(un)Civil War

Epiphany 3A
1 Corinthians 1:10-18

In his book The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis described hell as a city empty in the middle and inhabited only on the edges. The center is empty because the inhabitants have gotten angry with one another and moved as far away as they could. That’s why, according to Lewis, hell is so big.

We here on earth don’t have the luxury of unlimited space. Even though we live in a time when anger seems to be pulling us farther and farther apart, we can only move so far. Either we learn to get along with one another, or face the consequences.

In the United States, we know how devastating those consequences can be. Nearly 160 years ago our country was rent apart by a civil war that devastated many families, including mine.

Two of my great(x3) grandfathers fought for the Union. They even participated in the same battle, Stone’s River, though they didn’t know one another. Ultimately, one of these men would be maimed in battle, and the other would lose his life.

What makes these men special, at least to me, isn’t so much their sacrifice as the choice they made. They lived in Kentucky and Tennessee. Where many of their neighbors either stayed ‘neutral’ or fought for the South, they chose to fight for the greater good. They could have kept quiet; they didn’t have to take a stand, but they chose to. And it cost them.

We have reached another moment of choice. We can choose unity or we can choose division. We can choose anger or we can choose understanding. We can choose to work for our own interests, or for the greater good.

Now there are two things I should say. First, there are things we should be angry about. Violence, addiction, greed, hunger, homelessness, bigotry, racism, etc. should make us angry. They should make us angry enough to do something about them. But, and this is the second thing I wanted to say, in a world scarred by sin these are difficult issues to solve. Difficult, because our selfishness and judgmental attitudes get in the way.

This is especially sad to see in people of faith, myself included. Too often our thinking is ‘earthbound.’

“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things,” Paul writes to the believers at Colossae. And to the Christians at Corinth, who knew a lot about division, Paul implores them to be united:

“Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.”

I would expect people of faith to set an understanding and reasonable tone. I would expect them to be the voice of healing. Unfortunately, some of the most vitriolic comments have come from religious leaders. But, we can choose differently, even if it costs us. We can choose humility. We can choose to be Christ to our neighbors. We can choose to show grace to those we disagree with.

Christ paid with his very life to reconcile us to God and one another. Let’s not throw that away. The world is a small place and getting smaller by the day. It’s time we learn to see everyone not only as a neighbor, but as a family member. After all, we are all God’s children.