May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands,
to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the people. Psalm 149:6-7
These sorts of verses cannot work for us as Christians because the words of Jesus are just too powerful. ‘Love your enemy, and do good to those who hate you.’ Luke 6:27.
In 2002 Leymah Gbowee was working in her local Lutheran Church, in Monravia, the captial city of Liberia on the west coast of Africa. Her church worked with traumatised ex child soldiers, and women who had been sexually assaulted, forced to flee or had lost loved ones in the 13 years of civil war. One night, the 30 year old Leymah heard a voice saying, ‘Gather the women to pray for peace.’ She met with her local prayer group who prayed with her, ‘Jesus, help us. You are the true Prince of Peace, the only one who can grant us peace.’ The gathering had started. Laymay said, ‘We went to the mosques on Friday at noon after prayers, to the markets on Saturday morning, to two churches every Sunday…We gave all our sisters the same message: Liberian women, awake for peace!’
Signs went up everywhere. WE ARE TIRED! WE ARE TIRED OF OUR CHILDREN BEING KILLED! WE ARE TIRED OF BEING RAPED! WOMEN, WAKE UP – YOU HAVE A VOICE IN THE PEACE PROCESS!
Peace talks started two countries away, Ghana. When word came back about no progress, the women bussed in, took over the hotel, and refused to let the men leave. When security forces tried to evict them, they started to undress in public. That would have brought a curse on all the men nearby. Three days later the changes were underway. In 2011 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Her work for peace in places of conflict continues to this day.
Non-violence is not a soft option. It is the costly way of life handed to us by Jesus. It is a life-giving power that we are called on to trust, and to wield. It is the true ‘double edged sword’ of our Psalm.
