Peacemaking is not a publicity stunt

The political drama du jour: House Democrats yesterday staged a sit-in on the house floor, calling for Congress to take action against violence (and especially gun violence) in our nation. This unlikely move is a sign of urgent protest against the defeat of four different gun control legislations that were proposed following the Orlando shooting; the sit-in is an emotional and desperate attempt to bring attention to the urgent issue of violence in our nation, coming on the heels of a filibuster meant to force Congress into talking about gun and violence control.

What I see is a group of people who are fed up with pretending that life just goes on as normal after acts of mass violence.

But Paul Ryan, the speaker of the house, has called the sit-in a mere "publicity stunt."

Whatever your politics, I urge you to feel disheartened and angered by this statement. You don't have to agree with gun control, you don't have to have one particular interpretation of the 2nd Amendment, you don't have to be of one political party or another to realize two crucial things:

1) People in our nation are dying at the hands of their fellow citizens, and all of this violence and death is tragic and unacceptable; and
2) Peacemaking is not a publicity stunt.

Our nation has a rich history of peaceful (and, admittedly, non-peaceful) demonstration and protest. Peaceful protest has been an integral part of the civil rights movement and of many and various equality movements, whether that be equal rights for people of color, for women, or for those of diverse sexual and gender identities. Peaceful protest is a way to tell the nation that even those who have been rendered voiceless will yet be heard and seen. Peaceful protest says, "there is something worth fighting for, and we are not going to give up." Peaceful protest is a sign of hope, a symbol of the belief that this nation and this world can change for the better, an act of defiance against the status quo that wants to sweep suffering and grief under the rug.

When ancient Israel was suffering and awaiting a savior, the prophet Isaiah spoke of a coming king who would bring light to a nation suffering the darkness of war and oppression: "For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulder; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually and there shall be endless peace" (Isaiah 9:6-7).

This king would bring a day of salvation where holy peace and justice would reign on earth:
"The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:1-9).

Emboldened by hope, Isaiah exhorts the people to the holy calling of peace, saying "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace" (Isaiah 52:7).

For Christians, Isaiah's hope is fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ, the one that we call "Prince of Peace," the one who says, "blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God" (Matthew 5:9). When he is about to be taken from his disciples, arrested, and crucified, even then Jesus says, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid" (John 14:27). After Jesus' resurrection, when the disciples are scared for their lives and have locked themselves away in an upper room, Jesus comes to them and the first words out of his mouth are, "Peace be with you" (John 20:19). And when the disciples, just a week later, are again locked away in the house out of fear, Jesus comes back to them again, and his first words, again, are "Peace be with you" (John 20:26).

Paul preaches to the Ephesians that the peace of Christ overcomes all conflict and builds bridges between us: "For [Christ] is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near" (Ephesians 2:14-17).

Paul exhorts the Galatians to live not according to our fragile human nature, but instead to live according to the fruit of the Spirit, which is "love, joy peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."

Paul exhorts the Romans to let their faith show in their actions and attitudes: "Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection, outdo one another in showing honor...do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all" (Romans 12:9, 17-18).

I'm pretty sure that I've just scratched the surface here. But the point is that peacemaking is ALL OVER THE BIBLE and is a hallmark of the Christian faith. To be perfectly honest, peace is the hallmark of pretty much all major world religions - peace with our fellow human beings, peace with our creation, and peace within ourselves.

Standing up to violence and working for peace are noble, courageous, dangerous, necessary tasks. I hardly think that Jesus believed peace to be a fluffy topic of conversation. I'm pretty sure Jesus saw peace as something worth fighting and even dying for.

So I don't care about your politics. I don't care about your feelings on guns. I care about coming together as a nation to work for peace, through whatever channels. I care about coming together as a Congress with hope and holy imagination to help our country be a place of peace and not of fear; a place where we do not feel unsafe at the hands of those outside our borders and within them. I care about working for deep, lasting peace.

And fighting for peace is never - NEVER - just a publicity stunt.

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