Sunday 10/15/23 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “The Peace Of God, Which Surpasses All Understanding”
Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23
New Testament Scripture: Philippians 4:1-9
Gospel Lesson: Matthew 22:1-4
We have some very challenging and yet
encouraging scriptures for this morning. Specifically, I am talking about our
reading from Philippians 4:1-9, and our gospel of Matthew 22:1-14 reading. In
fact, my sermon title for this morning was taken from Philippians 4:7, which says,
in part, “The Peace Of God, Which Surpasses All Understanding.”
The Apostle Paul, through Jesus Christ, is calling us to very deep levels of
faith and holiness, and not just for us, but to praise God and to love each
other even more.
Let me read to you Philippians 4:4-7 for this morning. Philippians
4:4-7 says, once again:
4 Rejoice
in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about
anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let
your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:4-7, NRSV).
I, and I hope all of us, truly aspire to not be anxious
about anything, and to have “The Peace Of God, Which Surpasses All Understanding.”
These teachings from the Apostle Paul through Jesus Christ, I would say, are aspirational.
I want to rejoice and praise God every minute of every day, I want to be gentle
and loving, I want to not be anxious about anything, and I want to constantly
be praying and thanking God. I want to have every minute of every day “The Peace
Of God, Which Surpasses All Understanding,” but sometimes I don’t.
Anyone else here this morning, hear the words that the Apostle
Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, or the Philippians in our reading this morning,
and think to yourself, “well that is hard!” I mean how can we never be anxious,
always be at peace with God, always be gentle and loving, and always be connected
and praying to God every minute of every day. I want those things for us all, so
that our faith will grow together and change the world. Yet, we live on this
earth that is sometimes a crazy place.
For example, I was laying in bed next to Melissa last
weekend on Saturday October 7th, which I guess with the time zone
differences, would be Sunday October 8th in Israel. As we were
watching the news we heard about this massive attack on Israel. Rockets were
fired into Israel, and we are now learning that hundreds and hundreds of people
were massacred or taken prisoner. It seemed that Hamas terrorist group
militants took particular joy in the murdering, torturing, assaulting, and
taking hostages. People were beheaded, and babies were killed. Some Hamas militants
filmed what they did on the phones of the people they harmed and or killed. The
same Hamas militants then sent the videos of these things to the family and friends
of the victim or victims.
I don’t know about you, but yes, this definitely took my
peace. I felt anxious, and had thoughts of the Book of Revelation and the Tribulation
before the return of Jesus Christ our Lord. I heard on the news that this was
largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust in World War II. Further, I also
heard that some of hostages that were taken by Hamas were Holocaust survivors.
Imagine taking an elderly person with that blue ink tattoo on there arm that
was put on them in the Holocaust to mark them live stock.
I know that no country in perfect, and all countries make
mistakes, Israel included, but I was shocked by the brutality of the pictures
and witnesses of what I saw. I mean did the families of these victims, when
they heard and or saw this terrible news have “The Peace Of God, Which
Surpasses All Understanding.” Did the families of these victims when they saw
or heard the news of what happened to their family and friends feel:
anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (Phil. 4:6b, NRSV).
My guess is that most friends and family that found out what
happened were not. It is not that the Apostle Paul is wrong, he is right, but
sometimes it is hard to keep our peace and our calm, despite us trying hard to
do so. It’s not that we don’t want to, but life can get pretty crazy down here on
earth sometimes.
As I started to write this sermon about not being anxious
and having “The Peace Of God, Which Surpasses All Understanding”
I had to leave the church to visit Marion Yerger in Norwich. Marion is a woman
of great Christian faith, and is a real joy for me to visit with. I remember driving
through Guildford and I was really just focused on driving, and I did feel a
bit tired. All of the sudden I looked down, and I realized that I was going
about 70 MPH! Well, where I was on Route-35 where I was 55 MPH!
I remember thinking to myself, “I didn’t even realize I was
speeding!” As I slowed down, I saw a police officer in their vehicle on the
shoulder, so turned down the road by Historical Society in Guilford, on the way
to Norwich. Just then the police lights came on. Oddly enough after everything
that has been going on lately, I had little to no anxiety about this situation.
I laugh now, because I don’t think I have been pulled over in 10-years or more.
I remember sitting on the side of
the road in my car thinking “what do I need? Oh yeah license and I also need my
registration!”
The officer approached my little golf cart of a car, and I immediately
tell the officer that I was speeding, and that I didn’t even realize it. The
officer asked where I was headed, and I told the officer that I was headed to
visit a parishioner in Norwich. The officer then came back a few minutes later and
gave me a warning. I was very grateful for this, and hopefully I don’t get
pulled over for another ten-years!
Why did not get anxious and lose my peace during this. I
didn’t because I realized that I had unintentionally made a mistake, and I admitted
immediately. I think the officer really appreciated my honesty, and given a lot
of other things going on this world, it just didn’t get under my skin like I
could have.
Sometimes, some people are able to maintain peace and calm
because they have seen so much that it takes a lot for them to lose their peace
and calm. Again, I want us all to have peace and calm every day, but once again,
we live on this earth. It can be hard for us then, to always live up what the
Apostle Paul, through Jesus Christ calls us to this morning.
The Apostle Paul names a couple of converts to Christianity
in the beginning of our Philippians reading, and he urges them to be of the
same mind in the Lord. The Apostle Paul encourages his “loyal companion” to help
Euodia and Syntyche with there faith in Christ. The Apostle Paul also mentions
Clement, which some scholars believe is the same Clement who became Bishop of
Rome, or what many now call the Pope.
The Apostle Paul then tells us in Philippians 4:4:7 what we
have been talking about so far this morning. Lastly the Apostle Paul ends our reading
from Philippians 4:1-9 for this morning with 4:8-9, saying:
8 Finally, brothers and
sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is
pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence
and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these
things. 9 As for the things that you have learned and
received and heard and noticed in me, do them, and the God of peace will be
with you (Phil.
4:8-9, NRSV).
Whatever
is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is
pleasing, whatever is commendable, is not invading another country, torturing, massacring,
assaulting, and taking people hostage. Some Palestinians might also argue that
Israel has committed atrocities to. No country is perfect, but as I said, what
happened in Israel, and is still going on in Israel from Hamas took my peace.
So much so, that getting pulled over after more than ten-years of not getting
pulled did not really get me anxious or as worried as it could of. It was still
serious, but in light of other things in the world, it seemed less important.
In our reading from Psalm 106:1-6,
19-23 for this morning we hear these words in the Old Testament or the Hebrew
Bible. These scriptures, these words were written to be the guide, the faith,
and the practice of our Jewish brothers and sisters. In Psalm 106:1-2 for this
morning, it says, once again:
1 Praise the Lord! O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. 2 Who can utter the mighty doings of the Lord or declare all his praise? (Ps. 106:1-2, NRSV).
There are Christians and Jews that have no doubt read this
scripture in the last week in Israel, Palestine, and even Gaza. Many Christians
around the world like us are reading this scripture. I wonder though, for the folks
that are in Israel, Palestine, and even Gaza, if it is harder to follow and
embrace this scripture given what is going on there?
You see, it’s not that we don’t want to have “The Peace Of God, Which Surpasses All Understanding,”
it’s just that sometimes life makes it harder for us to have peace. If you are having
a terrible day and someone tells you to just have the peace of God, you might
actually get angry with them. It is not always an easy thing to do for some of us.
Where
have we all had peace and calm this past week, and where have we lost our peace
and calm? Further, how can we do better? The more and more we become like Jesus
Christ, the more we can pursue, calm, love, hope, mercy, and kindness. These
things are also offered to us through God, even if there are times that they
are hard to do.
Our
gospel of Matthew 22:1-4 lesson for this morning is often called, “The Parable of the Wedding Banquet”. Most pastors that
I know do not like officiating weddings. I love weddings though! It’s exciting,
there’s food and cake, and people are generally happy. This wedding that Jesus
talks about in this parable or story is a little different however. Let’s look
at the “The Parable of the Wedding Banquet” once
more. Picking up starting in Matthew 22:1 it says, once again:
22 Once more Jesus
spoke to them in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a
king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his slaves to call those
who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come (Mt.
22:1-3, NRSV).
Jesus
is inviting us all to that eternal and heavenly banquet feast with him, but we will
come to Christ? Jesus calls us, but will we respond to his call? At this point in the parable or the story, the king has sent
his slaves out to call those who have been invited to wedding banquet, but they
do not come.
Picking
up in Matthew 22:4, it says, once again:
4 Again he sent
other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared
my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is
ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ 5 But they made light of it and went away, one to
his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated
them, and killed them (Mt. 22:4-6,
NRSV).
Not
only did the second group of slaves go to gather those invited by the king to
the wedding banquet, but the people refused to come again. Even worse some
seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. In response to this, Jesus
says in his parable or story, starting in Matthew 22:7, once again, that:
7 The king was
enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. 8 Then he said to
his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore
into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ 10 Those slaves
went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad,
so the wedding hall was filled with guests (Mt. 22:7-10,
NRSV).
Those
called and invited by the king were invited not once, but twice. It was not
uncommon to invite people with two invitations in the ancient world that Jesus
lived in. The second invitation however, was met with contempt and violence. In
ending our gospel of Matthew 22:1-4 scripture, we finish with 22:11-1 saying, once
again:
11 “But when the king came in to see the
guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, 12 and he said to
him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was
speechless. 13 Then
the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into
the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are
called, but few are chosen” (Mt. 22:11-14, NRSV).
Even
if most of the Pharisees, the scribes, and the other religious leaders rejected
Jesus, after at least two invitations, all the rest of the world, including us
are invited to wedding banquet feast of Jesus Christ. Even if some of the original
covenant people, the Israelites or the Jews rejected Jesus, the invitation is
now opened up to the entire world. This being said however, take the invitation
of Jesus Christ seriously. Do not take for granted the salvation that we are
offered in Christ, lest we end up in darkness weeping and gnashing our teeth.
Jesus tells us that all are welcomed by him, but take him and his gospel
seriously.
If
we do, then when we witness a human massacre, the torture, assaults, and people
being taken hostage, then we will most certainly say that as Christians, and
followers of Jesus Christ, that this sort of brutality is beneath the gospel of
Lord and Savior Jesus. Yes, we are all invited by Christ to his heavenly banquet
feast, but like the wedding guests didn’t take the invitation seriously, we
need to stand for treating all people with love and dignity. The children of
God, the children of Abraham are never called to slaughter, abuse, torture, and
take hostages any of the people that God has made in his image. Again, the Palestinians
had made claims against Israel for doing same.
Even so, if we are not careful this can
cause us to lose “The
Peace Of God, Which Surpasses All Understanding”. May we be praying for all
those are suffering, on both sides, for those who are or have been abused, and may
we me live up to the standards of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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