The Birth of Nonviolence

A Reflection for Monday, December 8 by Pastor Judy Howard Peterson

Lectionary reading for 12/08//2025: Psalm 21; Isaiah 24:1-16a; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12   Selected passage for reflection: Judy encourages you to read all three passages

Read

Psalm 21:8-12

8 Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies;

    your right hand will seize your foes.

9 When you appear for battle,

    you will burn them up as in a blazing furnace.

The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath,

    and his fire will consume them.

10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth,

    their posterity from mankind.

11 Though they plot evil against you

    and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed.

12 You will make them turn their backs

    when you aim at them with drawn bow.

Isaiah 24: 1-3

1 See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth

    and devastate it;

he will ruin its face

    and scatter its inhabitants—

2 it will be the same

    for priest as for people,

    for the master as for his servant,

    for the mistress as for her servant,

    for seller as for buyer,

    for borrower as for lender,

    for debtor as for creditor.

3 The earth will be completely laid waste

    and totally plundered.

The Lord has spoken this word.

1 Thessalonians 4:6, 9-12

…No one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister.[b] The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before… 

9 Now about your love for one another, we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

Reflect

Having watched a live-streamed genocide carried out by those who believe themselves chosen by God, who quote their scriptures to back them up, and who invoke a divine mandate as they raze whole communities to the ground. It's now impossible for me to read the scriptures in the way I used to read them.

God on our side. God will lay waste to our enemies. God will give us the land.

Now I understand these sentiments roll off the tongue of the oppressed in a different way than they do the oppressor. They come as a promise of tides turning, of oppression ending, of the evil doer being held to account and the faithful finally finding vindication.

But at some point, we're going to have to contend with the fact that the thoughtless consumption of these texts is what has allowed Christianity to be quite easily taken over by bad actors. The KKK took up their crosses. The Nazis had their hymnody. Churches shamelessly display the Stars and Stripes next to the altar. A genocidal country finds its biggest backers among Christians.

While I don't know how the blessings and punishments of God ultimately play out. If Jesus truly is the full revelation of God and the cross the summation of his mission, it seems clear to me that worldly conquest and the smiting of enemies is off the table and a non-violent life laying down love must be taken up.

And if our blessing truly is contingent upon pleasing the God we proclaim is seen most clearly in and through the person of Jesus, then as it says in our reading today, let's live in a way that is holy and honorable. Which I believe is summed up in our passage by two phrases, "no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister" (1 Thes 4:6) and "love each other all the more" (1 Thes 4:10).

Respond

What parts of your theology allow for you to justify violence against someone else? In light of Christ, how do you make sense of this? Would you consider letting go of any justification for violence?

Rest

God, we confess we prefer the easy formula of blessings and curses; obey and be blessed, disobey and be cursed. Such a belief saves us from the complexity and discipline of believing in a God who so loves the whole of the world, all of it and the repair of it . 

And we confess when we fall short we find comfort in the idea of being a chosen people, where our inconsistent attempts at obedience are deserving of grace and blessing and our enemies' inconsistencies deserving of judgment and curses. 

Reveal to us a love beyond our easy formulas. Help us be brave enough to trust your love. Empower us to live in a way that does no wrong to any of our neighbors and that loves all the more.

About the Author

Judy Howard Peterson splits time between Marinette, Wisconsin, and Chicago, Illinois. A pastor by vocation, she currently spends the bulk of her time shepherding those whom she affectionately calls "the feral children of God," those who find themselves outside the traditional confines of the church. 5 years ago, she founded the non-profit Haecceitas Inc to support this work, the foundation of which is believing that each and every person is a once-in-eternity, irreplaceable, unrepeatable revelation of God. Happily married to Jeff, dog-mom to Arlo, and making a reasonable run at trying to stay in step with Jesus.