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Back to Sermon ArchivesJuly 26,
2009
Rev. Judith Bither
Fruit of the Spirit:
Peace
The Fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
(Galatians 5: 22). Scripture also proclaims that we will be “known by our fruit”.
In the last two weeks we’ve wrestled with how to cultivate love and joy when those
are not valued too highly within our world. Today we stretch even further to consider
how to cultivate peace in our spirits and in the world.
The scripture lesson for this morning
is again from the Letter of James. It is believed that James was the brother of
Jesus, so they grew up in the same household. So throughout the letter of James
we hear echoes of Jesus. James recalled the way Jesus handled family and personal
trails, how he had been slow to anger and controlled his tongue. Whereas Peter and
Paul wrote about theological matters of sin and salvation, James wrote about the
practical stuff of daily life. We might think of James as one of the first spiritual
directors. What you do matters, wrote James.
So James was stressing that in order
to have peace on earth, we must have peace in our souls. As the song tells it: Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.
But just how do we do
that in a world that believes that might makes right? James suggests a far
better way. Rather than participating in the cycle of violence, Christians participate
in a cycle made possible by God: peace-righteousness-peace. God’s reconciling
work brings peace that enables us to live righteously before God and at peace with
one another. The church, or Christian community, is the place we practice peace
so that we might live it in our homes, schools, work places and community. We practice
peace here!
So, as James suggests, the fruit of
righteousness grows when the seed of peace is sown. The dictionary defines righteousness
as morally upright people; virtue and justice. Although this fruit of the
Spirit is a gift from God, like all the others is must be pursued and practiced.
Again we can think of our gardens: God brings growth, but the gardener’s work is
crucial. As my mother used to say, Pray for a good harvest, but keep on hoeing!
The kind of peace we
are trying to cultivate is at once internal and external. That is
we find peace by resting in God. St. Augustine’s oft-repeated quote: My heart
is restless until it rests in Thee, contains a deep truth.
But does this imply passivity? The fruit of peace is an answer to unfulfilled
longing: it is an end to the destructive wear-and-tear of doubt and regret. It is
wholeness and healing. In Hebrew the word for peace is Shalom. Shalom means
more than the absence of war; it means wholeness, completeness, healing. Peace may
grow out of prayer and meditation, but it cannot stop there. It brings new
obligations, new energy, and new creativity. Like a seed beneath the soil, it geminates
silently and unseen, but then bursts with vitality, unfurling, flowering and finally
bearing fruit. A peace within bears fruit without; others can see
it in our words and actions. Some of you will have read the works of Thich Nhat
Hanh, a Buddhist monk who has written profusely on peace. He is also knowledgeable about Christianity
and often compares the two religions especially in their work toward peace.
Thich Nhat Hanh recalls the Vietnam War and the dilemma
it posed for him as a monk. Was the fruit of peace “contemplation” or was
it “action”? He wrote: So many villages were being bombed. Along with
my monastic brothers and sisters, I had to decide what to do. Should we continue
to practice in our monasteries, or should we leave the meditation halls in order
to help the people who were suffering under the bombs? After careful reflection,
we decided to do both—to go out and help people, but to do so in a spirit of
engaged mindfulness. once there is seeing, there must also be doing. Otherwise,
what is the use of seeing?
The monks of the Taize community of France made that
same decision during World War II. They met three times a day for worship and prayer,
daily to study scripture and work at the monestary. And they also hid Jews who were
fleeing the Nazi death camps. They are still an active community in France today
bringing young people from all over the world together for worship, study and work
as ways of teaching peace. So cultivating peace is a call to “be still and know
God”, and a call to action to practice it where we live.
In Paul’s letters to the young churches he usually opened
and closed with the words “The peace of our Lord be with you.” This was a
general blessing used when Christians met and departed from one another. It is in
this same spirit that we greet one another at the beginning of worship. We “pass
the peace.” This peace isn’t just a nice handshake and a hardy “hello”.
The peace of Chris is to be a life-style, a way we live our lives everyday as Christ-followers.
In his book The Art of Happiness the exiled Dalai
Lama of Tibet makes this point when discussing anger, hatred and hostility. He wrote
that when we become angry we lose not only our peace of mind but our presence
of mind. He added: “When such intense anger and hatred arises, it obliterates
the best part of your brain which is the ability to judge between right and wrong
and the long-term and short-term consequences of your actions; your power of judgment
becomes totally inoperable, it can no longer function. It is almost like you have
become insane. So, this anger tends to throw you into a state of confusion, which
serves to make your problems and difficult-ties so much worse.
As I pondered these wise words I realized how true this
is everywhere there is violence, war and terrorism. Think of the division between
the Palestinians and Israelis, the Shiite and the Sunni, Protestants and Catholics
in Ireland…or closer to home, our overflowing prisons. Aren’t generations of un-resolved
anger, resentment and hostility at the root of all of this? The opposite is peace.
(Peer Holms story here from The Great Hunger).
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