Peace (& Confession)

Sermon planned for Sunday, July 3rd, 2011

Texts: Galatians 5:22; Romans 5:1, 6-11

This morning we’re looking at the fruit of Peace. When the Prince of Peace moves into our heart, one of the effects is that we, as Christians, become lovers of peace. We ourselves experience a deep inner peace. And when conflict, anxiety, or struggle occur – the Spirit is there with us.

Our Christian understanding of peace has numerous dimensions. It includes an inner peace, when we come to an assurance of the Word that God has spoken about us, in Jesus Christ, namely: that you and I are adopted by God’s Spirit, that we are His children, saved by grace, and called to the ministry of peace in Jesus’ name. This knowledge gives us an inner peace and confidence.

Our Christian understanding of peace includes political peace, in the sense of what we do with our political enemies. What this means is that Jesus’ life and teachings have implications on how we approach big issues, and large-scale conflict. In our baptisms, God has set us aside to join Him in a reconciling ministry in this world.

This morning, however, I want to focus our attention on two specific parts of our Christian understanding of peace – that is, our peace with God and our peace with one another as brothers and sisters in the church. Earlier I mentioned our ‘inner peace’. We have inner peace when we experience peace with God and another sense of inner peace when we live in harmony with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

The foundation of any Christian concept of peace is the saving work that God has accomplished for us in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. As we heard, from Paul’s letter to the Romans, we have received reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ our Lord. We have peace with God. We have received the gift of peace and God has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ. The language of gift is helpful, here, to describe what has happened. When a gift is given there is also an act of reception. If I give you a gift and you refuse it, the gift is still offered but you won’t be blessed by it at all. In a similar way, God gives to us His grace, and gives us the gift of peace; the question is: will we receive God’s peace? That is the question of human history! Will you receive the gift of peace with God?

But the gift of peace is not just a concept. The gift of peace is the person Jesus Christ. He is our peace. In the post-apocalyptic film Children of Men, the basic plot is that all the women in the world have become infertile – there are no more children being born. The British government has become a fascist regime that controls its citizens with an iron fist – and in a sense it has to. After all, with no new children being born, this puts a definite timer on the ‘end of the world’. If such a scenario ever happened, there would be riots and chaos, as people contemplated the complete extinction of the human species. One major twist in the plot occurs when the main character is introduced to a young woman who is several months pregnant. This woman and her child become a ray of hope for the few people that know about her – and they work to keep her safe. One of my favourite scenes in the movie is at this point when the woman and her newly born baby boy are escaping from this building, together with her friends. In this scene, there are soldiers all around and bombs and bullets are flying everywhere as the rebels try to overthrow the tyrants. As the mother and her child enter the scene, and the rebels and the soldiers see this baby boy, and hear him crying, they immediately stop firing their weapons. The sight of this baby boy melts the hearts of these men bent on war. This baby boy represents hope for these people, and that hope brought a moment of peace.

Something like this happens in Bethlehem – when Shepherds and Magi gather near to see the baby Jesus. Hope and peace – this is what the angels declared when Jesus was born. This is what Simeon and Anna proclaimed when they saw Jesus as a young boy. This boy was not only going to be a great teacher of peace – this boy was himself God’s gift of peace with His creation. In this way, peace is not just a concept. Jesus is our peace! His arrival in our hearts and relationships is what makes for peace!

This is the peace we as evangelical Christians love to talk about. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, you and I have peace with God. We are saved. Sometimes, however, that’s all that is said, as though peace-with-God was the entirety of the gospel! What’s missing is that the peace that Jesus offers to humanity is also peace between us as humans; more specifically, peace between Jews and the nations. In other words, the fullness of the gospel includes peace between us and God and between us and one another. This is clear from scripture, and we can hear Paul saying this clearly in Ephesians chapter two. Join me in reading Ephesians 2, beginning at verse twelve. V.12-22

In this passage we hear the language of peace being used to describe both the relationship we have with God and with our fellow brothers and sisters. More specifically, Paul is speaking about the peace that God has made between Jews and the nations, or ‘the Gentiles’. In Christ, the Gentiles have been brought near to God – and so here we read the language of having peace with God. But we also read that “Jesus is our peace, and in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall – the hostility between us… creating in himself one new humanity.” Part of Jesus’ saving work was that he was bringing people together. God’s project was not only to make peace between Himself and humanity, but to create a united people, reconciled together in a community of friends. That’s why, in our Christian understanding of peace, we don’t just speak about peace with God but also about peace with one another; precisely because this peace is what Jesus set out to accomplish, according to Paul.

You could say that Paul’s entire ministry was to hold these two parts of peace together – the vertical and the horizontal – peace with God, and peace with one another. Paul constantly wrote about how Jesus has made peace between us and God; that Jesus’ faithfulness unto death on the cross is what saves us. But he also constantly wrote to churches, urging Christians to get along in peace and unity, forgiving each other and bearing each other’s burdens. Paul knew that the gospel is the good news of peace with God and peace with one another. What does this ‘peace-with-one-another’ look like? Paul gives a great description of it in Colossians – read with me in chapter 3, beginning at verse 5. (Colossians 3:5-17)

Paul’s prescriptions for Christian relationships are important for us to hear. Along with the usual list of vices and sins to avoid, Paul also includes a list of virtues and positive Christian attitudes. Because of what Jesus is doing in our lives, there is a renewal that goes on in us – we are renewed in the image of our Creator, Paul writes. But he then quickly follows by saying that in this renewal there is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, etc… The renewal that Christ accomplishes among us is both personal, in our relationship to God, and social, in our relationship with others in the Church.

What do these relationships look like? What characterises our relationships in this ‘renewal’? They are relationships filled with love, compassion, kindness, meekness, and patience; where people bear with one another, forgive one another, teach one another, and admonish one another. Paul, here, holds together what we usually separate. Paul assumes that the Church can be a place where we love one another, have patience with each other, forgive one another – and that it will also be a place where we teach and admonish one another. In fact, it’s only by holding these two together that you cultivate an authentic peace in the community. Loving and forgiving together with teaching and admonishing – these pieces together form the ingredients to a peaceful community.

“Admonish” – this means that the Church will be a place where we take each other’s discipleship seriously, which then also means that it will also be a place where we take each other’s sin seriously, helping one another confront and break free from sinful addictions and turn away from sinful attitudes and practices. In fact, in a few minutes, I’ll be asking Sam Schellenberg if he rejects evil and sin; and I’ll be asking him if he will give and receive counsel. This morning, we’re asking Sam if he will join us and help us to live out our faith; and he’s asking us to do the same for him. Will we be this kind of community for him? Will we dare to be a community vulnerable enough to share in each other’s brokenness? Will we love each other enough to gently prod each other on into faithful discipleship? Or will we assimilate to our contemporary postmodern individualist culture? Will we practice Christian discipleship or will we eventually completely succumb to the “I’m OK, You’re OK” life where we barely know each other or care for one another? Sam Schellenberg and Maria Dirks are asking of us, this year, to be the Church and seek and maintain authentic peace in our relationships? Does this kind of vulnerability scare you? Or do you find it compelling? Or both?

In the town of Neubergthal, they used to have an odd practice of preparing for Communion. When the Church leadership would announce that Communion was coming up soon, people in the congregation were asked to ‘make things right’ with their brothers and sisters. This in itself wasn’t odd, in fact that was common practice across the board, and it still needs to be today. We need to always practice this ‘making things right’ – even when there isn’t communion coming up. In Neubergthal, some of the Christians there had a strange way of making peace with one another. If you were part of their fellowship, and communion was just around the corner, you would put together a few jars of borscht. You would then go and place a jar of borscht on the porch of anyone that you thought you might be in conflict with. A day later, when you drove past this person’s house you’d check that jar of borscht. If it had been taken into the house, or if it was standing on the porch empty, then it meant that things were cool between you and that person – that you two were at peace. But if that jar of borscht was still standing there, completely full, then you knew that you had some things to work out together before communion. Having authentic peace was important for the Christians that used this practice.

This was their attempt at living out the practice of peacemaking that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 18. Let’s read it together, beginning at verse 15. (Matthew 18:15-20) This ‘borscht for peace’ practice was this communities’ way of taking Jesus’ words about sin and peace seriously. Postmodern individualism is a current worldview that is gaining a lot of traction in our communities, and in our churches. One of its effects is to convince us that there’s no real point to holding each other accountable – because everybody interprets truth differently; and so, the conclusion is that people think it’s best to just mind their own business. Don’t tell me how to raise my kids, mind your own business. Don’t tell me not to violently defend my family. Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do in my bedroom, mind your own business. Don’t tell me what to do with my money, mind your own business. Of course, part of what this is is a (over)reaction to heavy handed practices of church discipline and abuses of power. But what this often leaves us with is a community that doesn’t care enough about each other’s lives to really work towards overcoming sin, towards growing deeper in discipleship, etc… People will only quote Jesus’ words about not judging, but they won’t at all pay attention to Matthew 18. The abuses of church discipline have made many give up on the practice altogether.

But this morning, in baptizing Sam, we are remembering that we don’t have to choose either extreme. We don’t have to give-up on practices of peace and accountability and we don’t have to be a legalistic community. In Baptism, we remember the peace that we have been called to. We remember the peace that we have with God; and we celebrate that Sam is standing up for Jesus and embracing this peace with God. In Baptism we also remember the peace that Christ has made possible between us as brothers and sisters. It is a peace that is built on top of the other Fruit of the Spirit; it is a peace that loves. And so, let us love Sam as a brother, serving him, caring for him, helping him, and doing our very best to show him love. Let’s forgive him when he messes up. When his jar of borscht is on our porch – let’s make sure that it gets empty – let’s work things out together. Let’s be a community of joy for him, and remind him of God’s love when he faces difficult times. And Sam, we need you to be a peacemaker for us too. When you see us not living up to our discipleship calling, we need you to forgive us, but to also push us further towards Jesus. Don’t let us get away with giving into our individualistic culture. Help us and prod us to be the kind of community that deeply cares for each other; that has enough patience to be vulnerable in sharing our faith struggles.

May we all continue to provoke each other to deeper love, joy and peace; and may we be encouraged to know that Jesus Christ – the Prince of Peace – is involving us in a complete overhaul. In this renewal, you and I have been woven into the fabric of God’s Kingdom where nothing can divide us or keep us from experiencing the love of God. Thank God for that! Amen.