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A Few Words from Pastor Bryan
Advent Peace
The theme for this second week of Advent is Peace, and since I'm not going to be preaching a regular sermon this week (Jean Duchrow and other members of our Befrienders Ministry Team will be sharing reflections and messages during worship), I decided to share a few thoughts about Peace in this week's "Few Words."
If I were to sum up what I think Scripture and the Path of Jesus has to say about helping us be at peace within ourselves as individuals and in the world at large, my summary would go something like this.
Maybe the first step toward inner peace is just being as honest with ourselves and with God as we can when we are not feeling at peace. You know...slow down, take a good look inside, name what's going on in as shame-free a way as possible, and get out of denial. This is no easy thing I know. But peace never comes from pretending or avoiding what's really going on.
The next step is somehow sharing where we are with God. I know that sounds so trite. And of course God already knows what's going on inside us, but WE may not have shared it with God. Do you know what I mean? We may know. God knows. But we haven't really made the connection between where we are and where God IS. Or maybe we're not sure we really believe that it would make a difference. Or that God is even there. We may tell ourselves intellectually that of course God knows everything. But we may not have shown up consciously in God's presence. It's kind of like when Adam and Eve were hiding from God in the Garden of Eden, and God came looking for them, asking, "Where are you?" It's not as though God didn't know where they were! But THEY needed to come out from hiding. They needed to reveal themselves.
To put it another way, we take a big step toward peace when we stop trying to carry our inner turmoil by ourselves. Most of us are very good at doing that without even realizing we are. As usual, I only know these things because I do them myself.
A few weeks ago a shared my "bottom of the ocean" practice with you. Well today I'm going to share my "cupped hands practice." Here it is.
Imagine whatever you're dealing with being somehow held in your own cupped hands. Just place the lack of peace and what it's about there. In your cupped hands. Then, simply imagine somehow giving it all to God. You could place it all in God's hands, or set it down at the foot of the cross perhaps. And if you try this and you feel silly or stupid or like this is all nonsense, or like you're talking to the air when you talk to God, then just tell God that, and place that in God's hands.
The main point is we need to stop trying to just analyze things or figure things out completely on our own. We need to deliberately let God have it--in every sense of what that might mean! But we need to get things outside of ourselves and release them into God. Imagine that God is eagerly waiting for us to release what's stealing our peace and to give it to God.
Then once you've gotten it all out of your own hands, you might want to try this.
Imagine opening up your empty cupped hands again, after you've given God what's causing you a lack of peace. Now let the cup be something that God can pour Peace into. Tell God you're ready to receive the gift of peace, but mean it from the depths of your being. Be open. Be willing to let the "Peace of Christ" be poured into you. Give yourself a little time with this, and see what happens. If nothing at all, then make a promise to yourself and God to come back again later and do it again. Just let your prayer be a matter of you saying, "Okay God, here I am. I can't give myself the gift of peace. I've tried. So would you please give me what I can't seem to be able to give myself?"
And then trust God to do just that. Oh I know this sounds too simple to be real. But so many of the deepest and most powerful spiritual Truths ARE extremely simple. We just need to stop--at some point--debating with them or finding reasons to push back against them--including not "feeling like it"-- and give them a try! Sometimes we refuse to do the simplest things. We want something more sophisticated or complex or elaborate--something we can achieve through working on it or figuring something out--when what is really needed most is to risk the foolishness of trusting God with everything--even when we don't feel as though everything is in a place where we can let God have it...yet. That's what Matthew 6:33 and Phillipians 4 are telling us if you want some biblical grounding for what I's saying here... Seek God first. Put God first. And trust God with it all. According to Jesus, that's the way to peace.
Speaking of simple, I haven't said anything about peace in the world, so I'm going to end with something even more offensively simple that I find myself believing more and more as the years go by. Here goes.
The greatest thing we can do as individuals for peace throughout the world on every level is to BE TRULY AT PEACE within ourselves. If we want to bring peace to international conflicts, the best things we can do is BE at peace within ourselves, and bring that peaceful, centered being into every action the Sprit leads us to take. If we want to play a part in overcoming the divisions in the world, BE undivided within. You get the point. The best way we can promote peace externally is to be at peace internally. Yes, this is a very simple Truth. That doesn't make it any less True or pragmatically effective.
More than ever, I believe that the Messiah--the Christ--the Annointed Leader and Leading of God came to this world in the person of Jesus to teach us all the Way of BEING at Peace.
Let's enjoy being on the Way together. Start looking for the brightest star in the sky and be willing to follow it to Bethlehem. Christ is coming, again and again.
May the Peace that passes all understanding be flowing in and through you...
Pastor Bryan
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