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The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans,
encourages all Christians with these words: ‘Do your
part to live in peace with everyone, as much as
possible’ (Romans 12:18 )
People often quote these passages to condemn war.
However, when you look at the bible as a whole there are
just as many references to war in the bible as there are
to peace.
You have heard these words of King Solomon from
Ecclesiastes this morning:
‘There is a time for war and a time for peace’ but when
is there a time for war?
1.
A time for war is when freedom is to be defended.
Throughout the book of Judges, God calls the Israelites
to go to war. Why? Because these nations were trying to
conquer Israel. They were called to defend themselves.
When you need to defend yourself it might be necessary
to go to war.
The birth of our nation involved war. The freedom our
ancestors enjoyed couldn't happen without war.
2.
A time for war is to defend innocent people.
Solomon gave this advice in Proverbs 21:15. ‘Justice is
a joy to the godly, but it causes dismay among
evildoers’.Circle the word justice. We are interested in more than
peace. We are concerned about justice as well. Peace
without justice is appeasement. God is not only a God of
peace, he is also the God of justice.
Again, listen to what God said in Micah 6:8. ‘He has
shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD
require of you, But to do justly, To love mercy, And to
walk humbly with your God?’
There are times when war must be fought to defend the
innocent. Real peace cannot happen without justice.
John Stewart Mills said, ‘A man who has nothing which he
is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares about
more than his personal safety, is a miserable creature
who has no chance of being free.’
3.
Another time for war is to stop the spread of evil.
The spread of evil must be stopped, even at the cost of
human lives. If we do not stop the spread of evil, many
innocent lives will be lost and the kingdom of God
suffers.
You may say, ‘Doesn’t the sixth commandment say, “Thou
shalt not kill.”? No. It says “Thou shalt not commit
murder.”
There is a difference between killing and murdering. And
the law recognises that. If you kill someone in self
defence that is not murder, if you defend someone else
and in doing so kill someone that is not murder. Killing
in war time is not murder.
No
one wants to kill but some times it is necessary. So
before war we must work for peace, remembering that war
must always be a last resort
What about during war?
How do we respond during times of war? What do we do?
1.
Pray. Paul exhorts us in 1 Timothy 2:1-2 with these
words: ‘I urge you, first of all, to pray for all
people. As you make your requests, plead for God’s mercy
upon them, and give thanks. Pray this way for all others
who are in authority, so that we can live in peace and
quietness, in godliness and dignity.’
2.
Trust God. Listen to the words of Psalm 27:1, 3. ‘The
LORD is my light and my salvation, so why should I be
afraid? The LORD protects me from danger, so why should
I tremble? Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart
will know no fear. Even if they attack me, I remain
confident.’
3.
Seek peace. ‘Do your part to live in peace with
everyone, as much possible’ (Romans 12:18).
We
must do all we can to work for a peaceful solution, even
if the solution involves war.
During times of crisis we need to pull together and
support one another. Whatever you think of the Iraq war,
our military personnel need our support. Their families
need our support.
So
what about after war?
Freedom is a gift bestowed on mankind by God. God gave
each one of us a free will - and the freedom to make our
own choices in life.
Many evil regimes over the centuries have attempted to
stifle the freedom of their people, and stifle freedom
of speech.
Many over the centuries have fought and died for freedom
and the freedom we enjoy today was bought for us at a
great price. It is indeed a privilege to live in a free
country; to walk down the streets in safety, to speak
freely, to demonstrate about something. These freedoms
are what make our country great, and were bought at a
great price.
I
am, however, more than a little worried about what’s
happening to our freedom in this country.
Many have died during the wars for freedom and
especially our freedom of speech and yet we all have to
be careful what we say for fear of the politically
correct brigade chasing after us.
Political correctness is out of hand in our country.
Don't get me wrong, of course we need laws to prevent
the abuse that went on in the past but that's not what
I’m talking about here.
I’m talking about the crackpots who brought us Ba Ba
green sheep, chalk boards and festive lights. We are so
politically correct in this country we are staring into
our own navels and missing what is really going on
around us.
Why am I saying this on Remembrance Sunday?
Well, my great grandfather died and my grandfather
fought so that I might have freedom of speech and little
by little the PC crackpots are taking that away from us
= and that should worry us all.
The freedom that makes this country great was bought at
a great price; we need to cherish it and hold onto it.
Peace and freedom are worth fighting for. My grandfather
and great grandfather were both in the wars. They
believed peace and freedom were worth fighting for; so
much so that they gave their lives.
Let us enjoy and cherish and hold on to the freedom and
peace we enjoy.
To
conclude: Before war ever happens, we must be sure we have
exhausted all avenues, war must be a last resort.
During war we must pray, we must trust God, and support
our servicemen and their families
After war ends we need to cherish and hold on to the
liberties we enjoy, and remember freedom was bought at a
great price.
That is why we remember. |
