Yesterday we joined D+2 for a picnic and open-air service at Bosworth battlefield. The sun shone (so presumably their prayers received their desired answer) and a pleasant afternoon was had. But I was uncomfortable with the choice of hymns - lots of war imagery and battle language - which, whilst it connected with the location and the reading chosen (Jehosophat's victory) didn't sit too well with the daily reports of military deaths in Afghanistan, to say nothing of the civilian deaths in endless violence. Wars on terror and battles with knife crime... not helpful. Nor, for me, was singing 'onward Christian soldiers' (a hymn I've never liked anyway!)
This Sunday should be Ephesians 6 - the 'gospel armour' passage, but we are deferring it a week due to a songs of praise we already had planned. So, what do I do with it? Last time I spoke on the unhelpfulness of war-imagery I got a load of verbals from a small number of folk at church (I vaguely recall blogging about it at the time and an alternative concept of PPE - personal protective equipment). At one level the passage is really easy to work with, a nice shopping list of stuff, but in a violent world I need something more to say.
Tricky.
Comments
I am as unhappy as you with the militaristic triumphalism that seeps into our worship and preaching adn then infects our understanding of mission and our politics as well, but having just finished a series on Ephs last week, I was struck with how we are still called to engage an enemy that would seek to disrupt and overthrow the kingdom of shalom. There is no need to engage the enemy with violence, (of word or fist), that is to play into the hands of the Powers the Be.
I have a number of friends in jobs that would seek to mediate that shalom but whose work situations are currently oppressive and it seems to me that there are Powers and Principalites at work here and spiritual battle does needs to be engaged.
I think this is certainly how the ancient Celtic churches would have seen it ... but perhaps their saint would have reminded us too that the battle is with the Powers not with their knowing or unwitting earthtly representatives.
I think Mary Grey once said that
'Resistance is the secret of our joy.'