Praying for Peace
“Blessed are the peacemakers . . .” ~ Matthew 5:9
On Sunday March 1, I shared that like many of you, I woke up Saturday morning to the news that the US and Israel had bombed Iran, with Iran responding with bombs of their own. Since Sunday, this conflict has escalated and expanded, and we do not know what the future holds. The world feels more unsettled today than it did Friday night.
War grieves God’s heart, and any decision for war must be a mournful one.
With the possibility of a wider war on the horizon, it is incumbent upon us – as Christians living in a democracy – to ask some important questions of ourselves and our government. For hundreds of years, Christians have been struggling with being faithful in the world as it is, through persecution, hunger, poverty, violence, and war. And those struggles have given us a rich tradition of thought and action, something much deeper than what we might see on tv or social media.
The ELCA Social Statement “For Peace in God's World” conveys ELCA teaching on matters related to war, domestic and international security, and the Christian call to be peacemakers. The statement is grounded in the scriptural understanding that God desires shalom (the Hebrew word for complete well-being of all) but that such eternal peace is fragile and imperfect within even the best earthly peace and well-being that human beings may achieve. The statement also recognizes the significant witness of conscientious objectors and others who, as a matter of faith, cannot condone war in any circumstances. It calls all disciples to be advocates for a Christian peacemaking that strives for human rights, political alternatives to war, social justice, control of the arms trade, and creative means of working for peace in God’s world. This social statement was adopted by the 1995 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. For more resources about this social statement, visit the ELCA website: “For Peace in God's World”. A PDF of the full social statement PDF is linked here.
So we educate ourselves. We advocate. We cry out: Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
And we pray.
Gracious God,
Grant peace among nations.
Cleanse from our own hearts the seeds of strife: greed and envy, harsh misunderstandings and ill will, fear and desire for revenge.
Help our nation to remember you as the God of mercy and truth.
Guide our president and all in authority to seek peace.
Uphold and keep safe our military personnel and citizens in other countries.
Weave the fabric of a common good too strong to be torn by the evil hands of war.
Hasten the day of peace; cast away the threads of hate; help us to forgive our enemies; scatter any who delight or profit in war; renew steadfast faith within us. We pray through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May the peace of Christ, the shalom of God, dwell in our hearts and be felt throughout our world.
Pastor Tania
