Bishop Paul Jones: John 8:31-32

Today, I want to talk about one of those saints in the church's history that we might overlook most of the time. This is the day when we celebrate Bishop Paul Jones. He was a priest first, then he was a missionary priest out in Logan, Utah when it was just a territory. The people in the wilderness of Utah liked him enough that he became their bishop. Now before I go on with Bishop Jones, I want to tell you a parable from my own life. 

Once there was a scrawny boy. For the most part he made friends with enough other kids that, so he did not get picked on by bullies. His mother, an ever wise figure in his life, continually gave him good advice that he did not always heed. One nugget that went in one ear and out the other was the following: "No matter what happens, no matter how angry you get, you always have a choice. You do not have to let anger overwhelm you. You can always choose peace."  

Well one time the boy found himself in a bit of a pickle. He had gotten the wrong person out in a game during P.E. and the bully was waiting on me in the locker room. The scrawny boy hurried over to his locker to change quickly and luckily the bully had to get dressed too, but before the period was over the bully was about to pummel the scrawny boy. In this moment of fear the boy did something that would have embarrassed his mother. As this bully swung at the boy, the scrawny one kicked the bully… hard and in a place that no boy wants to be hit. Right then, the bell rang and the boy ran out leaving the bully in a heap on the floor.

While at first I reveled in the elation of avoiding a butt kicking, I soon found myself deflated knowing that I had inflicted pain upon another human being. 

Sometime after I had kicked the bully, I went up to talk with him. I knew that I could have been beaten up in retaliation for what I did, but I also did not want to live in fear of a response to my actions. So, I approached the boy and we talked and somehow came to a truce. For neither of us wanted violence to keep us from playing together or enjoying P.E.

Today we celebrate the life of Bishop Paul Jones, a missionary bishop of the Episcopal Church, who served out in the territory of Utah in the early 1900s. At the time of World War I he spoke out in the name of peace, saying that fighting such a gruesome war was unchristian. His opinion was not well received. In fact, it got him ousted as the Bishop of Utah, as his fellow bishops did not like that he objected to war on the grounds of faith and conscious. Bishop Jones staked his life and risked his career as he believed that God is not a God who calls us to inflict pain and hurt upon one another, but rather that we are called to strive for peace among one another.

My encounter with a bully in middle school showed me that fear and violence enacted upon another only leads to more fear and violence. Bishop Jones saw that peace not violence was the way of the Church. Jesus died a violent death because those in power were afraid of his message. His message is what we heard today. “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

We are called into this freedom, this freedom of knowing the truth. The truth is that violence does not perpetuate anything but violence. War leads to more war. As we sit as a nation wondering whether we should move again Syria with military action, I urge us to follow the path of Bishop Jones. God help us to choose peace and our conscious over war and violence.