A devotional thought presented originally to River Street Cafe, Regent Park Toronto, 05 August 2016. Presented to Arthur Meighen Retirement Residence, 19 October 2016.
Read Matthew 5:38-39, Luke 9:20-25
Luke 9:25: “What good is it for someone
to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:26, Matthew 16:26).
Do the ends justify the means?
Recently I read an anthology of sermons by
the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. There was one point he kept coming back to
that really resonates with me. His opponents accused him of being a communist.
When people pointed out to him that, as far as the USA was concerned, many of
his causes were communist ones; MLK would reply that he differs from the
communists in one key way. “Lenin”, he said, “believed that the end justified
the means.” As a Christian I can never believe that the ends justify the means
because God reminds us that the means are the end – what you do on the journey
reveals who you are in the end. This is true.
For example if we want to end violent
oppression by violently throwing off our oppressors then in the process we will
find that we provide the violent oppression for someone else to throw off.
Violence breeds violence. The ends do not justify the means. As Gandhi, whom
MLK loved to quote, said, ‘an eye for and eye makes the whole world blind.’ If
we want the world to see the truth then we need to help our adversary see, not
pluck out his eye. If we pluck out his eye he may do the same to us and we will
both be left a couple of blind bullies. Gandhi, like Tutu and Mandela after
him, is a great example of helping our adversary to see. A society at peace
with its former oppressors was created in a way it never would have been
through violence. The means of violence always brings the result of violence.
The means of peace is what brings the result of peace. And Jesus is the Prince
of Peace.
Do the ends justify the means? No, the
means are the end. Oswald Chamber says, ‘God is not working toward a particular
finish - His purpose is the process itself.’
If we walk along the path of sin hoping
to reach holiness we will be sadly disappointed. Conversely if we never walk
towards sin, we will never arrive at sin.
He who walks in the darkness does not see
the light and she who walks in the light does not get lost in the darkness.
This is true in our relationships with
each other and it is true with our relationship with God. Jesus and Salvation
isn’t about a destination, an end of going to heaven when we die; Salvation is
how we live with God from today unto eternity; it is a means, a way of life.
So, can we do evil as a way to try to enter heaven? No. Do the ends ever
justify the means? No. The means, which is ultimately our very relationship
with our neighbour and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is all that matters.
He is with us and He wants us to journey with Him both now and forever. And
that is the means by which we can each live the most blessed life both for now
and forever.
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