"Study war no more”

Baltimore is rapidly approaching 300 murders this year. By the time you read this we may already be there. As I type this, I’m staring out an airplane window towards the Gaza Strip, where more than 200 rockets have been launched towards Israel in the last 24 hours. On Capitol Hill impeachment proceedings are beginning and everywhere people are getting heated about the 2020 election.

The bad news is that it is unlikely there will be a neat resolution to any of these conflicts, and even less likely that outcome will be something you personally see as “good”.

Somewhere around two thousand years ago, not far from where I am, a man called Jesus was hung on a cross and died. When he did a lot of people were mad. His naysayers of course were angry and wanted him crucified. But many of his supporters were angry too. Because they thought he would overturn the Roman Empire, shed blood for blood, and bring about the kind of new world order THEY knew was righteous.

But as he went to trial Jesus reminded us that His Kingdom is not of this world. And the only blood shed was his.

And three days later, at his Resurrection, Jesus began a permanent process of insurrection that continues today and will continue until he comes again.

An insurrection that challenges a world view of winners and losers

An insurrection that requires we abandon our “teams” - families, friends, political parties and join his team.

An insurrection that puts us at odds with the dominant culture around us but in relationship with God and each other.

And an insurrection that disrupts our hearts, minds and souls and re-Orients them to the Divine.

As conflict continues to rage all around us, I invite you to be disrupted. To let Jesus disrupt you and to challenge yourself to align with the God of peace, the God of hope, and the God of resurrection - so that you may find new life in this world and in the world to come.