The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor

 © 2024, Dr. Tamilio

We don’t talk about politics in this church.  It isn’t just because we do not want the IRS to rescind our nonprofit status, which can happen if a church endorses any candidate running for any office.  That is why the “No Politics” signs have been placed all around this building.  We also adopted this policy because we honor and respect the variety of political opinions to which our members and friends adhere.  You can be the most conservative Republican, the most liberal Democrat, or someone in the middle of these poles — you are welcome here and you will be respected.  We stay out of the political business.

That said, there are times when an event occurs that requires theological reflection.  This is not to promote or support a particular policy, but, rather, to shine the light of the Gospel on what is happening.

Last Thursday night, I turned on the news to find that Israel had attacked Iran.  This was in response to attacks levied against Israel by Iran less than a week prior.  The fear is that this could be the beginning of World War III.  There are various reasons for such concern.  One has to do with international politics.  Historic, ancient grievances pit old rivals against one another.  People ask, “Will the United States side with Israel while our ‘enemies,’ namely Russia and China, take up arms to defend Iran?”  Others wonder if there will be a more theological basis for this conflict.  They think (but might be hesitant to ask), “Is this going to lead to a holy war, with Jews and Christians on one side and Muslims on the other?”  Still others might quote that song by Edwin Starr: “War, huh, what is it good for?  Absolutely nothing.”  The first verse of that song is particularly powerful:

War, I despise

‘Cause it means destruction of innocent lives

War means tears to thousands of mothers’ eyes

When their sons go off to fight and lose their lives

Great Motown music aside, there is a deeper problem that ongoing conflicts in the Middle East pose to Christians in general, and certainly Christians in the United States.  We are a nation divided, and our divisions are based largely on political ideology.  We all know this.  Republicans think a certain way.  Democrats think a certain way.  Conservatives think a certain way.  Liberals think a certain way.  All of this is fine; it highlights a type of diversity that exists in this great melting pot.  The problem is that political divisions have made us enemies.  They become the lines we draw in the sand.  Those who are not with me are against me.  I fear that if we continue fighting one another, it will be easy for an enemy to defeat us.  As Jesus said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand” (Matthew 12:25).

What is the great danger of our being divided?  We need to go back five centuries before Jesus was born.  Many politicians adhere to the teachings of the ancient Chinese military strategist and philosopher Sun Tzu, especially as explicated in his often-cited book The Art of War.  Sun Tzu believed that the best way to fight your enemy is to not fight.  If you can get your enemies to fight themselves, then you can essentially win the war without firing a shot.  It is the divide-and-conquer mentality.

The United States is a house divided.  Pick an issue and we disagree: gun rights, abortion, immigration, global warming, race relations, education, gender identity…  We don’t even agree to disagree!  Those who have a different opinion than us are the enemy.  There’s no room for dialogue.  Why would I seek a compromise with someone who is wrong!

Are we on the brink of the next World War?  I hope not, for, as Albert Einstein said, “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but [if there is a World War III, then] World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”  As Denzel Washington’s character says in the movie Crimson Tide, “in the nuclear world, the true enemy is war itself.”  There are several major wars currently gripping this planet: Russia vs. Ukraine, Israel vs. Palestine, and now Israel vs. Iran.  There are other conflicts that we typically do not hear or think about to the same extent: those being fought in Syria, Myanmar, Yemen, Somalia, Mali, and Haiti.  Add to this gang warfare, drug wars, battles over human trafficking, and the hate that divides people along racial, social, and even religious grounds, then it seems as if humanity is devolving, not evolving.  We are constantly courting death.

So where am I going with all this?

I think I am saying that the state of the world, and the imminent threat of escalated global war, fills me with fear and dread.  War is knocking on our door; we are not just hearing fist-pounding echoes from foreign lands.  I am deeply concerned about the state of the world.  But then I come to church.  I open the Bible.  I read about Jesus as the Good Shepherd and remember memorizing Psalm 23 many, many years ago in Sunday school.  There is another way: the way of peace and reconciliation.  Isaiah’s vision needs to become a reality: we need to beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks.

Regardless of your political orientation, regardless of how you understand war and whether you think it is ever justified, we, as Christians, worship Jesus of Nazareth and follow his teachings, especially as they have been cataloged in the Gospels and the other New Testament writings.  Jesus did not advocate violence — the cleansing of the Temple of the moneychangers with a whip notwithstanding.  He taught us to turn the other cheek, to love and pray for our enemies, to not seek an eye for an eye, and that those of us who live by the sword will die by the sword.  Can you imagine what the world would look like if it followed these teachings?  Can you imagine what the Ecumenical Church would look like if we gave more than lip service to our faith?

There is an old expression that you may have seen on a bumper sticker before: think globally, act locally.  It means that you cannot change the world, but you can certainly change your corner of it.  The idea is that if enough of us change things locally, we will eventually change the world.  That is what Jesus calls us to do.  This is what he meant (in part) when he asked us to make disciples of all nations.  Get enough of the world to follow me, and we will change it.

The Apostle Paul said, “I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together” (2 Cor. 7:3).  The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said something similar: “We must either learn to live together as brothers [and sisters] or we are all going to perish together as fools.”

In an article in The New York Times, Chris Hedges reminds us that over “the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them or just 8 percent of recorded history.”[1]  Maybe it is time to give peace a chance.  Maybe it is time for us to live our faith?  What if we did?  What if we were really guided by Christian values?  What if we embraced the principles that Jesus taught?  Jesus is the shepherd who leads us into green pastures by still waters.  He restores our souls.  He leads us into all righteousness.  Psalm 23 is a vision of true peace.

May the peace of our Good Shepherd, that peace like a river, fill our souls and, from there, may it wash over and cleanse the entire planet.  Amen.

[1] Chris Hedges, “What Every Person Should Know About War” from The New York Times (online):