To change the world through peace.

 

Next Sunday there is going to be a congregational meeting after the service to approve the annual budget. I never know what I should do at such meetings. I remember in one church I served I made the mistake of questioning a line in the budget. It wasn’t the figure we had agreed upon. The Treasurer indignantly stood up and said that as the minister I should deal only with spiritual matters, and he would take care of the financial and secular matters. The congregation agreed with his assertion that ministers were not competent to comment on matters which had to do with the ‘real world’.

 

It saddens me when I see people characterizing Jesus as someone who had many lofty grand ideas which have nothing to do with the real world. I have heard far too many sermons and bible studies trying to find a way to say that Jesus didn’t mean it when he said “Give everything you have to the poor and follow me.” After reading the scriptures, I am convinced Jesus does mean it when he said ‘it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven’. I think Jesus does know what he is talking about. He talks a lot about what we do with our money. He talks a lot about how we treat one another. He’s a smart man. He’s God’s son, so he is no fool. He’s been called to rule over heaven and earth and God believes this plan can work. So if we have a problem with God’s plan is that God’s fault or is it ours?

 

As a result, I think the Christian faith needs a change in attitude. What most people come to a church looking for is not what the church is offering. Instead of spending all our time and efforts on finding ways to escape the implications of the gospel, we need to start all over again learning how to live with it. When we look at the message of Jesus and the Bible, we should see a life worth having. We should see a life that is worthy of our repentance and our discipleship. 

 

 

 

This morning we heard Isaiah’s vision of what a peaceful world could look like. Jesus lived out Isaiah’s vision of the wolf lying down with the lamb. Jesus believed we can live out that vision as well. The only question is whether we believe what Jesus believes we are capable of or not.

 

But there is much that can stand in our way of trusting and following the way of Jesus Christ. If we are dominated by anger, contempt or lust, then the tender areas of Jesus’ teaching will be meaningless to us. If we come to church to seek power and prestige, then Jesus’ lessons about humility will be gibberish. If it is to make sense, then we will need to start where Jesus starts. We must learn step by step how being blessed by God involves us learning how to set aside our anger, our need to be in control, our manipulating of others, our holding of grudges, our need for payback, our will to power over others, our lusting after material wealth. Only when we can name those coercive and corrosive forces in our own lives can we begin to open the door to God’s grace and peace.

 

If we really want to create peace in the world, we can do it. It really is quite simple. Simple, but very demanding. Albert Einstein once said that “Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding.”

 

One of the first things everyone must give up in order to achieve peace is the desire to judge one another. This is why we are told to leave the judging to God. When we judge one another, we condemn each other and we blame each other. Now some will question how we can live in the real world without being able to tell others that we disapprove? Jesus believes we can do that without having to tell that person that they are condemned to eternal punishment. Because the purpose of judgement is not to punish someone. The purpose of God’s judgement is to correct a person so they might be redeemed. So we should not condemn or blame. As Christians, we should be willing to offer helpful corrections when we are confronted with something that is wrong. Peace will come when the other accepts the suggestion and the situation is put right.

 

Another reason for us to give up on judgement is the old adage that ‘what goes around comes around’. If all we are known for is the wagging finger of judgement, then we too shall face the wrath of that same wagging finger of shame. After two thousand years, we have our own fair share of mistakes that we need to repent for. There is much we need to seek forgiveness for. But if all we offer people is judgement and punishment for their misdeeds, who are we to expect anything less in return?

 

Jesus pictures a very different way of living in the world. Jesus says we should have the practical good sense of the snake, and be as un-devious as a dove. Dallas Willard in his book “The Divine Conspiracy” says “the wisdom of the snake… is to be watchful and observant. One rarely sees a snake chasing its prey. When it acts, it acts quickly and decisively.” And as for the dove, Willard says “it does not contrive. A dove is incapable of intrigue.” Doves can’t hurt others. Willard says “these are qualities we must have to walk in the Kingdom with others, instead of trying to drive them to change their ways.” Such an approach opens the door to the deeper virtues of patience, confidence, hopefulness and truthfulness. It offers a genuine respect for the freedom of others. It opens the door to true peace.

 

In Christ we are invited here to help the world, not to condemn it. We are to be a faithful presence which lives out Christ’s example of what a better way can look like. It is a gift we are given, and it is a gift we are to offer to others. We are to treat others the way we treat God. When we approach God, we are to use Jesus’ invitation to Ask, Seek and Knock. We are to Ask God for what is needed. We are to seek God’s help in solving our problems. We are to knock on Heaven’s door, since Jesus has promised it will be opened to us. In the same way, we need to ask, seek and knock on the doors of our family, friends, co-workers and neighbours. We have to give them the opportunity to accept or reject our invitation to help, without attaching blame or condemnation to the offer or the possible rejection. Asking is the way great things are accomplished with God’s co-operation. We co-create the future with God. By asking, we invite our friends and neighbours to co-create a peaceful future with us.

 

When we ask someone to do something with us, it is in the form of an invitation, a request. Now my mother and father taught me that when I ask for something, I should always say “Please”, and when I get what I asked for, I should say “Thank You”. Yet all too often we have told others what they should do, instead of asking them. And when we have gotten what we demanded, we responded not with a heart-felt ‘Thank you” but with an arrogant word of condescension instead. And then we wonder why no one listens to us.

 

Yet if we believe that all people are created in the image of God, and the spirit of God is in all people, then should we not treat all people like they are God’s children?

 

If we see ourselves as being in Christ, and all people are God’s children, then such peaceful relationships are possible.

The wolf can live with the lamb, the leopard can lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling can lie together.

And a little child will lead them.

The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

The infant will play near the cobra’s den,

the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.

They will neither harm nor destroy on God’s holy mountain,

for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD. (Isaiah 11:6-9)

 

These words can be much more than just Isaiah’s vision.

These words can be much more than just idealistic words of Jesus.

These words can be our destiny. Amen.

 

Source: Dallas Willard “The Divine Conspiracy” Harper 1997