February 4th, 2025
by Heather Brown
by Heather Brown
FEBRUARY 2025
Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9)
Dear Friends in Christ,
In these past weeks I have been dismayed by the violent conflicts taking place around the world. It seems that images of war and bloodshed from the Ukraine, Israel/Palestine, the Sudan, the Congo and elsewhere loom large in the media. And here in the USA, I am weary of the gun violence that plagues our communities. I long for destruction and heartache to end so that children, families, and all others can feel safe and free from fear.
In 1995, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America released a social statement called “For Peace in God’s World.” In recent years, people have taken a renewed interest in this document and the wisdom it offers as to how Christians can work toward global peace.
In the social statement,
“For Peace in God’s World,” it reads: We of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America share with the Church of Jesus Christ in all times and places the calling to be peacemakers. In the liturgy of Holy Communion we pray ‘for the peace of the whole world,’ asking, ‘Lord, have mercy.’ Our petition unites faith in the Triune God with our world’s sufferings and hopes… The basis of the Church’s peace-calling is in God’s final peace, the peace of God’s eternal reign. That calling is to proclaim the Gospel of God’s final peace and to work for earthly peace.
Indeed, throughout the Scriptures we see that God’s ultimate desire is that peace prevail on the earth. This is the example Jesus Christ has given us:
◆ Jesus taught love for one’s enemies;
◆ he reached out to those who were oppressed, downtrodden, and rejected;
◆ he prayed for his enemies while himself being rejected on the cross;
◆ above all, through Jesus’ violent death, God redeemed the world, “for...while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son” (Romans 5:10).
How can we as Christians promote the peace of Christ in our world? The social statement spells it out quite clearly: Where the Church lives in unity, overcoming divisions and welcoming the stranger and outcast, the Church contributes to earthly peace. Where the followers of Jesus refuse to repay evil with evil but turn the other cheek and go the extra mile (Matthew 5:38-42), where in their life together Christians’ creative, nonviolent responses to hostile acts open up possibilities for reconciliation, the Church contributes to earthly peace.
Where churches in different countries work in solidarity for human dignity, the Church contributes to earthly peace. Peace in the community of faith serves by example the ministry and message of reconciliation entrusted to the Church for the world (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).
May we all heed the words of Jesus’s Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12): “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” And as Edwin Markham so wisely stated, “We have committed the Golden Rule to memory; now let us commit it to life.”
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus Christ, help us to be expressions of your love in the world, both as individual members of your body and as your whole body, the Church. Empower us to support one another as we seek to build peace. Amen.
In Christ,
Pastor Heather
Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9)
Dear Friends in Christ,
In these past weeks I have been dismayed by the violent conflicts taking place around the world. It seems that images of war and bloodshed from the Ukraine, Israel/Palestine, the Sudan, the Congo and elsewhere loom large in the media. And here in the USA, I am weary of the gun violence that plagues our communities. I long for destruction and heartache to end so that children, families, and all others can feel safe and free from fear.
In 1995, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America released a social statement called “For Peace in God’s World.” In recent years, people have taken a renewed interest in this document and the wisdom it offers as to how Christians can work toward global peace.
In the social statement,
“For Peace in God’s World,” it reads: We of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America share with the Church of Jesus Christ in all times and places the calling to be peacemakers. In the liturgy of Holy Communion we pray ‘for the peace of the whole world,’ asking, ‘Lord, have mercy.’ Our petition unites faith in the Triune God with our world’s sufferings and hopes… The basis of the Church’s peace-calling is in God’s final peace, the peace of God’s eternal reign. That calling is to proclaim the Gospel of God’s final peace and to work for earthly peace.
Indeed, throughout the Scriptures we see that God’s ultimate desire is that peace prevail on the earth. This is the example Jesus Christ has given us:
◆ Jesus taught love for one’s enemies;
◆ he reached out to those who were oppressed, downtrodden, and rejected;
◆ he prayed for his enemies while himself being rejected on the cross;
◆ above all, through Jesus’ violent death, God redeemed the world, “for...while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son” (Romans 5:10).
How can we as Christians promote the peace of Christ in our world? The social statement spells it out quite clearly: Where the Church lives in unity, overcoming divisions and welcoming the stranger and outcast, the Church contributes to earthly peace. Where the followers of Jesus refuse to repay evil with evil but turn the other cheek and go the extra mile (Matthew 5:38-42), where in their life together Christians’ creative, nonviolent responses to hostile acts open up possibilities for reconciliation, the Church contributes to earthly peace.
Where churches in different countries work in solidarity for human dignity, the Church contributes to earthly peace. Peace in the community of faith serves by example the ministry and message of reconciliation entrusted to the Church for the world (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).
May we all heed the words of Jesus’s Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12): “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” And as Edwin Markham so wisely stated, “We have committed the Golden Rule to memory; now let us commit it to life.”
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus Christ, help us to be expressions of your love in the world, both as individual members of your body and as your whole body, the Church. Empower us to support one another as we seek to build peace. Amen.
In Christ,
Pastor Heather
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