A long time ago, about 2600 years, there was a tribe of people who we called themselves the Hebrew people. And in their story we know of their trials and tribulations. We have heard about their coming together as a people and their move to Egypt because of famine. They were a captive people in Egypt, but finally a man named Moses and his sister and his brother led them out of bondage and across the deserts to just this side of their land of milk and honey. They had to fight for the right to call this land theirs, but finally, it was, and the tribe settled in the land they called Israel.
They were led by priests, governed by judges, and in the face of conquering emperors created a government ruled by kings. They built a temple to Jehovah, fought the surrounding tribes, fought foreign invaders, they quarreled among themselves and finally divided into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, lost ten of their tribes, were dispersed by the Babylonians, who destroyed their Temple. Half a century later they were returned to Israel, built a second temple to Jehovah and were then conquered by a series of foreigners and then great Roman Empire. All the while, before and after their exile to Babylon, Jehovah brought forth to the Hebrew people the Prophets. The great Prophets and the Minor Prophets, too, were always telling them to follow the Commandments more closely or repent from their wicked ways. According to the prophets, they were a conquered people because they were not devoted enough to Yahweh, their one, true God.
The prophets said that one day, a Messiah would come. He would lead the Hebrew people to victory over all their oppressors and when that was done, all tribes would lay down their swords and peace would reign throughout the world.
The Hebrews are still waiting for their Messiah.
There were those, two thousand years ago who believed the Messiah came. He was born to Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem, lived as a peasant carpenter in Nazareth, became a wise rabbi, and eventually led a band of believers around the Mediterranean countryside, teaching unconventional wisdom to any who would listen. He was a devout Jew who taught that something was more important than following the commandments. This radical rabbi said that living a life of love was all that Yahweh wanted.
If, women and men could live a life of love, they would create God’s kingdom, here, on earth, and there would be peace among all people and all nations. He said …the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17-20b-21)
He died for his revolutionary beliefs. He did not even attempt to overthrow the oppressors, there was no victory, and there was no reign of peace. His promises, or at least those promises that they understood, never came to pass.
So, his followers waited for his return. Some of his followers are still waiting for his return.
The promise of peace creates such yearning in humankind. And all the while we are hungering after peace; peace eludes us, personal peace and world peace. And Jesus was very clear, peace comes from within.
Would it be true, you think, that if every person had personal, inner peace, we would have world peace?
If every human being had inner peace, would we have world peace? Is that what would happen? Is that what it would look like?
Jesus believed each person had the power within themselves to create peace, to create God’s kingdom.
Buddha also believed peace would come from within. The terms Buddhists use are “awakening the Buddha within” and “enlightenment.”
Mahatma Gandhi, too, believed peace could only be achieved by tapping into the love we have deep within us. (Gandhi the Man The Story of His Transformation)
Could it be that simple? And if it is that simple, is it easy? Personal peace is not easy. Of course, I only speak for myself. Personal peace may come easy to you. But, great spiritual leaders tell us, it is possible; the love is there. But, we have to find a way to realize this peace that is already there? What gets in the way?
We get in the way.
Just this week during a visit with someone, we were talking about this and he said, I often wondered why I had no peace, until I realized three things kept me from personal peace. “They are my ego, my desire, and … oh, yes, my expectations.”
I immediately saw the implications for this sermon and I asked permission to use this in my sermon today. God works in mysterious ways.
Three things get in the way, ego, desire, and expectations. And in those three concepts we see the evidence of Buddha’s Second Noble Truth—life is difficult because of attachment, because we crave satisfaction in ways that are inherently dissatisfying.
Our attachment to this life, to our pride, to things, to everything about us is fed by our ego, our desires, and our expectations. All three, lived out in our lives, ensure our unhappiness; if they rule our lives, we will never know peace.
When we learn that everything is not about us, really learn and internalize that everything is not about us there is more peace within.
Anyone who has done any personal growth work will tell you that the best counselors are those who help us learn, “It’s not about us.” When a co-worker criticizes us for something—anything—in an unhealthy and mean way, she or he has the problem, not us. When someone in our family constantly criticizes us, it is their issues, not our issues. But even more—significant growth comes to us when we internalize “It’s not about us.” It is about love.
Here are some words from St. Francis’ Prayer for Peace.
In case you did not know, it can be traced to 1912,
not the thirteenth century St. Francis.
Grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand,
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying [to ourselves] that we are born to eternal life.
When we seek not to be consoled as to console—that is about love. Can we witness to the phenomenon of how it feels when we console others in times of a great loss in our lives? I’m not saying we don’t have to grieve; I’m saying that “something happens” when we think of the other person’s pain first. Whether it is the person who has treated us badly, or our beloved cousin who lost her mother—our favorite aunt, love happens when we console another in the midst of our own pain. Go to any refugee camp, and no matter what our pain, it is no longer important compared to the consolation we need to give there. Love happens in the midst of the degradation and pain.
When we seek not to be understood but to understand, that is about love. In my favorite Star Trek, Voyager, Tom and B’lanna become pregnant. She wants to genetically altar the fetus so that it will not have any of her Klingon features. It is obvious B’lanna is in psychological pain, and she even manipulates the holographic medical doctor to achieve her desires. It is not until Tom, sets aside his misunderstandings to try to understand her pain that understanding occurs and love deepens.
When we seek to love rather than to be loved, love happens. How often have you heard, once I gave up on the idea of having a spouse, it happened; I met the right person? I believe this phenomenon occurs because we let go of our neediness, we begin to see others for who they are and not for what we want or need, and love enters our lives through relationship.
When we give rather than worry about what we are going to get our of something, love happens. Every one of us knows how fulfilling volunteer work is. We think when we volunteer to help that we are doing it for someone else, but in truth, we find out that in the giving we are receiving far more than we give; love happens abounds.
When we pardon, we are pardoned, and love happens. How many years do we have to hate someone for something they did to us when in reality, what they did was done to them. Even when we are never told their story, even if they die before they can share their pain, it is when we pardon them that forgiveness comes to us. Love happens then for us.
For years I could not understand my sister Blanche, the one who died last December. As a sister, I thought it was my right to blame her for many things. After I spent time with her in the nursing home; although she never told me her story, I knew I could forgive the hurt, because it was she who was hurt first. In fact, I came to understand that there was nothing to “forgive,” not a thing was more important than loving her, loving each other.
and it is in dying [to ourselves] that we are born to eternal life
What gets in the way of love, happiness, peace in our lives—our ego? If we do something at the office, something embarrassing, does our pride get in the way of laughing at our selves? What would our co-workers think? I once saw a man make an $8 million dollar mistake in a financial forecast, and rather than admit he made a mistake, he found a way to cost-justify the forecast. Admittedly, it wasn’t that big a deal at the company for whom we worked—it was pennies in a way—and could have been laughed off easily, but his ego would not allow anything to get in the way of perfection.
What gets in the way of love, happiness, peace in our lives—our desires for things? Hannah Arendt and other philosophers write entire books on the consequences of our desires. We can never be satisfied as human beings through our desires for things. We know that, yet we allow ourselves to desire things, even beyond our abilities to achieve them because of ego—again.
What gets in the way of love, happiness, peace in our lives—our attachment to things and yes, even people. It is only when we can let go of our attachments, let go of what things, and yes, even people, do for our ego—again, that we can truly experience wholeness and unity in our lives.
When I was in my twenties and a young, married woman, my parents would come visit my husband and me on the weekends. Every Sunday he visited, my father would take the Houston Post, and it was thick--about four or five inches of newspaper when it was folded--and sit at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and turn every single page. When he was through looking at the paper he would turn to me and say, "I've never seen so many things I could live without!"
Yes, "things" get in the way of love, happiness, and peace in our lives.
It is only when we can let go of our self-centered lives that we can truly know living. It is not about us, it is about love.
What did the author of Philippians say? The peace of God transcends everything. Put another way, the peace of Love transcends everything. And then he said,
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me -- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (NIV)
Peace on earth will happen when every person knows peace within. It is that simple. It is that hard to accomplish. If there were truly “peace on earth, goodwill to all,” everyone would have unconditional love, a sense of wellness and wholeness, justice and a sense of integrity in their lives, a place to live free from violence and abuse, and the right to make their own decisions about how they live their lives. Then love would happen for all.
I will end the sermon with a story from Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s biography Infidel. She had run away from her strict, tribal, Somali, Muslim clan; away from an arranged marriage; away from a life of subservience to a husband she did not know. During her short time, before she was discovered, she found freedom in a Holland refugee camp. She found her voice, she found acceptance, and she found communal love—the corporate love of a country to help a fragile, vulnerable people. When she was discovered, there was no going back for her. She knew she had to speak out with her new-found knowledge of love, happiness, and peace. She asked for a trial of Muslim elders. Men she did not know came to the refugee camp. Men of her tribe, men who traced their shared ancestors back hundreds of years. They began to ask her questions. And
With each question, [they] were offering me a way to explain myself in a way that would justify my behavior and lessen the sitgma on my honor and on my father’s good name, but I was determined not to lie not to claim that … [my husband] had hurt or cheated me in any way. it would not have been fair. I simply didn’t want him.
Finally, Abdellahi Moussa Boqor asked, “So why are you doing this?”
I paused for a moment, and then the words just came out of my mouth. “It is the will of the soul,” I said. The soul cannot be coerced.”
Are we still waiting for the Messiah to bring peace?
Are we waiting for the return of Jesus and the beginning of his thousand year reign of peace?
If they appear will all be well? Will there be peace on earth?
No.
Peace on earth can happen, only when we make it happen; when it begins with us. Jesus, Buddha, all the great spiritual leaders were not wrong. Peace comes from within. Peace on earth will happen, one person at a time.
Let us say together, let peace begin with me.
Repeat, “Let peace begin with me.”
The Readings
Micah 4:1-5
1 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared in the top of mountains, and high above the hills: and people shall flow to it. 2 And many nations shall come in haste, and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob: and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth out of Zion, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem. 3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off: and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into spades: nation shall not take sword against nation: neither shall they learn war any more. 4 And every man shall sit under his vine, and under his fig tree, and there shall be none to make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken. 5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god: but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.
Philippians 4:6-9 True Peace
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me -- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (NIV)