Speaker: Pastor Stephen “Tig” Intagliata
Bible Passages: Ephesians 2:13-14; 2 Corinthians 5:17-19; Romans 12:17-21
Summary: This is part 3 in a 3-part sermon series “What is an Anabaptist Christian?” based on the booklet of the same name by Palmer Becker. This sermon will highlight 10 words that describe how we as Anabaptist Mennonites understand the ministry of reconciliation to which Jesus has called us.
Today we’re going to wrap up our 3-part series on the topic “What is an Anabaptist Christian?”, based on the booklet of that name by Palmer Becker.
To recap, two weeks ago we talked about the first core value, which was Jesus is the Center of our Faith.
Last week, Pastor Caleb talked about the second value, which is Community is the Center of our Lives.
Now this morning, we’re going to look at Reconciliation is the Center of our Work.
I think that this theme of reconciliation comes at a good time, in light of the the state of our country right now in the aftermath of this election.
The early Anabaptists are a great example of working for reconciliation in a society where there was so much division, discrimination, and animosity between different groups.
Our country is facing similar challenges right now. So let’s open ourselves up to seeing what our ministry of reconciliation might look like as we move forward as followers of Jesus.
What I’m going to do today is lift out 10 words or short phrases from the booklet that to me stood out, and which summarize the points that Palmer Becker makes in the booklet, What is an Anabaptist Christian?
Here are the 10 words:
Rule of Christ. Love Enemies. Just War? Cathedrals? (question marks signify that these things were a hindrance to reconciliation). Peace. Jews and Gentiles. Holy Spirit. Evangelistic. Social Justice. Nonviolence.
The 1st word is “Rule of Christ”. This comes from the gospel of Matthew chapter 18, where Jesus outlines a way to practice church discipline,
of bringing about reconciliation in the church when someone sins, i.e. does something contrary to God’s commands, which end up harming other people or hurting the witness of the church.
The early Anabaptists tried to apply this rule in their churches, and I’m sure it wasn’t always easy, just as it is challenging for us today to navigate the matter of church discipline.
But this process includes what Jesus calls “binding” and “loosing”, which gives his followers the authority to offer “set loose” forgiveness, restoration and reconciliation,
and also the power to withhold it, “bind” it, if there is not confession or repentance. Our goal should always be to work toward “loosing” reconciliation.
The 2nd word is Love Enemies. This verse from Romans is how the apostle Paul ends a passage on how we are called to show love to our enemies. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
This verse is very personal to me. It was etched on my mind when I was a child, as it was in a colorful mosaic at the front of the altar at a Catholic Church I attended.
In a way, it’s been a theme verse for my life—always trying to overcome the evil around me through good actions and words. I often fall short, but it’s my goal.
I’m not a big believer in predestination, but in a way I feel like with this theme verse, I was destined to be led to the Mennonite Church, because loving enemies through good works is something that our Anabaptist forebearers modeled so often.
They showed love to those who persecuted them time and time again, instead of seeking retaliation or revenge.
They truly overcame evil with good, and that continues to be our challenge today. I’ll admit that this election season reminded me that I do indeed have some enemies,
people that I find myself despising, that I get angry with for the things they say and do and the people they support.
I need to work at loving these enemies of mine. But it’s really hard. Maybe the first step is to pray for them, as I’ve learned that when I pray for people, the hatred can soften and make room for understanding and then even compassion.
The 3rd word is Just War. Becker says that when the church became aligned with the state under Constantine, the “difference between the voluntary kingdom ruled by Jesus and the kingdom ruled by the emperor became blurred.”
Church leaders like Augustine of Hippo made many great contributions to the Church, but with the Church merging more with the empire, leaders like Augustine lost sight of the early church’s commitment to love enemies and seek reconciliation with them.
Instead, they taught that the Christian faith needed to be defended against its enemies. This led to the development of a “just war” theory, which permitted Christians, in certain situations, to participate in violence and war.
The just war theory has continued to this day and is embraced by many Christian traditions. In contrast, Mennonites have traditionally sought to live as pacifists, and have chosen alternative service instead of military service as a way to serve our country.
For example, Karen’s father, Roger Flueckiger, registered as a conscientious objector during World War II, and served as an aide in hospitals in Colorado and Hawaii during the war.
The 4th word is Cathedrals.
This is a picture of the big cathedral in Milan, Italy, known as the duomo. It was begun in 1386, and wasn’t completed until 1965—almost 600 years later! And we think our home remodeling projects take forever!
Becker points out that constructing big ornate cathedrals became the center of the church’s work, at the expense of spending time, energy and resources on sharing faith with others and doing ministry like serving those in need.
I feel kind of guilty because when I travel in places like Europe, I love seeing those cathedrals. I’ve been inside that duomo in Milan, and it’s beautiful. But now when I visit them I’ll carry this idea that they were built due to the church losing its focus on what was most important.
The 5th word is Peace. That’s the dove of peace which is the symbol of our denomination, Mennonite Church USA. It’s on the cover of our bulletin every week.
One of my favorite verses foretelling the coming of Jesus the Prince of Peace into the world is from the prophet Isaiah: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who proclaims peace.”
Palmer Becker points out that Reformers like Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, and John Calvin did much good. They emphasized personal forgiveness and obedience to the Ten Commandments,
but they provided less specific teaching and practice related to sharing faith with others, and the church as a beacon of reconciliation in the world.
In contrast, the Anabaptists wanted the Scriptures to be their only “weapon”. They emphasized economic sharing, peace with God, peace with each other, and peace with their enemies. (P. 15)
Another one of my favorite scriptures about Jesus and peace is from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, which we heard earlier:
. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.
Do you know who Paul is talking about here? Jews and Gentiles, the 6th word.
In Jesus’ day, Jews and Gentiles–shorthand for everyone else in the world—were separated by a great big wall, maybe kind of like Republicans and Democrats in our society today.
Jews in biblical times didn’t want to have anything to do with Gentiles, because they were considered unclean and unworthy of God’s love and salvation. It would take a miracle to break down the wall dividing them.
But Jesus was that miracle. He came to destroy that wall, and create a church where everyone was welcome and on equal footing, where strangers would become neighbors and enemies become friends.
The 7th word is Holy Spirit. Oh, here’s that dove again.
Even though we Mennonites usually just associate this dove with peace, the dove is also a symbol of the Holy Spirit. And you know what? The Anabaptists were in some ways the charismatic movement of the Reformation era.
Palmer Becker says that they spoke more of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit than the other reformers. I would guess that the verse from Romans about being transformed by the renewing of your mind was important to the Anabaptists.
The Anabaptists knew that in order to be a countercultural community, living as transformed people with reconciliation as their goal in a hostile environment,
that they needed to draw upon a power beyond their own human strength. And the force that empowered them was the Holy Spirit.
The 8th word is Evangelistic. Just like we don’t often think of Mennonites emphasizing the Holy Spirit, we also don’t think of us being associated with the “E” word, evangelism.
But again, Becker says that the Anabaptist movement was also the evangelistic movement of the 16th century, sharing their faith through both their words and their deeds, through putting love into action.
Becker says “at the cost of their lives, key leaders went through Europe seeking to reconcile people to God and to each other. Thousands came to a personal relationship with Jesus and joined the Anabaptist fellowships that were springing up in Europe.”
Now numbers 9 and 10 are words we more often associate with Mennonites.
The 9th word is Social Justice. Palmer Becker points out that:
Anabaptists played key roles in promoting the cause of social justice in their day. They addressed many of the economic and social concerns being raised by peasants who were revolting against the dictatorial nature of the feudal system. Small fellowships functioned as alternative societies to both the Empire and the feudal system. They freely shared their possessions with those in need.
Today, we see our commitment to social justice being fleshed out through things like restorative justice programs, an alternative to going to court, where victims and offenders meet together to seek forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation.
Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg has the amazing Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, where people from all over the world come to learn how to be peacemakers in all kinds of situations where there is conflict and injustice.
The 10th and last word dealing with reconciliation is Nonviolence. This is a picture of the Mennonite Action group holding a peaceful rally and worship service in the Capitol rotunda last year, to protest the war in Gaza and call for a ceasefire.
To be nonviolent doesn’t mean to be passive, but actively working for peace. Sometimes people have spent time in jail for peacefully protesting.
Peacemakers must be prepared to fight, but our “weapons” are different than those of the world; our weapons are rooted in love and a passion for justice, which I believe are the most powerful weapons in the world.
I think of the organization Community Peacemaking Teams, formerly Christian Peacemaker Teams, where people stood in front of bulldozers bent on destroying houses of Palestinians in the West Bank so they could build Israeli settlements.
I want to close with a quote by a Mennonite pastor whom I follow on Threads, Jeremy Garber:
My Anabaptist ancestors knew that the government would never save us. Especially if it claimed to be a Christian government. They knew that people choose selfishness, fear and greed over doing the right thing. Especially Christians who didn’t follow Christ.
They formed little islands of nonviolence, communal care, and simplicity in the oceans of darkness. They knew they would be persecuted, tortured, and killed for it. And they did it anyway.
Let’s be the islands in the days to come.
Amen.
