“…seek peace, and
pursue it.” (Psalm 34:14)
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AN OVERVIEW OF THIS SUNDAY’S READINGS
COI
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RC
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SERMON NOTES (766 words)
Fear is a natural emotion. To be afraid is our own way of
responding to dangers from somewhere or someone. We read in the first Book of
Samuel that King David was very afraid of the Lord and King of Gath – a man
called Achish (1
Samuel 21:10-15 and 1
Samuel 22:1-3). David played a trick on the king and pretended to be mad.
The King told him to get out of his way and David escaped to a cave where his
family and others joined him. This experience inspired David to compose or sing
what we know as Psalm
34, a beautiful hymn of praise and thanksgiving. David found peace and
restoration just as sung in Psalm
23 (The Lord is my Shepherd)
To allow fear to take over and disrupt our lives is not
good. We may jump forward about a thousand years from David’s time to when
Jesus lived, died and rose again. When
the apostles saw Jesus in his risen body – not as some ghost but as the same
person with a glorious body – they were
scared. And so would we be!
We live in a world where doubt and scepticism reign and to
the extent that people ever think of God or things to do with God it a private
matter for a minority of the dedicated. So it seems. But, we know Christ not
because we had the privilege of seeing and meeting him as the apostles did. We
know Christ through FAITH – which is a living relationship of trust. I believe
or Credo in Latin is about trusting
(from which the word credit comes). It is about trusting in a great love and
gentle power that is ever around us and within us. How do we know that our faith
makes sense and is ‘real’?
We know God through the peace that he gives us. The peace
that He gives us is not to be confused with the false peace of this world. Many
are the illusions and false gods we pursue whether in ego, power, addictive
substances, money, pleasure or social and economic status. None of these can give lasting peace to our
souls. A heart at peace can save the universe! That seems like an
over-statement. But think of the reality of the Holy Spirit dwelling in one of
us right now breathing her peace through our veins and breath. The Ruach or Holy Breath is indeed among us
when we gather in the name of the Risen Jesus.
Not only does Christ offer us his Peace that nothing in this
world can give but He is our peace.
For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. (Ephesians 2:14)
I will hear what the Lord God has to say, a voice that speaks of peace, peace for his people and his friends and those who turn to him in their hearts (Psalm 85:8).
There are many things that we tend to worry about more or
less and now and again – relationships, finances, health, perceived threats,
the past, the future, the present, death, life, what lies beyond etc. It would
be unrealistic to think that we can free ourselves of worry. Everyone has their
gethsemane moments and, somehow, emerge intact at the other end of such moment
or moments.
There is a famous and familiar piece prayer from St Teresa
of Avila which many millions across the world find helpful as they plod along
or wait for sleep at night or jump out into a new day:
Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.
Some questions
Do I really listen to God’s Word in my mind and heart?
Do I allow this Word to shape my thinking and my behaving?
Would others say that I bring more peace than the opposite
of peace in my day-to-day living?
What difficult personal price am I prepared to reach a
lasting peace that is just, assertive of my rights and those of others and
liberating for those who do not know peace in their lives at this time?
A religion that makes sense is one that enables us to find
peace at the end of life. It also means finding peace today within ourselves
and, if it be at all possible, with others. And if none of this seems possible
we can still hang in there in hope and love and trust. After all we believe
that Grace carries us in its arms.
When we love we find peace and under this peace we taste
heaven even now.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:7)
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SOME IDEAS FOR INTERCESSIONS
Praise to our God in Jesus Christ truly risen. We are a
people called in his name. Together with all peoples throughout the world we
pray for:
- Peace in our troubled work …..
- Peace in Europe
- Peace in Ireland
- Peace in those places from where we have originated….
- The communities in which we live and work…may we extend a genuine and warm welcome to those who seek truth and love….
- The Christian churches … that we may hold to the true faith of Christ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit entrusted to us…
- One another….
- Other named persons ….
- Remembering with thanks those who have gone before us….
… praying in silence….
Merciful Father accept these prayers for the sake of your
Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
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A PRAYERFUL WALK THROUGH JOHN 14:23-29
Fear is the overwhelming emotion as the disciples are bolted
in on the evening of the Day of Resurrection. The full significance of what had
happened had not fully dawned on the apostles. Were they in denial or were they
waiting for a further sign? Either way, they were scared for understandable
reasons.
In the course of a long discourse (sermon if you like) Jesus
tenderly reassures his disciples and strengthens them for what lies ahead.
Peace is his gift and his message.
v.23 The Trinity of love living in us
Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.
Love is what God is. Love is what binds us to God. And
God-who-is-love makes his home in us. The Word that has been planted in us
through baptism, the gift of faith and the continuous outpouring of the Holy
Spirit on our lives is more powerful than any force that stands against us in
this world or ours.
This is how God reveals himself – as direct, personal and
compassionate love. To find a home in us love must generate love. We love
because we are loved. Realising this is the work of a lifetime because a lot of
things stand in the way of realising this including ideas, assumptions and
various notions planted early on in our awareness and sub-awareness. Bad
theology and distorted ideas of God also play their part in blocking a
realisation of God’s love within us and among us. Peace is the fruit of love
and being loved. We need some measure of peace – as God gives it and not as we
presume it – to become aware of the divine spark of love in us. This takes time and patience and involves a
daily practice of compassion towards ourselves and towards others. We do not
‘earn’ some favour from God but our actions stem from grace and build on grace.
We are nothing without this grace.
v.25-26 Holy Spirit as teacher and advocate
‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.
The Holy Spirit is there to guide us. All we need do is call
him that Spirit living in the Word and in the World about us.
v.27-29 Be not afraid
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. You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I am coming to you.” If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.
These words are as relevant to us today as they were 2,000
years ago. If only we abandoned ourselves to the Holy Spirit in mutual love we
would experience a blessed peace that we might never have known!
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