“Things That Make for Peace”: A Just Peace Sunday Reflection

“As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of you visitation from God.” – Luke 19:41-49   

Each year, Just Peace Sunday offers us a time to recommit ourselves to the principles of nonviolence, dignity, and justice. Since 2015, the United Church of Christ has observed the Sunday preceding September 21 (which the United Nation recognizes as the “International Day of Prayer for Peace”) as Just Peace Sunday. This year’s theme, drawn from Luke 19:41-49, is “Things That Make for Peace.” With the election just around the corner, this theme can help guide our vote in November.  

Violence and conflict are all too common in our communities and around the globe. Just as Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem, it is right that we mourn in the face of such suffering and pain. We lament— even weep – both as a response to the violence around us and our own failure to recognize that another way is possible. A more just and peaceful world lies just beyond our reach.   

As Christians, we are called to follow God’s movement and Jesus’ ministry to the margins – to be in proximity and prayer with communities and places in pain. We must not remain at an emotional arm’s length, but rather, like Jesus, draw “near” to the anguish if we are to be in true solidarity with others. Let us consider several places today that demand our attention.   

The Council on Foreign Relations has a “Global Conflict Tracker” that maps out major points of conflict at any given moment.  Currently there are nearly thirty places of major conflict and war around the world, including the prolonged 2 ½ year war between Ukraine and Russia that has killed over 32,000 civilians and hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides. Likewise, the conflict between Israel and Hamas has killed over 41,000 Palestinians and led to a massive humanitarian crisis, which the United Church of Christ has recently labeled as genocide. Prisoners and hostages remain imprisoned, and recent provocations risk escalating the war into a wider conflict with Iran and Lebanon.  

In Africa, the ongoing civil war in Sudan has killed over 15,000 people, and an astonishing 8.2 million are displaced.  In Latin America, gang violence in Mexico and other countries fuels migration just as Colombia’s peace process remains tenuous. Across Asia, a civil war is worsening in Myanmar and tensions are increasing over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.   

In the United States, gun violence, domestic violence, hate crimes, and systemic attacks on vulnerable communities are so prevalent they often do not make the news. Our nation is bracing for possible election violence as our children are raised amidst a culture of violence.  
 

As we draw close to the realities of our world, and near to the pain, it is right that we weep.     
 

However, as Jesus looked out over Jerusalem and felt the pain of empire and communal violence, Jesus also pointed to another way. He called us to recognize the “things that make for peace.”  Too often, we fail to see these “things”, the practices and techniques that do make peace. Despite the vision of Isaiah 2:4, we continue to bend our global resources not into plowshares, but into more swords as military spending rises to historic levels.   

One of those “things” that make for peace is exercising your right to vote. Only 66% of eligible voters voted in the last presidential election. And bills that would shore up our right to vote, such as the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, lay idle in Congress. Our democracy is threatened by voter suppression laws, gerrymandering, purging the voter rolls, and intimidation at the polls. When we vote with love and encourage our friends and neighbors to do the same, we are using our rights under our democracy to influence the change we want to see in the world. By voting for candidates committed to abolishing war and preserving democracy, we are raising our collective voices for peace.  

It is important to take time to weep and lament when watching tragedies unfold across the globe. After your tears dry, let’s take action together to bring a more just and peaceful world within reach. We can engage directly in creating peace and abolishing war by voting with love this November.   

On this Just Peace Sunday, let us draw near to the cities, the people, the places of pain and suffering in the world. Let us weep together, but also keep watch for ways in which God is at work drawing us toward peace. Let us recognize, learn about, and celebrate the “things that make for peace”, by exercising our right to vote with love in the upcoming election.  Let us recommit to the “way” of peace that Jesus lived and promises to give us (“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you”) not as the world gives but through the way of forgiveness, the way of nonviolence, the way of peace, the way of love.  Finally, let us be reminded of our UCC Statement of Faith and together take “courage” in the struggle for justice and peace around the world.  
 

You can learn more about Just Peace Sunday 2024, including worship resources, on the Just Peace Sunday webpage.  
 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rev. Michael Neuroth is the Director of the United Church of Christ Office of Public Policy and Advocacy in Washington D.C.