that Ross had just spoken about in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

Today I have a strong sense that we are, in fact, headed in a similar direction as a nation. In my mind, attacking Iraq was the tipping point where the United States injected itself into a cycle of violence from which there will be no easy return. This was a significant reason for the extended fast I did before the war.

God's ways are mysterious and God's mercy is always wider than our minds can imagine, but here is where I believe we are headed. I agree with Carol Rose that, in this century, we may witness the undoing of the myth of redemptive violence. But I don't think we are there yet. I believe we will witness in our nation a growing preoccupation with security issues in the United States as a result of additional attacks on U.S. soil and U.S. interests abroad. [This preoccupation with security will lead to]:

• Even further increases in military and homeland security funding -- at the expense of investing in education, housing, health care and energy alternatives. Already the U.S. military budget has jumped from $300 billion prior to Sept. 11 to more than $500 billion a year in 2004 when including the cost of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Just this week, the Washington Post reported this week that the Bush administration is planning to request another $70 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year.
• Additional U.S. military actions abroad (perhaps in Syria, Iran or North Korea). This will result in large numbers of civilian deaths, substantial loss of U.S. soldiers, even more attacks on U.S. interests and increasing isolation of the United States from the global family. In the end, a draft may be inevitable in order to sustain or boost troop levels.
• Unprecedented restrictions on civil and religious liberties in the United States. These restrictions will be felt most keenly at first by Arab-Americans, Muslims and other communities of color, but also by religious groups who criticize U.S. policies and call for nonviolent alternatives. Those who do criticize will be labeled "unpatriotic" and will be ostracized or worse. We got a small taste of this after Sept. 11. It will be even tougher next time around.

This pattern will continue until either:

1. The United States changes its policies and approaches; or
2. The United States destroys all its potential enemies; or
3. The United States bankrupts itself and is splintered by divisions.

In such a dismal scenario, what is the role of the church? Peter offers a hopeful way forward. He speaks of the church as a holy nation which proclaims God's mighty acts to the world.

In many respects, the text from 1 Peter parallels the text from Ephesians 2 which we looked at yesterday. It was likely written from Rome shortly before Peter's death. His audience largely consisted of Gentile Christians -- ethnically Greek -- who were scattered across northern Asia Minor. These Christians were living in a hostile political environment amidst the Roman empire. In his letter, Peter seeks to encourage them by reminding them of their identity and mission. Peter challenges them to apply the teachings of Jesus about loving enemies.

Erland Waltner, who authored the Believers Church commentary on 1 Peter, writes: "The word of Peter is that these Christian believers, though aliens and strangers, are indeed the people of God, chosen by God, graced by God, given dignity, strength, and destiny, and born anew to living hope."

Just prior to the verses from 1 Peter read a few minutes ago, Peter uses an image similar to Paul's temple image in Ephesians 2. Peter writes: "Like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 2:5). A few verses later, he describes these Christians as "aliens and exiles" in this world (v. 11) -- perhaps a sentiment we increasingly experience in our own nation. But God's people are not homeless, because they are being built into a spiritual house. To use Pastor Grayson's image, they have a place.

Verses 9 and 10 provide a nutshell summary of the identity and mission of God's people -- who they are and what they are to be doing: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

Peter uses terms that were historically applied to Israel (see. e.g. Exod. 19:5-6; Deut. 7:6, 14:2; Isa. 43:20-21) and now applies them to the New Testament church. Waltner draws on the work of Leonhard Goppelt, who expounds on the parallel use of the terms race, nation and people. The church is:

• a chosen race (genos) -- which means they have a common origin or genealogy;
• a holy nation (ethnos) -- which means they have the same customs; and
• they are God's own people (laos).

So Goppelt says that Peter "characterizes a people having a common origin, describes a people with the same customs, and represents a people pursuing a common goal."

And the mission of this special people -- this holy nation -- is to "proclaim the mighty acts of (God)" (v. 9a). This proclamation is to take two forms: storytelling and demonstration.

First, the storytelling. God's people are to tell their stories about how God called them out of darkness into God's marvelous light (v. 9b). In the creation account in Genesis, God formed the world out of chaos. The story of the church is the story of how God formed a community out of what was formerly not a people. It is a story about those who previously knew nothing about God's mercy, but now have experienced God's mercy.

Stories are powerful. Stories connect with our own sense of brokenness and waywardness and fear. Stories also remind us of what is possible. Stories give us hope. That's why Paul and the other apostles told their stories over and over during the formation of the early church.

There is nothing more powerful than a story. Unless it is a demonstration: a lived out example. And this is Peter's challenge. God's people are not only to tell the story about how God called them from darkness to light, but now they are called to demonstrate what it looks like to live as a holy nation -- God's own people. And this is precisely what Peter calls for in the remainder of his letter: a people who are willing to follow Christ's example, even to the point of suffering for their faith.

Just as God had at one time called Abram and Sarai to be a blessing to the nations (Gen. 12:1-3); just as God had at one time called Israel to be a blessing (Gen. 26:4) and a light (Isa. 42:6) to the nations; now God calls the church to be a holy nation that proclaims and demonstrates God's mighty acts.

Application So what might all of this mean for us today as Christians living -- not amidst the Roman empire but amidst the U.S. empire? What does it mean for us to be Christians living in an age of fear? Living in what seems to be a downward spiral of violence?

1. We need to tell our stories about God's mighty acts of deliverance. We used to call these testimonies. At a time when many in our nation are afraid, let us tell our stories of God's mighty acts of deliverance. Let us tell our stories of how God delivered us from fear and brought us to a place of faith. Let us tell our stories of how God delivered us from violence to the path of nonviolence. Let us tell our stories about how God delivered us from the desire for revenge to a place of forgiveness and blessing. Our stories can provide a bridge for others. Do we know our stories?

This month I've spoken in several churches. After the service, people often come up to agree or disagree with something I've said. Twice, in the last month, young persons in their 20s have told me that they were from military families but that they personally are now committed to nonviolence and attending Anabaptist congregations. And so I've asked them, "How did that happen? What is your story?" In both cases, these young women said that what they had experienced in their families and in a military environment -- the abuse and violence -- simply didn't square with their reading of the New Testament. And so they chose a different path. Stories like these need to be told again and again.

Our stories add power and credibility to our witness. Stories move our public witness beyond the theoretical to the practical lived-out reality. Some years ago, Sojourners magazine told the story of Marietta Jaeger, a Detroit writer, who every year would come to Washington, D.C., to protest the death penalty. What gave Marietta's public witness such credibility was the fact that her own 7-year-old daughter, Susie, had been kidnapped in the middle of night during a family vacation in Montana. More than a year later, Jaeger learned that her daughter had been murdered.

In the Sojourners story, Jaeger says that she "struggled with forgiveness. She questioned whether she would be betraying her daughter if she were to forgive someone who had done such terrible things to her. But she says God kept calling her beyond that. 'Though initially I ran the gamut of outraged reaction, I have come to believe that the only whole and healthy and happy and holy way that we can respond to a hopeless situation like that is to forgive.'"

Montana, where the kidnapping and murder took place, had the death penalty. But Jaeger asked the FBI to offer the killer life imprisonment and a chance for psychiatric care. "My little girl was a gift of beauty and sweetness and goodness in my life," says Jaeger. "To kill somebody in her name is really to violate her and profane her. I'd rather honor her life by saying that all of life is sacred and all of life is worthy of preservation from the very beginning of conception till the end when we die."

Let us recommit ourselves to publicly tell our stories of God's mighty acts of deliverance. As we do, let us be honest about our own struggles and shortcomings. The last thing the world needs is a bunch of pious peacemakers who aren't real. Our stories are about the journey, not about arriving. But let us also be clear about God's faithfulness to meet us in our places of struggle.

2. We need to demonstrate what it looks like to be a holy nation.

MCC has been working in Iran for about a dozen years now. As part of this work, we have developed relationships with several diplomats at the Iranian mission to the United Nations. When John Howard Yoder died several years ago, the New York Times published a rather lengthy obituary, describing Yoder's life and theological views. One of the Iranian diplomats read the obituary and called me. "I have read about your Mennonite theologian," the Iranian official said. "Tell me, were these just his ideas, or was he part of a group that lived out this view?"

This is precisely the challenge for the church today: to not simply talk about Jesus or theories about nonviolence, but to live as Jesus taught us to live. Will we recover a vision for being an alternative community that models a new political and social and economic reality? Are we ready to forswear the use of lethal force for our protection? Are we ready to more equitably share the earth's resources? Are we ready to take risks for peacemaking just as soldiers take risks in military actions? This is where Christian Peacemaker Teams has been such a positive challenge to the church.

Article 23 of The Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective reads:

We believe that the church is God's "holy nation," called to give full allegiance to Christ its head and to witness to all nations about God's saving love.

The church is the spiritual, social, and political body that gives its allegiance to God alone. As citizens of God's kingdom, we trust in the power of God's love for our defense. The church knows no geographical boundaries and needs no violence for its protection. The only Christian nation is the church of Jesus Christ, made up of people from every tribe and nation, called to witness to God's glory.

Let's think for a few minutes about this image of being a holy nation. First, we wouldn't need elections, because it has already been established that Jesus Christ is our leader. But what principles and values would undergird the domestic and foreign policies of a holy nation?

Tomorrow, we'll look at some specific policy applications of this, but for now, what would be some general principles that would provide a foundation for a holy nation?

[A holy nation's]:

• National security policy would look radically different because it would reflect the spiritual maturity and depth to trust God for its well-being and security. In our places of fear, we would not choose violence for our protection or revenge as our response to enemies.
• Immigration policy would not be constrained by traditional notions of borders, because it would be concerned with the well-being of all global citizens.
• Health care, education and housing policies would be concerned about equitable access to basic services for all peoples.
• Civil rights and human rights policies and practices would show special regard for most vulnerable people groups -- because all people are precious in God's sight.
• Foreign policy would be concerned about mutuality, not domination, in its relationships with other nations.

Closing

Today, it is easy to be critical of our national leaders and of the policies of our nation. But before we become too heavily engaged in faultfinding and scathing critique, we will do well to look inward and confess the sins of the church. In fact, one of the most sobering questions to ask ourselves is whether our nation would have ever gotten to the place of acting as empire if the church had been more faithful in its witness.

Prior to the recent U.S. invasion of Iraq, I entered an extended period of fasting. During this period, I committed to praying for the president and sending him letters based on the Daily Office Lectionary texts for that day. My fasting did not change the president's mind or stop the war, but it changed me and my self-righteous attitudes. It helped me to own the imperial impulses in my own heart.

God has called the church to be a holy nation. But, throughout history, the temptation for God's people has been to hoard God's blessings -- to be a reservoir for God's blessing rather than a channel of God's blessing. And when we seek to hoard God's blessing and reserve it for ourselves, we cease to influence the world in which we live.