Reflections on the Christian Lectionary on the Tenth Anniversary of 9-11

The Egyptians said, "Let us flee from the Israelites, for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt." Exodus 14:25

Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. Matthew 18:21-22

On the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the Revised Common Lectionary offers us two texts, both with something important to say, neither of which alone says everything which must be said.

The "us" of our concern, of course, is the church of Jesus Christ. While those of us who assemble in military chapels this Sunday morning closely identify with the armed forces, its mission and its members, it is not as "the Army" that we meet together in this place. "Brothers in arms" and "brothers in Christ" are not coextensive groups. Here, gathered around the font where we were baptized into Christ, the table where we share Holy Communion, and the pulpit where the word of God is proclaimed, we are one with Christ's church in every age and every place. We are members of the one body of Christ, along with God's people from every nation, race and tongue. At this moment, we are not primarily American warriors who happen to be Christians; we are Christians who happen to be members of the armed forces of the United States. There is something even bigger than America and its battles to which we belong.

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Still, those of us who have been deeply involved in our nation's conflicts for the past ten years will, perhaps, hear these texts somewhat differently than others in Christ's church.

Exodus 14:19-31

Exodus 14:19-31 gives us the story of the crossing of the Red Sea. The text is very military in its language; this is perhaps most evident to readers with a background in military operations. When the Egyptian army cornered the Israelites at the Red Sea, the angel of the Lord provided forward and rear security for the Israelite army. The cloud of God's presence screened the Israelite army's movements and the pillar of fire gave it the ability to maneuver at night. When the wind parted the waters of the sea, Israel was able to conduct a secure and orderly withdrawal. The Egyptians pursued the Israelites, but the Lord had set a trap for them: the muddy terrain was highly unfavorable for chariots and severely limited their mobility. The Lord then disrupted Egyptian command and control (i.e., threw them into confusion), setting the final condition for his decisive counterstrike against the Egyptian army. The battle culminated when the pathway through the water closed and the Egyptian army – unable to move or control its forces – drowned in the sea.

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: "I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. "The LORD is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name. (Exodus 15:1-3)

The Lord is a warrior. At the Red Sea, he fought for the Israelites against the Egyptians. "Ah," we might think. "The Lord will fight for us, too." Will not the Lord avenge the 9/11 attacks? In our fight against al Qaeda and its kindred web of terrorists, will not the Lord fight for us?

But now we are confusing pronouns. The "us" of the American Overseas Contingency Operations is not the church. America and its allies are not God's covenant nation of Israel. If America wants to survive, it needs to make sure that it doesn't turn itself into another Egypt or Babylon or Rome, but the country should never think of itself as God's new chosen nation.

At its best, the western struggle against violent extremists is a struggle for a just peace. Here we find ourselves in the messy world of international politics and civil justice. America's war may be a relatively just war, but it is just a war. Certainly Christians pray that earthly powers succeed in their defense of the innocent, but we should never confuse our nation's wars with the wars of God.

In fact, God has shown us another side of himself since he drowned the Egyptian army in the Red Sea.

Then Jesus said to [Peter], "Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? (Matthew 26:52-53)

God's covenant people no longer have an army. We fight a different kind of battle. God's greatest victory came on a cross.

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:15)

Before we move on, however, we should carry one thing with us that Israel learned at the Red Sea. God will be victorious. The Lord will defeat the powers that oppose him. Nothing has changed there. The New Testament looks forward to the day of God's final victory, not just over the evil political rulers of earthly empires, but over everything that threatens God's loving intention for his creation and his people.

For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15:25-26)

If we think only of our nation's immediate political struggles, we are thinking too small. The victory that God brings is bigger than that. God's victory over sin, death and destructive powers of every sort belongs to the people of God in Jesus Christ, not to any nation-state on the face of the earth.

Matthew 18:21-35

The gospel lection is Matthew 18:21-35. Peter asked Jesus, "How many times should I forgive a brother or a sister if they sin against me? Seven times?" I am sure that Peter thought that forgiving someone seven times would be extraordinarily gracious, just the kind of thing that God would expect of him. After all, Jesus had taught the disciples to pray, "Forgive us our debts,  as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matthew 6:12) and had taught them, "if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins " (Matthew 6:14-15). The coming of the kingdom was an opportunity for repentance (Matthew 3:2, Matthew 4:17), but God required the person who sought forgiveness to offer forgiveness as well. That is the point of the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 21:35). Those who want to receive mercy must be merciful.

"So," Peter asked, "should I forgive my brother seven times?" If I forgave someone seven times, I'm sure that I would be at the end of my rope with that person. Our culture teaches us, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." Who could really forgive someone seven times?

"Not seven times," Jesus said, "but seventy-seven times." There really is no limit on forgiveness.

In Matthew, this saying is set within a block of instruction concerning life within the church. If a brother or sister sins against you, approach them privately at first. If this doesn't solve the problem, take along a few other church members to discuss the issue. If this still doesn't solve the problem, get the whole church involved. Then everyone has to live with the church's decision (which will really be God's decision). Those who are unwilling to do so must be expelled from the assembly (Matthew 18:15-19),

Specifically, then, Matthew was concerned here with life in the church, not world politics or the just use of force. However, I generally view everything that Jesus said and did through the lens of Jesus' primary message: the kingdom of God is at hand. Everything Jesus said and did is a prophetic sign of the coming of God's kingdom. Just as Jesus' ministry offered God's extravagant forgiveness to the penitent sons and daughters of Abraham, so the church is to be a place of forgiveness. Both Jesus' ministry of forgiveness and the church's life of reconciliation are signs of what is to come: the reconciliation of all things.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossian 1:19-20)

If it is true that God will someday crush all evil powers, it is also true that the purpose of Jesus' life was the reconciliation of all creation through his death on the cross. And if the efforts of the American military reflect in some small way God's intent to establish justice on earth, the efforts of those who bear the name of Christ ought even more to reflect his determination to bring all creation into the peace of reconciliation. Neither vengeance nor even civil justice is our ultimate aim or desire. The object of our labors is to build a better peace now. What we hope for, long for and pray for is in the perfect peace yet to come.

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