My friends, this weekend, as you know, our country is celebrating 250 years, attempting a “democratic state,” wherein “all,” according to the Preamble to our Declaration of Independence from Britain, [humans] are created equal, and there is the understanding that we all, each of us, want to pursue “life, liberty, and happiness.
Many people looking back at our Declaration of Independence from Britain and our Constitutional amendments, 10 at the beginning, known as the “Bill of Rights,” marvel at what these documents actually say, of which, many weren’t being lived out at the time.
Take for instance, “all men are created equal” – even though “men” as a term for all (including women) was acceptable in the 18th Century, women still weren’t seen as equal to men at this time, nor were African slaves.
But that is why those who study these documents marvel, at the beauty of them– they were written as a piece to basically grow into. We might say the same for our Scriptures – who of us ever perfectly lives out the messages that we find there?! And we, as the People of God, have been at it for over 2,000 years!
So, my friends, on this weekend celebrating 250 years of “attempted” democratic living, I would like to lift up the idea of peace-filled living as today’s Scriptures speak most-assuredly to that idea.
The prophet Zechariah begins by telling us that we have, “a just savior,” and that “peace will be proclaimed to the nations.” Psalm 145 lets us know that our God, Adonai, is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness – compassionate – just in all ways.” And while “peace” is not mentioned here; having a God displaying all these traits would certainly bring “peace” to all receiving these good actions.
Paul’s letter to the Romans is quite “cut and dried,” but basically speaks of choosing that which is “spiritual” over the things of the flesh.” Now, for myself, having lived more than seven decades, I would encourage, “a balance” – after all, we are human beings, and I believe our God wants us to have, as spiritual people, “a human experience while here. Balance though, I’ve found, always works best.
The gospel from Matthew today uses different words too, other than “peace,” and like Paul’s, Jesus’ chosen words here, do speak to peace. “Come to me, all who labor and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you, learn from me, for I am gentle, and humble of heart – you will find rest for your souls.”
These words of Jesus are one of the choices to share with those receiving the Sacrament of the Sick, in times of trouble – illness, end of life. They are my reading of choice when I share this sacrament as a priest, because they are so comforting, bringing peace.
So, my friends, circling back to where I started this homily, thinking about and celebrating 250 years of democracy in leaps and bounds, with some setbacks, but always with, in the end, the desire to do better, as in our faith too, let’s dive a little deeper into just what “peace” means.
I think you would all agree that whether as a society, or a church community, striving for peace, as opposed to “following the crowd,” or simply doing nothing, is always harder than any of the above alternatives. And when it comes to “country,” we, too often over these 250 years, in settling disputes with other people and countries, have opted for war as opposed to peaceful solutions. War, to my mind, should always be the very last thing that we try! Peace is harder because it demands so much from us – restraint, listening, and being willing to hear another side – this calls forth the very best in us!
Most of us, over our lifetimes have experienced trying to “make peace” with a family member or friend, and have had trouble doing this. Realizing this, we can understand why it is so difficult to “make peace” on a large scale, as with one country to another. Just like, with an individual, the hard work of peace-making, at any level, begins small, and grows from there. And just like evil actions attract followers, good actions do as well. And it takes a great deal of faith to believe, at times, that “good” will rise in the end.
When we become discouraged, and disheartened about present-day trends toward selfishness, unbridled individualism, meanness, and the like, we truly must keep our eyes on our brother Jesus, and remember, and never forget, for all the good he was about in his lifetime, he, in his humanity, cried over Jerusalem toward the end, because, “they just didn’t get it!” I always take strength from knowing that in the hard times, I can turn to Jesus, knowing that he understands. And then, we try again. Doing small things like saying, “thank you” and truly meaning it, “passing a good forward,” are just a couple of things that can mean a lot.
Before I conclude today when we are rightly celebrating the gift and challenge of democracy, 250 years ago, realizing that on some level, it was always an idea in progress, just as being a Christian follower of Jesus of Nazareth, I would like to lift up a piece of unfinished business that plagues our country every single day, and that is the proliferation of guns in this beautiful country that daily take the lives of loved ones, because we don’t have the collective will to put some safety regulations upon what is acceptable.
Those who advocate for their 2nd Amendment rights should remember that when this “bill” was written, what people had at their disposal to protect themselves were single-shot muzzle loaders, not, not, weapons of mass destruction! Balance, please!
As you know, I love the statement, “We are spiritual beings here, having a human experience.” In other words, each of us came into existence as Matthew Fox has so rightly said, “an original blessing, not a sin, so we, each of us have all that is needed in both society and church, to be our best selves, for ourselves, and for others, and with that knowledge we can move into the next however many years working toward freeing our world, our church of the other evils not even mentioned here, sexism, racism, and so on… Amen? Amen!
All Are One Church 