Job 42: 1-6
Rev. Tricia Dillon Thomas
Pastor to Youth & Families
Peace Presbyterian Church
What an amazing Sunday last week was. I’ve had so many people from other congregations tell me how moved they felt during the birth of our church. And me, too. Oh, what a Happy Day it was--I was filled with joy by the Holy Spirit. And then, during fellowship towards the end of the celebration, Elizabeth leans over to me and says, “You get to preach next week!” So here we are...and after a Sunday of joy, we have a Sunday on the harshness of this world.
We are told in Chapter 1 that Job was a righteous man: He was honest inside and out, a man of his word, who was totally devoted to God and hated evil with a passion. But Job lost everything caught in a duel between God and Satan.
Nevertheless Job blesses instead of cursing God. He sits all alone in the ashes just after his wife has called him a fool for not having cursed God. And Jobs three friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar come to be with him after hearing of the disaster. For the first week they just sit with him in silence and prayer, as they can see that Job is suffering immensely. But after a week of silence and still no relief from his symptoms, the friends, trying to find a way to relieve Job of his suffering, start to question the circumstances that could have led to such misfortune.
Job’s friends speak from a deep tradition where righteousness is rewarded and sinfulness is punished. Job knows that his reality speaks a different truth, and he wants to know why God has done these things to him. The debate with the friends takes up most of the book of job. They argue, Job defends, argue, defend, argue, defend.
Finally God enters into the conversation. God speaks out of the whirlwind, out of the chaos that is reflected in the chaos of Job’s life. After God speaks, this is how Job responds.
Then Job answered the LORD:
"I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
Gods asks: 'Who is this that hides counsel / without knowledge?'
Therefore / I have uttered / what I did not understand, //
things too wonderful for me, // which // I did not know.
God says: 'Hear, // and I will speak; // I will question you, //
and you // declare to me.'
I had heard of you // by the hearing of the ear, // but now // my eye sees you;
therefore I despise myself, //
and repent // in dust // and ashes."
The word of the Lord . Thanks be to God.
My family gets together every year for a reunion, usually somewhere in Florida. Three summers ago, we did it in Savannah because my Grandmother had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer and couldn’t travel. My family is loud…I mean loud—especially around meal time when all 20-30 of us try to eat dinner together in a single condo unit. I was at a table with 8 or 9 female relatives. We were talking about some of my experiences in school, working in churches, serving as a Chaplain at a hospital, when Tammy a cousin of mine asks, “Tricia, why do you think bad things happen to people? Why do you think people suffer?” The table got quiet. In fact the whole room got quite. I really can’t explain how hard it is for that to happen in my family. But you see, Tammy, a beautiful woman in her early forties, was sitting there with a scarf around her bald head as she held her three year old daughter in her lap.
Tammy had been diagnosed with breast cancer the year before, had undergone chemotherapy, and had had one of her breasts removed. She had every right to ask that question. And sitting beside Tammy was my grandmother. Newly diagnosed with cancer that we knew was treatable, but not curable. And my mother was also there. My Aunt Betty, who lost her mother when she was only 14 years old, was also sitting at the table. And my cousin Joanne, who’s own mother died of cancer just a few years before and had also watched her father, succumb to Alzheimer’s not even a year earlier. So the room got quiet. Real quiet. Because the question wasn’t funny. Because of the status of health in my family at the time, I imagine it was a question that most of us had been breathing for the past couple of months.
And what was I to say? I had no answer. So I said, “I don’t know. Why do you think people suffer?” She had an answer. Just like each one of Job’s friends, Tammy had an answer. So she told us. And to be honest, I didn’t like, but I realized it made sense. I couldn’t deny the truth that she shared, which was her story. My grandmother, however, shook her head, meaning no. Nope, Tammy’s answer didn’t work for Grandma. My mother argued on my grandma’s behalf. And you know what? I didn’t really agree with my mom’s answer either. But it was an answer that was reflective of my mother’s experiences. It spoke to her reality, and I couldn’t argue with it because it was her encounter with the Holy Spirit in her life. And I had an answer, too. It spoke to my truth. But none of us had an answer that was the end all answer to why people suffer. It’s why we were talking about it, seeing if each of our threads could be weaved into greater understanding.
The age old question of “Why do bad things happen to good people?” didn’t start with Rabbi Harold S. Kushner, who wrote a book with that same title. It didn’t start with the Holocaust. Read Ecclesiastes, for that matter read The Prophets and much of the Old Testament, and you’ll see God’s people struggling with the meaning of their suffering. The Book of Job is based around this idea of the innocent suffering. One commentator on Job says biblical faith is not mature until it has faced the harshest realities of human experience clear-eyed and cold sober, as Job requires us to do. People who are serious about faith do not read this book at an arm’s distance.
Those of us who try to live our lives inside the Bible, like Job and his friends, we all base our understanding of God and suffering on what we’ve experienced, what we learned from our parents and Sunday school teachers growing up. Have you ever watched someone knit? That’s kind of what I imagine this to look like. Job and his friends, like many of us, have this fabric that is knit together in understanding. It is a fragile piece of weaved upon meanings, knitted together by shared experiences in the community. If you’ve ever watched a knitters hands, however, you can see that the knitting is always in danger of being unraveled, of coming undone when something doesn’t quite fit. But it is repaired, the thread that fell is picked up, and woven up again, and enlarged to reflect the community’s reality.
When the threads of language fall from the needle, the knitting begins to come undone. Job’s friends try to keep the piece together. But for Job, his experience tears this knitting into dust and ashes.
So Job takes God to court and demands to know what he’s done to be punished. When God finally speaks, God’s poetry speaks of the vast wildness of the animals, the chaos of the cosmos, the might and strength of beasts that only God and tame.
There is real suffering in the world. You’ve experienced it, I’ve experienced it.
The book of Job does not answer the question of why. I don’t know whether God was inflicting
Job, the only thing I know is that God was with Job. Job’s friends came, and they gave him no relief. But God’s presence did.
God creates a whole new fabric. God doesn’t answer Job using the language and understanding of Job and his friends. What God describes is a magnificent world where God is never absent, a place that is never beyond God’s power. In this new knitting God is the single strand of yarn that is woven around, under, above, and within. The only thing that picked Job off the floor was that Job became aware that God was the knitter.
God will be in the midst.
The New Testament speaks to God in the midst. It points to a God who is with us. Immanuel. Jesus Christ came to this world. Jesus Christ, innocent of all sin, suffered and died for us. But death did not have the last word. Because the story isn’t over with Jesus’ death. The story ends and begins again with his resurrection. When Jesus rose from the grave he defeated all those powers. The final word is a word of hope.
Christ commissioned this new church to be his presence in the world. To be the body of Christ. To celebrate the beauty of God’s love and share the good news of God’s grace. To sing praises and make merry, O Happy Days. But also to hold the hands of those who mourn. To witness to God, in the midst of suffering. As St. Teresa says, “Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
no hands but yours, no feet but yours.” So let us put our hope and our trust in God, who suffered for us, died for us, and rose for us, prays for us, and continues to reign in power over us. Amen.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
NO LONGER STRANGERS
A SERMON FOR THE CHARTERING OF PEACE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
EPHESIANS 2:12-22
TED W. LAND, PASTOR
First Presbyterian Church of Arcadia
No more a stranger or a guest, but like a child at home…
"My Shepherd Will Supply My Need"
#172 - The Presbyterian Hymnal
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In Him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you are also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.
Ephesians 2:19-22
It would have been easy to have focused on the first part of our scripture today. We’re chartering, organizing, a Presbyterian Church called Peace. And Jesus Christ is indeed our peace. He has made peace, and reconciled us to God through the cross. And that is the message that this church called Peace is chartered, organized, designed to proclaim. Peace to those who are near, and peace to those who are far off. The peace that passes all understanding.
But that would have been too obvious, too easy.
Instead, let’s think about what it means to be “no more a stranger or a guest, but like a child at home.” Let’s think about what it means to become citizens with the saints, members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.
I remember once when we were all strangers, all guests. Polly, Bob and Ardis, and I, we were there, present, at the first gathering of the saints who would become Peace Church. It was a cold night in January, and we met in the library at the Out of Door Academy, and Chris Curvin, then associate pastor at Church of the Palms, led worship, and John Ferriera, their Director of Music, played the keyboard, and several of the choir members from Church of the Palms sang. And we were all strangers and aliens one to another. Some of us were interested members of Presbytery; some were members at Church of the Palms or Sarasota First. Some were people who saw the notice in the newspaper, or a sign on the corner. Some of you may still be here this afternoon. Some of those folks we’ve never seen again.
For some people, things happened too fast. For others, they happened too slowly.
Patience and passion have to come together in equal measures to start a new church. And sadly, those with the passion sometimes lack the patience, and those with the patience, the passion.
You were once all strangers and aliens, visitors and guests, you who have signed the roll as charter members of Peace Presbyterian Church. You are now citizens with the saints! You are members of the household of God! You are no longer in that limbo that exists when you are a New Church Development. You’re official! You can have elders, and deacons if you want them, and a pastor, and even a parish associate. That “almost a church” status that you’ve both enjoyed and suffered under has come to an end. You are a church! You are indeed a household of God!
I’ve mentioned a few of the saints, the apostles and prophets who were a part of that beginning. I won’t dare to attempt to list them all. They were too many, too varied. There was a steering committee that plotted a course, and a search committee, that found Elizabeth Deibert, and there was the Presbytery Committee, that has changed its name twice during the time this church has been developing, and there was a property acquisition committee.
I’ve lost track of how many pieces of real estate were considered as a future home for Peace Church. It is important to have that piece of real estate. But that doesn’t tell you where Peace Church is. Peace Church is wherever its members are, individually and corporately
When someone asks you where your church is, tell them it is wherever you are! Peace Church cannot be confined or defined by a building!
You’ve already built one building, you know! That’s right! It isn’t a house of worship. It isn’t a place of fellowship and learning. Well, maybe it is, because a lot of fellowship and a lot of learning took place when the team from Peace built Mr. McIver’s house in the little DeSoto County community of Hull. This church truthfully was building itself as they built that house. And someday, maybe using some of the things you learned, you will build a house of worship. I know that all of us look forward to that day when we will meet again to dedicate the building in which Peace Church will worship and gather for fellowship and for Christian Education, and from which you will go out into the community to serve. I’m planning on being there!
But recognize and realize: you will not be dedicating a church when you do that. You will be dedicating a building. You are the church! You are that which is built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets with Jesus Christ Himself as the cornerstone.
Now the word we translate here as cornerstone, well, we don’t have a word or a concept in our architecture that corresponds to the concept in Biblical times.
Perhaps you’ve heard the scripture, and the legend, about the stone that the builders rejected, the one that came from the quarry when they were building the temple in Jerusalem, It had one arm that went like this, and one that when like that, and a third arm sticking out to the side. It wasn’t like the symmetrical keystone that holds together a Roman arch. It wasn’t like the square, solid, cubical stone that we put in the corner of our buildings. But in the rather primitive architecture of the Israelites, “the head of the corner” was what held the walls of the temple together, and odd-shaped though it was, it was essential to keep things together.
You who were strangers and aliens, visitors and guests, have been bound together by the one who is the cornerstone into a church called Peace.
As the Avery and Marsh song of a few years back said,
I am the church! You are the church! We are the church together! All who follow Jesus all around the world! Yes, we’re the church together!
The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people.
We’re many kinds of people, with many kinds of faces, all colors and all ages, from all times and places.
I am the church! You are the church! We are the church together!
Today, you become Peace Presbyterian Church. It is Jesus Himself who joins you together, and who allows you, empowers you, to grow into a holy temple of the Lord. You are thus built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.
Peace Church, God dwells within you! God dwells in you hearts, in your minds, in your souls, in your lives. His peace is your peace.
You are no longer strangers. You are now a church.
And to Jesus Christ, the head of the church, the cornerstone who joins us together, be the glory, the power, the dominion and the praise, in the church and in the world, now and forever more. Amen.
EPHESIANS 2:12-22
TED W. LAND, PASTOR
First Presbyterian Church of Arcadia
No more a stranger or a guest, but like a child at home…
"My Shepherd Will Supply My Need"
#172 - The Presbyterian Hymnal
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In Him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you are also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.
Ephesians 2:19-22
It would have been easy to have focused on the first part of our scripture today. We’re chartering, organizing, a Presbyterian Church called Peace. And Jesus Christ is indeed our peace. He has made peace, and reconciled us to God through the cross. And that is the message that this church called Peace is chartered, organized, designed to proclaim. Peace to those who are near, and peace to those who are far off. The peace that passes all understanding.
But that would have been too obvious, too easy.
Instead, let’s think about what it means to be “no more a stranger or a guest, but like a child at home.” Let’s think about what it means to become citizens with the saints, members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.
I remember once when we were all strangers, all guests. Polly, Bob and Ardis, and I, we were there, present, at the first gathering of the saints who would become Peace Church. It was a cold night in January, and we met in the library at the Out of Door Academy, and Chris Curvin, then associate pastor at Church of the Palms, led worship, and John Ferriera, their Director of Music, played the keyboard, and several of the choir members from Church of the Palms sang. And we were all strangers and aliens one to another. Some of us were interested members of Presbytery; some were members at Church of the Palms or Sarasota First. Some were people who saw the notice in the newspaper, or a sign on the corner. Some of you may still be here this afternoon. Some of those folks we’ve never seen again.
For some people, things happened too fast. For others, they happened too slowly.
Patience and passion have to come together in equal measures to start a new church. And sadly, those with the passion sometimes lack the patience, and those with the patience, the passion.
You were once all strangers and aliens, visitors and guests, you who have signed the roll as charter members of Peace Presbyterian Church. You are now citizens with the saints! You are members of the household of God! You are no longer in that limbo that exists when you are a New Church Development. You’re official! You can have elders, and deacons if you want them, and a pastor, and even a parish associate. That “almost a church” status that you’ve both enjoyed and suffered under has come to an end. You are a church! You are indeed a household of God!
I’ve mentioned a few of the saints, the apostles and prophets who were a part of that beginning. I won’t dare to attempt to list them all. They were too many, too varied. There was a steering committee that plotted a course, and a search committee, that found Elizabeth Deibert, and there was the Presbytery Committee, that has changed its name twice during the time this church has been developing, and there was a property acquisition committee.
I’ve lost track of how many pieces of real estate were considered as a future home for Peace Church. It is important to have that piece of real estate. But that doesn’t tell you where Peace Church is. Peace Church is wherever its members are, individually and corporately
When someone asks you where your church is, tell them it is wherever you are! Peace Church cannot be confined or defined by a building!
You’ve already built one building, you know! That’s right! It isn’t a house of worship. It isn’t a place of fellowship and learning. Well, maybe it is, because a lot of fellowship and a lot of learning took place when the team from Peace built Mr. McIver’s house in the little DeSoto County community of Hull. This church truthfully was building itself as they built that house. And someday, maybe using some of the things you learned, you will build a house of worship. I know that all of us look forward to that day when we will meet again to dedicate the building in which Peace Church will worship and gather for fellowship and for Christian Education, and from which you will go out into the community to serve. I’m planning on being there!
But recognize and realize: you will not be dedicating a church when you do that. You will be dedicating a building. You are the church! You are that which is built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets with Jesus Christ Himself as the cornerstone.
Now the word we translate here as cornerstone, well, we don’t have a word or a concept in our architecture that corresponds to the concept in Biblical times.
Perhaps you’ve heard the scripture, and the legend, about the stone that the builders rejected, the one that came from the quarry when they were building the temple in Jerusalem, It had one arm that went like this, and one that when like that, and a third arm sticking out to the side. It wasn’t like the symmetrical keystone that holds together a Roman arch. It wasn’t like the square, solid, cubical stone that we put in the corner of our buildings. But in the rather primitive architecture of the Israelites, “the head of the corner” was what held the walls of the temple together, and odd-shaped though it was, it was essential to keep things together.
You who were strangers and aliens, visitors and guests, have been bound together by the one who is the cornerstone into a church called Peace.
As the Avery and Marsh song of a few years back said,
I am the church! You are the church! We are the church together! All who follow Jesus all around the world! Yes, we’re the church together!
The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people.
We’re many kinds of people, with many kinds of faces, all colors and all ages, from all times and places.
I am the church! You are the church! We are the church together!
Today, you become Peace Presbyterian Church. It is Jesus Himself who joins you together, and who allows you, empowers you, to grow into a holy temple of the Lord. You are thus built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.
Peace Church, God dwells within you! God dwells in you hearts, in your minds, in your souls, in your lives. His peace is your peace.
You are no longer strangers. You are now a church.
And to Jesus Christ, the head of the church, the cornerstone who joins us together, be the glory, the power, the dominion and the praise, in the church and in the world, now and forever more. Amen.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Traveling Light
Mark 10:17-31
Ordinary Time
Elizabeth M. Deibert
Emily called while she was traveling through Europe in August. She said, “Mom, I hope you don’t mind but I had to unload some things because I was traveling by bus, train and plane, and my luggage was just too heavy for me to get around. So I got rid of some of my clothes, and you know that computer bag of yours that I borrowed, your portfolio, it was really nice to have it, Mom, but I found I could simplify and it was much easier to get from one place to the next without that extra bag.” Why did I think it was a good idea to give her my portfolio for this trip?
I suppose because I needed to learn a lesson and so did she about the value of traveling light. You know how foreigners can pick out an American in any airport? By the size of our luggage. By the stuff we drag around with us on trips and in life.
We know we got ourselves into this mess of an economy by over-consumption, by being too enamored with possessions. The average us home in the 1950's was about a thousand square feet of space. People thought nothing of having one bathroom and of kids sharing bedrooms. The average home size of our day is pushing close to 2500 square feet. While the size of the family has shrunk, our homes are two and a half times larger. In 1950 there were no storage unit companies at all. Now there are 45,000 companies with 2 billion square feet filled with things we cannot fit into our larger homes, but cannot part with either. In 1950 only 60% of American households owned a car. Among the our households with cars today, the highest percentage of us have three or more vehicles. 35% of car owners have at least three cars in a household.
And we are pressured to keep up with all the latest gadgets. Of course we cannot turn back the clock, and we wouldn’t want to do either. To return to some of the attitudes of the 1950's would not be good. It would be quite an adjustment to live without the conveniences of computers, cell phones, color tvs, digital cameras, and microwaves.
But here’s the good news, we are beginning to slow down our use of plastic cards to pay for what we cannot afford. Consumer credit has dropped 118 billion since it peaked in July 2008.
Well enough statistics. It’s time to hear the story of the rich man who lives according to the commandments but is told by Jesus that he lacks one thing – he has not given enough away to the poor. He has too many possessions.
NRS Mark 10:17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18 Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.'" 20 He said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth." 21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. 23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" 24 And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." 26 They were greatly astounded and said to one another, "Then who can be saved?" 27 Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God
all things are possible." 28 Peter began to say to him, "Look, we have left everything and followed you." 29 Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age-- houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions-- and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first."
Okay, this story packs a punch. Yes, we are all wealthy by the world’s standards. We have far more than we need. But rather than dwelling on the guilt and the bad news, instead of trying to wiggle out of this text by thinking of someone who is richer and more extravagant than us, let’s look for the good news in this passage.
The first bit of good news is that Jesus loved the rich man. Before he ever tells him, “Sell your stuff. Give more to the poor", our scripture tells us, Jesus loved him. He loved him enough to know that it was in his best interest to get rid of his abundance, to learn to let go, to be happy with less. After all, it is not going with us when we die. Someone is going to have to sort through your stuff. Someone is going to laugh about the things I kept and wonder why. Jesus loved the man and knew he would be freer to be the person God intended him to be if he was liberated from his possessions and able to be a blessing to others. It’s Love calling us to simplify, calling us to a responsive stewardship.
You know most people see stewardship conversation as heavy, the giving of money to the church as a difficult topic to address. Many pastors avoid talking about it. They wait until early November and preach the obligatory stewardship sermon. But we forget that learning generosity frees people, helps them to be happier. That book by Richard Foster which a group of you studied over the summer was called “The Freedom of Simplicity.” Freedom, liberation .
I remember a single mother who was an early founder of the Immanuel Presbyterian new church in Montgomery, Alabama. She worked for one of the phone companies and gave to the penny an exact tithe -- 10% from every paycheck. If her paycheck was $1997.82, the church would receive a check in the offering plate for $199.78. She set an example for Richard and me in our early adulthood because she acted out of principle, without regard to circumstances and she was willing to talk about it. “This is what God asks me to do. I do it and trust that God will bless me.” And God did. She lived comfortably and with great stability.
So the first piece of good news is that it is because God loves you that God asks you to give more away.
The second piece of good news from this passage is that when the rich man goes away sad because he has so many possessions and Jesus says, “It’s hard for rich people to enter God’s kingdom – harder than a camel to get through the eye of the needle.” And the disciples, “Who can be saved then?” Jesus offers good news. With you it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.
It is possible to change, friends, with God’s help. Little by little, we can make big changes. Just like with losing weight or learning to exercise or building prayer and worship into our lives, we can build responsive stewardship. Figure out what your unnecessary items are and cut them out, little by little. We Deiberts hardly ever buy bottled water or soft drinks, unless we’re out somewhere, and cannot wait until we get home. The portions of meat we eat are fairly small. We’re working to buy less processed food and more fresh – much cheaper and healthier. New clothes –rarely. Look at these shoes! I could have replaced them a year ago with justification, but they are still working. Only the kids really need new clothes, when they outgrow them. Eating out – only occasionally and I always order water unless it is a special occasion, with wine. New items for the home? Don’t really need them, need to get rid of some of the knick-knacks we have. Living with the British taught us that unless something is terribly old and dysfunctional, there’s no need to replace, just for aesthetic reasons. There’s lots of free or inexpensive entertainment. Some repairs can wait.
Let’s look at a pie chart which represents the typical spending of a US household. One-third of the pie is discretionary. Ideally, a third of that third would pledged to God, a third is put into savings, and a third remains to cover college tuition or extra medical bills or a fun vacation. If you cannot run a marathon, it doesn’t mean you don’t exercise at all. If you have to clean the whole house, you do it a room at a time or a task at a time.
So it is with disciplined spending and benevolent giving. Responsive stewardship is we call it at Peace. You decide what matters and you commit to it. You decide to give a half tithe (5%) and stick with it. Start at some percentage. Don’t just give as you can. That requires no trust in God. Write the check every time you get a check. Or if you have investments, think about an starting endowment or giving a gift of stock. Some people give a tithe of their estate to the church in their death, a wonderful thing to do. Some give more. In a recession, life may feel less secure, but the principle stands. The more wealthy we are, the harder we will have simplifying to the point that we can really live the life God intends for us.
But it really is God’s money, not mine. So there should be no agonizing over how much money I have left to give. We agonize in the store whether to we really need those shoes. We agonize over vacations. Those are optional. We shop less because desires decrease when we’re not looking. When Richard first lost his job, I thought to myself, we have to adjust our pledge to the church. But we were nudged by the Spirit to just keep giving at the same level, not to make a quick decision, and then we got some help to make it through this time. Thanks be to God.
With God, all things are possible, even big camels going through eyes of needles. In this journey of life, this path of grace, (image) leading us toward an eternity with God, we learn to let go and trust.
The third piece of good news in this text is the promise to the disciples, who have given up so much – family, careers – for the sake of the gospel, Jesus promises that they will receive
a hundred times in return for their sacrifice both now and in eternity. Those of you who at Peace have given up lots of time and no small amount of money to get this church started, can you not see the blessing of it now multiplied.
Who would have thought that a group of six around a kitchen table in 2003 would be 135 people officially forming a church next week. Who would have thought we’d have a ten member children’s choir and a twenty member adult choir for the charter. When Peace started we had two young children and now there are fourteen. Even more amazing is that we now have an active youth fellowship with fourteen youth.
Who would have thought that a small church like Peace, learning to survive, would be the largest percentage giver in the whole presbytery? There are several churches that give a half tithe back to presbytery, but we more because we know what gifts to presbytery mean. We have benefitted from those gifts. We would not be here, apart from those gifts. With God all things are possible.
And so we are the newest church, a small but growing church with no building yet but with a big heart, giving away 20-25% of our budget because we know Jesus calls us to seek first the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness and then all the other things will be added to us.
With God all things are possible. So let us travel light through this life and give generously as the Lord asks of us, and we will discover life eternal, the peace that the world cannot give.
Ordinary Time
Elizabeth M. Deibert
Emily called while she was traveling through Europe in August. She said, “Mom, I hope you don’t mind but I had to unload some things because I was traveling by bus, train and plane, and my luggage was just too heavy for me to get around. So I got rid of some of my clothes, and you know that computer bag of yours that I borrowed, your portfolio, it was really nice to have it, Mom, but I found I could simplify and it was much easier to get from one place to the next without that extra bag.” Why did I think it was a good idea to give her my portfolio for this trip?
I suppose because I needed to learn a lesson and so did she about the value of traveling light. You know how foreigners can pick out an American in any airport? By the size of our luggage. By the stuff we drag around with us on trips and in life.
We know we got ourselves into this mess of an economy by over-consumption, by being too enamored with possessions. The average us home in the 1950's was about a thousand square feet of space. People thought nothing of having one bathroom and of kids sharing bedrooms. The average home size of our day is pushing close to 2500 square feet. While the size of the family has shrunk, our homes are two and a half times larger. In 1950 there were no storage unit companies at all. Now there are 45,000 companies with 2 billion square feet filled with things we cannot fit into our larger homes, but cannot part with either. In 1950 only 60% of American households owned a car. Among the our households with cars today, the highest percentage of us have three or more vehicles. 35% of car owners have at least three cars in a household.
And we are pressured to keep up with all the latest gadgets. Of course we cannot turn back the clock, and we wouldn’t want to do either. To return to some of the attitudes of the 1950's would not be good. It would be quite an adjustment to live without the conveniences of computers, cell phones, color tvs, digital cameras, and microwaves.
But here’s the good news, we are beginning to slow down our use of plastic cards to pay for what we cannot afford. Consumer credit has dropped 118 billion since it peaked in July 2008.
Well enough statistics. It’s time to hear the story of the rich man who lives according to the commandments but is told by Jesus that he lacks one thing – he has not given enough away to the poor. He has too many possessions.
NRS Mark 10:17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18 Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.'" 20 He said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth." 21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. 23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" 24 And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." 26 They were greatly astounded and said to one another, "Then who can be saved?" 27 Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God
all things are possible." 28 Peter began to say to him, "Look, we have left everything and followed you." 29 Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age-- houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions-- and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first."
Okay, this story packs a punch. Yes, we are all wealthy by the world’s standards. We have far more than we need. But rather than dwelling on the guilt and the bad news, instead of trying to wiggle out of this text by thinking of someone who is richer and more extravagant than us, let’s look for the good news in this passage.
The first bit of good news is that Jesus loved the rich man. Before he ever tells him, “Sell your stuff. Give more to the poor", our scripture tells us, Jesus loved him. He loved him enough to know that it was in his best interest to get rid of his abundance, to learn to let go, to be happy with less. After all, it is not going with us when we die. Someone is going to have to sort through your stuff. Someone is going to laugh about the things I kept and wonder why. Jesus loved the man and knew he would be freer to be the person God intended him to be if he was liberated from his possessions and able to be a blessing to others. It’s Love calling us to simplify, calling us to a responsive stewardship.
You know most people see stewardship conversation as heavy, the giving of money to the church as a difficult topic to address. Many pastors avoid talking about it. They wait until early November and preach the obligatory stewardship sermon. But we forget that learning generosity frees people, helps them to be happier. That book by Richard Foster which a group of you studied over the summer was called “The Freedom of Simplicity.” Freedom, liberation .
I remember a single mother who was an early founder of the Immanuel Presbyterian new church in Montgomery, Alabama. She worked for one of the phone companies and gave to the penny an exact tithe -- 10% from every paycheck. If her paycheck was $1997.82, the church would receive a check in the offering plate for $199.78. She set an example for Richard and me in our early adulthood because she acted out of principle, without regard to circumstances and she was willing to talk about it. “This is what God asks me to do. I do it and trust that God will bless me.” And God did. She lived comfortably and with great stability.
So the first piece of good news is that it is because God loves you that God asks you to give more away.
The second piece of good news from this passage is that when the rich man goes away sad because he has so many possessions and Jesus says, “It’s hard for rich people to enter God’s kingdom – harder than a camel to get through the eye of the needle.” And the disciples, “Who can be saved then?” Jesus offers good news. With you it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.
It is possible to change, friends, with God’s help. Little by little, we can make big changes. Just like with losing weight or learning to exercise or building prayer and worship into our lives, we can build responsive stewardship. Figure out what your unnecessary items are and cut them out, little by little. We Deiberts hardly ever buy bottled water or soft drinks, unless we’re out somewhere, and cannot wait until we get home. The portions of meat we eat are fairly small. We’re working to buy less processed food and more fresh – much cheaper and healthier. New clothes –rarely. Look at these shoes! I could have replaced them a year ago with justification, but they are still working. Only the kids really need new clothes, when they outgrow them. Eating out – only occasionally and I always order water unless it is a special occasion, with wine. New items for the home? Don’t really need them, need to get rid of some of the knick-knacks we have. Living with the British taught us that unless something is terribly old and dysfunctional, there’s no need to replace, just for aesthetic reasons. There’s lots of free or inexpensive entertainment. Some repairs can wait.
Let’s look at a pie chart which represents the typical spending of a US household. One-third of the pie is discretionary. Ideally, a third of that third would pledged to God, a third is put into savings, and a third remains to cover college tuition or extra medical bills or a fun vacation. If you cannot run a marathon, it doesn’t mean you don’t exercise at all. If you have to clean the whole house, you do it a room at a time or a task at a time.
So it is with disciplined spending and benevolent giving. Responsive stewardship is we call it at Peace. You decide what matters and you commit to it. You decide to give a half tithe (5%) and stick with it. Start at some percentage. Don’t just give as you can. That requires no trust in God. Write the check every time you get a check. Or if you have investments, think about an starting endowment or giving a gift of stock. Some people give a tithe of their estate to the church in their death, a wonderful thing to do. Some give more. In a recession, life may feel less secure, but the principle stands. The more wealthy we are, the harder we will have simplifying to the point that we can really live the life God intends for us.
But it really is God’s money, not mine. So there should be no agonizing over how much money I have left to give. We agonize in the store whether to we really need those shoes. We agonize over vacations. Those are optional. We shop less because desires decrease when we’re not looking. When Richard first lost his job, I thought to myself, we have to adjust our pledge to the church. But we were nudged by the Spirit to just keep giving at the same level, not to make a quick decision, and then we got some help to make it through this time. Thanks be to God.
With God, all things are possible, even big camels going through eyes of needles. In this journey of life, this path of grace, (image) leading us toward an eternity with God, we learn to let go and trust.
The third piece of good news in this text is the promise to the disciples, who have given up so much – family, careers – for the sake of the gospel, Jesus promises that they will receive
a hundred times in return for their sacrifice both now and in eternity. Those of you who at Peace have given up lots of time and no small amount of money to get this church started, can you not see the blessing of it now multiplied.
Who would have thought that a group of six around a kitchen table in 2003 would be 135 people officially forming a church next week. Who would have thought we’d have a ten member children’s choir and a twenty member adult choir for the charter. When Peace started we had two young children and now there are fourteen. Even more amazing is that we now have an active youth fellowship with fourteen youth.
Who would have thought that a small church like Peace, learning to survive, would be the largest percentage giver in the whole presbytery? There are several churches that give a half tithe back to presbytery, but we more because we know what gifts to presbytery mean. We have benefitted from those gifts. We would not be here, apart from those gifts. With God all things are possible.
And so we are the newest church, a small but growing church with no building yet but with a big heart, giving away 20-25% of our budget because we know Jesus calls us to seek first the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness and then all the other things will be added to us.
With God all things are possible. So let us travel light through this life and give generously as the Lord asks of us, and we will discover life eternal, the peace that the world cannot give.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Making Peace
James 3:13-18
World Communion Sunday
Elizabeth M. Deibert
The very first “World Communion Sunday” was held in 1933 at the Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a church later served by our own Morgan Roberts, now pastor emeritus there. By 1936, the first Sunday in October was celebrated as World Wide Communion Sunday in Presbyterian Churches across the United States and overseas. After a few years, the idea spread beyond the Presbyterian Church. When we all share the Meal where Christ is our Host, we are connected in ways that go beyond our theological differences. We transcend boundaries of geography and language and culture. Whatever might divide us is dissolved on World Communion Sunday.
Of course for those of us who celebrate communion weekly, world communion Sunday is in one sense an every week experience. We are united with all Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Anglican/Episcopalians, Lutherans, Disciples of Christ, and a few Presbyterians who come to the table weekly. Nonetheless, a Sunday to focus on our worldwide unity and peace is a good goal. It was 1980 that we Presbyterians added the Peacemaking Offering to World Communion Sunday.
Paul Detterman, pastor of a Presbyterian Church in Louisville, that like us, celebrates the eucharist weekly says, “There can be no doubt that coming to the Table changes us and our relationships. This intentionally constant reminder of our God-hunger sharpens our desire to be God’s people, deflates the self-importance of the self-impressed, and promises shalom to those who come beaten up or beaten down. When we realize that these loving actions of the merciful God are enacted around the globe every Lord’s Day (and multiple times every day in between), our prayer for the coming of God’s kingdom takes on deeper and more urgent meaning. By its very nature, communion is a crumb of God’s grace dispensed in a cosmic event. Every trip we make to the Table not only signifies for us the formation of a sacramental community among brothers and sisters at that Table, but reminds us that the same grace-based community extends to every other believer on the planet, marking for each of us the passage of the world’s time and the approach of God’s eternity.” (Paul E. Detterman)
This bring us to our text of the day, a scripture that I saved for this day. James 3 showed up in the lectionary a couple of weeks ago, but it seemed most appropriate for Peacemaking Sunday, World Communion Sunday. This scripture calls us to be the harvest of righteousness, to be Christ’s body building peace in the world.
At our all day elder training meeting yesterday, several of us discussed the meaning of a phrase from The Brief Statement of Faith, “In a broken and fearful world, the Spirit gives us courage to pray without ceasing, to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior, to unmask idolatries in Church and culture, to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.” We reflected on the contentious, polarized nature of our culture. Everybody is choosing sides, and the opposing sides are vitriolic toward each other. The question was raised, “How do we challenge friends, who invite us into those bitter and ugly debates?” How do we say, as Sue Seiter, put it, “No thanks. Don’t want to play those games.”
James 3 helps us with the wisdom we need.
NRS James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
I went to visit my mother for her 83rd birthday. My mom and I are very close, and I knew the best gift I could give her was two days of my time. So I worked extra hard over the last week or two to make time for this trip. I was functioning on about 5 hours of sleep when I arrived there Wednesday. So as the afternoon worn on, I found my brother especially irritating. He was picking a fight with me over baptism issues. You see, in my family, most of the fights are about religion and politics. It was a dumb argument over the mode of baptism. I don’t have a problem with people being immersed, poured over, or sprinkled. I don’t have a problem with baptism occurring at any age, as long as it is handled in an age-appropriate way. But I have a problem with brothers who pick fights. He pulled my sister in too. I started to lose my temper in this petty little dispute, so I took a walk, and started thinking about these words from James, which I had read on the airplane:
And the wisdom from above is pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, and a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
Peaceable, gentle, willing to yield means that I don’t take the baptism argument baiting. God’s not calling me to come the defense of the Presbyterians and all who sprinkle. There is a way to converse which does not require bickering and argumentation. You would not know it by watching the news channels. Our culture seems to thrive on talking heads shouting at one another, trying desperately to get the last word.
And the wisdom from above is peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits and without a trace of hypocrisy.
How many arguments can be stopped by one person interrupting with the gentle words, “You are right about that. I see your point.” But there is so little civility any more. Who is willing to yield?
Have I told you about Faye Carter, mother of my childhood friend Marsha? Faye is one of the gentlest people I know, but she is no doormat. She was an outstanding school teacher, and when Faye gently in her soft but very firm voice let you know you were out of line, all kids knew it was time to straighten up and follow instructions.
Gentle and kind. Gentle and firm. Gentle and clear. Think of all the world’s conflict and how much of it comes from a lack of gentleness. It comes from the negative words in our text: from selfish ambition, bitter envy, boastful attitudes, and lying – being false to the truth. When is ambition wrong? When it becomes self-centered, when it forgets the humanity of the other person. We celebrate the ambitious and powerful, but the word ambition only shows up three times in scripture, two of them in this passage where it is coupled with the negative modifier, selfish. The disciples of Jesus demonstrate selfish ambition in Mark 10 when they argue over who’s the greatest. They compete for who will be on the left and right of Jesus, but Jesus says, “The greatest is the servant of all, the last one. "
James teaches us that where there’s bitter envy and selfish ambition, there will be disorder and wickedness of every kind. Those two vices are two sides of the same coin. Envy is wanting what someone else has. Selfish ambition is pursuing one’s one agenda at any cost to others. Why did our economy collapse? Envy and selfish ambition. Why are there wars and rumors of wars throughout all generations? Bitter envy and selfish ambition.
But a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace. Peace begins in the soul of every person. Peace begins with knowing that you are loved, forgiven, and well-supplied by God. Peace begins with a gentleness toward yourself, which then extends to others. It begins with knowing our own boundaries and not over-extending, over-taxing our own emotional, physical, and material resources, so we can be in our best state of mind. It means being attuned
to God’s Spirit speaking to you throughout the day, so that peace is flowing like a river, and joy like a fountain, and love like an ocean.
As we teach in Peace in the Park, it’s peace for me, then peace for us, then peace for everyone and the whole planet. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me. Our mission statement calls us to build a community of peace. With God’s help and our effort, this is doable. But it starts with us and our attitudes.
With whom do you need to make peace? Which one of those right side words on the screen do you need to work toward? Which one of those left side words do you need to release, to purge from your life?
Now I’m going to invite you to join with one or two other people and pray aloud for that need in yourself. There is power when two or three are gathered in prayer together. There is power in shared confession. Think for a moment about your need, and then join hands with someone and pray “God help me overcome my bitter envy of those who have more than I have...or whatever. God, help me to grow in gentleness. Help me God to be peaceable with my spouse, my co-worker, my child, my friend whose political emails disturb me.” Simple, humble prayers. No need for eloquence or wordiness. Just pray a simple prayer in twos or threes and then we will stand and sing together the prayer for peace attributed to St. Francis of Assisi.
World Communion Sunday
Elizabeth M. Deibert
The very first “World Communion Sunday” was held in 1933 at the Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a church later served by our own Morgan Roberts, now pastor emeritus there. By 1936, the first Sunday in October was celebrated as World Wide Communion Sunday in Presbyterian Churches across the United States and overseas. After a few years, the idea spread beyond the Presbyterian Church. When we all share the Meal where Christ is our Host, we are connected in ways that go beyond our theological differences. We transcend boundaries of geography and language and culture. Whatever might divide us is dissolved on World Communion Sunday.
Of course for those of us who celebrate communion weekly, world communion Sunday is in one sense an every week experience. We are united with all Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Anglican/Episcopalians, Lutherans, Disciples of Christ, and a few Presbyterians who come to the table weekly. Nonetheless, a Sunday to focus on our worldwide unity and peace is a good goal. It was 1980 that we Presbyterians added the Peacemaking Offering to World Communion Sunday.
Paul Detterman, pastor of a Presbyterian Church in Louisville, that like us, celebrates the eucharist weekly says, “There can be no doubt that coming to the Table changes us and our relationships. This intentionally constant reminder of our God-hunger sharpens our desire to be God’s people, deflates the self-importance of the self-impressed, and promises shalom to those who come beaten up or beaten down. When we realize that these loving actions of the merciful God are enacted around the globe every Lord’s Day (and multiple times every day in between), our prayer for the coming of God’s kingdom takes on deeper and more urgent meaning. By its very nature, communion is a crumb of God’s grace dispensed in a cosmic event. Every trip we make to the Table not only signifies for us the formation of a sacramental community among brothers and sisters at that Table, but reminds us that the same grace-based community extends to every other believer on the planet, marking for each of us the passage of the world’s time and the approach of God’s eternity.” (Paul E. Detterman)
This bring us to our text of the day, a scripture that I saved for this day. James 3 showed up in the lectionary a couple of weeks ago, but it seemed most appropriate for Peacemaking Sunday, World Communion Sunday. This scripture calls us to be the harvest of righteousness, to be Christ’s body building peace in the world.
At our all day elder training meeting yesterday, several of us discussed the meaning of a phrase from The Brief Statement of Faith, “In a broken and fearful world, the Spirit gives us courage to pray without ceasing, to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior, to unmask idolatries in Church and culture, to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.” We reflected on the contentious, polarized nature of our culture. Everybody is choosing sides, and the opposing sides are vitriolic toward each other. The question was raised, “How do we challenge friends, who invite us into those bitter and ugly debates?” How do we say, as Sue Seiter, put it, “No thanks. Don’t want to play those games.”
James 3 helps us with the wisdom we need.
NRS James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
I went to visit my mother for her 83rd birthday. My mom and I are very close, and I knew the best gift I could give her was two days of my time. So I worked extra hard over the last week or two to make time for this trip. I was functioning on about 5 hours of sleep when I arrived there Wednesday. So as the afternoon worn on, I found my brother especially irritating. He was picking a fight with me over baptism issues. You see, in my family, most of the fights are about religion and politics. It was a dumb argument over the mode of baptism. I don’t have a problem with people being immersed, poured over, or sprinkled. I don’t have a problem with baptism occurring at any age, as long as it is handled in an age-appropriate way. But I have a problem with brothers who pick fights. He pulled my sister in too. I started to lose my temper in this petty little dispute, so I took a walk, and started thinking about these words from James, which I had read on the airplane:
And the wisdom from above is pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, and a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
Peaceable, gentle, willing to yield means that I don’t take the baptism argument baiting. God’s not calling me to come the defense of the Presbyterians and all who sprinkle. There is a way to converse which does not require bickering and argumentation. You would not know it by watching the news channels. Our culture seems to thrive on talking heads shouting at one another, trying desperately to get the last word.
And the wisdom from above is peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits and without a trace of hypocrisy.
How many arguments can be stopped by one person interrupting with the gentle words, “You are right about that. I see your point.” But there is so little civility any more. Who is willing to yield?
Have I told you about Faye Carter, mother of my childhood friend Marsha? Faye is one of the gentlest people I know, but she is no doormat. She was an outstanding school teacher, and when Faye gently in her soft but very firm voice let you know you were out of line, all kids knew it was time to straighten up and follow instructions.
Gentle and kind. Gentle and firm. Gentle and clear. Think of all the world’s conflict and how much of it comes from a lack of gentleness. It comes from the negative words in our text: from selfish ambition, bitter envy, boastful attitudes, and lying – being false to the truth. When is ambition wrong? When it becomes self-centered, when it forgets the humanity of the other person. We celebrate the ambitious and powerful, but the word ambition only shows up three times in scripture, two of them in this passage where it is coupled with the negative modifier, selfish. The disciples of Jesus demonstrate selfish ambition in Mark 10 when they argue over who’s the greatest. They compete for who will be on the left and right of Jesus, but Jesus says, “The greatest is the servant of all, the last one. "
James teaches us that where there’s bitter envy and selfish ambition, there will be disorder and wickedness of every kind. Those two vices are two sides of the same coin. Envy is wanting what someone else has. Selfish ambition is pursuing one’s one agenda at any cost to others. Why did our economy collapse? Envy and selfish ambition. Why are there wars and rumors of wars throughout all generations? Bitter envy and selfish ambition.
But a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace. Peace begins in the soul of every person. Peace begins with knowing that you are loved, forgiven, and well-supplied by God. Peace begins with a gentleness toward yourself, which then extends to others. It begins with knowing our own boundaries and not over-extending, over-taxing our own emotional, physical, and material resources, so we can be in our best state of mind. It means being attuned
to God’s Spirit speaking to you throughout the day, so that peace is flowing like a river, and joy like a fountain, and love like an ocean.
As we teach in Peace in the Park, it’s peace for me, then peace for us, then peace for everyone and the whole planet. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me. Our mission statement calls us to build a community of peace. With God’s help and our effort, this is doable. But it starts with us and our attitudes.
With whom do you need to make peace? Which one of those right side words on the screen do you need to work toward? Which one of those left side words do you need to release, to purge from your life?
Now I’m going to invite you to join with one or two other people and pray aloud for that need in yourself. There is power when two or three are gathered in prayer together. There is power in shared confession. Think for a moment about your need, and then join hands with someone and pray “God help me overcome my bitter envy of those who have more than I have...or whatever. God, help me to grow in gentleness. Help me God to be peaceable with my spouse, my co-worker, my child, my friend whose political emails disturb me.” Simple, humble prayers. No need for eloquence or wordiness. Just pray a simple prayer in twos or threes and then we will stand and sing together the prayer for peace attributed to St. Francis of Assisi.
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