The Bungee Cord. 10-15-23

Hello,

It has been said that the first casualty of war is the truth. As I listen to the TV discussions by analysts about the war that is about to explode in Israel and Gaza, I find myself agreeing with that saying about the truth, because I regularly hear lies. The lies that I hear are not things that are said by one side or the other trying to justify their case. No, the lies that I hear are said by both sides as they speak about warfare, itself. The lies of which I am speaking are two commonly spoken phrases: “boots on the ground” and “collateral damage.”

“Boots”, of course, can be replaced and “collateral damage” can be rebuilt, and since both of these phrases are used to refer to people, these phrases are lies. The “boots” in this phrase are someone’s child whose parent lays awake every night hoping not to get a visit from a couple of people dressed in a uniform. The “boots” are someone’s daddy or mommy who hasn’t been tucking that child into bed. The “boots” are someone’s beloved that the other can’t imagine living without. The “boots” are not boots; they are people.

And the “collateral damage” is not buildings and streets that happen to have been destroyed, which that phrase implies in my ears. No, the “collateral damage” is people. The “collateral damage” is a grandmother who serves the family secret recipe to a room full of people who share her name. The “collateral damage” is a child who jumps rope or casts a fishing pole. The “collateral damage is a taxicab driver trying to eke out a living. The “collateral damage” is not buildings and roads, the collateral damage is people.

My sense is that these lies are told because the truth makes war inconceivable. If we told the truth, it would be awfully hard to solve our problems, big or small, with sanctioned killing. If we told the truth, who could have sent 12,000 “boots” into a barrage of bullets and cannonballs at Gettysburg? If the truth was told, who would drop an atomic bomb on a city and create “collateral damage”? Who would plant land mines where children play if the truth was told?

Of course, there is another truth that is even more profoundly destructive, and that is that we live in a broken world where sin pollutes the thoughts and feelings of every person, including me. Including you. It is this unwelcome truth that ignites the wars where all sorts of truth are maimed, wounded, and killed.

Jesus said, “And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet.” (Matthew 24.6). When Jesus said this, he did not mean that wars needed to take place to pave the way for his return, as if there was some divine silver lining to war. No, what Jesus was telling us was that as shocking as war might be, as long as sin has a voice in our hearts and minds, we ought not to be alarmed to see sin raise its ugly, deadly head.

But Jesus also said, “you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”(John 8:32). When God sent his Son, Jesus, God spoke the truth with deafening power. When Jesus hung on the cross God proclaimed the truth that no matter who a person might be, what they might do, or what lies in their heart no one is a “boot” to him that can be replaced. Each person is irreplaceable to God, that is why Jesus died for everyone. When Jesus cried out from the cross, “It is finished!”, God proclaimed that no one would be counted as “collateral damage.” That is the truth! That is the truth about you and me. That is the truth about your neighbor and your enemy. That is the truth about your friend and your foe. No “boots”. No “collateral damage”. Only beloved for whom Jesus died and rose.

And so, as we find ourselves unsurprised by yet another war raging in our world, I find myself praying that the truth, God’s truth, would drown out the voice of sin in my heart and in the hearts of all people and free us all from the prison of lies that brings nothing but pain, suffering and death….and war.

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.” St. Augustine.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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