The Enemy is Violence

Living in the Spirit
June 19, 2018

Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 17:1-23, 32-49

The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. The Philistine said to David, ‘Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, ‘Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.’ But David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hand.’ –1 Samuel 17:41-47

That was then, this is now. Now rather than turning to violence to gain freedom from an enemy, our youth are campaigning for the end of violence which is the enemy. Complex issues surround war, police-related shootings, and school massacres. We can wring our hands and cry woe is me ignoring our collusion in reinforcing the enemy of violence or we can turn away from our covert or overt support of violence exploring better and more productive ways to address the issues that challenge us.

I heard on the news recently that a fleeing suspected criminal had crossed the border entering Oklahoma from another state when a local deputy stopped the car. He encountered a man holding a gun to his own head and the deputy chose to shoot the gun from the man’s hand. I do not know the details and events may have been markedly different than the brief report I heard, but I must say besides being a pretty good shot, it seems to me the deputy had his heart in the right place. Indeed, shooting a gun from someone’s hand is violent, it is not fatal. I do not envy the police. They have a very tough job and must make a split second decision that can have devastating consequences. The morality of their actions must be built into their being before they get into those situations.

Isn’t that true for all of us as we attempt to love like Jesus in every aspect of our lives? We must nurture the desire to love God and to love one another and allow it to grow throughout our whole being to be able to have such love flow when we are operating in routine and extraordinary experiences of life.

Prayer: Lord, create in me a clean heart and a right spirit so that my ability to love first is well formed. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.