Sermons from St Faith's
Trusting the Peace
Cynthia Johnson, December 16th, 2012
Here we stand again, in the midst of the season of Advent,
busy-busy-busy preparing for Christmas. Christmas: Christ’s
birth, the dawning of a new era, not just for the people of
Israel but good news for the whole world.
Advent marks the start of the Church’s calendar, and in two
weeks we will celebrate the New Year of 2013. Schools and
colleges begin their ‘year’ in September or October; there seems
to be more than one ‘New Year’ – consider the Chinese, Jewish
ands Muslim new years. All, however, have responded to the
cycles of the seasons as we, and it seems every nation, seek to
measure, and make sense of, our lives and our search for the
knowledge and presence of God.
We can look at this internally: we gather together inside our
buildings, where we worship together, gain strength and meet God
at the altar. We then proceed externally with mission, being the
way we take God outside our buildings. And we can learn so much
from the Bible. Today’s Old Testament reading, from the book of
Zephaniah, opens with doom and destruction, threatening to
punish the land of Judah for worshipping false gods – and they
are not the only ones. But Zephaniah prophesies hope, if
repentance is declared by the humble and lowly people of
Jerusalem, who tell no lies and do no wrong. He promises that
they will be secure and afraid of no-one, as they live the
Lord’s way – and he ends with the song of joy which we heard
earlier.
Compare this with the gospel reading: like Zephaniah of old, the
prophet John the Baptist has just warned his listeners that if
they don’t mend their ways disaster will befall them. The
message is the same – repent, mend your ways, and look forward
to the Messiah, whilst you live the way of the Lord. When we
come to the Epistle, when St Paul comes to preach the good news,
he too urges his followers to live a godly life, following the
example of Jesus. He encourages them to celebrate the love of
God, to have faith that he will fulfil their needs if they only
ask humbly in prayer, instead of fretting.
‘To trust the peace’ – this is a phrase which a friend of mine
used recently on a retreat organised as respite for carers,
giving them the chance of a break for a few days in the
beautiful setting of Noddfa, surrounded by tremendous trees and
overlooking the sea in North Wales. The party had to learn to
relax and enjoy the fact that they were the ones being looked
after for a while. They found it quite unnerving – three lovely
meals a day magically appearing, and no washing up! – Attentive
nuns on hand for support, and lots of relaxing, gentle
activities, including prayer and meditation. When one lady
expressed difficulty adjusting to this, another advised her to
‘trust the peace’. I’m sure St Paul would have approved.
If we want to live the way of the Lord, where do we start? It
can be helpful to pray in four different ways. If it’s hard to
begin, choose a prayer you have learnt that is already written
down (why invent the wheel?) – one which particularly inspires
you: or maybe, simply the Lord’s Prayer. Having thus put
ourselves in God’s hand, we need to spend some time listening to
him – this is perhaps best done in silence, allowing plenty of
time and space to do this – being patient and waiting on the
Lord.
By now we have surely increased our conscious contact with God.
Now is the time for us to talk to him. Tell him our troubles,
share our dreams, name those for whom we pray – and delight in
his company.
Renewed and revived by these prayers, it is natural to be so
thankful for our gifts from God that we wish to share them; and
this leads to practical payers – prayer in action. Doing
something practical to demonstrate our faith: our church should
be a living proof to a watching world. Do our lives in their
humility and grace reflect the presence of God in our hearts? If
we ever fear we cannot live up to these ideals, we need to look
no further than the bible for a source of immense strength and
courage – one written for people just like us.
The bible is a very thick book: in fact it is a collection of 66
books. And thousands more books have been written about them
all. If we were to try and distil the wisdom found in all these
books, I guess we would still have a fair-sized book! I also
guess we would find many recurring themes, from Genesis to
Revelation, as the people of Israel (the original tribes and
ourselves) work through the cycles of life and the years. Two
steps forwards and one step back: by trial and error; exhorted
by the prophets and disciples and, supremely, taught by our Lord
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, born in Bethlehem and preaching
throughout Galilee and beyond. And we would have none of these
books if it weren’t for the likes of St Paul and all the other
writers: may we give fervent thanks for them all.
And if we wanted to quote one small section that stands out
among them all, we would surely include these four verses heard
again this morning: “May you always be joyful in
your union with the lord. I say it again – rejoice! Show a
gentle attitude towards everyone. The Lord is coming soon. Don’t
worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what
you need, always asking him with a thankful heart. And God’s
peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your
hearts and mind safe in union with Christ Jesus.’
Let us trust that peace.
Amen
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