This Is Your Weapon

II.      Vows of Rejection

“We renounce violence of the heart, tongue and fist, neither willing nor working harm to any”

9. I will reject violence of the fist: I will not retaliate toward anger or assault, provocation or violence, in word or action; I will not seek or inflict any injury, harm or death toward any person.

(Idi Amin testing a new weapon)

Idi Amin has been referred to as Africa’s Hitler. His eight-year reign of terror over Uganda in the 1970s resulted in hundreds of thousands killed. Amin perpetrated gross human rights abuses, violent political repression, ethnic persecution and extrajudicial killings. When church leaders spoke up in protest, they were interrogated and killed. Festo Kivengere, an Anglican bishop who escaped into exile after Archbishop Janani Luwun was murdered for speaking out against Amin’s tyrannical regime, was asked if he would strike back at Dictator Amin if he had the opportunity: “If you were sitting in Ida Amin’s office with a gun in your hand, what would you do?” Bishop Kivengere responded, “I would give the gun to Amin and say, ‘This is your weapon; my weapon is love.”* 

Salty, Bright and Maligned?

IV.    Vows of Voluntary Sacrifice

“We freely offer up our appetites, wealth, and pride to relieve the suffering of the world, for the sake of our neighbors and God’s joy.”

15. I will accept with grace any suffering for myself resulting from my affirmations, rejections and witness; I will do all in my power to reduce the suffering in the world, including the suffering of victims and my adversaries in confrontation.

Salt and Light

Take a look at Matthew 5:10-16. Salty salt. That is what Jesus calls his followers. And he does so right after speaking on the blessedness of suffering ridicule, derision, exclusion, even violence as a result of our alignment with God’s just/righteous reign. I think it makes sense to talk about our saltiness and our persecution in the same breath. In a world with gaping wounds, the sting of our salt is going to cause some backlash! Or to shift the metaphor (as Jesus and his contemporaries so frequently do), in a world of bland narratives of accumulation and control, our flavorful stories of God’s abundance and freeing actions, while attractive to some, will be spit out by others as seemingly over the top, even bitterly over-salted.  And in Jesus’ next word picture, we are light. Ever shine a bright flashlight in someone’s eyes? Yeah, there’s a connection between being the light of the world and getting beat up on for it!