Readings for Easter 6C:
John 14: 1-29
May 13, 2007
The Rev. Karen Faye Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino, CA
Jesus said: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” [John 14]
This past Wednesday after my workout, two different students from DeAnza College approached me in the locker room to ask me questions about the Christian faith. It was rather strange having a theological conversation in my underwear, but I never know who and when God will give me the opportunity to preach the good news in Christ. One of the students had just read a book, the title of which I do not remember. She wanted to know if I had read it also. I told her “I had not read the book” but asked her about its content.
She said it was a book that claimed that we can know almost nothing about God or Jesus from the Scriptures because they are subjectively conditioned and historically inaccurate. She wanted to know what I thought of such a premise. I told her that I didn’t agree with the theory nor did I value the opinions of authors who are so stuck in a stage IV level of faith that they need to defend their own agnosticism by debunking passages of Holy Scripture through some kind of so-called scientific methodology. I also told her that I know Christ is alive (not because of some theory) but because I experience this presence of God in my daily life and in the life of the community. I believe in the witness of Holy Scripture (not because every passage is historically accurate) but because Jesus’ “recorded” words, works, and spirit lead me into truth and help me to experience life more abundantly.
Too many folks have come to view the Christian path as a bill of goods they need to buy into, hook-line-and sinker. They have come to view the Christian path as a problem to be solved by intellectual endeavors. They have forgotten that Christianity is not a philosophy, but a way of life, a way of relating to God and creation based on forgiveness, generosity, love, peace, and justice. They have forgotten that this life-giving path is for the purpose of becoming wise, good, just, and happy through a lifelong personal involvement in knowing and loving God. They have forgotten about its promise of abundant life. Today’s gospel offers us insights into abundant life through the avenues of love and peace. Let’s take a closer look.
The context is Jesus’ farewell discourse. He is about to depart from this world and he is preparing his followers for life in his absence. Jesus does not offer them simplistic offers of comfort and assurance but speaks directly to their fears and anxieties and talks about the depth of the love they are to have for one another. It is a sacrificial love based on servanthood and speaking the truth without fear. And what about their love for Jesus? Can the disciples still love him when he is gone? The answer is yes. The disciples can still love Jesus, not by clinging to a cherished or sentimental memory of him nor by retreating into a private experience of him. The disciples and subsequent generations can love Jesus by doing his works and by keeping his commandments.
Doing his works and keeping his commandments are far more demanding and life-giving than disputing theories about Jesus. Maybe that is why people stay in their heads when it comes to religion. It is a lot easier to think about Jesus than to commit to a way of life based on his commandments of radical love and peace. Last week, I spoke about his radical call to love. This week, I want to focus on his radical call to peace.
The kind of peace that Jesus offers is not the same kind of peace the world offers. His peace is not the same as a temporary cease-fire agreement or enjoying a sunset on a balmy beach. Jesus’ peace is not based on “security” like living in a gated community or receiving a fat paycheck. The kind of peace Jesus offers often contradicts worldly values. It begins with an intimate relationship with God and continues with the transformation of the human heart. True peace can only come about when we are able to see the world as God sees it- without fear, prejudice, selfishness, or self-centeredness. The kind of peace Jesus speaks about requires being guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit (the Advocate, the Counselor, the spirit of Truth) dwelling within us.
If we are really seeking peace on earth, it seems to me that the real task of a Christian is to allow the Holy Spirit to guide our decision making process. How do we do we allow the Holy Spirit to take charge? We become channels of grace through the practice of the spiritual disciplines: Meditation, Prayer, Fasting, Study, Simplicity, Solitude, Submission, Service, Confession, Worship, Guidance, and Celebration.
If what we are seeking is abundant life and becoming wise, good, just, and happy through a lifelong personal involvement in knowing and loving God, then it seems a bit senseless to spend precious time debating theories about Jesus. It would seem to me that we need to spend more time in developing an intimate relationship with God so that the spirit of Christ becomes alive in our lives, moving us into radical love and peace. Until we cast out all fear, peace will continue to escape us.
Today is Mother’s Day and there are many events around the nation calling upon mothers to stand up for peace on earth. The first mother’s day was called “A Mother’s Day for Peace.” It was first suggested by Julia Ward Howard in 1872. Julia was best known for writing the Battle Hymn of the Republic. She saw some of the worst effects of the Civil war, the death and disease which killed and maimed the soldiers. She worked with the widows and orphans of soldiers on both sides of the war, and realized that the effects of the war go beyond the killing of soldiers in battle. War creates severe economic destruction. After seeing the carnage of war, she was determined to put an end to all wars. In 1870, she wrote the original Mother’s Day Proclamation calling upon the women of the world to unite for peace. Let me end by reading this proclamation:
Arise then ... women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts! Whether your baptism be of water or of tears! Say firmly: “We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies, Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, For caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, the women of one country, Will be too tender of those of another country To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.” From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with Our own. It says: “Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.” Blood does not wipe our dishonor, Nor violence indicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil At the summons of war, Let women now leave all that may be left of home For a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means Whereby the great human family can live in peace ... Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar, But of God - In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask That a general congress of women without limit of nationality, May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient And the earliest period consistent with its objects, To promote the alliance of the different nationalities, The amicable settlement of international questions, The great and general interests of peace.
| Updated 05/13/07 |
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