Let there be peace on earth

The Rt Revd Dr Patrick Yu reflects on what Easter has got to do with peace.

I went to St. Stephen’s for Easter. The junior choir sang “Let there be peace on earth” at the Easter service. It got me thinking, what has Easter got to do with peace, and vice versa?

My musing at St. Stephens started on Good Friday. As I heard the interaction of Jesus with those who murdered him, I was not outraged, nor even surprised. This is how it always ends, I thought to myself. The mob, the religious establishment and the politician do not strike me as particularly bad people. True, they are excitable and fickle, defensive and fearful, but given who they are and who we are, that is all the world can give.

Executions like Jesus’ have always brought a kind of peace: peace by pacification. We have seen it before and since: Pax Romana, Pax Britannica, Pax Americana… It is peace at the cost of justice. The alternative is chaos and mayhem. Barabbas and the two thieves were most likely Zealots who revolted against Roman rule. Yet their heroism did not achieve justice either. Rather wholesale destruction in CE 70, partially at the hands of revolutionaries like them. Time and again we see revolutionaries turn into the tyrants they overthrow. Idealists in opposition turn into pragmatic rulers in government, the beacon of freedom turns into an oppressive empire.

Jesus was resolutely nonviolent. His peace was nonviolent but not docile or cowardly. Who but the bravest would set his face like flint toward Jerusalem, to confront the oppressive powers at their headquarters? Jesus stood for justice by his words and actions. He sided with the poor, women, those on the margins. He challenged the established rules. Jesus showed that it is possible to live justly, bravely, yet without violence.

He gathered around him unlikely followers: a couple of Zealots, a tax collector, and women, one of whom was married to Herod’s steward! He attracted them and kept them together – a prototype of a Church which crossed boundaries – Jew and Greek, slave and free, men and women. This church can gather people across boundaries today, but she has to learn Jesus’ dynamic peace.  

Easter overturned the inevitable flow of history. The resurrection did not just reverse death, it is God’s act of power which vindicated the order that Jesus preached and lived, the order which God promised long before. Peace is no longer an ideal or a fantasy. God brought it by raising Jesus, not using violence but by suffering violence and then reversing its effect in power.

This order is not upon us yet, but we have glimpses of it. Justice has been brought by courageous men and women who stood against oppression without violence. True nonviolence is confronting oppression with courage and sacrifice. These signs of God’s reign are fleeting and corruptible to be sure, but they are real and in them we catch glimpses of God’s promise.

Easter recalls God’s vindication. Easter gives us a glimpse of the peace that is our destiny. The risen Christ is the assurance that God’s future will come in God’s way. 

“Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me; let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be. With God as our Father, brothers all are we. Let me walk with my brother in perfect harmony.

“Let peace begin with me, let this be the moment now, with every step I take, let this be my solemn vow: To take each moment and live each moment with peace eternally. Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me!”

世間要有和平

余天錫

我去聖士提反堂參加復活節崇拜時聽到初級合唱團獻唱了“Let there be peace on earth”（世間要有和平）。 這讓我想到，復活與和平有什麼關係？

我的反思始於受難日。 當我聽到耶穌與殺他的人的互動時，我並不憤怒，也沒有感到驚訝。  我心想，事件不總是這樣結束的嗎？那些教領和政客並不是特別壞的人。 是的，他們的行動來自恐懼與自私。 但考慮到他們的本性，即人類的本性，世界所能給予的，能走出處決反對者的格局嗎？

像十字架這樣的處決確實總是帶來一種所謂的和平。但鎮壓和安撫帶來的是平而不是和。我們在歷史上見過它：甚麼羅馬式太平，英式太平（用於殖民地的），美式太平（用於鞏固霸權）. . . 這是以正義為代價換來的太平， 與真的和平，和聖經上所說的平安相距甚遠。但選擇暴力、混亂達到正義行得通嗎？與耶穌釘十字架的兩個盜賊，和群眾釋放的巴拉巴一定是是反抗羅馬統治的奮銳黨， 因為十字架是專用於處決政治罪犯的。 然而，他們的行動沒有帶來正義也沒有帶來和平。 反而在西元70年引起羅馬毀滅性的破壞，部分人是死在革命者手中。 歷史一次又一次地見證革命者變成他們所推翻的暴君， 理想的反對派變成了務實的統治者，高舉自由的燈塔變成了一個壓迫他人的帝國。 

耶穌是堅決反對暴力的。 他不用暴力帶來平安，但他絕對不是溫順或懦弱。除了最勇敢的人，誰會堅決地向耶路撒冷這虎山行，在他們的總部挑戰壓迫勢力？ 耶穌用他的言行代表正義。 他站在窮人、婦女等邊緣人一邊。 他常常挑戰既定的規則。 耶穌表明，公正、勇敢地生活不需要暴力，但要付出代價。

他聚集在身邊的人顯示出極不同的人也可以體現和平。耶穌的追隨者包括幾個奮銳黨，一個稅吏和幾個女人，其中一個嫁給了希律的管家！ 他吸引他們，讓他們團結在一起。門徒是個跨越邊界的教會的原型。新約教會跨越了猶太人和希臘人，奴隸和自由人，男人和女人。 今天的教會仍然可以聚集人們跨越界限，但她必須學習耶穌充滿活力的平安。

耶穌的復活逆轉了歷史的必然性。復活不只是剋服死亡，更是上帝用有力的行動根治了罪與惡，鞏固了耶穌所傳所活的生命秩序，即是上帝很久以前應許的秩序。 活著的耶穌證明和平不再是一種理想或幻想。 上帝不是使用暴力帶來和平，而是通過遭受暴力，然後復活的耶穌扭轉了它。

這個和平的國度還沒有到來，但我們已經瞥見了它蛛絲馬跡。 勇敢的男男女女不訴於暴力地反對壓迫，卻不時伸張了正義。真正的平和安是用勇氣和犧牲換來的。這些上帝國的跡象肯定是轉瞬即逝和可朽的，但從它們中我們真實的瞥見了上帝的應許。

復活是上帝對和平與平安的肯定。 復活讓我們瞥見了我們的命運，它就是和平的國度。復活的基督是上帝的保證，神的未來將會照著神的方式到來。神是愛。

我要自我開始,世間重新有和平
祈求全地再享真真平靜與安穩
同尊慈愛父神,手足相～親
我來伴您偕行,同譜協和歌韻

我要自這天起 樂與神開創和平
猶如盟誓決心 獻我全力我光陰
而我要每日永帶愛與睦去過去活這生

世上終見和平，這天從我開～創，（求讓～我開～創） (粵譯:海牛)