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Friends United Meeting |
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2002 Triennial Sessions
"So Now Finish the Work..."
Bible
Study
Ephesians 6:10-24
by Colin and Kathy South
July 12, 2002
Main Points and References
1. In the face of an increasing level of violence in the West Bank, the key question for Colin and Kathy South was how do we witness to the Love of Christ amid such desperation and anger. Where is our gospel of hope? What is our vision?
C6 v10-12
2. What are the spiritual forces, ruler, authorities and cosmic powers of this dark age in Palestine/Israel? Walter Wink, an American Theologian, has taught when faced with evil, to identify these forces and name them.
3. A simplistic answer would be to identify the Palestinian National Authority, Yasser Arafat, the USA and Israel as the principle forces, authorities and rulers.
4. However when you look closely at the situation it is not so simple. These persons and nations have good and bad reasons for their behavior. Although some of their actions are deplorable and some of their motives are suspect, devious and perhaps even plain evil there are other actions and motivations which are understandable, reasonable and even acceptable.
5. There is much sympathy for the right to security of the State of Israel in order for Jews so persecuted in the Second World War to have a homeland that they can call their own and live together in safety. The United Nations, the PNA and some Arab States (Jordan, Egypt and Syria) have recognized its legitimacy. However, this has been at the expense of the homes and farmland of many Palestinians and some restitution does need to be made. The security of the State of Israel does not justify the continuing wide scale abuse of the human rights of non Jewish Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and within Israel by the State of Israel nor does it justify the deaths that have been caused by Israel of many innocent Palestinians. The killing of innocent people in Israel by Palestinian suicide bombers or by Palestinian snipers is not justified either and is also morally unacceptable. There is much sympathy for the establishment of a Palestinian State, which has been called for over a period of more than 50 years and endorsed by the United Nations as the appropriate way forward. Peace can only be achieved by the restarting of negotiations and the situation is urgent.
6. A better identity for these spiritual forces lie in our universal human failures which may b allowed to become demonic within a community and begin to characterize its policies.
7. DISHONESTY—For example, an unwillingness to face the truth about the injustice of the original displacement of the Palestinian people; an implicit acceptance of the arguments of the most violent elements in each society (e.g. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and certain Israeli Settler Communities in the West Bank) whilst espousing peace; promoting prejudice by allowing Islam, Christianity and Judaism to be devalued by the worst interpretations of its extremists rather than by the positive character of its original inspiration or its practice by its more numerous moderate interpreters; letting anger so color your language that exaggeration of the description of events on the ground becomes an excuse for inflaming the situation further. (See Chapter 4 verses 26 and 27 and then verse 25.)
8. SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS/BIGOTRY
Land: Justifying the existence of the State of Israel and the establishment
of settlements on the basis of OT covenants when those covenants had been
historically clearly broken. The Christian understanding of this is that
the New Covenant has been established shared by Jew and Gentile (see
Chapter 2 vs 11-14). The passing of 1400 years before Christ in the
ups and downs of OT covenants was followed by more than 1400 years after
the destruction of the temple in AD 90 when Israel, Judea and Samaria
as identifiable regions disappeared from the map and many Jews, but not
all, dispersed. It is wrong to justify today that seizure of land from
Palestinians by using OT land covenants. There is no legitimate religious
or legal basis for so doing.
Suicide Bombing: This is unIslamic and there is no justification in Islam for taking the life of others other than in self-defense and this argument cannot be used to justify the killing of innocent civilians or any other noncombatant.
End Times Theology: It is wrong to give blanket support to Israeli policies so as to ensure the Jerusalem Temple may be rebuilt in order to fulfill prophetic passages in the Book of Revelations as a prelude to the Second Coming of Christ. Our Life in Christ determines as our priority the saving of souls through the sharing of the news of abundant life in Christ with others. We are told not to try to predetermine the second Coming but to reach out to others in Love. A God of Love does not require us to trample upon or ignore the human rights of Palestinians and non Jewish Israelis in order to hasten the second coming of Christ.
9. COMPLACENCY/APATHY—It is all too easy for people living in Israel in comparative luxury and with a much greater measure of peace and security to know little and care less about the plight of the ordinary Palestinian citizen under Israeli occupation. It is all too easy for people bombarded with anti Semitic and anti Israeli messages on the radio and television or in a mosque to fail to make any effort to appreciate the impact of the Intifada on the ordinary Israeli citizen or to attempt to empathize in any way with their plight. This deliberate ignorance is a root cause of the hardening of attitudes.
10. UNENLIGHTENED SELF-INTEREST—To react to fear for safety and security by bitterness, revenge and retaliation because negotiation might lead to unacceptable compromises only leads to an escalation in the security risk. There is no alternative for peace other than through dialogue. Peace will not be achieved through violence. The mind set of draconian and ruthless suppression of opposition to the occupation is self-defeating and has become demonic.
11. These four—Dishonesty, Self Righteousness/Bigotry, Complacency/Apathy and Unenlightened Self-Interest—are examples of four human failings that have become part of the community psyche and as such have become demonic. They destroy the people who live in those communities and lead to escalations in violence and destruction and the grinding down of the work of Love in people's hearts.
C1 vs 21-23
12. Our God is a might God and these spiritual forces are ultimately subject to Christ's reign.
C6 vs 10, 11 and C6 vs 14-17
13. Paul has practical advice on how to defeat these spiritual forces through the Love of Christ.
14. THE BELT OF TRUTH—It is essential to speak truth to power. There is nothing so disarming as naked truth, unabashed truth, truth that cuts through word games, unintimidated truth. Ghandhi, Martin Luther King and Jesus were fine examples of truth tellers.
15. THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS—Paul would not have called himself righteous (see C3 V8). However, we are meant to strive for righteousness. The more we develop our relationship with God the more effective we will be in defeat spiritual forces.
16. THE SHIELD OF FAITH—If we wish to be effective, we must believe C1 vs 21-23. If our faith was strong enough we could move mountains.
17. THE HELMET OF SALVATION—To be effective we should know the joy of God's salvation, live peace centered lives, have experienced God's love first hand, be a new creature in Christ and as a consequence of all this be in the world but not of the world.
18. THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT / THE WORD OF GOD—To be effective we should know our bible, at least love it and acknowledge its power and beauty. We should draw upon it, seek support from it, seek direction with it, be dependent upon it.
C6 vs 18-20
19. THE SHOES TO CARRY THE GOOD NEWS OF PEACE—To be effective not only do we need to cultivate a life of inner peace but we should be in our whole being messengers of peace knowing that a life in Christ releases burdens, comforts the sorrowing, calms the distressed, promotes repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation.
20. The real engine of these tools for challenging Spiritual Forces is Prayer.
21. Prayer tightens the belt of truth, polishes the breastplate of righteousness, toughens the shield of faith, seats better the helmet of salvation, sharpens the sword of the Spirit and supports the shoes speeding the Good News.
C6 vs 13-22
Paul tells us to stand our ground when a battle is over. Mother Theresa was asked once whether she had been successful and she answered that she was not called to be successful but faithful. Not to win but to stand, not to be successful but to be faithful that is the message. The odds may be stacked against us, all we are asked to do is to stand, to be faithful.
In Conclusion
"For this reason I fall on my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its true name, I ask God from the wealth of His glory to give you power through His Spirit to be strong in your inner selves, and I pray that Christ will make His home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, so that you, together with all God's people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ's love. Yes, may you come to know his love—although it can never be fully known—and so be completely filled with the very nature of God. To him who by means of his power of working in us is able to do so much more than we can ever ask for or even think of: To God be the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever! Amen." C3 vs 14-21
"May God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give to all Christian brothers peace and love with faith. May God's grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying love." C6 vs 23, 24
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"Friends United Meeting Celebrates Double Centenary—Double
Blessing"