Biblical Morality and Peace
by Herman Keizer

For a child has been born for us,
   a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
   and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His authority shall grow continually,
   and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
   He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
   from this time onwards and for evermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

~ Isaiah 9

The tricky demand in seeking to be peace makers is that the Bible never settles for a morality that deals simply with individuals.  Jesus’ kingdom message always asks about social structures, about government and law and social policy, about institutions that can cause exoduses from enslavement or prevent them. Today that is the part of morality that tears at the church.  We are often eager to confine the claim of biblical morality to private questions of right and wrong.  We have a long history of thinking that we can privatize morality and settle for personal virtues of purity and honesty.  But the deep issues of biblical morality consistently concern the public, social dimensions of exodus.  Pharaoh’s problem is not personal impurity, but a state system of institutional tyranny.  The prophets condemn Israel for perverted courts (Micah 3:11) and inequitable real estate practices (Micah 2:1-4; 1 Kings 21).  Jesus’ quarrel with the establishment of his time, which finally killed him, was that it had substituted private virtue for social concern, and such perverted morality prevents the in-breaking of the kingdom that Jesus came to introduce. (Matthew 23:13-28).

The catch is that private morality as it is usually defined fits nicely with our vested interests.  By contrast, questions of institutional morality often collide with our investments.  But it can’t be any other way.  The coming of the kingdom, resurrection, and exodus are public events that call into question the structure and ordering of society.  Thus, they address us at the places in our lives that demand most, and where we frequently resist most.
 
The moral issues of our time are difficult because they are complex. The Bible contains no solutions to such problems, but it does give us an angle of vision.  Such moral questions will continue to be difficult and scary for all of us.  But people who make bricks all the time for Pharaoh (and have learned to find security in that role) find the questions more difficult and scary than people who dance the dance of freedom.  Sometimes we are so busy making bricks that we don’t even hear the music.  It makes me wonder how many exoduses I have missed out on as I looked with wonderment at my bricks.
 
Morality is difficult because all the old guidebooks seem to have collapsed, or at least they seem inadequate. But Jesus brings a brand new perspective. Persons and congregations in faith crisis are ready to face the old stories again in their power and let them make their claim.  One never knows when one will be awakened in the night with the whisper, “Come, we’re going now.”  Or when some child will burst into the room saying, “Healing has come to our own town!”  And then we shall dance the dance of freedom.  And we shall know the King of this new Kingdom as the Lord of the Dance, the one who frees and calls us to remarkable “oughts.”

Prayer
King of Kings, may we learn to see beyond our own lives, our own worlds, our own projects of brick-making. May our vision open up to see the kingdom that your birth introduces – and may our lives reflect the radical change that living in this kingdom creates.

Pursue Peace
What issues of oppression and lack of peace in the world are difficult for you to face, because of a vested interest? Between now and the New Year, consider how you might make a different kind of New Year’s Resolution: one that commits you to be an advocate for justice. Spend some time today considering what that issue might be. Maybe it’s immigration reform, maybe it’s creation care, maybe it’s rethinking your budget or investments or lifestyle. The Office of Social Justice is here to help you find your voice as an advocate, so be sure to sign up for its newsletters as a way to stay informed.

Chaplain (Colonel) Herman Keizer, Jr. is a retired U.S. Army Chaplain and former director of chaplaincy for the CRCNA.