“Peace When the World Is Coming Undone” Jamie Maciejewski
Philippians 4:2-9; John 14:15-17, 25-27 July 23, 2023
A handful of sermons stick in my mind. Really, a handful of memorable lines from sermons stick in my mind. One of those sticky lines was delivered by the pastor of the church George and I attended in Portland when we lived there in the 90s. Pastor Henry was speaking one morning about God’s peace. Like it was last week, I remember him saying, “You don’t learn peace sitting around the campfire singing Kumbaya.”
I suppose that caught my attention precisely because I was a veteran of many campfires. As a college student and relatively young Christian, I worked for two summers at Camp Lutherland near Federal Way. It was an incredibly dear time. I made many rich friendships, really, my first Christian friendships. I cherished those mountain top moments, sitting with my friends, singing songs and playing guitars, watching the fire leap and dance and the stars twinkle overhead. The peace I experienced in those moments felt very real and very deep. To be honest, it was intoxicating. I felt like eternity opened up before me.
And now, on a Sunday morning in the school auditorium where our congregation met, Pastor Henry was telling me that those campfire moments weren’t the same thing as real peace.
I suppose you can compare the kind of campfire peace I experienced to the heady rush of a new romance. There’s just nothing like it! But romance is not the same thing as road-tested love, the kind of love that has worn out several sets of tires, seen potholes and flat tires, as well as savored incredible views and roadside picnics. That kind of love develops over years of working to learn how to put another person ahead of yourself, something that goes against the grain of my very human nature! The kind of peace our texts are talking about today is the kind that develops over years of learning to trust God through the valleys as well as on the mountain tops.
This morning we want to talk about the peace the Holy Spirit gives, what it is and how we can have more of it. Peace is one of the fruits of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5. Both of this morning’s texts talk about the peace of God. And both were written or spoken to people who were experiencing a distinct lack of peace, people who had good reason to feel that their worlds were coming undone. Let’s look at that a moment.
Paul’s letter to the Philippian church is a beautiful letter, with many inspiring passages and even some poetry. And it’s written to people who have reason to feel unsettled. Two of the church’s leaders are not getting along. Euodia and Syntyche are Paul’s coworkers, and he likes and respects both. Unfortunately, their disagreement is affecting the entire church. Paul’s words about peace land on ears that are hungry for peace.
The passage in John is also directed to people whose world is about to come undone in a spectacular way. Jesus speaks about peace on the eve of his crucifixion. The disciples are at risk, perhaps of arrest, probably of losing their faith. At a minimum, they are going to experience grief. It’s likely their experience will be far worse than that, bringing feelings of abandonment, fear, shame, and disillusionment.
The word to both Jesus’s disciples and the Philippian Christians is the same: Peace. Shalom. Pastor Don has shared that shalom is a very rich word. It means complete wholeness. Well-being. Harmony. Peace in every part of us, heart, mind and body.
The distance from their current circumstances to complete wholeness and well-being must feel like light years for both Jesus’s disciples on the eve of his death and the Philippian Christians whose leaders who are feuding. They aren’t having kumbaya, sitting-around-the-campfire moments. And both Jesus and Paul are bold to offer that God’s peace can prevail, even when their friends’ worlds are coming undone.
How can this be? Can it be as simple as saying, “Quit worrying”? Actually, Paul says that. “Don’t worry about anything.” (Phil 4:6a) Jesus says something similar. “Don’t be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27b)
Don’t worry! Don’t be troubled! Don’t be afraid! That’s easy for you to say, Jesus!
Jesus isn’t telling his friends to buck up. No. Bucking up won’t do it. Instead, he gives them – and us – a present. “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you. I give to you not as the world gives. Don’t be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27, CEB) Peace. It’s Jesus’s parting gift to his followers.
Does it ever feel hard to hold onto peace? To remember it when the world keeps coming undone? Jesus knows it’s hard, so he asks his Father to send us a helper, the Holy Spirit. Last week John shared a story in his sermon about a friend in seminary who kept prodding John to go running with him. Harold kept knocking on John’s door, persuading him to get out and run. Through all kinds of weather, including the brutal Boston winters. Harold was John’s companion.
I was captured by John’s story, because it is such a great picture of how the Holy Spirit helps us. The word Jesus uses for the Holy Spirit, which the CEB translates Companion, is “Paraclete.” There are almost as many ways to translate “Paraclete” as there are versions of the Bible. Counselor. Helper. Advocate. Friend. Paraclete literally means “one who comes beside.” “Companion” seems to me a pretty good word for “one who comes beside.”
“The Companion, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I told you.” (John 14:26, CEB)
This Companion, the Holy Spirit, is a friend, but more. He sometimes speaks a difficult word. He’s honest with us. Sympathizes and comforts but doesn’t coddle. Gives us what we need, not necessarily what we want. Never leaves us. Harold encouraged John, but not in a soft way. He was persistent! So is the Holy Spirit.
How does the Holy Spirit help us experience Jesus’ gift of peace? How do we exchange our worried, troubled, fearful hearts for peace? Paul’s letter to the Philippians offers several thoughts. I want to read a couple of those verses in The Message:
Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. (Phil 4:6-7, MSG)
Pray. Pray about everything. (Phil 4:6a) Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers. There’s a beautiful story in the Old Testament. The story is told in three different books of the OT, which gives us an idea of how important the story is to God’s people. (2 Kings 18-19; 2 Chron 32; Isa. 36-37) It’s about King Hezekiah, who finds himself leading God’s people during a time of a great and existential threat. The king of Assyria has laid siege to Jerusalem and intends to destroy God’s people. He sends a letter ridiculing Hezekiah for trusting God and basically telling him he’s toast. Hezekiah takes the letter to the temple and lays it out before the Lord. It’s a picture of trust. Here it is, God. I have no idea what to do. Please pay attention. The only thing I know how to do is to spread it out before you.
Instead of worrying, can we spread it out before the Lord? Every detail? Pray. About. Everything.
The second encouragement from Paul is to be thankful in every circumstance of life. (Phil 4:6b) I’ve learned so much by listening to our sister Ann Louise pray. I hear her say, over and over, “Thank you, God.” Even when she is praying about something hard. When we thank God, we tell him we trust him. We’re not being naïve or optimistic. We don’t pretend things are better than they are. Instead, we acknowledge that we are in God’s hand, no matter what storms are raging around or within us. Thankfulness redirects our hearts and minds from being preoccupied with our problems to trusting God. Be thankful all the time.
The third encouragement from Paul is to set our thoughts on anything and everything that is good and beautiful. “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” (Phil 4:8, NLT) This isn’t the same thing as the line in the song, “Don’t worry, be happy.” Focusing on all that is good and lovely is a deliberate choice about what we allow to take up room in our hearts and minds.
The other day I was driving home from a long day at work. I was thinking about many things. Did I say the right thing to that person? What am I going to do to fix this situation? Maybe I could have done that thing better! I was crossing Indian Island and decided to pull over at the spot near the causeway. I spent all of 30 seconds looking out the window, and then I grabbed my phone to check email. Again! Worry, worry. Finally, I set it down. I looked out the window. I let my heart get quiet. I wondered why I hadn’t heard the waves before. I noticed how beautiful the ripples were as they washed onto the rocks. I studied a gull as it watched a smaller bird wrestling with a fish. I saw a kingfisher fly past. I noticed the lovely shape of the oak leaves.
I love how the King James Version puts this verse: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” (Phil 4:8, KJV)
A week or so ago, I watched a conversation on TV between some people who had been selected because of their different political views. They didn’t agree with one another, but their conversation was respectful and kind. Nobody interrupted; nobody shouted. It was encouraging. Their discussion won’t get the same attention as vitriol and anger will, but I can choose which I pay attention to.
How many things do I pass every day that are true, honest, pure and lovely, and I don’t even notice? The patience with which a checker treats a shopper who is slow and confused. A tender interaction between a parent and child. A flower amidst weeds. The clouds. A piece of art or music. The Bible says, “Every good and perfect gift” – every one – “is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17, NIV)
Pray about everything. Give thanks in all circumstances. Think on things that are beautiful and good. “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:7, NLT)
Peace isn’t something Pollyanna wishes for, with no connection to the real world. Peace is a gift given to us by our Lord, even – and especially – when the world is coming apart at the seams. True peace, true shalom – not the kumbaya kind – grows in the heat of life. The tomatoes we’ve grown at home in our lovely and mild climate don’t hold a candle to the ones we grew in the hot Portland summers. The sweetest fruit needs plenty of heat.
Don’t worry. Don’t be troubled. Don’t be afraid. You are never out of God’s care. And the Holy Spirit, the Companion, is with us, coming alongside us, helping us, reminding us of what Jesus said, teaching us to trust God, guarding our hearts with peace when all the world is coming undone.