HEART-FELT PEACE
January 8, 2006
Texts – Genesis 1: 1-5
John 14: 25-27, 16: 33
“In the world you have tribulation,” Jesus says; “but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” [John 16: 33] Another translation of the passage puts it this way – “Here on earth you will have many difficulties, trials, and sorrows, but take heart, for I have conquered the world.” Most of us get the first part of that pretty well; it is the second which is more elusive.
Four-year-old Jimmy was on a family vacation last summer. He was given quarters for the video game by his older sister, but Jimmy was not proficient in operating such games. The quarters went rapidly. Finally he had to be told that there were no more quarters. Angrily he demanded , “But I want more.” To which his sister responded, “Jimmy, in life we don’t always get what we want.” Jimmy paused and then shouted, “I hate that rule.” I don’t know anybody who doesn’t.
In this world you will have trouble . . . Knowing that and coming to peace with that are two different things, aren’t they? Indeed, one of the chief problems we have with our troubles, sorrows, and rejections in this world often lies precisely in our refusal to accept the reality that this is life. But sooner or later we all get our share, don’t we? Sooner or later, if not in our own body, then in that of a loved one. And if not in body, then in mind or nervous system. And if not within then without, in circumstance or relationships.
Nobody escapes. It may look like that with some of your friends, or with some of the neighbors you know. But courageous smiles can hide a lot of secrets. And life is not over for any of us. (Well, some of us may look pretty far gone.)
Nobody escapes. But the word goes on. “In the world you have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” It can be tempting to hear this as some kind of pious bromide. Here I sit on my ash heap, covered with boils like Job, my husband just walked out on me, the doctor has just read me the fatal verdict, the school has called to tell me junior is in trouble, I have just lost my job, and the answer I get is “cheer up.” What’s the old line? They said to me, “Cheer up, things could be worse,” so I did. And sure enough, they got worse.
Well, there is obviously more than bromide here or we wouldn’t bother with it this morning, nor would our forebears have done so for two thousand years. Even in that simple phrase “be of good cheer,” for instance, there is the insistence that we are not totally victims of our troubles nor prisoners of our sorrows.
There is real danger in the belief that we have no freedom, no choice of the spirit with which we tackle life tomorrow. Against a lot of the pop psychology and social determinism of the day, there is a word here that reminds us that we are not just the product of our surroundings emotionally. You can find happy spirits in hospital beds and plenty of misery in mansions.
So this is more than a refrigerator magnet or a catchy bumper sticker. Indeed, I think there are two very important messages here. One is about the peace of acceptance; the other is about the
class=Section2>courage of hope.
There is a four year old lurking inside each of us who does not like the rule that life will be hard, difficult, filled with reversals, disappointments, losses, troubles, and tragedies. But until we come to terms with that reality, we will not experience real peace nor will we have anything worthy of being called “good cheer.” Life is hard, someone said, but once you accept that, it is not so hard. The pain of the problem, in other words, is often not nearly so bad as the agony of our rebellion against it. There is a peace which can come from acceptance.
Two businesswomen were having lunch one day. Their conversation ranged widely across such topics as the office, and taxes, and the cost of living and finally touched upon their families. “I raised four boys before I came back to work,” one woman said proudly to the other. “That’s a nice family,” said her colleague wistfully. “I wish I had four children.” With a touch of sympathy in her voice, the first woman said, “Don’t you have any children?” “Why yes,” said the other woman; “I have eight.”
In this world you will have trouble . . . but there is peace available to us in the midst of such trouble if we can open ourselves up to it, scripture says. It is the peace of acceptance, meaning not that we “embrace” this reality but that we recognize it and thereby begin to come to terms with it.
This is not, of course, what our culture tells us day after day. There will not be any 30 second ads during the Superbowl telecast next month which will tell us we can live a rich, full, joyful life even though we don’t get everything we want. Far from it! The overwhelming message we get is rather that suffering and difficulties and trouble are problems to be quickly solved, not realities to be accepted. There is a pill for every pain. There is surgery for every dysfunction. There is a therapy for every hurt. There is a vitamin for every lethargy. There is a twelve step program for every addiction. There is an electronic devise for every handicap. There is an exercise for every physical or emotional deficit. There is a spare part for every organ or bone. There is a political solution for every social problem.
Now, let me add very quickly that in part this has been one of our most admirable traits as a culture and people, this belief that we can solve problems, eradicate pain and misery, if we find the right expert and spend enough money. It has been part of the dynamic of our story, and it has led to the alleviation of a lot of the agonies and ills that human flesh is prone to. But it can also easily lead to a lack of realism, to the feeling that there must be a solution to all our troubles, an answer to all our pain and trouble, to the assumption that unless it does we cannot know joy or live a fulfilled and happy life.
“In the world you have tribulation,” Jesus says; “but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” What does it mean? It means that life is hard for all of us sooner or later – it is not a punishment nor a consequence of our individual failings, and the sooner we come to terms with that the better . . . that’s part of what it means, but it also means that with his cross and resurrection Jesus has shown us that the world – the world of difficulties, trials, and sorrows – never has the last word.
The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews puts it this way – “For the joy that was set before him (he ... Jesus) endured the cross, despising the shame, and is (now) seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” [Hebrews 12: 2] There are crosses of difficulty and trial in each of our lives, in other words, but there is also always the hope that beyond them there is more life awaiting each of
class=Section3>us. This cross and resurrection are not just the cosmic “end game” for each of our lives, but the abiding reality of the life we each live every day.
Some of you have heard me try to speak this word to you as you have walked through the valley of the shadow of death which is called divorce. Some of you have also heard me speak it as you have mourned the loss of your own life through the death of your spouse or partner of many years. “Take heart,” I try to say, “there is life after death. You will see it. You will experience it. God is not through with you yet. Hold on. There is more to come.”
I am bold to say that some of you have found that to be true, haven’t you? I know I have in my life.
“In the world you have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Which means, with his spirit we can do the same thing. How? Through the peace of acceptance and the courage of hope. For this acceptance of the troubles of life is no passive resignation; it is no giving up on life. It simply sets the stage for the proper battle, which is as much a battle within as it is a battle with circumstances around.
I heard the story this week of a woman who knows something of this spirit. She is 93 years old, hard of hearing and suffering from vision loss, but remains funny and tart about the world around her and the accidents of her own life. “I’m quite well in myself,” she says. “Nothing wrong with me. Oh I can’t see very well, and I can’t hear very well, and I can’t walk very well, but I’m perfectly well.” May the same be true of each of us as we live our days in a world sometimes full of tribulations but also always brimming over in hope through the grace of God which is shown forth in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.