Stephen
Baldwin
OT:
Psalm 67
NT:
John 14.23-29
Peace...what's that?
This week I had a dream, a version
of which I have all the time. It was
10:30am on a Sunday morning. I was here
at the church doing what I normally do—teaching Sunday School, choir practice,
greeting folks, setting out people’s paper copies of the sermon, the CD for
recording, doing whatever last minute things always need to be done. But there was something wrong. We needed communion cups or offering plates,
I can’t remember exactly what, so I ran to a nearby church to get some.
When I got there, they were moving a
couch. They needed help, so I
helped. Then I talked to a few folks and
tried to find whatever had brought me there in the first place. Someone went to get it for me, and before I
knew it the clock said it was already 11:05.
Panic overtook me like a tsunami
coming ashore. I sprinted back towards
the church in my Sunday best. But
getting back to the church wasn’t as easy as I hoped. I just kept running, and I couldn’t make my
way back. Doors would slam in my face,
cars would block the road, and something always kept me from my
destination. I was exhausted, my watch
said 11:20, and I was sure that if I ever got back to the church you would
rightfully fire me for not being here the most important time of the week.
And
then I woke up. In a cold sweat. Heart racing.
Panic-stricken.
If it didn’t happen frequently, it would be funny. I’m a worrier. Anxiety seems to come as easily to me as
biscuits do to gravy. Those of you who
are like me are now anxious on my behalf.
Thank you. And those of you who
don’t have anxieties rightfully think those of us who do are off our
rocker.
Anxiety is an odd thing. The Bible makes it clear that it’s about as
useful to us as Judas was to Jesus, but then again…Judas did outlive
Jesus. Anxiety and worry have a way of
sticking around, even when we know they’re no good for us.
I bring all of this up because the
disciples are dealing with their own anxieties and worries in this week’s
passage. Jesus is about to leave them,
and they’re filled with uncertainties.
He has promised not to orphan them.
He has promised the send the Holy Spirit to aid them. He has promised God will not abandon
them. But still, they worry. Life with Jesus has been stressful enough;
will life after Jesus be even worse?
In today’s reading from John, Jesus
tries to assuage their anxieties. Read John 14.23-29.
What is the opposite of
anxiety? Peace. “Peace I leave with you.” Peace is the opposite of anxiety, which is
what makes it so fleeting in a society so overloaded with information it’s not
hard to find something to be anxious about.
We don’t have to try hard, do we?
Yet for Jesus, over two
thousand years ago, it was of great
importance that his disciples not be anxious.
Not be nervous. Not be fearful of
life after his death. Why did that
matter so much to Jesus? Because he came
to give us peace.
Let’s think for a minute about what
kind of peace Jesus left us. The passage
says it’s not the peace the world gives.
Peace in the world’s sense is an absence of conflict. Since we’re talking about dreams, that kind
of peace is the stuff of beauty queen dreams.
Peace in the sense of an absence of conflict if a fairy tale. It won’t happen in this world.
The peace Jesus gives us different. In Greek, the language of the New Testament,
the word used for “peace” means “the tranquil state of a soul, content with its
earthly lot.” That’s a totally different
concept than the world’s peace. The
peace Jesus gives is not dependent on the absence of conflict. Rather, it assumes there will be
conflict. You will have reasons to
worry, reasons to be anxious, reasons to be stressed. Sometimes even good ones. But you don’t have to if you find a tranquil
state in your soul, where you are content with your earthly lot.
Some of you may be thinking, as we asked
in Bible Study, “But how?” The disciples
could look him in the eye and hear his promise of peace yet even they didn’t
get it! How do we get that peace Jesus promises? I need to end this sermon, for heaven’s sake,
and you know that I don’t have the answer—I worry even in my dreams!
So I did what we all do when we don’t
have the answer; I searched for answers.
I read everything I could get my hands on this week about anxiety and
peace. Here are a few helpful hints I
learned from a combination of theologians and psychologists and sociologists. Perhaps one or two will help you.
One.
When you have a big problem causing you anxiety and a lack of peace,
solve it. Rationally discern if it’s
fixable and how you would go about doing it.
Two.
Embrace chaos and conflict.
Realize that it is the way of the world.
You cannot control everything. So
why try?
Three.
Pray. When you get stressed,
pray. When you get anxious, pray. Stop what you are doing and thinking, go to a
private space, and tell God all about it.
Four.
Smile. Even if you have to fake
it. Make yourself happy even for a moment
and see how that changes you. If it
helps, carry a photo of someone or something that always gives you peace, and
pull it out whenever you need to.
Five.
Be thankful. Instead of dwelling
on what is bothering you, count all the things that bless you. By focusing on gratitude, our entire outlook
on life changes. There is literally no
room for worry when we are grounded in gratitude to God.
These are just a few examples of ways to
move beyond anxieties which I found this week.
I’m going to try them, and I invite you to do the same. I worry they won’t work very well, but…ha
ha.
One that wasn’t mentioned is what we’re
about to do, and I have always found it awfully peaceful--taking
communion. During prayer time after
we’ve eaten our bread and while we’re holding our cup, let’s focus on praying
for Christ’s peace. Peace he left us
long ago; peace we still struggle to hang onto now; peace we still seek
earnestly every day. Amen.
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