Three weeks ago this morning Russia invaded Ukraine. Terrible things have happened that people prayed would not happen again in Europe, or anywhere else in the world. We have been reminded of the extreme fragility of peace between nations and that despite all that is enshrined in our hopes for a world of united nations, it only takes the slightest spark to ignite fires of great passion.
The coming together of many peoples and cultures to condemn the aggressor’s acts has been a lesson itself. Some of the positions were predictable but others quite surprising. The overall message being that whoever you are and however powerful you are, there are some rules that cannot be broken.
The bible reading today from Galatians [2:1-13] states, crucially, [v6] that ‘God does not show favouritism’. The present circumstances are risky for us all. I am not referring to the threats to life but to the risk that we become intolerably self-righteous. The more of us who agree about anything the more we have to beware becoming over confident that we are always right; it is a small jump from there to assuming God prefers us to ‘the other side’.
As we draw nearer to Holy Week we are closer to remembering a terrible travesty of justice and human cruelty. Jesus, on the cross, was kind in his words to a his neighbouring cross’s occupant; he was generous in his grace to those who abused him because ‘they know not what they do’. Let us not forget that as we think about all the players in this conflict.
A Prayer
Father God and God of Justice, Peace and Love, hear our prayers for your peace in our troubled world and for peace and grace in our heated minds. Look compassionately on all the people and nations of the world and show us how we can treasure and preserve our fragile values, developed though the long years of wrestling with great powers and evil forces. We thank you for your unbiased love for all people of faith and goodwill, in Jesus’ name. Amen.