We received an e-mail this week from a woman that we know from New Mexico. She told us about how she’d recently driven to El Paso, Texas, to see her daughter who is in the Army, expecting to have a very short visit with her before she shipped out for deployment. As it turned out, the visit was cut even shorter than she anticipated. "We literally made it to El Paso [with just] enough time to see Krista's room, drive to the Olive Garden where we planned to have lunch, turn around in the parking lot before ever getting out of the car, (because she was called), loaded the truck and said our good-byes. [Her brother] John was 45 min. behind us, so he missed her.  We all thought we had until Saturday. It has been a [rough] day."

Krista’s case is not unusual in these times, nor is it the only reason that many people seem to be on edge these days.

Recently there have been huge crowds of people all over world protesting against a possible (or likely) military intervention in Iraq by a US-led coalition of armed forces. In this country, the latest polls show that about two thirds of the American people believe that military intervention is justified in removing the threat of Saddam Hussein and the weapons of mass destruction that he almost certainly has or is developing. However, that support is believed to be somewhat "soft," with many people saying that they believe we should wait a while before going into Iraq, or at least until we have more nations in our coalition.

Also, the economy has been somewhat shaky the last couple of years and the jitters caused by the imminent threat of war are looked to as a primary cause of the under-performing stock market and the rising prices at the gas pumps of late. Many of you have friends and family members who proudly serve in the military; and many of them will almost certainly be put in harm’s way if it comes to war.

I’m not going to stand up here this morning and try to bring you around to my position on whether or not we should go into Iraq. I believe that principled people can honestly disagree about things like this, each person doing what his or her conscience dictates. That’s not to say that I don’t have my own opinion, but just that I’m going to work very hard to not try to make my opinion take the place of what God’s Word says about the whole thing. This is a very serious issue at any time, but all the more worthy of study right now because of current events.

What I do want to specifically address today has to do with the politically correct notion that violence never solves any problem. You hear this thought repeated by many well-meaning people these days. They will sometimes say that there is absolutely no justification ever for going war, or that violence has never solved anything. Some Christians hold to this idea as a basic principle of their faith, believing that Jesus would never advocate any country making war on another, for any conceivable reason. You hear it expressed in an old saying that I’ve found attributed both to Gandhi and to Tevye, the character from Fiddler on the Roof: "If everyone lived by ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’ the world would be blind and toothless."

That sounds good, doesn’t it? It sounds enlightened, modern, altruistic, the kind of thing principled people hold to, even when an injustice has been done to them. The problem with it is that it’s not completely in compliance with what the Bible says about the legitimate role of government, the punishment of evildoers and the value that God places on justice.

In Romans 13, Paul wrote what is usually understood to be the definitive passage on the Christian and the government.

If Paul told Christians back then, living under that kind of government, that they were to submit to that government, do we think that we have any room to wiggle on this issue? There is a story about an Idaho sheep rancher who was approached one day by a stranger in a suit, who asked, "If I can guess how many sheep you’ve got, may I have one?" Thinking this to be impossible, the rancher agreed. "You have 1,795 sheep," said the man. Stunned by the correct answer the rancher told him to choose his sheep. The man selected an animal and slung it over shoulder. As he started to walk away, the rancher said, "Hey, if I can tell you who your work for can I have that animal back?" "OK." "You work for the government." "How did you figure that out?" "Well, put my dog down and I will tell you."

As bad as our government may be at times, is still much more freedom-loving than any government that existed in first century, and biblically, Christians are commanded to submit to it.

This does not mean that we are to always do what our government says, regardless of whether we believe it is morally right or wrong. Notice that Paul uses the word "submit" and not "obey" here. Submitting to authority is not the same as a blanket obedience, or doing every thing that someone in authority orders you to do. In fact, early in the history of the church, this issue was tested. In Acts, chapter 5, Peter and the other apostles found themselves in hot water with the governing authorities. They were going to a public place each day, fearlessly telling people about Jesus, healing the sick, and gathering quite a crowd around them. The "powers that be" were jealous and fearful of them. So, they had them arrested, probably intending to scare them into submission.

As they sat in jail, an angel came and broke them out. The next morning, there they were: back in the streets, on the Temple grounds, telling people about Jesus. They were arrested again and brought before town council. The high priest questioned them: "We told you not to tell people about this Jesus fellow. Why are you doing what we explicitly told you not to?" And Peter said, "We must obey God rather than men!" They disobeyed, that’s true, but they submitted in that they did not seek to shield themselves from the consequences of their actions. Their disobedience was based upon the fact that God’s commandment was in direct conflict with the wishes of the authorities.

There have been plenty of times throughout history when Christians have been called to disobey their government. Although they often suffered terrible consequences, including imprisonment and sometimes even death, history has usually agreed that their disobedience was justified, even mandated, on moral grounds. We are supposed to submit to our government, but when doing that conflicts with God’s commands, we’re to listen to Him and do what He would have us do.

Another thing this passage teaches is that governments have a duty to punish those who do evil and that punishment can include the ultimate penalty, the taking of a human life. Look at verse 4 again: "For he [the ruler, the government] is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer."

Most scholars believe the phrase "bear the sword" is a euphemism for capital punishment and military power. Paul is saying that the government has been charged by God with two primary responsibilities: rewarding those who do good and punishing those who do wrong, even to the point of taking the life of the wrongdoer. We can argue the point that maybe our government doesn’t reward those who do good often enough, but, by and large, we do seem to have a pretty good handle on the punishment of evildoers, including capital punishment for the most heinous crimes.

In this day and age, when many Western countries have abolished the death penalty, and when many countries refuse to even extradite accused murderers to the US because they could face the death penalty if convicted here, this is not a popular idea. It is not seen as enlightened, or what "civilized societies" do to their worst criminals. It is definitely not politically correct.

This argument that "violence never solves anything" ignores what the Bible teaches about justice. Throughout the Bible, in both the old and new testaments, those who take advantage of and oppress the weak, the helpless, and the poor, are denounced by God. Through the prophet Malachi, God said, "So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice…." (Malachi 3:5).

Jesus struck the same theme on occasion. When He saw the common people of His day, we’re told that, "… he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." Their leaders had failed them. Those who were charged with protecting them from wrongdoers were themselves doing wrong to them.

I can understand, at least to a certain degree, why some people, in the name of Jesus Christ, proclaim that violence never solves anything. But when I hear them say that kind of thing, I want to reply, "Oh, really? Tell that to the families of those who were liberated from concentration camps at the end of World War II. Tell it to those whose parents died because the Allies didn’t get there quite fast enough. Go spout your anti-violence rhetoric to Lisa Beamer, who’s husband, Todd, gave his life in an act of violence to save the lives of even more people who would have been killed by the violent actions of the Sept. 11 terrorists. Tell every innocent victim who has ever been saved by police shooting a bad guy that violence never solves anything." The truth is that sometimes violence has a place and accomplishes God’s purposes. Indeed, in the violent act of the Cross, we are saved from our own sins!

In making this point, I want to head off any misunderstandings that might arise from what I’ve said. First of all, even though the Bible teaches that governments have the right, even the duty, to use violence in punishing those who do wrong, our example in the area of interpersonal relationships is Jesus Christ, who said:

"… Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.[If someone takes shirt, give him your coat, too.] If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5:39-44 NIV)

While violence, when carried out by the government and administered after due process and in accordance with the law, is not wrong, it is always wrong for us as individuals to resort to violence when we disagree. We’re supposed to overcome those who hate us with love, not by fighting back. Paul wrote, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21)

Many of you here are veterans. You’ve served in the military, some in wartime, even. We have WWII vets, Vietnam veterans, and Gulf War veterans. I believe that there is not necessarily any conflict between serving you country in this way and also living out Jesus’ commandment to love your enemies. Jesus was an example for us in the area of person-to-person relationships, not governmental action. Jesus was not a civil ruler and He did not intend to be role model for human governments.

Also, it is important to remember that there is a big difference between justice and vengeance. Revenge is personal. It is an angry response, often sparked by hatred. God condemns revenge and the vengeful spirit that wants to "pay back" in anger and contempt. This is not a restriction against justice, but against "getting even" and then seeking to justify it by appealing to the Bible.

An act of violence, even if arising out of a justified anger or an injustice done to you, is not how we’re supposed to react to people who wrong us, treat us badly, or harm us. Paul says that it’s the government’s job to administer justice and if someone slips through the legal system, we’re to let God worry about it ultimately. The Bible says, "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord" (Romans 12:19).

Violence is not how the Christian is supposed to resolve personal conflicts with others. Nor is it to be used to exact revenge when we’ve been wronged.

I watched a movie last week about a man named Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Maybe you’ve never heard of him. The Nazis at the Flossenburg concentration camp executed him on April 9, 1945, at the age of 39. Bonhoeffer was a German minister and theologian. He ran afoul of Hitler’s Nazi party when he refused to join with the majority of German Christians and quietly acquiesce to the persecution of Jews and other minorities. He was forbidden to write or publish and eventually even to speak in public or teach in a church.

Bonhoeffer could see the writing on the wall and accepted a teaching position at Union Theological Seminary in New York in June of '39. However, by the following month, he was convicted that he should go back to Germany and try to bring his country to repentance.

Bonhoeffer struggled greatly with this dilemma, but after coming back to Germany, he joined the resistance group and used his international contacts to make overtures of peace to the Allies on behalf of those Germans who later failed in their attempt to kill Hitler. After their failed assassination attempt, Bonhoeffer was arrested and spent two years in prison. When the full extent of his involvement with the conspirators was uncovered, Hitler ordered him hanged only weeks before the Fuhrer took his own life just before the fall of Berlin.

After the war, when the full story came out, many people wondered how a self-avowed pacifist could be involved in such a violent act. Bonhoeffer’s sister-in-law, Emmi Bonhoeffer, cited his reasoning. He had told her, "If I see a madman driving a car into a group of innocent bystanders, then I can't, as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe and then comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrestle the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver."

Friends, there are no easy answers here. This is a difficult time for many people, and I’m afraid it’s going to get worse before it gets better. My prayer is that God will give us wisdom and that those who make the decisions will make the right ones. Violence is a terrible thing, but in a world that is thoroughly saturated with the destructive power of sin, I’m afraid it is sometimes inevitable.