Loving God, as you opened the tomb and raised Jesus to new life, so open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit that as your Word is proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today, and in confidence go forth to live what you show us. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.
Today's gospel reading is set at the time of the Last Supper - the night before Jesus gives himself over to death for our sakes.
In it Jesus tells his disciples that they should not grieve or sorrow over his going from them, that at his going - he would not only bestow the Holy Spirit upon them to teach and comfort them, but he would leave them his peace.
Hear his words again: My peace I leave with you
my peace I give to you.
I do not give to you as
the world gives.
What a wonderful set of words - a wonderful promise - this promise of peace. Yet there is a strangeness to them as well - a strangeness found in the last phrase - the phrase that says: "I do not give to you as the world gives."
What do they mean for us? for us who greet one another in the liturgy - the worship - with the words - the Peace of Christ be with you?
What is this peace that Christ gives and that we pray upon one another? the peace that he gives, which is not like that which the world gives?
There is a story told about peace that may help answer that question.
"It seems that one day an artist was commissioned by a wealthy man to paint something that would depict peace. After a great deal of thought, the artist painted a beautiful country scene. There were green fields with cows standing in them, birds were flying in the blue sky and a lovely little village lay in a distant valley. The artist gave the picture to the man, but there was a look of disappointment on the patron's face. The man said to the artist, "This isn't a picture of true peace. It isn't right. Go back and try again."
The artist went back to his studio, thought for several hours about peace, then went to his canvas and began to paint. When he was finished, there on the canvas was a beautiful picture of a mother, holding a sleeping baby in her arms, smiling lovingly at the child. He thought, surely, this is true peace, and hurried to give the picture to the wealthy man. But again, the wealthy man refused the painting and asked the painter to try again.
The artist returned again to his studio. He was discouraged, he was tired and he was disappointed. Anger swelled inside him, he felt the rejection of this wealthy man. Again, he thought; he even prayed for inspiration to paint a picture of true peace. Then, all of a sudden an idea came, he rushed to the canvas and began to paint as he had never painted before. When he finished, he hurried to the wealthy man.
He gave the painting to the man. He studied it carefully for several minutes. The artist held his breath. Then the wealthy man said, "Now this is a picture of true peace." He accepted the painting, paid the artist and everyone was happy.
And what was this picture of true peace?? The picture showed a stormy sea pounding against a cliff. The artist had captured the furry of the wind as it whipped black rain clouds which were laced with streaks of lightening. The sea was roaring in turmoil, waves churning, the dark sky filled with the power of the furious thunderstorm. And in the middle of the picture, under a cliff, the artist had painted a small bird, safe and dry in her nest snuggled safely in the rocks. The bird was at peace midst the storm that raged about her."
This seems to be portion of the picture of peace that Jesus gives not a worldly kind of peace
- the peace of a spot in nature - beautiful and serene
- the peace of a mother and child - tender and gentle
- the peace of an absence of conflict - where there are no storms or violent waves
but rather a peace of knowing that in the midst of turmoil there is a rock which can shelter us, a place where we can nurture and raise a new generation without fear a power that can spread it's wings over us and keep us safe .
As one of my favourite hymns puts it as it contemplates the storms of life
we have a anchor that will not move; grounded firm and deep in the Saviour's love
So many of us look for peace in this world. We look for the safe places where there is nothing that can disturb us. We look for the quieting of our hearts - disturbed so often by fear. We look for assurance - for hope - for joy. And this is a good thing to do - for God does not want us to suffer needlessly.
Many of us pray too about peace, about peace not only for us - inside our hearts - and inside our families - we pray for peace in the world for an end to armed conflicts, and an end to war and terrorism, an end for the violence that nations and individuals do to one another and this too is a good thing to do this praying for peace.
But often I think we look for peace in a way that is not helpful, and even perhaps pray for peace in a way that is not helpful.
We look for peace, we seek peace thinking of it as an end to those things that disturb us, as an absence of fear, as an absence of conflict, as an absence of turmoil and forget, I believe, that the lack of peace in our hearts and in our world is a consequence of other factors - rather than the actual problem we are facing.
In Hebrew - peace - Shalom - is much more than the absence of things that disturb us. Peace is rather linked to the concept of wholeness, of being "at one" with God and with our neighbours - and ourselves, of having not only an absence of war but of having the causes of war - greed, hate, fear, and their children - injustice, intolerance, and prejudices - eliminated, of having not only an absence of pain and distress - like that Morphine or Demerol might provide but of having the disease that causes the pain and distress cured.
And that is what Jesus was about when he walked among us and what he is about through his Spirit, from his place next to the Father above, as we await the new heaven and the new earth - that heaven and that earth to be inherited by those who keep faith with him to be inherited by those who claim the vision and walk by the light it sheds.
My peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
Jesus was - and Jesus is - one who heals the disease rather than one who simply masks the symptoms.
Jesus was - and Jesus is - one who builds a new world, a new heaven and a new earth rather than simply trying to fix the old one.
That's what the book says. That's what the spirit says, and that's what the heart says - the heart of faith.
We have, my friends, a vision, a vision to guide our walking and to provide assurance to us as we walk - we have a destination and a goal, a purpose and a plan.
But more - we have one who is able to bring about what he has promised, one who is able to bring to pass a new world - we know this - for two reasons - the first being what was promised in the past has been performed by him, the prophecies made have come true. - and the second reason being we are witnesses to how he brings to pass new people, transformed people, people who have moved from blindness to sight, from despair to hope, from sickness to health, from hatred of self to love of all, from death - to life.
But more than a destination that provides us direction, more than a vision that provides us hope, more than a goal that keeps us busy, we have a presence here and now a presence that comforts us and helps us to known peace - and to share peace, this day, a presence that reminds us that the Word of God is effective and that it accomplishes what it sets out to do, and that what it does is work towards wholeness.
That presence is the presence of Christ himself, the presence of the Spirit, the presence of God.
That is part of what Jesus means when he says
My peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
He does not give as the world gives - because what he gives is effective, what he gives is eternal, what he gives cannot and will not fail.
He gives us peace with God through his love, through his life and his death, and his resurrection, and he gives us a new world through his sharing with us the eternal plan of God.
And this, my friends, goes beyond even the picture of the artist that I started with, the picture of the bird sitting safely on its nest in the midst of a violent storm.
We should be looking at the great promises made by God through the prophet Isaiah, how God spoke to Israel when the nation was in captivity - and called the people to "remember no more the things of the past, for behold I do a new thing"
As we talked about the how God in fact set his people free from slavery in Babylon a few years later, and about how God brought the former things he prophecied to pass; it was noted that we are in fact in the same position today as the people of Israel were then.
We are in captivity - a spiritual captivity - a spiritual captivity that tempts us to cling to the past and to complain about the present, rather than to move into the future with confidence.
What would it be like one person asked - if instead of complaining about things are not perfect here in the church - or at home - or at work - we instead claimed the promises of God and praised God for all the good things that he is working on in our midst even now?
What would it be like if we, instead of moaning about how 1 out of 3 marriages fail, we thanked God for how 2 out of 3 work?
Or instead of getting agitated about how few people helped out when asked to help out, we got excited about how many people help out all the time - often without being asked?
Or Instead of complaining about all the bad news that we can so easily complain about, we spoke of the good things that God is doing in lives all around us - all the time.
What it be like, what would our church be like - and eventually our whole community be like, if instead of sweating about all the little stuff that goes wrong, we really got hold of the promises of God, and looked to the little stuff that goes right - as signs of God's faithfulness towards us and towards the world he has made?
An intriguing set of questions isn't it? A set of questions that reminds us that there are more enduring things than the pains we experience - more important things to do than simply moan about what is not good - things to do that decrease pain and increase wholeness - to the glory of God..
As Jesus said at the beginning of his ministry, behold - the Kingdom of God is at hand, see - the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the prisoners are set free.
Peace is found in living a life of faith.
Peace is found in walking according to the words of Christ.
Peace is found in trusting in the living God and in his everlasting love.
We have a vision.
we have a goal.
And we have a God able to accomplish all that he purposes, a God who vanquishes death - and opens the way to eternal life to all, a God who serves where others would rule, and rules where no other force can rule.
The world is, my friends, in a turmoil, there is a great storm raging round us. But look to the good that is also all around us. And do the good - as Jesus calls us to do in today's gospel reading, by keeping his word; do it knowing that this word will not return to us - nor to God - empty, but will accomplish all that it is meant to accomplish.
The peace of Christ is not simply a peace of huddling on the nest while the storm rages - it is a peace of knowing that when the storm is over, it is over forever, and all of creation will be at peace.
As the scripture says, "grief may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning."
The words of Jesus concerning his peace are not easy words, his peace is not always peace to receive but it is a peace that lasts, a peace that triumphs, a peace that heals, and that is not something that the world can give us it can only come to us from God.
Let us Pray. Compassionate and loving Lord, you promised to leave us your peace, a peace unlike that which the world offers to us. Father, lead us all to that peace. Help us to trust in your living word and to do what you ask of us. Grant us a confident faith - one that looks to the light rather than at the darkness - one that dares to enter the turmoil of the world - knowing that you are making the world new. Help us, dear Father, to die with Christ, so that we might also live with him. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment