Begin by READing the Scriptures aloud - Lecto Divina: Jonah 1:1-3, 3:1-3, 3:10, 4:1-4 (~760 B.C.)
The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.
Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” 3 Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it.
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD, “Isn’t this what I said, LORD, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 But the LORD replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Today, we move to our final message in our 3 week series entitled “Reconcile.” Jesus once said, the scriptures say an “eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”(Matt 5:38-39) In this simple statement are two profound truths: conflict will happen and following Jesus requires a third way of dealing with conflict. As long as humans exist on the planet, there will be struggles between us, our environment and our God. We can choose to fight it, run from it or be changed by it. If we choose the later, then we recognize that Conflict can be an intense journey toward a new path of holiness, revelation and reconciliation.
It is this journey, we will continue discussing today. Let’s face it: our lives are filled with conflict or if you prefer a softer word, tension. The tension of our lives becomes most apparent in our relationships but often we miss the greatest transformational aspect of tension or conflict: what it reveals about us personally. However, to achieve this blessing we must be willing engage them.
Transformational reconciliation reveals that we must engage with those we are in conflict with to be more like Christ. It happens when we engage conflict personally, in our community and globally.
Engage in personal conflict
I’ll never forget a period in my business life when I was struggling with a woman who I had to interact with everyday. I would cringe at the sight of her. I would spasm at the sound of her voice. I would watch when she came into the room and watch who she would talk to. It made me enraged when anyone referenced something she did or said. If they praised her, I would have to fight the urge to point out little known facts about the person’s true character. It was really starting to affect my participation at work. So I called my mentors. I shared my experiences with them at nausea. Finally, I asked what I should do. The answers were as follows:
- Pray for her. Pray 21 days that the person gets everything you want for yourself.
- Sit next to her: I asked for the reason, one of my mentors responded that I needed to form a different relationship with her. I needed to ask myself what was so aggravating and did I possess any of those characteristics.
-I was also told to bow my head down when the person talked and really listen to her heart. To remove the visual and listen for God’s truth in her words.
- Finally, I was told to serve her. It could be as simple as a true compliment or bring her a coffee.
Honestly, This whole situation almost killed me. However, one morning while listening to this woman I came to understand she was dealing with her insecurity in this life by trying to control everyone and everything. She was phony because deep down she didn’t think she measured up. The funny thing was it was the same reason I felt a need to tear her down. I didn’t think I measured up either. We just handled it differently.
Without engagement,I would have never come to understand this. I would have been the one carrying around the burden of resentment and never would have come to this greater understanding of myself. However, engaging with others also lessens our conflict in the community.
Engage community conflict as Jonah did.
I just love the story of Jonah. I am often struck by the fact that so many want to talk about the size of the fish, how it could have been true or not and what is the timeline of the story but then miss the larger aspect of the story. The way in which we read it this morning helps us to see the tension in a fresh light. Jonah didn’t want to go. He disliked the Ninevites. They were the bullies of his world. They were not nice people. He tried to ignore God and get away from God because he didn’t want God to help these people. However, God had given him this task. So he wasn’t going to escape the order even if God had to give it to him a second time. Jonah was the reluctant prophet. He was clear, “He didn’t want to tell them to repent.” He hoped they would get smited, zapped or better yet, purged from the earth. But God had a different plan for the Ninevites as well as for Jonah. God was looking to teach the world about what it means to be servants of the most high to all the people of the world, especially those you don’t like or are in conflict with.
Finally, we engage conflict on a global scale changes our understanding of the world in which we live.
It is easy to limit the power of reconciliation and transformational conflict to personal issues and ignore the world. Lederach believes it is our duty as Christians to engage with both local and global conflict constructively. After all, for Lederach, that’s what Jesus accomplished by leaving heaven for earth and leaving earth for heaven.
As I watched the Jordanian response to the burning to death of their pilot by ISIS a few years ago, I remembered my own ignorant statements when the twin towers collapsed. I remember my inherent hatred of men with beards and fear scarved covered women. I was enraged. It wasn’t until I sat with our missionaries and they shared stories of their Muslim friends being tortured and the threat of the government coming at any moment that I began to realize I don’t live their life.
Most people have not felt a simultaneous threat from an enemy and hatred for an enemy. Hatred is a learned response. When we experience a direct manipulation and act of violence against us personally--we can begin to understand the deep anger that accompanies fear. We can also recognize how violence and fear work in whole people groups even in political and social structures. – Reconcile/ Paul Lederach
This became perfectly clear during a protest in my home town. An addiction medical center wanted to purchase a building and move into the community. The opposition was fierce and relentless. Signs and articles stating not in my backyard. The process came to a head at a public meeting. The protesters (around 1000) came up the street chanting and yelling. The scene was frightening. I was in the corner praying and could feel the anger. It was in the middle of my prayer, my God whispered, "Pray for them. They no not what they do. Pray for their kids. Pray for the people with addictions who are getting an entirely different message."
So how do we see beyond ourselves and begin the process of engaging the world in a Christ like matter.
Feel the pain/loss (empathize)
Listen. Learn. Be still.
See the common humanity
Pray. Humility is key
Ask hard questions
Expand your understanding
Seek out stories of hope and reconciliation
Compassion rather than judgment
Be careful what you hate -The frustration of helplessness and the bitter taste of hatred experienced as an act of violence leaves one crying out for deliverance and justice. It also leaves us with a huge gaping hole in our soul.
We must learn how to develop a positive identity of individuals and groups that is not based on criticizing or feeling superior to any people group. But, like Christ, we must choose to enter into a common humanity with them. Reconciliation requires us to remember and change with honesty about our experience and curiosity about the humanness of the other we fear.
https://communitycenter.life/rev-robert-butler-info
https://www.amazon.com/Reconcile-Conflict-Transformation-Ordinary-Christians/dp/0836199030
