In 1934 the poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote, "Be patient to all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves."

In my youth, and for many years beyond, I was not able to understand this. In my impatience with things that were unsolved in my heart, I didn’t sit with the questions, but rushed to answers. Among other things, I believed that there were clear answers to most moral problems. Issues were more black and white for me in those days. The questions usually were limited to which end of the ethical spectrum was correct…the answers to which were essentially yeses or nos. This clarity worked in many situations, but definitely not all. Needless to say, if one does not concern oneself with the myriad shades of gray… and decisions are based on clearly contrasting polar points, yes and no answers are easier. Choosing one shade of gray over another shade of gray obviously requires greater effort and is more difficult. The siren’s song of simple solutions lured me away from doing the hard work.

Along with being simplistic in complex issues, I greatly enjoyed the comfort of righteous indignation … even when the cause was righteous. I still must confess pride in losing my first two jobs as a priest over the issues of civil rights and the Vietnam War. (I was for one and a’gin the other. I’ll leave it to you to figure out which was which. However, if you think I was for Vietnam and against civil rights, we need to talk!)

Along with so many other people, peace was my battle cry in the ‘60s... and essentially it still is. However, over the years, many of us have learned that there is no lasting or meaningful peace without justice.

Last Sunday, Father Don Fox suggested we use the question, "What would Jesus do" as the standard on which we should base our life decisions. Don, of course, is right, but even that question is not so simple.

For one, to have a serious idea as to what Jesus would do, we need a deeper understanding of Jesus’ teaching in the light of his view of the world and the context in which he lived. As one of the marginalized people in his own Hebrew culture – never mind Roman domination – Jesus knew that the power of the oppressed had to come from inner strength and liberation of spirit. Force of arms was a suicidal option. Every uprising in Israel had been brutally crushed… But is this true today? Our own nation is the child of armed revolution in which a relatively few oppressed patriots rose up against the greatest world power of the time … and won. I have to ask myself, how much of Jesus’ accommodation to Roman occupation was based on his common sense? When he experienced all the misery of his people, did Jesus really believe in peace at any price? … Or was inner peace not only more lasting, but the only peace the Hebrew people could achieve at the time? Jesus’ message of hope and freedom did not include a kingdom of this world, but a realm of God within our hearts and souls and minds… which force of arms could not destroy. No idea has ever been erased by military power alone.

Jesus firmly believed that the end of the world was near. Did this affect his views and teachings about maintaining peace and justice for a long future? Or, since time was short, and the Kingdom of God was at hand, did Jesus essentially look beyond the crises and needs of the world…because suffering and injustice would soon be over. This is an important question which scholars still consider. When we address present issues, we have to consider the short and the long term implications of our decisions.

When Jesus said that there was no joy greater than dedicating one’s life to the betterment of others (Greater joy has no-one than to give their life for a friend) did that necessarily exclude the benefits to society from serving in the military or the police … where arms are necessary for the protection of the rights of others?

When Jesus said "those who live by the sword shall die by the sword" was he condemning the need for any armed intervention or military option… or was he addressing the ultimate self-destruction of violent cultures and nations?

When Jesus taught us to love one another, including our enemies, did that mean we should abandon others to the enemy… and let the less fortunate be ground up in tyranny?

When Jesus insisted that we are our brother’s keeper and held up the Good Samaritan as the model for caring about people we do not even know … what were the limitations he placed on how we should relieve the desperate plight of others? Was our Lord really saying that we should actively love our neighbors as our selves as long as our aid did not require armed intervention? How long do you let others suffer or be threatened when reasonable appeals to the wrongdoers fail?

Lynn happily rehearsed us, two Sundays ago, in nine of the Ten Commandments. What was it about "Thou shall not kill" that still permitted the Hebrews to defend themselves against every foreign enemy … as well as seize the Promised Land by force? Is there a difference between murder and a military or police response to evil?

When Jesus promised us the gift of his peace – which he said was not as the world gives peace – what would he have said about preserving the peace in the world? What was the difference Jesus envisioned between that which was of God and the matters belonging to Caesar? Does God’s peace require pacifism… especially when reasonable efforts to restrain evil have not worked and great harm is being done?

In a perfect world, the innocent never would be harmed by the protectors of peace. Yet, because we sadly know that this is sometimes impossible, does this mean that the forces of evil should be allowed to carry the day and stand unopposed?

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions" It is so easy to have quick and ready answers… especially when your life and the safety of those you love are not at stake… and you consider "others" as not being your immediate neighbor. An imperfect world makes it is so hard (as Soren Kierkegaard said) "to work out your salvation in fear and trembling."

St Augustine wrote about the theoretically "just war." We all know that there have been very few "just wars." Yet even in our own time, many of us remember World War 2. The same arguments one hears today were used in America back then. "We are not the policemen of the world. This is not our business. This should not be our war." And Hitler and Tojo killed more and more millions of people. The righteous isolationists in our land carried the day… until most of the people of the world were on the brink of being lost for a very long time. We do not even have to imagine the dreadful suffering and carnage that would have continued had we, and our allies, not accepted our responsibility as citizens of the world. We know enough of what did happen.

The fall of South Korea would have been a proven, historic threat to Japan. I still can not fathom why diplomatic and economic relations with Ho Chi Min would not have been better for the Vietnamese people than the war. As we are seeing in China, the reasonable benefits of free trade and capitalistic initiative are powerful agents for social improvement… even though the problems of greed can be present in any economic systems. Reciprocal trade with communist countries has been our best weapon, and a sure way towards effecting democratic change.

Because of the Vietnam War, we have distrusted our government’s call to arms. This probably is the only blessing that emerged from that disaster. Yet, underneath it all, we know – and rely on – the benefits of a military that protects our land. We expect the power of our armed forces and our law enforcement agencies to preserve our peace. September 11 proved we are no longer immune from the world’s violence because of the oceans that used to protect us. Any civilized person yearns for peace, but are we saying "peace at any price?" In our love for all people, are we prepared to abandon all safeguards for good … wholly regardless of whatever constitutes a real and present danger to our citizens, country and people of other nations… such as the people of Iraq… who have lost well over a half million souls in 30 years of torture, gassings, rape, murder, and other unspeakable horrors… under the terror of Saddam Hussein.

Another question I am raising in this sermon simply is this, "What constitutes a proper response to the forces of evil when reason has failed and people are dying?" Turning the cheek 70 times 7 might be Godly for those who choose to do this, but can we impose this spiritual discipline on others who are desperate and without help? The Baptismal Covenant in our Prayer Book asks us "Will you persevere in resisting evil…" and "Will you strive for justice and peace among all people?" The question is, "What does this entail and what is excluded?"

Individually, and as a Christian Church, we need to ask, "What would Jesus do," but we also must move beyond righteous sound-bytes to the theological gray zone present in any honest struggle to meet the differing crises in ourselves and the world. Religious platitudes avoid the truth that we work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We pray with Jesus that God’s will may be done on earth as it is in heaven, but until that day comes … in the relative safety of our churches in this country, how many millions in our world today are we willing to abandon to evil …in the name of love? We can not take on every battle, figuratively or literally … but where we can make a realistic difference for good, we should. Our perseverance in resisting evil and striving for justice and peace among all people requires a maximum effort. I firmly believe that God expects this of us. The question of how far should we go to achieve these ends brings us into a theologically moving target where the requirements of each situation, our resources, and consequences come in to play. We pray for wisdom and courage to make the right decisions.

In conclusion, the Dunne-Za Indians – a branch of the Atabascan tribe – call a person who speaks from the authority of his or her experience "Little Bit Know Something." This is you and me. We are all "Little Bit Know Something." What would Jesus do? He would do his best. That is all you and I and our nation can do at this time and in the rest of our days. We pray for a quick victory so that this war may end as painlessly as possible for everyone. We pray for the safe return of our troops and those of our allies. We pray for the deliverance and safety of the people of Iraq. We pray to God that we were as right as we could be. We pray for the peace and salvation of the world. We pray for the coming of Christ when all things will be clear and God’s will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Amen