If I were on to preach this weekend...

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"God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something..."

Blessed are the poor in spirit, the kingdom of heaven is theirs.  Blessed are the meek, they will inherit the earth...Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the kingdom of heaven is theirs.  Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of my name, your reward will be great in heaven.

With so many people calling for peace in our times, why are so many people deaf to them?  From all parts of the earth, people are living in fear and trepidation because of the actions of a few.  Was it originally fear that made the US great?  Does anyone remember the Cold War?  Two superpowers always trying to out-gun the other.  Their leaders certainly would have had the backbone to fire nuclear missiles if they were pushed.  But that was not the case.  They didn't need to go there.  But the threat was still real for many people.

Who will be the fool who shames the wise?  Who is weak enough to shame the strong?  This question goes on and on in our own United States.  Many people are living in nightmare conditions in cities across the nation.  Occupying cities?  The bishop to the military a few weeks ago told the troops that it is not immoral to disobey an immoral order from their superiors.  What might have happened in WWII if there was someone in Germany who stood up to Adolf Hitler, or a group of someones who truly wanted an end to the war, who felt that no race is superior to another?  How many people would not have died in concentration camps?  But that didn't happen and MANY men and women lost their lives -- some of those men and women probably didn't want to battle their fellow human beings.

This is still going on.  

Unfortunately this sort of thing has gone on for centuries, even into biblical times.  I'm sure that some of the Israelites in Jesus' day truly thought that Jesus was the one who was going to lead them to overthrow Rome's tyranny and end their occupation in Israel.  Heck, even Judas thought that at first.

Peace, my friends, is not simply the absence of war.  Peace is that true sense of calm when human beings can show that they care about their fellow human beings.  Peace is realizing that God created us in his image and likeness.  Peace is believing that humanity is and has been saved by the blood of Jesus, not by his wielding of a sword, but nails through his hands and his feet.  That is peace.  Until humanity gets that through our thick skulls, there will be no true peace.

Let's continue to pray for people who are in harms way.

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