Trinity Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Sermons 

Those last three verses

are ones that we often hear at funerals, aren’t they?

So, they are probably very familiar to most of us.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled."

"Peace I leave with you."

"I do not give to you as the world gives."

In those times when our own lives

have been touched too closely by death,

these words of Jesus remind us

that God offers us care, and comfort, and hope

for a peace that is beyond our understanding,

and does not end when our life here in this place comes to an end.

Jesus offers to us more than the world has ever had to offer,

and in those times when the world seems an unfriendly place,

his promise is one that can sustain us

when otherwise we might be tempted to give in.

But there is, I believe, another aspect to the "peace of God"

that we talk about much less,

and of course we don’t talk about it at funerals,

where it might well be out of place.

The truth of the matter is that the peace of God

often does not look very much like

what our world means by the world "peace."

Did you see the back page of this morning’s editorial section?

Rod Dreher – whom I don’t always agree with –

starts out by noting that

"the fundamental question modern religious seekers seem to be asking"

is this:

"What is the least I have to believe and do to feel good about myself?"

Phrased a little differently, one might ask,

"What is the least inconvenient way

for me to feel at peace with myself and my world?"

Because for many in today’s consumer culture,

and probably even for each of us, at times,

what we want from our religion, our faith,

is whatever it has to offer us.

Don’t ask me to believe something implausible;

don’t dictate to me how I should allocate my time and my money;

don’t tell me to love the people who make me miserable.

Just tell me how I can feel good about myself,

and then go home and leave me in peace.

Well, that’s kind of a lovely fantasy,

but we have only to look at Jesus’ own life and the lives of his disciples

to see that, clearly, the peace he offered to them

was of a different character altogether.

He made demands on them almost constantly.

He had high expectations of them … and of himself, of course.

He told them when they were wrong,

and alternately teased and criticized them for their lack of faith.

Jesus would last … oh, at best six months …

as the pastor of any twenty-first century church.

He had no patience with anyone who thought that

the demands or the pleasures of life on this earth

could ever take precedence over

the vision of God’s reign,

and the need to act on that vision right now.

How else could he have said outrageous things like,

"Leave the dead to bury their own dead,"

or, "sell everything you have, and give to the poor."

What kind of peace is that?!

It is clearly

not a peace like the world gives.

There is a wonderful hymn text from the early 20^th century

that unfortunately has a completely unrhythmic tune,

so one never gets to sing it …

but it illustrates wonderfully how "peace" gets turned on its head

when we decide to follow Christ:

They cast their nets in Galilee

We’ll come back for the fourth stanza in a couple of minutes.

But think for a moment about

the words we’ve already heard …

about the peace of God that both fills our hearts, and breaks them.

The peace of God that led one disciple to homelessness,

and another to crucifixion.

The peace of God that leads us … where?

To volunteer our time in various places? Sure.

To contribute to offerings for the Caring Fund,

and AIDS Interfaith, and One Great Hour of Sharing,

and all sorts of other worthwhile causes? Of course.

To speak up when it would be more comfortable to remain silent? One hopes …

To make real sacrifices in the service of our Lord? Well …

if only God would let us pick and choose what we give up …

or do it according to our own schedule …

I had friends in Midland when I was living out in west Texas …

actually, he was an elder in one of the churches there,

and we served together on the Committee on Ministry.

I’ll call him Dave …

Dave was an exec in the oil "bidness,"

and during one of the periodic downturns in the oil economy,

he was laid off along with a bunch of others.

Dave’s wife Lisa also worked,

and so, when he found another job that didn’t pay nearly as well,

they calculated that they would just barely be able to

pay their mortgage and keep their home,

if they quit giving to their church and every other good cause.

Dave and Lisa prayed about that long and hard …

and then they sold their house, and bought a smaller one,

with a smaller mortgage.

The peace of God?

Not as the world gives …

The peace of God is not about comfort in earthly terms …

it’s more about a divine discontent with how things are

and a passionate vision about how they ought to be.

The peace of God is not concerned with "feeling good about ourselves" …

but rather, with learning to forgive and accept forgiveness,

and to truly repent, which means to change whatever is not right.

The peace of God is not about absence of conflict, necessarily …

it may be about choosing to "do battle"

on behalf of those who are not strong enough to plead their own cause.

The peace of God is not only about a future promise …

but also about God’s reign here and now,

and whether we’re for it or against it …

and how we demonstrate which side we’re on.

This strange peace is our legacy from Jesus,

but even more so,

it comes to us as a gift from the Holy Spirit.

It is the Spirit who empowers us

to make choices that are difficult, and even "unreasonable,"

and to rejoice in them,

and feel peace, not stress.

It is the Spirit who gives us the words to say

when we must speak the truth to those in power,

and we are shaking in our boots …

but strangely at peace at the same time.

It is the Spirit who reminds us of all that Jesus has said,

in those times when we are weary, and discouraged,

and just about willing to settle for the world’s definition of peace

as "when I can feel good about myself

and nobody is messing with me."

God does, in a very real sense, have high expectations of us …

but God does not leave us to do the work alone.

But we mustn’t fool ourselves …

the peace of God does not look like "peace" as the world gives it.

It is a love for the world, to be sure,

but also a holy discontent with much of what we see in the world.

God’s peace is active, not passive;

and at times it stirs us to act when it would be more comfortable to sit still.

It is a desire for peace at the last,

but also the recognition that sometimes things must get disturbed first.

Back to the final stanza of our hymn:

The peace of God, it is no peace,

Yes, that’s what it says.

Let us pray to be disturbed,

and to be disturbers of others’ "peace."

Let us pray to be challenged and stretched,

for love of God’s creation.

Let us pray for hearts that are not troubled or afraid,

but bold to speak God’s word to ourselves and others.

Let us pray for God to ask us to make sacrifices,

because it means that God trusts us enough

to think that we might actually do it!

Let us pray for peace …

not as the world gives,

but as Jesus gave,

and the Spirit continues to send.

Amen.

© 2007 Julie Adkins (e-mail: DrJAdkins@trinitypresdallas.org)