Bible Study: 4th & 6th Commandmentldausa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Foster-a-Culture...Lord’s...

Author: Denise Simion, ALM Harvard University

Bible Study: 4th & 6th Commandment

Formation for Life: Just Peace and 21st Century Discipleship

Background Information on Lesson Series

Using the insights from the Lord’s Day Alliance 2009 Sabbath Symposium this series of lessons seeks to

uncover scriptural truths regarding how the connection between the Fourth Commandment’s

instruction regarding keeping holy the Sabbath and the Sixth Commandment, you shall not murder,

challenges us to embrace a culture of life. Jesus illustrates his concern for life in many of the healing

miracles, but the radical extent of this commandment is seen when he diagnoses how anger and

disparagement lead to God’s judgment because of the ways in which they kill the spirit.

All readings, unless otherwise cited, are from: Formation for Life: Just Peacemaking and Twenty-First-

Century Discipleship. PICKWICK Publications: 2013.

Lesson 2: Just Peacemaking Practices We are called to be peacemakers but what does that mean and entail? How do we prepare for this

endeavor?

Focus Reading

AN INTRODUCTION TO PART TWO: JUST PEACEMAKING AS THE NEW PARADIGM FOR THE ETHICS OF PEACE AND WAR

Author: Glen H. Stassen, Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics, Fuller Theological Seminary

Suggested Readings

CHAPTER 8: YIELDING TO THE SPIRIT: FOLLOWING JESUS IN JUST PEACEMAKING

Author: Cheryl Bridges Johns, Professor of Discipleship and Christian Formation, Pentecostal Theological Seminary

CHAPTER 9: LEARNING TO ENGAGE CONFLICT WELL: MEDIATION STRATEGIES

Author: Thomas Porter, Executive Director of Just Peace Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation, United Methodist Church

Opening Prayer

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 32:16-18; Zechariah9:9-10; Matthew 7:1-5

Lord’s Day Alliance: Bible Study 4th & 6th Commandment; Lesson 1


Reflection

The fourth commandment instructs us to “remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus, 20:8)

and later the sixth commandment orders that “you shall not murder” (Exodus, 20:13). This lesson

addresses how we bring about peace. The authors all write about the importance of listening, relating to

one another through stories, and ensuring everyone’s voice is heard. The following practices of Just

Peacemaking were developed via scripture and have made an impact in war reduction and loss of life in

the second half of the twentieth century.

10 Practices of Just Peacemaking

INITATIVES (Matthew 5:21, 38; 7:1-5)

1. Support nonviolent direct action.

2. Take independent initiatives to reduce threat perception.

3. Use cooperative conflict resolution.

4. Acknowledge responsibility for conflict and injustice; and seek

repentance and forgiveness.

JUSTICE (Matthew 6:19-33)

5. Advance Human rights, religious liberty, and democracy.

6. Foster just and sustainable economic development

INCLUDE ENEMIES IN THE COMMUNITY OF NEIGHBORS (Matthew 5:43)

7. Work with emerging cooperative forces in the international system.

8. Strengthen the United Nations and international efforts for

cooperation and human rights.

9. Reduce offensive weapons and weapons trade.

10. Encourage grassroots peacemaking groups and voluntary

associations.

Glen Stassen gives an easy way to remember the ten practices of just peacemaking into 4 transforming

initiatives – nonviolent action, independent initiatives, conflict resolution, and acknowledging

responsibility; 2 justice practices – human rights and sustainable economic justice; 4 community

practices – international networks, United Nations, weapons reduction, and join peace groups.

Why are these practices important in our spiritual formation and why should we engage in such activity?

All the authors address these questions. Stassen explains that as we read the Gospels in English we miss

the intricacy of the Arabic language of Jesus’ quotations of Isaiah. “Jesus was steeped in Isaiah – we

might even say formed in part by meditating on Isaiah. […] Both Jesus and John taught in the tradition of

Isaiah. And Isaiah repeatedly proclaimed that peace is God’s will – as Jesus proclaimed all the more

clearly. This means Jesus was commanding peacemaking as Isaiah had – because it is God’s will.

Peacemaking is God’s will – in Isaiah’s time, in Jesus’ time, and now – which is still Jesus’ time, the time



in which Jesus Christ is Lord over our life.” In Cheryl Bridges Johns’ piece, she writes that “Christians

must discern the times and live faithful to the gospel’s call for just peacemaking.” Thomas Porter

continues this theme as he writes “our attitude to conflict is a matter of faith. […] Our theology matters!

It matter to our practice. Peace building is at the heart of the gospel.”

Johns challenges us to take a hard look at our reductionist tendencies and revisit the What Would Jesus

Do philosophy. “In light of great suffering, war and injustice, many Christians are unable to provide a

fully developed approach to just peacemaking. Instead, they seem to offer simplistic answers to complex

and deep issues.” She points out that Jesus was able to “draw from his biblical foundation”. She

continues, “There is something missing in this model of discipleship, namely the huge divide between

knowing the truth of God and becoming like God.” The New Testament authors continually speak of the

Holy Spirit. Johns writes,

It is by the Holy Spirit that we have access into this life of God, and it is

only by the Spirit that we are able to faithfully follow the commands of

the kingdom of God. Thus, a discipleship of the Spirit is necessary for us.

Just as Jesus yielded to the Spirit, we too are to divest ourselves of

claims to autonomy, power or glory and be “driven by the Spirit”, “led

by the Spirit”, and “filled with the Spirit”. Thinking like Jesus thereby

comes as a result of our union with the divine life and our experience of

the Holy Spirit transforming us, so that the good we know to do is the

good we become.

Stassen lists the four kinds of injustice as identified by Isaiah:

• Greed that deprives the poor.

• Domination that oppresses the powerless.

• Exclusion that shuts out Gentiles and others.

• Violence

As Christians, God calls each of us to be peacemakers. Jesus includes peacemakers in the beatitudes

“Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9). Paul describes the

virtues of Christians,

[…] clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness

and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you

may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And

over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in

perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one

body you were called to peace and be thankful.

Colossians 3:12-15



Yet, being a peacemaker takes courage, humility, and knowledge. Johns has explained that all of those

attributes and more are given through the Holy Spirit but attaining that maturity means learning how to

let go of individual pride and ego.

Thomas Porter explains the “skills that we emphasize are listening for understanding, speaking the truth

in love, using our imagination and practicing forgiveness.” The following is his brief definition for each

of the skills he lists.

• Listening for Understanding is an art and practice of caring.

• Speaking the Truth in Love is an art of communicating our story in a way that opens up a

conversation. Nothing is more powerful in changing our views and opinions than hearing the

personal story of another.

• Using Our Imagination releases our creativity, opens our minds and hearts to the leading of the

Holy Spirit, which involves being carried by the Spirit to places and ideas we never dreamed

possible. Violence is the ultimate sign of failure of the imagination.

• Being Forgiving is an essential practice for breaking out of the cycles of violence and retribution

in this world. Forgiveness is a journey that includes mourning as well as rehumanizing of the one

who harms us; a choice, a decision, we make; primarily a gift we give to ourselves; and a gift we

give to the other.

Five important practices helpful to those involved in peace building:

• Let Go of Striving for Status or Control

• Develop a Relationship of Respect and Trust with Each Party

• Bring a Sense of Gratitude and Abundance to the Process

• Express Humility as Wonder and Awe

• Be in Solidarity with All Creation

There are various methods in conducting Just Peacemaking and Porter takes us through one of those

methods known as the Circle. He first encountered circles from Chief Justice Yazzi of the Navaho Nation.

He quotes a participant, “The circle process has helped bring us back to a better and more faithful way

of being church.”

The circle process is physical as well as symbolic.

1. All participants physically sit in a circle.

2. There are opening and closing rituals.

3. At the center of circle is a continuous reminder of the presence of God, for example a candle.

4. Participants define how individuals should be treated in the conversation.

5. Use of a talking piece instills order and encourages deep listening and respectful speaking.

6. Grounded in consensus. “Consensus, which is not the same as unanimity, is declared when one

of the following occurs” all are in agreement about an outcome; or most are in agreement and

the few for whom it is not their first preference, nonetheless accept that they have been fairly

heard and can live with the outcome.



7. Everyone in the circle is responsible for the good work of the circle.

8. Circle works best with 8 to 12 people.

The most important point that Porter makes in regards to the peacemaker is that “we will never be fully

prepared for this work. It is not about perfection. It is about being human.”

Porter calls us to reflect on the Last Supper and on Jesus’ attitude even though he knew he was to be

betrayed he offered bread and wine to all including his betrayer.

After the disciples have taken their places and are eating what are the

first words Jesus said? According to the Gospel of Mark, he said, “Truly I

tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” He

added, “it is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl

with me” (Mark 14:17-20). Isn’t this startling? What a way to start a

dinner party! At his final dinner with his disciples, the first words of

Jesus name the conflict that is the elephant in the room. Judas is going

to betray Jesus. We see in John’s Gospel the other way that Jesus names

the conflict in which he found himself, the conflict written deep into the

whole social fabric of his day. He moves from the head of the table to

the foot of the table, takes the place of the least and washes the feet of

all the disciples (John 13:3-17). In doing so, he names the structural and

systemic problem of his society. He turns society upside down.

[…] Jesus sits at his last supper, under the shadow of the cross with the

man who would betray him and eleven others who will desert him.

Does that experience sound conflicted to you? And Jesus named it.

Justice requires the naming. Truth requires the naming. Transformation

requires the naming. What Jesus does next is remarkable, radical, and

transforming in the context of his day and ours. After naming the

conflict, he turns and offers everyone – Judas, Peter, everyone – bread

and wine. […] Here Jesus reframes our whole reality and the way we are

to respond to conflict, differences, and home. The frame within which

Jesus calls us to live out our lives is not the frame of naming to punish

but the frame of naming to give bread. […] Here we move from blaming

to naming, from punishment to accountability, from retribution to

forgiveness.

Stassen shares this opinion where he states, “The analogy in just peacemaking is to acknowledge

responsibility for conflict and injustice and seek repentance and forgiveness.” He writes further that

“Just peacemaking is not an ethics simply of refraining from doing violence, but of taking initiatives that

are effective in delivering us from violence.” We are therefore encouraged to “join grassroots

peacemaking groups both in churches and in the society. Alone, we feel uniformed and powerless.



Together, we are better informed, and can become connected by internet to other peacemaker groups

acting simultaneously to make changes for peace.

Reflection Questions

Discuss the difficulties that you may experience when the political or business thinking that you have is

in direct contrast to Christian teachings. Are you flexible enough to yield to God’s will?

What are the challenges faced with trying to truly living in the Spirit?

What are some of the obstacles that may occur when trying to mediate and discuss possible solutions?

Discuss local peacemaking groups. Would you be willing to join such groups? If not, what is holding you

back?

Challenge Exercise

Participate in a Bible Study focusing on the teachings of Isaiah.

Closing Prayer



Facilitator Information

Theme(s)

1. Peacemaking is God’s Will

2. Spiritual Maturity

3. Becoming Peacemakers

4. Peace at the Last Supper

Goals

• Introduction to the 10 Practices of Just Peacemaking

• Exposure to the Circle method of mediation

• Personal reflection on your own spiritual maturity

Prior to Group Meeting

• Members may purchase the book, Formation for Life: Just Peacemaking and Twenty-First-

Century Discipleship via LDA.

• Distribute copies of the study guide and ask members to read the Bible passages in the guide

• Read through the whole the study guide paying particular attention to the Reflection Facilitation

and the Question Facilitation sections

Other Useful Information for the Facilitator

The first series began with three lessons focusing on 4th and 10th commandments: Being Rich Toward

God, Keeping Sabbath in Consumer Culture, and The Rights and Privileges of Christian Worship which

provides a good foundation by emphasizing on the aspect of Sabbath rest. This second set of lessons

focuses on Just Peacemaking with reflection of linking the 4th and 6th commandments.

These set of lessons incorporates various chapters from the book, Formation for Life: Just Peacemaking

and Twenty-First-Century Discipleship. Therefore, there are more avenues for discussion. This second

session is full of practical information as an introduction into facilitating just peacemaking. This is a hard

skill to learn so participants should not expect themselves to know all about this subject or to be

sufficiently equipped to actively mediate. What this lesson attempts to do is to provide the participants

an introduction into the work and strategies being done in just peacemaking. This might lead to further

discussion and interest into learning and engaging in just peacemaking.

The main theme used throughout this lesson is the 10 Practices of Just Peacemaking. This list has been

accepted by the experts and is actively used domestically and internationally. To learn more about this

initiative go to www.JustPeacemaking.org.



Group Meeting Flow:

Prayer

Scripture Reading

Ask various members to read aloud the different readings Isaiah 32:16-18; Zechariah9:9-10; Matthew

7:1-5 from a modern translation.

Reflection Facilitation

You may want to refer to this section when helping to spur discussion or when leading the group in the

Reflection Questions.

Peacemaking is God’s Will

As the authors point out the Bible is full of the calls for peace. The writers cite multiple areas in both the

Old and New Testaments that require faithful to be peaceful. You may choose to read the beginning to

Cheryl Bridges Johns’ Yielding to the Spirit: Following Jesus in Just Peacemaking –

The age we live in, like the ages past, is a time of war. The United States,

in particular, seems to have a morbid fascination with this pastime. The

making of war has become our country’s largest industry, with an

annual budget of somewhere between 800 million and 1.03 trillion for

the fiscal year of 2010. As the United States continues to budget for

empire building we spend over 43 percent of the world’s share of

military expenditure.

In light of these statistics, it is becoming increasingly clear that as never

before, Christians must discern the times and live faithful to the gospel’s

call for just peacemaking. Yet, it is hard not to be ravished with wonder

at the shock and awe of empire building. Its glories attract us with

enticing promises of security. And, it seems that many are willing to pay

a high price of this security. Polls indicate that many Evangelical

Christians see nothing wrong with torture and are willing to turn a blind

eye to the new war policies in which mass assassinations are being

carried out by special forces.

The heroic figure of Jack Bauer, who tortures people in order to save the

United States from the impending threats of terrorists, serves as an icon

for a generation. In its day “24” was one of the most popular television

programs among young Christians. Many of my theology students

planned their schedules so as not to miss an episode.



With such unprecedented build up of mechanisms of war, the loss of

Geneva Conventions, outsourcing of secret torture chambers, Fuller’s

inauguration of the Initiative on Just Peacemaking is especially timely.

Unless Christians make concerted efforts to counter the current

obsession with war, we will continue to be swept into the glories and

thrills of empire building and find that along the way, somewhere

between “24” and the nightly news, we have ceased to be authentically

“Christian”.

An interesting fact that Stassen points out is “The spread of human rights has led to the spread of

democracy, and during the twentieth century, not one democracy with human rights made war on

another democracy with human rights. Political scientists call this “the iron law of international

relations” – democracies with human rights do not make war on each other.

Spiritual Maturity

Cheryl Bridges Johns discusses the importance of not simplifying our faith into acronyms or catchy

slogans. She spends most of her time emphasizing the importance of yielding to the Holy Spirit in order

to achieve Just Peacemaking. “This knowledge arrives not through human critical reflection. Rather, it

comes as a gift to the world. This gift stands in stark contrast to Western civilization’s trickle down

model of knowledge.”

Johns discusses what she refers to as “love’s knowledge” which is “the knowledge brought about by the

fires of Pentecost”. The following is the ending of her piece:

The loss of love’s knowledge is evident in our world. Knowledge is more

defined as power, in particular power over the world. Pentecost

reconfigures knowledge, bringing it into the life of God. In this

reconfiguration love becomes the primary characteristic of knowledge.

It is relational, dynamic and discerning. Persons filled with this

knowledge love as God loves.

Love’s knowledge becomes the primary characteristic for just

peacemaking. The ten just peacemaking practices are, at the heart,

practices of love’s knowledge. Non-violent direct action can only be

brought about when there is a relinquishment of self and power. […]

The initiative to use cooperative conflict resolution comes about

through the power of love’s knowledge. […]

Just peacemaking initiatives that are Spirit-led and Spirit-empowered

bring into the arena of human conflict the dimension of the Holy. […]



The epiphanies of darkness that surround human existence do not give

way easily. “Thinking like Jesus” or “following the principles of Jesus”

are not enough in the face of this great darkness. We need a power

greater than our own power. We need a love greater than our own

ability to love. We need the power of Pentecost. Until we are ravished

with wonder with this great power, Christians will continue to be

seduced with the glories of empire.

Becoming Peacemakers

You might want to begin this area by reviewing the list that Thomas Porter provided for conflict

transformation:

Prepare Yourself for Conflict Transformation

Create a well, not a wall.

Create in yourself an openness to conflict as a natural and necessary

part of God’s creation, an opportunity for growth and revelation.

Allow the well to fill.

Open your heart and mind to God’s love, drawing you toward

reconciliation and being a reconciler.

Be well prepared.

Be prepared to listen for understanding, speak the truth in love, use your

imagination, and practice forgiveness.

Be well. Be a well.

Be a mediating presence in the midst of conflict.

Engaging Others in Conflict Transformation

Create a common well together.

Design a circle process for a good conversation to get to a better place

together.

Share the well.

Together open yourselves to God through ritual and to each other

through a relation covenant.

Appreciate the life-giving waters.



Elicit stories of peak experiences, grace-filled moments, and dreams of a

preferred future.

Go beneath the surface.

Move from positions to interests and needs, generating options to reach

consensus.

Drink deeply the healing waters.

Move from retribution to restoration: healing the harm, affirming

accountability, and creating a new relationship.

Be well together.

Celebrate each step toward communal healing. Be prayerful, persistent

and patient.

In the Reflection we learn that Porter explains the “skills that we emphasize are listening for

understanding, speaking the truth in love, using our imagination and practicing forgiveness.” The

following is his brief definition for each of the skills he lists. If you want the longer explanation you will

want to read the full section in the chapter.

The following is the list of 5 practices found helpful in those involved with peace building along with the

bulleted list of explanations. The Reflection section only includes the high level list. You may want to add

the following additional information as the list is discussed.

Let Go of Striving for Status or Control

• Give up the desire to control the outcome.

• Let the conversation flow without feeling you need to control it.

• Give all the credit for any success to the participants.

Develop a Relationship of Respect and Trust with Each Party

• Help others see their interdependence and interconnection with each other.

• Spend as much time as needed with each party to develop a relationship of respect and trust,

motivated by curiosity and genuine caring.

• Prayerfully open up space in one’s self for the Spirit and each of the parties.

• Maintain confidences.

• Be impartial, fair, principled and committed to the legitimate needs of all.

• Trust your own instincts.

Bring a Sense of Gratitude and Abundance to the Process

• See each party as a child of God with unique gifts and resources.



• See yourself as a discoverer of the gifts and resources of the parties.

• Empower the parties to find their own voice, tell their own stories and find their own healing

solution.

• Express gratitude to the parties for their courage and their wisdom in coming together and for

their faith in being able to resolve their differences.

• Open the imagination and abundant resources of the parties, helping them expand the pie.

• Bring a playful spirit, a lightness of being, to the process.

• Exercise before a process to relieve some of the tension in your body.

• Be forever hopeful and optimistic that the parties can come to a better place together.

• Help the parties be patient, while you are persistent.

Express Humility as Wonder and Awe

• Recognize God is in control; the parties have the wisdom to resolve their own problems.

• Recognize one’s own limits, even failures without feeling defeated or lacking self-worth.

• Do not bring a spirit of judgment to the parties.

• Recognize the limits of one’s vision.

• See complexity as a friend, avoiding dualities.

• Be open to suggestions and criticism.

Be in Solidarity with All Creation

• Seek wellbeing and right relations for all the parties.

• Believe the parties can find common ground as well as higher ground.

• Help create a new sense of relationship and community among the parties.

For more information regarding the Circle or mediation read the full chapter by Thomas Porter.

Peace at the Last Supper

The main point here is Jesus actively displayed how we are to behave when confronted with conflict.

Question Facilitation

1. Discuss the difficulties that you may experience when the political or business thinking that you

have is in direct contrast to Christian teachings. Are you flexible enough to yield to God’s will?

Answers will vary. Bring up the call to giving your life to the Holy Spirit. Some may be reluctant to

agree with only peaceful means of solving conflicts. This is time for true dialogue and reading

scripture. Be sure to advise those who have more questions to go to justpeacemaking.org.



2. What are the challenges faced with trying to truly living in the Spirit?

Answers will vary.

3. What are some of the obstacles that may occur when trying to mediate and discuss possible

solutions?

Answers will vary. One way to spur discussion is to ask whether or not there could be a negative

reaction to the solution. According to Porter, “Generally people can live with a decision they may

not actually prefer if they have had a voice in that decision or resolution. Everyone needs to feel

valued, and to be treated fairly. Bad process can be a source of conflict, yielding resentment,

feelings of being treated unfairly, and a sense of powerlessness.”

4. Discuss local peacemaking groups. Would you be willing to join such groups? If not, what is

holding you back?

Answers will vary. You may want to do some initial work to discover what peacemaking groups

are available in the community. Also check out www.justpeacemaking.org.

Closing Prayer

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