The Mennonites believe that peace is the will of God, best
revealed in and through God's son Jesus Christ.
As Jesus resisted evil without violence, living the command to
"love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," we do the
same. We give our ultimate allegiance
and loyalty to Jesus Christ, resisting evil non-violently (but not passively),
pursuing justice in every way, and declaring all forms of violence as
evil. We work for justice through
healing, reconciliation, and restoration.
As Bruxy Cavey, pastor of The Meeting House in Canada,
continually states through sermons on peace and justice "Peace means that
we are willing to die for a cause but we aren't willing to kill
for a cause." This is not
cowardice: nobody would say that Jesus tackling evil head on through the cross
and his death was a cowardly act. It
takes great courage, great love of God, and great trust in Jesus.
Peace comes from a deep and profound since of God's love for
us - not just for ourselves but for every human being, all of whom are made in
the image of God. We are willing to be
crucified on another's behalf, but are not willing to kill someone else whom
God loves.
This is the call of the Kingdom of God in a world which
likes to see themselves as God's "righteous hand of justice and fury"
who like to "speak softly and carry a really big stick." It is natural to want to retaliate against
those who harm us, to want to inflict punishment on wrong doers, to enact the
best defense of the innocent (and the best defense is a really strong offense
of course!). Yet, that is not the
straight and narrow path that Jesus showed us; instead Jesus showed us
the cross and told his followers to pick it up and follow him.
This is difficult to swallow and difficult to
understand. But I think a spiritual
discipline here can help us to understand this - pray the prayer of St. Patrick
and imagine everyone you meet to have Christ in them - even those who
are seeking to harm you. Then stop
imagining, and when you are out and about, look at each person as someone made in
the image of Christ, however lost they may be. How would we then act?
The prayer of St. Patrick:
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit, Christ where I arise,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Salvation is of the Lord.
Salvation is of the Christ.
May your salvation, Lord, be ever with us.
Want to learn more?
Here is Article 22 of the Mennonite Confession of faith: http://www.mennoniteusa.org/about/confession-of-faith-in-a-mennonite-perspective-1995/article-22-peace/
Bruxy Cavey's excellent sermons on peace are available on
YouTube by searching "Peaceworks." The first episode is linked below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuTBiX_rO_Q&list=PL7P2ScxKfB0AIV4zAJyYhVyeXU0OSErHT
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