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[27
April 2008]
Micah 4:1-4
Many of us will have at some point over the last few days spent some
time remembering the sacrifice of young men and women as they served in
the armed forces and in other ways in the interests of our nation.
Soldiers, airmen, sailors, supporting personnel, medical staff and others.
Young men and women who have fought in South Africa, the First and Second
World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands and other
places. They have served because they have wanted to stand up against
something they and our nation has seen to be wrong. Some have died, some
have been damaged physically or mentally, the costs have been very high in
this little nation of ours. It has been good to honour and remember wars
and those who fought in them.
But I also want to share with you a story.
Fred was someone I knew…he’s now died.
Fred served in the Pacific during the Second World War. Immediately
after the war he was sent to Japan to observe the effects of the atomic
bomb. One of his first tasks was to survey the damage particularly how the
factories had survived. The devastation he observed was nothing like he
imagined. The huge blast created winds that had flattened everything. Fred
honestly felt the bomb saved lives possibly his own.
But as he walked through the flattened rubble he passed by a pile of
bricks that were fashioned into a makeshift shelter. Suddenly a little
girl appeared. She looked like she was about five years old. She was dirty
and her clothes were ragged and falling off her. This pathetic little
creature looked numb and blank….her whole world had been blown apart and
she was alone with no-one to look after her.
At this point there was a tear in Fred’s eyes. It was as if the 85
year old soldier could picture the scene as if it were yesterday. “She
was just a child and none of this was her fault”, he said as the tears
came. “I knew she would die soon from the radiation and I felt so
helpless.”
Then Fred reflected with real passion in his voice. “That’s war,
and that’s why I hate it!” Fred believed it was right he went to war.
Someone had to stand up against the Hitler’s and others. His experience
of war left him with a haunting question that he voiced, “But surely we
can find a better way?”
The prophet Micah in the Old Testament spoke from the heart and mind of
God when he said these words;
God will settle arguments between the nations and they will beat their
swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will
not lift up sword against nation and they will study war no more. What an
amazing image. Other prophets like Isaiah used the same image of weapons
of war and destruction being turned into implements that are used to grow
food and feed people. Swords turned into ploughshares and spears turned
into pruning hooks. It’s an image that needs to be heard in a world
where the arms trade amounts to something like one thousand billion
dollars each year. Can you just imagine what could be done with that money
if it were put to productive use. We currently have the crazy situation of
a boat load of arms trying to get into Zimbabwe to prop up a corrupt
dictator while the people starve, and while it’s useless going to
hospital because there are no drugs and medications left to treat people.
For God’s sake get the boat back to China, get a refund, and put the
money into productive work. Dwight D. Eisenhower while still President of
the United States made the comment that every gun that is made, every
warship that is launched and every rocket that is fired in the final sense
is a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and
not clothed. I wish presidents who came after him espoused the same idea,
for then America would not hold the dubious honor of being by far the
biggest producer of arms in the world today. It doesn’t sit well with me
that a nation which proclaims to be Christian and uphold the ways of
Christ could allow this, but I just cant understand that a would be
president could cajole the popular vote by proclaiming that if Iran
attacked Israel we’d just annihilate them. What we need to hear is how
the tanks can be turned into tractors, the stockpile of arms turned into
water storage and irrigation systems, and the bombs into bread.
The prophet Micah has an image of peace where weapons of death are used
to nurture life and it is rooted in a very different reality. They will
not make war again, nor will they even learn about war, for everyone will
find rest beneath their own fig trees and grape vines, and no-one shall
make them afraid. What is Micah getting at here? Why does he start talking
about everyone having their own little bit of land growing their own fig
trees and grapes, and no-one living in fear? Micah is seeing into the mind
of God, and God knows that you can have all the military hardware you
like, superiority and numbers of military personnel, but until all the
inhabitants of this earth have their own little bit of the global economy
and a stake in the world then peace just isn’t going to happen. Until
people feel they are contributing to their local community, making their
way with a meaningful job, and have a security and a good future for their
family then peace will remain an elusive dream. It is something I wish
more leaders would understand; that more arms, the latest technology for
the army, and more violence isn’t going to bring security to our
world. This can only happen when all people who are able have meaningful
work, when people feel they are caring well for their families, when there
are not obscene differentials of wealth and opportunity, corruption is
replaced with justice, and no-one lives in fear of another. Micah and the
prophets of the Old Testament proclaim this theme over and over. You have
to deal with the root causes of insecurity and war and these root causes
are issues that come down to individuals and communities. Meaningful work,
families getting a fair deal, justice for all, trust and understanding
instead of walls and fear.
One of the interesting things I discovered when I visited Israel was
that archeologists had discovered as they dug down in the ruins of ancient
towns periods of time when the houses were more of less the same size, and
the artifacts showed that a relative equality between the people. During
these periods the prophets were silent. There was no Micah or Amos, or
Jeremiah or Isaiah because there was nothing to say. But then dig down to
other periods like the eight century and you find remains of small shacks
and in another part of town great mansions along with opulence and
artifacts of great cost. It was during these times that the prophets rose
up to proclaim the judgment and justice of God. It was during these times
that national security also began to crumble and threats and rumours of
war began to circulate.
Issues of global poverty, fair trade, education and meaningful work for
all, overcoming corruption, building bridges of understanding, these are
the things that will bring true security to our world. Fred asked the
haunting question, “is there a better way?”, and Micah thunders his
answer from the heart and mind of God, “there is!”
I celebrate ANZAC day because I believe it is good to remember. I want
to remember and honour the sacrifice and service of my forebears and
others who fought and served in World Wars, in Korea, in Vietnam, in the
Pacific Islands, but I don’t want to glorify war. I want to hear the
wisdom of the Fred’s of the world. I want to learn of the better way.
I understand that the United States government pumps over a billion
dollars a week into the sick and evil conflict in Iraq and I dream of how
that resource of capital could be used in the world. I wish I could say it
is bringing peace and security, but I think we all know otherwise. But it
is easy to point the finger. The better way begins with you and me. It
begins in each of us and in the way we treat one another with respect. It
begins in people who choose to make the effort to begin to understand
those who are different to us and to see in every human being the presence
of the divine God. It begins when we understand peace doesn’t come with
military might but when we deal with global issues of poverty, fair trade,
corruption, justice, and meaningful work. Jesus did not call us to be
peace lovers, but peace makers.
Dugald Wilson
April 27 2008
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