Yeah Right!

Peace – it sounds like such a nice word, but what does it really mean? What does peace really look like? How do we preach peace – especially every year at Advent?

These are just a few questions that went through my head as I was preparing to preach last week.

Below is the sermon I preached last week, Dec 9th, on the second Sunday of Advent.

Title – Yeah Right!
Texts – Isaiah 11:1-10, Matthew 3:1-12
Focus – Peace takes work
Function – To challenge

Other information:
Size/style of congregation – average 150 in attendance on a Sunday, Pastoral Style
Spirituality – Head
Advent themes – Hope, peace, joy, and love (some churches focus on peace first and then hope).
My position – Associate Pastor – preaching as a “second chair”
Technique – I like to “weave” the text with present and real life issues and situations, even if it is a line or two here and there.
Other – Some of the organizations listed are particuar to my congregation and surrounding city

Enjoy:

Yeah right!

My processing for today’s sermon began with those words – root, stump, and branch. At first it made me think about all the dead plants I have in my house, and how I hope for the last remnant to survive! But, these words also conjured up images of family trees. You know – the diagram that shows you, then your parents, then their parents, then theirs, and so forth. It is called a family tree, because it looks like a stump, with you at the bottom, growing into a tree with branches as you add more and more people.

When we actually study our family trees and the dynamics of relationships between individuals, we can see the good and the bad passed down from one generation to another. We become aware of “bad” traits from hair lines, weight, or height (or lack there of) to diseases, shame, or mistakes. However, we also notice the good things – like a strong work ethic, good genes, or family traditions. Our trees become a door way from the past linking us to the present and looking forward to the future. One of the things that some families pass down is hope – hope for a brighter future, hope for more opportunities, hope for more adventures, or hope for a better life. Now, I know hope was our Advent theme last week, and peace is our Advent theme this week – but – peace is often one of those things for which we hope.

Hope for peace exists throughout our bible – just listen to our texts today! Two texts – quite different from one another – One from a lunatic man screaming about repentance and the coming of one who will baptism with fire! The other of a talking about wolf and the lamb living together…both pointing toward something – or rather someone, who will make things new.

We are no strangers from that word peace – we hear about it in the news – Peace in the Middle East, we hear about it in songs – Give Peace a chance; we hear about if from politicians, ministers, and even rock stars – like Bonno; we hear parents talk about it – “Oh, if I could only get a little peace!”

We see peace symbols on tee shirts, posters, cars, and book bags. We think of individuals like Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Theresa who worked for peace in their own ways.

We think of wars and the devastating ways they impact people’s lives. Children have grown to become men and women who know no other life than war. They know nothing about life except fearing for it. Palestine, Israel, Ireland, Iraq, Bosnia i Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, several tribes and countries in Africa – war has become the norm. And recent news suggests that the thin line of peace in Kosovo and other Balkans may soon fade as Kosovo tries to insert its self as an independent country.

And, then we talk a lot about peace here at the church. We use it as a warm word. We say things like, “Peace be with you…” (and also with you.) That makes us feel good – knowing that there are people here wishing us peace. We sing the candle song and find joy in seeing our children lift their hands over their heads and sing about hope and peace. It makes us feel rather nice. We dream about a day when peace will become reality. We hope it will be as Isaiah says, “the wolf shall live with the lamb.” Some may even think that we are rather naïve and say, “Yeah, right – that will never happen!”

So, what does all the talk about “peace” really mean?

Shalom, is the Hebrew word for peace. As a verb, it means to be complete, sound, safe, secure, restored, free from fault, unharmed, or made whole. It is completeness, wholeness – not just a state of being, not just a warm fuzzy feeling. It is gift given by God intended for all creation. In a way, it is connected to the vision of Sabbath where all can celebrate “joy and rest”.

The scholar Walter Bruggeman concludes that ultimately “shalom means different things to different people based on their ‘needs, hopes, and fears.” He adds that, nonetheless, people lie within two groups – the “haves” and the “have nots”.

Let’s start with the “have nots”. The “have nots” are those who struggle day to day with basic survival. Peace for them means having food and shelter. It means being able to live in a war free environment. It is like the lowest level of the self-actualization pyramid. In the bible, this is the Exodus and Exile. People in this group lament and cry out to God.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have the “haves” – those whose basic needs are met. In fact, life is pretty good. People in this group enjoy life. In the bible, this is the time of Noah, Abraham, and David. Instead of “surviving,” peace for this group is about “proper management for future generations and joyous celebration.” These psalms are of thanksgiving and praise.

Peace takes on a new meaning for them. People is this group don’t need their basic needs met. Instead, peace differs for each individual. For some, it is about keeping the good life, maintaining the status quo. For all purposes, most of us here are in this group. For a teenager, peace may mean being able to truly be one’s self. For the senior in high school, peace may look like being able to breathe in the midst of classes, exams, projects, and tests, applications, and interviews for college. For the young adult, peace may be assurance in the midst of vocation uncertainty. For parents, peace may look like finding time for one’s self or to be with one’s partner. For a family, peace may mean making it through one meal together without there being a major episode. For the single adult, peace may be being okay with being single in a culture that tells you it isn’t okay to be alone. Peace may be figuring out how to live once our children leave home, or our careers change, or we retired, or our parents, siblings, and friends begin to die. The list and possibilities of what peace may be are countless for this group of haves.

But, no matter, if peace is about basic survival, or enhancing one’s already good life, or breaking the polarity that exists between these two groups, peace that is shalom takes work.

Several of our youth introduced me to a series about a human young lady, Bella, who falls in love with a vampire, Edward. (Now stick with me for a second!) As you can imagine, it isn’t easy for Edward to be with Bella. He must fight his natural instinct to bite her for her blood. To make matters worse, Bella’s blood smells like the finest steak to a steak lover, the most delicious chocolate to a chocolate connoisseur, the most savory glass of wine for wine aficionados, and the best cup of coffee for you Starbuck fans. It took some work, but he was able to deal with his impulses. If you want to know what happens in the story, well you’ll have to read the series, or you could ask one of our youth about it.

But, the point is, sometimes peace doesn’t come naturally. It is natural for a wolf to devour a lamb, a leopard to eat a kid, a snake to strike an infant, and an animal to bite a toddler’s hand when stuck into the ground. It is normal that people don’t repent or say they are sorry. It is expected that the Pharisees and Sadducees would claim to be ancestors of Abraham, and therefore, recipients of God’s promises.

It is natural for the healthy to stay away from the sick, the rich to despise the poor, the smart to look down upon the uneducated. It is normal for us to act out of anger, to react out of fear, or to avoid a behavior even if it negatively affects those around us. It is expected for one ethnicity/race to loathe another. It natural for us to want what we want when we want it and to use whatever we have to get it.

Brothers and sisters – peace takes work…whether it is peace in our own lives or working for peace in others.

Carol Dempsey, Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Portland, Oregon, notes that the “natural world” is “inherently violent.” She then writes, “Yet, for the Israelites and Judahites, all creation belonged to God; and therefore, all of life was to be treated with reverence and respect by humans. This does not cancel out the ‘laws of nature’ whereby species prey off others. Rather, it envisions an eschatological time of life enhancing interdependence.”

In other words, the wolf may still want to devour the lamb, but will not out of “reverence and respect” for its fellow creature.

The lunchroom bully may still want other children’s money, but will not take it. One race may still fear another but will not act violently out of that fear. The CEO of a major corporation may want to mislead investors to make more money, but will refrain. Leaders of countries may still want to manipulate their judicial systems and economies at the expense of others, but will not do so.

Instead, as Dempsey concludes, there will be “life that insists upon responsible living and responsible stewardship grounded in a holy reverence for all of life.”

But, how will we get to that point? How can we change this “Yeah right” into a reality?

Glen Stanssen, the author of Just Peacemaking, gives 7 initiatives toward peacemaking. Number two on his list is “take independent initiatives.”

It is like the movie What about Bob? where Richard Dreyfus’s character, the therapist, instructs Bill Murry’s character to “take baby steps.”

Taking independent initiatives isn’t about changing the world in one day. If anything it is the realistic look that it can’t happen that way, but we can change and do little things here…little things there to make a difference. And the most important part is that they start with the individual. So, they start with me, they start with you.

In other words, we have to first work at peace in our own lives. And that is different for each of us. It may mean going after dreams that we have never really chased. It may mean dealing with some hidden secrets in our family’s past. It may mean asking for forgiveness against a wrong done to another. It may mean accepting forgiveness even when you are still hurting.

Peace doesn’t mean that things will be easy. What is it means is that things will be restored, and this takes work – sometimes like a baptism of fire as John the Baptist claims.

It is a lot easier to hide our junk, shove it under the bed, hide it in a closet, horde it in our garages and attics, push it in a dark corner – than it is to weed through it, clean it, wash it, restore it, or even throw it away. But, that’s the work of peace.

And let’s face it – there is a lot of stuff we can’t toss out or get rid of – because it is a part of us, like our DNA, it just is. So, peace comes about how to live with these things – how to not let them control who we are. Like the wolf, leopard, lion, bear, or the snake, we learn how to live with the lamb, kid, calf, calf, infant, and toddler. And not only that, but we also start working for peace on behalf of them. We take independent initiations into securing their basic needs and survival.

Many of you already do it through Freedom House, Caritas, Alternative Giving, and Daughters of Zelophehad. These are ways that we work together as a congregation for other’s to have peace. The ways in which we can take action are endless – tutoring a child at a local school, mentoring a juvenile with a rough past, financially supporting children through programs like Children’s Incorporated, volunteering our time at Meals on Wheels, writing our congressmen, speaking for those who don’t have a voice, going with out so others can have – counseling, mentoring, sharing, listening, giving, encouraging, holding accountable, and so – are just a few of the baby steps we can take into working for shalom.

Fredrick C. Holgren in The Old Testament and the Significance of Jesus notes that “the Old Testament’s vision of world peace remains unfulfilled. It is not fulfilled in the coming of Jesus, and after nearly 2,000 years of the church’s existence, such a vision remains still for the distant.”

He’s right. We may wonder, “Then what is the point? Why even try if it can’t ever be obtained?” Even Jesus said that we will always have the poor. Holmgren adds that nonetheless, that “both the Old Testament and the New Testament are books of promise. They both look forward to a time when God’s rule will be completed.” Nonetheless, we work, we hope, we know that this will not always be – that one day we will be able to rest in God’s Sabbath with joy and peace.

We let the baby born into this world; who grew as a child in wisdom and knowledge; who taught, healed, and lived shalom; who died and rose again; who still works for shalom; and who will one day bring in into fruition – we let this root of Jesse lead us and we follow him into shalom.

Let’s not let peace be one more thing we pass down as a “Yeah Right!” With only a stump, God can grow the most beautiful trees. With only a root shalom can spread. Peace doesn’t have to be some far off unrealistic dream for the naïve; it can be a reality for you and me, even if it emerges from the roughest stump, smallest shoot, or the most unusual branch.

For there is a day when…

The wolf will romp with the lamb,
the leopard sleep with the kid.
Calf and lion will eat from the same trough,
and a little child will tend them.
Cow and bear will graze the same pasture,
their calves and cubs grow up together,
and the lion eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child will crawl over rattlesnake dens,
the toddler stick his hand down the hole of a serpent.
Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill
on my holy mountain.
The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive,
a living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide.

Thanks Be to God Amen!

©Vanessa Ellison, Richmond, VA, December 2007

Resources
Brueggemann, Walter. Peace. Chalice Press, 2001.
Dempsey, Carol J. The Prophets: A Liberation-Critical Reading. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2000. P. 165
Holmgren, Fredrick C. The OT and the Significance of Jesus. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999. P. 17
Stassen, Glen H. Just Peacemaking: Transforming Initiatives for Justice and Peace. P. 59ff
Tranlastions – NSRV, The Message