Sermon, Sunday June 15 2008
Fifth Sunday After Pentecost
Brothers and Sisters
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
What does it mean to be at peace?? What does it mean to have peace? Well the classic definition would usually be some sort of reference to an absence of conflict or disagreement or strife. And certainly in a global sense, when we are speaking in regards to international relations, that definition would apply. Truthfully, though I think that is really more the appearance of peace.
Earlier this week I heard about a joint worship service that took place in Southern California in January which involved leaders in the Episcopalean and Hindu religious communities. It was celebrated and hailed as a glorious and unprecedented event. The service involved the celebration of Communion for Episcopaleans and Hindus. It also involved an apology by an Episcopal bishop presuming to speak on behalf of the entire Christian community. Do you know what the apology was for? He was apologizing for attempts on the part of Christians to convert Hindus. Essentially he was apologizing for Christians proclaiming the Gospel among Hindus.
Now this worship service is problematic for many reasons. And I won’t even really get into the theological problems of this service, of which there are many, not the least of which is the idea of Hindus, who don’t even believe Jesus is the Son of God let alone believe He is truly and bodily present in the bread and the wine, partaking in Holy Communion. But my point in bringing this up is, that is not real peace, that is merely the appearance of peace. And what you don’t see in this picture of alleged religious harmony is an already extremely divided Episcopalean community, and all this did was add to the division and strife in the Episcopalean community. And I don’t know much about the Hindu religion, but I would imagine there were some orthodox Hindus who probably weren’t too happy about this.
I think real peace exists within conflict and disagreement and transcends disagreement and conflict. Now don’t think I am getting all eastern religiony on you. I simply believe that in a way we are all looking for that kind of peace. The problem is we look in the wrong places.
I read an article on CNN.com yesterday about a man named Samuel Israel. He was the co-founder of a company called Bayou hedge fund, and in 2005 he pleaded guilty to stealing more than $450 million from his clients. On Monday he was supposed to report to prison to begin a 20-year sentence. His car was found on a bridge in New York with the words “suicide is painless” scrawled in the dust and the pollen on the hood of his car. A body has yet to be found, and so as you might imagine, not too many people are buying this appearance of suicide.
Samuel Israel was and likely still is a man looking for peace, not just after he got caught but before he got caught. He had convinced himself that wealth and power was the way to peace, and so he became bound to the idol of wealth; so bound that he was willing to steal millions of dollars from people who had placed their trust in him. And now his life is an example of the futility and emptiness of seeking peace through our own convoluted means.
And so we go to our Gospel lesson for this morning and we see our Lord Jesus going through all the towns and villages proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. And still we read that as He looked upon the crowds He had compassion on them because they appeared to be like ‘sheep without a shepherd.’
What does that mean? What does it mean to be like a sheep without a shepherd? Sheep are totally dependent upon their shepherd. Without their shepherd, they are lost, without their shepherd they have no peace. And so Jesus sees all these people like sheep without a shepherd. He sees people searching for peace and He has compassion for them. Walking right in their midst was the good shepherd and still they continued to seek after peace through their own means, through their own efforts.
And so it is with us. Our Lord Jesus has promised to be with us to the end of the ages and still we look to ourselves and our never ending quest for self-gratification and visible signs of peace, rather than simply clinging to the shepherd who lays down His life for us. The peace that surpasses all understanding is not enough for us. The peace that comes through hearing the Word of our Lord who laid down His life for us is nice but we want something that we can see and touch right now. And so as we search for peace on our own terms, we scatter ourselves from our shepherd.
And we become like ancient Israel who heard the promise of their Lord that they shall be His treasured possession of all the peoples, and that He would make of them a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. And upon hearing this promise they respond by declaring that they will do everything that the Lord has spoken. But history would of course reveal that it wasn’t long before they were grumbling and complaining and longing to return to slavery and bondage thus forsaking the promise of their Lord in favor of worshipping a golden calf.
And this continues today in our own personal quests for peace and personal satisfaction be it through money or personal accomplishment or keeping up with the Joneses or whatever, we all have our own golden calfs and towers of Babel by which we try to attain the peace that can only come to us from outside of us. But as we see in the story of Samuel Israel, or in the joint Episcopal/Hindu worship service, and all throughout scripture, we find that such human-driven quests are futile and pointless, and lead only to bondage and at best the appearance of peace and ultimately only to the grave.
But fortunately when we go back to our Gospel lesson we see that our Lord Jesus does not leave us running around like sheep without a shepherd. For He summoned His twelve disciples and sent them out to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He sent them out to proclaim the good news that the Kingdom of God had come near. He told them that the harvest was plentiful but the laborers are few and so He gave them complete authority.
And we see that indeed the peace that our Lord Jesus provides is one that transcends the mere appearance of peace that comes with the absence of conflict, for He sends His disciples out like sheep into the midst of wolves. He tells them that when they enter the home of someone who welcomes them that they are to bring their peace to that house. In the midst of wolves they bring peace.
And we know that not long after this, our Lord Jesus, the good Shepherd did lay down His life for you, and sin and the devil were defeated for you and you were given eternal life when He was resurrected, and the harvest would not be limited to the lost sheep of Israel but would include all nations, to whom our Lord would send His apostles out to go and make disciples by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that He has commanded them, and Christ Jesus promised to be with them and you to the end of the ages.
And as present as He was with the apostles that day He was present with you when His word of promise was spoken over you in the waters of baptism, as He claimed you as one of His sheep and freed you from sin, death, the devil and from being like a sheep without a shepherd. In the same way Christ Jesus is present with you now through the words of my mouth nurturing you and sustaining you in your faith and He will be present with you again in a few minutes when you come forward to receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus in Holy Communion.
You have the peace you desire. For as St Paul tells us in the lesson from Romans “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” Where there is justification in Christ Jesus there is eternal life with our Lord and thus eternal peace. And so simply believe the One who laid down His life for you. For you are no longer a sheep without a shepherd. You are a disciple and so follow the lead of the disciples from the Gospel, and go forth and share the peace of the Lord with your neighbor for the harvest is plentiful.
Amen
Brothers and Sisters
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
What does it mean to be at peace?? What does it mean to have peace? Well the classic definition would usually be some sort of reference to an absence of conflict or disagreement or strife. And certainly in a global sense, when we are speaking in regards to international relations, that definition would apply. Truthfully, though I think that is really more the appearance of peace.
Earlier this week I heard about a joint worship service that took place in Southern California in January which involved leaders in the Episcopalean and Hindu religious communities. It was celebrated and hailed as a glorious and unprecedented event. The service involved the celebration of Communion for Episcopaleans and Hindus. It also involved an apology by an Episcopal bishop presuming to speak on behalf of the entire Christian community. Do you know what the apology was for? He was apologizing for attempts on the part of Christians to convert Hindus. Essentially he was apologizing for Christians proclaiming the Gospel among Hindus.
Now this worship service is problematic for many reasons. And I won’t even really get into the theological problems of this service, of which there are many, not the least of which is the idea of Hindus, who don’t even believe Jesus is the Son of God let alone believe He is truly and bodily present in the bread and the wine, partaking in Holy Communion. But my point in bringing this up is, that is not real peace, that is merely the appearance of peace. And what you don’t see in this picture of alleged religious harmony is an already extremely divided Episcopalean community, and all this did was add to the division and strife in the Episcopalean community. And I don’t know much about the Hindu religion, but I would imagine there were some orthodox Hindus who probably weren’t too happy about this.
I think real peace exists within conflict and disagreement and transcends disagreement and conflict. Now don’t think I am getting all eastern religiony on you. I simply believe that in a way we are all looking for that kind of peace. The problem is we look in the wrong places.
I read an article on CNN.com yesterday about a man named Samuel Israel. He was the co-founder of a company called Bayou hedge fund, and in 2005 he pleaded guilty to stealing more than $450 million from his clients. On Monday he was supposed to report to prison to begin a 20-year sentence. His car was found on a bridge in New York with the words “suicide is painless” scrawled in the dust and the pollen on the hood of his car. A body has yet to be found, and so as you might imagine, not too many people are buying this appearance of suicide.
Samuel Israel was and likely still is a man looking for peace, not just after he got caught but before he got caught. He had convinced himself that wealth and power was the way to peace, and so he became bound to the idol of wealth; so bound that he was willing to steal millions of dollars from people who had placed their trust in him. And now his life is an example of the futility and emptiness of seeking peace through our own convoluted means.
And so we go to our Gospel lesson for this morning and we see our Lord Jesus going through all the towns and villages proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. And still we read that as He looked upon the crowds He had compassion on them because they appeared to be like ‘sheep without a shepherd.’
What does that mean? What does it mean to be like a sheep without a shepherd? Sheep are totally dependent upon their shepherd. Without their shepherd, they are lost, without their shepherd they have no peace. And so Jesus sees all these people like sheep without a shepherd. He sees people searching for peace and He has compassion for them. Walking right in their midst was the good shepherd and still they continued to seek after peace through their own means, through their own efforts.
And so it is with us. Our Lord Jesus has promised to be with us to the end of the ages and still we look to ourselves and our never ending quest for self-gratification and visible signs of peace, rather than simply clinging to the shepherd who lays down His life for us. The peace that surpasses all understanding is not enough for us. The peace that comes through hearing the Word of our Lord who laid down His life for us is nice but we want something that we can see and touch right now. And so as we search for peace on our own terms, we scatter ourselves from our shepherd.
And we become like ancient Israel who heard the promise of their Lord that they shall be His treasured possession of all the peoples, and that He would make of them a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. And upon hearing this promise they respond by declaring that they will do everything that the Lord has spoken. But history would of course reveal that it wasn’t long before they were grumbling and complaining and longing to return to slavery and bondage thus forsaking the promise of their Lord in favor of worshipping a golden calf.
And this continues today in our own personal quests for peace and personal satisfaction be it through money or personal accomplishment or keeping up with the Joneses or whatever, we all have our own golden calfs and towers of Babel by which we try to attain the peace that can only come to us from outside of us. But as we see in the story of Samuel Israel, or in the joint Episcopal/Hindu worship service, and all throughout scripture, we find that such human-driven quests are futile and pointless, and lead only to bondage and at best the appearance of peace and ultimately only to the grave.
But fortunately when we go back to our Gospel lesson we see that our Lord Jesus does not leave us running around like sheep without a shepherd. For He summoned His twelve disciples and sent them out to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He sent them out to proclaim the good news that the Kingdom of God had come near. He told them that the harvest was plentiful but the laborers are few and so He gave them complete authority.
And we see that indeed the peace that our Lord Jesus provides is one that transcends the mere appearance of peace that comes with the absence of conflict, for He sends His disciples out like sheep into the midst of wolves. He tells them that when they enter the home of someone who welcomes them that they are to bring their peace to that house. In the midst of wolves they bring peace.
And we know that not long after this, our Lord Jesus, the good Shepherd did lay down His life for you, and sin and the devil were defeated for you and you were given eternal life when He was resurrected, and the harvest would not be limited to the lost sheep of Israel but would include all nations, to whom our Lord would send His apostles out to go and make disciples by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that He has commanded them, and Christ Jesus promised to be with them and you to the end of the ages.
And as present as He was with the apostles that day He was present with you when His word of promise was spoken over you in the waters of baptism, as He claimed you as one of His sheep and freed you from sin, death, the devil and from being like a sheep without a shepherd. In the same way Christ Jesus is present with you now through the words of my mouth nurturing you and sustaining you in your faith and He will be present with you again in a few minutes when you come forward to receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus in Holy Communion.
You have the peace you desire. For as St Paul tells us in the lesson from Romans “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” Where there is justification in Christ Jesus there is eternal life with our Lord and thus eternal peace. And so simply believe the One who laid down His life for you. For you are no longer a sheep without a shepherd. You are a disciple and so follow the lead of the disciples from the Gospel, and go forth and share the peace of the Lord with your neighbor for the harvest is plentiful.
Amen
posted by Steve at 9:47 PM
1 Comments:
I liked how you wove the theme of peace throughout and hit them hard with the Word that the peace we are looking for is much different than we generally believe.
BTW-that guy who stole the money, I wonder if you know, stole that line "Suicide is painless" from the MASH movie
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