The War Within

Finding peace on the inside and outside

11/29/2021

Is 2:1-5 This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In days to come, The mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills. All nations shall stream toward it; many peoples shall come and say: "Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD!

Have you ever wondered why there are wars? I mean why can’t we end all wars once and for all? Isn’t that what all beauty pageant contestants wish for: world peace? I am convinced there are wars on the outside (in the world) because first there are wars on the inside (in our hearts). We are not at peace in the world because we are not at peace within ourselves. We raise the sword to kill others when we should raise the sword to kill our own sins and selfishness. Perhaps a simple illustration will help.

During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln would visit the wounded soldiers in make-shift hospitals on the battlefield. In those days, people often did not know what the president looked like because photographic images were not as ubiquitous as they are today. As Lincoln was entering one such hospital, an orderly was running out in the opposite direction. The two men crashed into each other and went sprawling to the ground. The orderly, not recognizing his president, exclaimed: “Why don’t you look where you’re going, you lanky, long-legged buffoon!?” Lincoln stood up, dusted himself off, and asked the orderly: “Son, what’s bothering you on the inside?”

Lincoln knew where wars begin. The young orderly was ready to raise the sword on the outside (even against his own president) than wage war against his troubles on the inside – the worries, the fears, the sorrows, the anxieties in his own heart. Indeed, Lincoln likewise understood why we were waging the Civil War, brother against brother, because we had not waged the war against the sin of slavery on the inside, in our country’s soul. In other words, there will always be wars on the outside because first there is not peace on the inside.

Quickly becoming one of my favorite books of the Old Testament is Isaiah. Its sixty-six chapters can feel intimidating, but I find real “gold in them thar 66 hills” like in today’s first reading from Isaiah 2. We read about the prophet’s prospects for peace in the famous lines: “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” Isaiah goes on: “One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.”

But notice what has to happen before there is peace on the outside: there must be peace on the inside. That is, all the nations must listen to the voice of God in their hearts – that’s another name for conscience – and repent of their idolatry, sins and selfishness. Isaiah asks the nations like Lincoln asked the orderly: “What’s bothering you on the inside?” In other words, if there is not peace within the soul of each nation, there will never be peace among nations.

My friends, Advent is the period of preparation for the birthday of the Prince of Peace. How shall we prepare for peace? One way might be to ask like Isaiah: why are there wars among the nations? Another way might be to ask like Lincoln: what’s bothering you on the inside? For the next four weeks take serious time to ask yourself: what is robbing me of peace on the inside? And be careful not to blame other people for your lack of peace: your spouse, your neighbor, your president. That is the easy way out and does not lead to lasting peace.

The first step of peace is to turn the sword of war against ourselves: our sins, our selfishness, our ego, our pride, our laziness, our envy and jealousy, in a word, our disordered self-love. Once you have identified the cause of the war within, go to confession, and make your peace with God and with your conscience. And you will feel profound sense of peace.

Whenever someone gets really upset with me and blows up because I make some mistake, I wonder: “What’s bothering them on the inside?” And whenever I explode over some small error someone else makes, I ask myself: “What’s bothering me on the inside?” We will never find world peace until we have find peace for the war within.

Praised be Jesus Christ!