2 Corinthians 13:5-12
Examine yourselves to see whether you are living
in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in
you?—unless, indeed, you fail to pass the test! I hope you will find out that
we have not failed. But we pray to God that you may not do anything wrong—not
that we may appear to have passed the test, but that you may do what is right,
though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth,
but only for the truth. For we rejoice when we are weak and you are strong.
This is what we pray for, that you may become perfect. So I write these things
while I am away from you, so that when I come, I may not have to be severe in
using the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for
tearing down.
Final Greetings and Benediction
Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell.
Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in
peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a
holy kiss. All the saints greet you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I
get a little unsettled when I need to write a sermon. I know this it is part of my process. One stage of this
uneasiness is envy. I look at
whatever Graham preached on and say, “That was a better topic. Or, why couldn’t
I have drawn that scripture?” This
week is no different. Except this time it is true. We are preaching on the fruits of the spirit and Graham got
Love and Joy. Now who doesn’t want
love and joy? But I got
‘Peace’. Now people will say they
want peace. When asked by Bert Parks at every Miss America Pageant for about 30
years, “If you had one wish what would it be?” Beauty queens respond, “World peace.” Everyone knows the
answer to that. We talk about
peace. But to tell the truth, I don’t think we want peace. What we want is excitement, or
pleasure, or our own way, or to eat what we want without dieting. We want love,
joy and happiness. We want stimulation and entertainment. We sometimes want
progress, or accomplishment or advancement. But we don’t want peace. We only
want peace when we are in the midst of war, or anguish or chaos. We only want
to rest in peace, when our life becomes unbearable. Asking for peace is often the prayer of last resort.
Peace
may be an acquired taste. Maybe we
need to figure out what peace is to see if we want it or not. We think of peace
as the absence of the stuff that hurts and annoys. Think of a peaceful moment in your life. Close your eyes and picture yourself at
peace. I am guessing that you are in nature. Most of you are beside a lake,
stream or ocean. It’s probably at dawn or at sunset, and you are probably alone
or perhaps with one special person. And you are silent. Who was at a vacation
spot? Did anyone picture themselves in their workplace, office, or school? Did anyone picture themselves accomplishing
anything or doing any work? Did
any one picture yourself in a crowd or a group of people?
We
have very specific ideas about what will make us peaceful. We focus on external peace. We can be pretty demanding about what
that peace will be. Notice how
loud the air conditioner hums when we are trying to be peaceful? Suddenly it seems mosquitoes or
flies descend just when we are going to get this peaceful thing right. We are really picky about what external
peace looks like.
For
example, in order for me to be peaceful I need you to all do exactly what I
want. Do I ask too much? I want all of you to rearrange your life so that if
matches my inner vision of external peace. It would be helpful if you were all
robustly healthy. I want you always to be nice and always cordial. I don’t care
if your dog died an hour ago; I want you to greet me with a smile. Perhaps sometimes you could
occasionally send me notes or gifts that show your appreciation. But that isn’t all. I need the weather to cooperate. I need
financial systems to work in my favor.
I want gravity to be reordered to suit me. I don’t want to walk up hills and I don’t want parts of me
to sag and wrinkle. Ah, there is peace.
But then I hear a dog bark.
This
isn’t peace. This is me pleasing myself and ordering the universe to my
measure. But God doesn’t want us
to squish down into our own narrow definitions of peace. God wants us to grow
up to a timeless, divine peace.
The peace we need to examine isn’t our idiosyncratic peace but the peace
that passes all understanding, the peace that is in the Prince of Peace, the
peace that Jesus talks about in at the last supper when he says, “Peace is what
I leave with you, my own peace I give to you.” (John 14:27) That peace is worth
delving, discovering, seeking and finding. This is the peace that isn’t wish fulfillment. This peace is
a fruit that is nurtured and grows within us. The more we open and work and grow to discover God, to have
God abide in us, then we can grow in God’s peace.
Our
passage today is Paul’s farewell words to the Corinthians. He is trying to tell
them all that they need to know to abide in peace. He tells them, put things in
order, listen, agree, live in peace, let the God of love and peace be inside
you, give and receive a Holy kiss from each other. Paul is shouting out bullet
points, simple things but profound things that are the way to peace. The Corinthian church needed to hear
Paul’s words. They were a contentious church, a busy trading hub of the empire
church, a boomtown church. But the
discord between them was tearing the church apart and making everyone
miserable.
As
I was reading these final words of Paul I was reminded of the Serenity Prayer.
The Serenity Prayer is simple, short and meant to be something to grab hold of
in a storm to find your way to peace. This prayer is profound. Reinhold Niebuhr wrote it sometime
between 1932 and 1942. Niebuhr was
a giant theologian and pastor.
Niebuhr was interested in how do you practically and realistically live
the Christian life. So the fact
that this prayer is so short and direct and practical reflects Niebuhr. And it
reflects Paul. And it reflects Jesus who wanted us to not just think about
peace but to be and abide in peace.
This prayer has been adopted and used by AA and 12 step organizations to
help millions. Everyone knows the
short first part but I think the whole prayer says a lot about how we grow
peace.
God, Grant me
the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the Courage to change the
things I can and the Wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is not as I would have it. Trusting
the He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; that I may be
reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him forever in the
next. Amen.
This
is the pathway prayer to peace.
But most people don’t pray this prayer before they hit rock bottom in
anxiety, distress and addiction.
Most people who pray this prayer have said to a small group, Hi my name
is Connie; I am an alcoholic, abuser, gambler or addict. If you have prayed this prayer perhaps
you were a support group of one and you didn’t need to introduce yourself. But
you did have something profoundly unpeaceful in your life to pray this prayer.
Paul’s
goodbye and Niebuhr’s Prayer are similar.
They almost mirror each other in fundamental ways.
1. Put things
in order, or change the things you can.
2. Listen to
my appeal, or look for Wisdom.
3. Agree with
one another, or accept the world and people in it as they are, not how we want
them to be.
4. The God of
love and peace will be with you.
Trust the he will make all things right if you surrender to his
will.
The profound truth is that hardship is the
pathway to peace. Without hardship we all just keep pursuing excitement and
pleasure. The root of Paul’s good
bye message or Jesus last supper words to the disciples or Niebuhr’s prayer is
that trust is at the root of all peace. The peace isn’t of our own manufacture.
The peace is God’s fruit grown in us.
Last
words and good-byes are messages that are important. Leaving family or friends
is painful moment in our lives. As children, we all experienced a very
important "good-bye" every day of our lives -- when we were tucked
into bed and left alone in the dark. Our parents called it "good
night." But this end-of-the-day ritual is really a good-bye, a farewell to
the day we shared together. Do you remember the last words your parents spoke
to you before you went to bed at night? Did it vary from night to night or did
you have a set routine?
What is the last thing you say to your kids before
they go to bed? Susan Goodwin Stiles, of Foley, Minnesota, has two little girls
-- ages 6 and 4. As she tucks her daughters into bed each night, Susan recites
a special mantra to them, "Remember, you are special to God. Remember how
much we love you. Sleep loose."
"Sleep loose"? The Stiles
recite this strange-sounding directive to their girls each night for a very
important reason. They want their children to relax and let go to the love of
God that surrounds each of them. They want their children to sleep loose in the
security of that divine love. Too many children, too many adults, are sleeping
"tight" instead -- tensed and ready to bolt and run at the slightest
appearance of danger, the smallest indication of risk. It is hard to get a good
night's rest when all of your muscles are taut. "Sleeping tight" is
an uncomfortable, unhappy way to go through life. But for those who know they
are "special," that they are "loved," each bedtime brings
the comfort and security of "sleeping loose." Paul's final words to
the Corinthians this week demonstrate how a well-crafted "good-bye"
can be meaningful and moving.
Let’s
try it this morning. Say it after me: Remember how much God loves you. (Repeat)
Remember how much we love you. (Repeat)
Sleep Loose. (Repeat) Amen.
