Sermon 5-8-11

"What Should We Do?"
Acts 2:14a, 36-41

Last Monday I got up at 3AM to drive to the Early Ministry Institute in NYC.  EMI, as it is known, is a time of reflection and renewal for pastors new to their vocation and for whom the burnout rate is high.  It wasn’t until the EMI morning worship that we heard about the assassination of Osama bin Laden.  Well, it was a worship service, and full of supposedly “holy” pastor types, so we knew it was inappropriate to gloat there.  Yet we also knew from the Internet that there were a lot of people gloating out there in our country.

This morning I’d like to share some of my reflections on this event. 

It’s good to start with the bible in most matters of faith and morals.

The Jewish tradition has much to say on the killing of vicious and even murderous enemies.  When Pharaoh's troops were drowning in the Red Sea as they sought to re-enslave or kill the fleeing Israelites, a bunch of women who had just crossed the sea on dry land began to sing praises to God. According to the Talmud, a Jewish biblical commentary, God chastened them saying: "My children (the Egyptians) are sinking in the sea, and you are singing praises?  What’s wrong with you?”

Yet God did not silence the Israelites, knowing that at that moment it would be hard for humans not to celebrate the death of an oppressor.  Today, during the Seder meal at Passover, when Jews recite each of the plagues the Egyptians suffered, they reach a finger into their celebratory cup of wine and dip out a drop for each plague.  This symbolizes that their cup of joy cannot be full if their own liberation requires the death of those who were part of the oppressor society.

Listen also to similar admonition from Proverbs 24:17

Do not rejoice when your enemies fall, and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble,

Later in the New Testament Jesus spells out his position on dealing with enemies pretty clearly in Matthew 5:43-48

‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?”

The apostle Paul expands on this in his letter to the Romans (12:14-21):

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

None of these biblical admonitions surprised me and probably not you either.  According to our denomination’s Advisory Committee on Social Witness policy:

The ultimate response of Christian people to terrorism is the response of the angel to the two Marys who were afraid when they found the tomb empty on Easter morning.  “Do not be afraid,” the angel said.  Faith as unconditional trust in God overcomes fear and is the basis for wise responses to terrorism.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

But bin Laden was a particularly bad guy, wasn’t he?  After all he was allegedly behind the 9/11 bombings.  He was the titular head of al Qaeda which had pledged to destroy America.  Didn’t he deserve to die?

In contrast, consider:

1. Bin Laden, the mythical cave-dwelling monster, the evil incarnate, only died in the physical sense.  You can’t kill myths with bullets.  People don’t deserve to die because we give them the label “terrorist.”  And they don’t, because the label clings to them in death.  Mythmaking, idolatry, survives.
2. Al Qaeda, has no hierarchy, no headquarters.  Principles and methods alone define its loose and open system.  The ideology that unites and directs al Qaeda is not only undamaged by bullets, but may actually be validated and reinforced by them.  In consequence, Bin Laden may be more inspiring and influential in al Qaeda dead than alive.
3. We need to ask ourselves metaphorically, “What is the best way to get rid of malaria?”  Is it better to try to kill every mosquito on the planet, or would it be better to drain the swamps where they breed?  Isn’t the Arab spring of political transformation in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya a more effective long-term answer to Arab aspirations?

There is, therefore, very little practical effect of that highly publicized raid into Pakistan.  Revenge was the only outcome.  We did it for revenge.  We, the United States, that self-styled bastion of freedom and human rights, we did this. And, ironically, wasn’t revenge also the motive for 9/11?  Wasn’t that supposed to be a blow against the evil empire that had oppressed the Muslim world for generations?  Haven’t we ourselves been diminished by our response to Islamist violence?   Haven’t we lost the moral high ground?

Still I felt good that we had finally tracked Bin Laden down while at the same time feeling bad that my country had stooped to a meaningless assassination in the name of revenge.

I do want peace in the world, I do try to cultivate peace in my heart.  But as author Rabbi Michael Lerner says,

(T)he fact remains that it is through new policies of generosity and caring for others, not through killing the bad guys, that we will create a world of peace. To the extent that Americans celebrate the death of bin Laden because they believe that it will bring peace to the world, I want to acknowledge the goodness and decency of that aspiration. Yet we as spiritual progressives must simultaneously help our fellow Americans, indeed, our fellow human beings in every society, see that it is the path of nonviolence and the Strategy of Generosity that is the only path toward lasting peace on our planet.

And here is a similar statement from the Vatican, not well known as a bastion of progressiveness,

"In the face of a man's death, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibilities of each person before God and before men, and hopes and works so that every event may be the occasion for the further growth of peace and not of hatred."

The Dalai Lama had a particularly interesting response to Bin Laden’s killing.  He drew a distinction between the action and the actor. He said in the case of Bin Laden, his actions were of course destructive, since the September 11 events killed thousands of people. So his action must be brought to justice.  But for the actor himself, and for his wives and children, we must have compassion and genuine concern. Therefore any counter measure, no matter what form it takes, has to be compassionate action. The practice of forgiveness, does not mean that one should forget what has been done.  Hate the sin, love the sinner, in Christian parlance.

In our scripture from Acts this morning, faithful Christians ask, “What shall we do?”  Here’s what I think we can do to, in Peter’s words, “save ourselves from this corrupt generation.

• We can refrain from rejoicing.  We can stop gloating.  These only add sin to sin.  We can remember that there is no biblical justification for the creation of ‘us’ and ‘them.’
• We can have faith that God is at work here.  I don’t believe that God works on a tit for tat basis, but if the collapse of the twin towers is eventually seen to be part of a chain of events that results in the collapse of tyranny in the Arab world, I will look at it differently.
• We can confront our desire for revenge.  We can practice radical forgiveness.  We can certainly stop gloating over the death of fellow humans, no matter who they are.
• We can separate the actor and the actions.  We can condemn the sin and love the sinner, after all God does that for us.

Friends, we are in the Easter season.  While Bin Laden is dead, Christ lives and we live in Him.  Thanks be to God.

Amen.