A Prayer for Peace

In the chapter 21 of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is asked about the beautiful stones and decorations in the Temple, and he responds by saying that there will be not one stone left upon another that will not be thrown down (speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple). His disciples ask him when this will happen and he tells them not to be deceived or misled by anyone. Nation will rise against nation, there will be wars and rumors of wars but do not be terrified, for these things will happen but it still won't be the end. In spite of how terrifying the signs will be, God is firmly in control. And they shouldn't be misled or deceived, because they have the witness of the scriptures.

Sometimes we want to apply these "end times" conditions to our time and say, "this must it."

After all, when in human history has there not been wars and rumors of wars? But Jesus warns his disciples that everything happens in God's time and under his control. They need to only watch and pray at all times. So it is scripturally sound that, in our current climate of war and nation rising against nation, we gather together to pray.

The scriptural teaching is that God is not only the God of Israel, but also of the nations. Even the ones we perceive as our enemies, the ones we want to wage war against are, like we are, servants of the one God who is sovereign and extends his grace to whom he wills, even the ones we think of as our enemies. This last point is illustrated forcefully in the passage I want to read today.

In chapter 4 of the Gospel of Luke, we hear that Jesus is in Nazareth, the place where he was brought up, in the synagogue on the Sabbath, and he is handed the scroll to read. After he reads from Isaiah the prophet he says "today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." Then all the people wonder and question, "isn't this Joseph's son?" The people in Nazareth reason that since he is "from" them he is their homeboy and will do some wonders for his own people. Jesus knows this and calls them out on it. He cites two examples from scripture in which God's favor was shown to outsiders: The raising of the widow's son in Zarephath by Elijah in 1 Kings 17; and the healing from leprosy of Naaman the Syrian by Elisha in 2 Kings 5. In both cases, Jesus emphasizes that there were many in need in Israel, and yet the prophets of God were sent only to the widow in Zerephath, and only to Naaman the Syrian. The one God of Scripture is God of all and he extends his grace and mercy upon whom he wills, even to the ones who, according to us, shouldn’t receive it. This infuriates the people in the synagogue so much that they throw him out and attempt to kill him.