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First Parish
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Peace I Give You |
Linda B. Hirst
John 14:15-27
Our theme today is the peace of Christ. One
of the most beautiful and special songs to me that describes what this peace
feels like is from this song, "How Can I Keep from Singing". Rich and
Gina
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart, a
fountain ever springing! All things are mine since I am his! How can I keep
from singing?
Peace I leave with you says Jesus. 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.
Last Friday I was driving with my son - and I
was explaining to him that the next day Saturday I had signed up to take Kathy
Carter’s beginning class on painting a spiritual journey with watercolors. It
was three hours long I told him so he would have to find someone else to
chauffeur him around – ask his father for example, or heaven forbid, ride his
bike. if needed to go somewhere. When he questioned the wisdom of my taking
such a class - actually what he said was, didn’t you learn to do that in 3rd
grade? I chastised him properly and told him that painting was a lifelong
pursuit for adults as well as kids that maybe this would be a new hobby for me,
or better yet, a new career. I would turn in my robe and paint watercolors for
a living. sell my wares at Harvest Fest - to which he said, "That’ll rake
it in then," implying that artists don't’ make much money- which is true.
But that got me going on a whole other tirade
about how what we do in life is not about making money - it’s about finding
inner joy, it’s about finding peace - that elusive state of being where all is
well with our souls, that state of mind where we know no matter what trials or
tribulations or sorrows come our way, we’ll be able to handle things, we’ll be
o.k. That inner calm, that quiet that settles us when we’re nervous or scared
or anxious, that feeling that almost defies description, except when you are at
peace, when you have peace in your heart, when you’re feeling peaceful, there
are few things that compare. And if you have peace inside, you can’t help but
emanate peace; spread peace to others. That’s just how it works. Peace brings
about peace. In people, in towns, in nations. Peace is what’s important in life
I told him, as we pulled into our driveway, Peace is what matters, I said to
him as he got out of the car and shut the door behind him. Peace is what it’s all
about, I said to no one in particular. Just another typical conversation with a
16 year old.
Peace - we all search for it, we all want it,
we all need it even if we don’t know it. We pray for it, Dear God, grant us
your peace, we wish it for others, peace be with you and also with you, we even
beg for it from time to time from those we live with "Can’t I get a
moment’s peace around here," we say. And sometimes we do, just a moment’s
worth. And it is heaven.
We look for peace in books, from authors,
spiritual leaders, we look for it in music, in art, at the beach, in gardening,
walks in the woods, through yoga and exercise, we look for it in prayer, in
that still small voice, we breathe deeply and sometimes we find it. And other
people spend their whole lives looking for it and never find it.
We all need peace. Peace of mind, peace in
our hearts, peace in our very souls, that kind of peace that, the apostle Paul
said, surpasses all understanding. This is not a new thing, searching for peace
is not something solely for New Agers, it is not a movement that began with the
sixties. It is as old as the world. Our God, creator of heaven and earth, is a
God of peace, the book of Romans tell us. The traditional greeting for the
Jewish people was and still is Shalom which is a wish for peace,
wholeness and well being. When you greet someone with the word Shalom: you are
wishing them the ideal state of being - for them, for their family, for their
community. Shalom is the ultimate gift of God.
In the New Testament the gospel is described
as the gospel of peace. (Book of Acts) Christ’s work is to bring peace to the
nations. He is the prince of peace. His death accomplished peace between God
and humanity (Colossians) and peace between the Jews and the Gentiles - two
groups of people that never could get along, and never imagined that peace
between them was possible. (Ephesians) He is our peace who has broken down
every wall. He is our peace. He is our peace.
It is harmony between nations, between
neighbors, between families. It is harmony between people and God. It is the
absence of conflict and the absence of war and so much more. When you have
peace you find that along with it comes grace and mercy, love and joy and life.
Peace is a gift from God. It is a gift from Jesus.
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.
Think of the people you know who are
peaceful, who exude peace - real peace - not just calmness or quietness or
restfulness - but peace - and you can tell because, while they don’t
necessarily look different, they act different. It’s in their approach to life,
their perspective on life, it’s how they react to problems, to challenges it’s
how they respond to good news, it’s how they spread good news.
I know people who been in the hospital facing
some terrifying test or who received some terrible news, news that would send
me into a tail spin, and they say things like, "well, I’ve worked through
this, done my share of crying and done a lot of praying. I know God will take
care of my and my family. They’ve found comfort and strength, they’ve found
peace. These people amaze me.
I know people who are faced with challenge
after challenge, sickness, job loss, economic disaster and each time after they
get knocked down they get right back up again with determination and even
grace. I have a good friend who in the past year has had life throw one thing
after another at her and her family.
First her husband was diagnosed with thyroid
cancer, then her teenage son who has cystic fibrosis had a couple of really
tough spells, putting him in the hospital for weeks at a time. And because her
husband was sick, and being self-employed he couldn’t work for months, making
managing their finances extremely interesting, another son was flunking out of
school and the daughter they sent off to college....came back - and it wasn’t
to visit. I called her to see how she was holding up with all this and she just
laughed and said, "Well, I thought of running away to join the circus but
then I realized that that would be redundant." I know how my friend does
it, how she keeps smiling through it all - even through the tears. I know how
she finds the strength and the courage to get up and face each day. She is
filled with the peace of Christ.
And I know people, just your average,
ordinary people who do extraordinary things - like care for the sick, pray for
those in need, people who have compassion, show mercy, do justice, people who
walk humbly with God. And they are able to do all this because they are filled
with the peace of Christ. I bet you know people like this, too.
Because that’s what Christ’s peace can do for
us.
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.
As Jesus prepared his disciples for the time
he would leave them, preparing them the days they would have to carry on
without them, he told them many things: he told them that they wouldn’t be like
orphans without him there, that they would have a helper, an advocate, the Holy
Spirit to teach them everything and remind them of all that he had taught them.
He told them that those who love him will keep his word, will keep his
commandments, and those who love him will be loved by God. He told them all
kinds of things.
But it was his peace that he gave them. Maybe
it was because he knew they would be devastated by his leaving and he wanted
them to be comforted during their time of sorrow and grief. And he knew his
peace could do that.
Or maybe he knew they needed to have
something to sustain them while he was gone, something that would let them know
in the stillness and in the chaos which was to follow, that he was with them.
And his peace would do that.
Maybe it was because he knew they would there
would be days ahead when fear would overwhelm them, and they would need courage
to persevere and his peace would give them that, too.
And perhaps he knew they needed to let go and
trust that God would take care of them just like he had promised and that they
would be o.k. come what may and his peace would help them know that.
Of all the things Jesus could have given
them, things like strength and conviction of purpose or a good hiding place
from the Roman authorities, he gave them peace. Perhaps he knew that if he gave
them his peace they’d find they had everything else they needed, too.
William Barclay, the great Scottish
theologian says that the peace which the world offers is the peace of escape,
the peace which comes from the avoidance of trouble and from refusing to face
things. But, the peace that Christ gives us is that from which everything else
flows, a wellspring of all the gifts that he brings. If you have the peace of
Christ deep within, you will find grace, forgiveness, courage, comfort,
strength, hope and joy, there, too. Because that’s what Christ’s peace can do:
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart, a fountain ever springing! All things
are mine since I am his! How can I keep from singing.
And the best part - it’s right there for the
taking. A gift from God, we have only to invite it in. And once you do...you
will know it. You may feel it right away, or it may take a while, it helps to
nurture it through prayer, through faith, trusting and believing that God is
with us, and sometimes it takes us by surprise, it just shows up when we need
it most - the Holy Spirit doing it’s thing.
Just an example - years ago when I was living
in Virginia, still a student in seminary I was called to come before the
Committee on Ministry - that committee in our denomination that determines
whether or not you’re fit to serve as a pastor. Essentially you go before a
bunch of pastors and lay leaders whose job it is to ask you questions about
your faith, your theology, your call to serve God. If they like you and your
answers, they recommend you for ordination when you are called to a church. If
they don’t - well, you get to try again next year. I was called before the
committee in CT - that was where I was in-care - that’s where I grew up, that’s
where home church was and had begun my journey to seminary - so that’s where I
was going.
It just happened that the weekend they wanted
me to come up, Brad had to be out of town which meant he couldn’t watch our
boys, Andrew and Nathan who were 3 and 4 at the time. We had no family in the
area so couldn’t ask anyone to watch them.
I had to take them with me. No problem, I
thought. I can handle this. How hard could an 8 hour drive with two young boys
be? And once we got up there I could pass them off to a sister-in-law who lived
in
Well, the night before we were ready to leave
Andrew came down with the chicken pox. Now this was not your ordinary case of
chicken pox. This was the chicken pox to end all chicken pox. He was covered
with them. He couldn’t stop scratching, wouldn’t stop scratching, he was
wailing, he was inconsolable. I began to panic. It was too late to cancel my
trip, Brad couldn’t or wouldn’t stay home from his trip. I had to go. Upon my
doctor’s advise I packed extra baby powder to help with the itching and the
next day after my last class we packed up and began driving to CT.
This is what I remember about the drive: I
remember driving with one arm on the steering wheel and the other arm in the
back seat the entire time alternating between passing out juice and toys and
snacks and pouring baby powder on Andrew in his car seat. Baby powder dust
filled the air - we could barely breath, I could barely see.
I remember Andrew trying desperately to get
out of his car seat, his crying increasing in volume with every hour on the
road. I remember turning up Raffi to try to drown out his crying and not
succeeding. I remember taking a wrong turn somewhere around
But we did and eventually we got to CT
sometime around
About halfway to the meeting I took out the
Raffi tape and put in Garrison Keillor - A Prairie Home Companion - to calm my
nerves and on came Linda and Robin Williams and their fine group - amazing
gospel singers - and the song they happened to sing was this: There’s a deep
settled peace in my soul. I’ve been redeemed and made whole. I’ve been washed
in the blood of the lamb and I know you’ll understand that deep settled peace
in my soul. And I knew the song, knew it from mission trips I’d been on before,
knew it from singing it around campfires. And all of a sudden, I knew peace,
the peace of Christ, it just washed over me in that car, halfway between
My nervousness left me, my anxiety lessened.
I made it to the meeting without getting lost, did their interview with
relative calm, picked up the kids at my in-laws, chicken pox and all, and
headed home. And while the trip home was no different than the trip up - still
two kids crying in the back plus a freak snow storm in NJ, I was different.
Because that’s what Christ’s peace can do.
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.
Christ’s peace.
It gives us strength and courage to do the
things we need to do.
It heals and comforts us.
It calls us to care, to love, to serve.
It offers forgiveness and moves us forward.
It brings about peace.
It is gentle and powerful.
It can change us - it changed the disciples -
they went from hiding out in an upper room after Jesus’ death, to preachers of
the word, filled with boldness, continuing the work of Jesus, spreading the
word of Jesus, unafraid. It can change us, too.
The peace of Christ be with you, this day and
always.