The Memorial Day weekend is set aside for honoring those who have died in all our past wars. How sad it is that so many of the finest of our youth have had to die in the cause of nation-building and empire. How long before we heed the words of the prophets and of Jesus who worked so hard to bring in God's reign and a true peace? What better way to honor the fallen than to end wars forever?
The prophet Isaiah forsaw such a time of peace in the following passage: The wolf shall live 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.1
Jesus of Nazareth had much to say about the coming of the Kingdom of God. Indeed he said that the Kingdom is already here. He laid out guidelines for living in that Kingdom in what we call the Sermon on the Mount. At the climax of that sermon, he said, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven." 2
Jesus sacrificed his life to the brutal Roman Empire so that God's Kingdom might come into fruition without violent resistance. He invited us to take up our crosses and to follow him on the path towards love, peace, forgiveness, and justice. God's Kingdom is the antithesis of empire. There is no place for war and its attended evils in the Kingdom of God. Even nature itself is changed so that there is peace in all of God's Holy Mountain. Rather than being led by emperors and military leaders, we will be led by a little child.
John Dominic Crossan in his book, God & Empire, makes the case that violence and empire are endemic to civilization. He looks to a post-civilization in which God's reign becomes a reality on this planet. He says, "The good news as seen from Jesus and Paul, is that the violent normalcy of human civilization is not the inevitable destiny of human nature." 3 The message of the kingdom is one of hope for our generation as well as for those to come. Dona Nobis Pacem. Amen.