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Instruments of Peace Sermon by Youth Group April 27, 2003, Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill Isaiah 58:6-12 Kristin Heimbach speaks:In Webster's Dictionary, there are a number of definitions for the word peace. One, is "inner contentment." Another is "harmonious relations" and the next is the "absence of war and other hostilities." If we examine each of the meanings for these meanings, we can find that they act as building blocks for one another. In order to have absence from hostilities, we must have harmonious relations, and in order to have harmonious relations with others, we need first to have peace within ourselves. That, at least for me, also says we begin with God, for he is the giver of peace. Our lives are filled with stress, and we can often forget that there is more to life than our hectic schedules that seem to rule every day of our lives. Once in a while, we need to put away our cell phones, turn off our computers, forget about the phone that is ringing, and get away. Once in a while we need to ease up on the piano lessons, the hockey games, and the church meetings. If even just for a moment to close your eyes and take a deep breath to remember what is really important in your life. I know that I am awfully young to say this, but life is too short not to do this! This is exactly what some of the youth, including myself, did just a few weekends ago. We retreated to a woodsy area with a lake, swans and a little stream. It was a place where we had time to look around us, take in our surroundings, forget about the homework that was due on Monday, and just get away. Without a telephone, or computer, or the pressure of work or school, a sense of calm comes over the mind and body, and something of God's peace, shalom, can be found. Now picture yourself walking down the road. You are scowling and stressed by life. How likely are you to greet another to say hello? How likely are you to help another? to console? to understand? Now, if you had some time in your life to seek peace and were calm, in a good mood, when you saw another, how different would things be? If we are not at peace, and have lots of stress, we tend to take it out on other people. This is an example of how one building block leads to the next. World peace is not just a dream. But we cannot achieve a world of peace at large if we do not start small. Mother Teresa has been quoted as saying, “Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush; anxious for greater developments and greater wishes and so on; so that children have very little time for their parents; Parents have very little time for each other; and the home begins the disruption of the peace of the world.” I believe spreading peace is like a chain letter. It starts with one person and goes to three more. If each of those people send it to three more people and each of those to three more, it is not long before that message that that letter contained is known by a great deal of people. So I tell you to be grateful for your talents and let your light shine, and make peace throughout the world.Jon Zell Speaks:Peacemaking is most often thought of as making peace after war, or a disagreement after civil unrest in China or Argentina or after military conflict in the Middle East. Peacemaking on the front, I think, begins with peacemaking on the homefront. My faith tells me that to make peace with others, one must make peace with oneself. In the book of Matthew, Jesus gives his first sermon to his disciples instructing them, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Isaiah paints a picture of peace where the misfortunes of the people are cured by the people. It is said that "if you offer food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted … you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail." For the past two summers I have gone to Maine on this church’s youth mission trip. Last summer we had the pleasure of working on this wonderful couple’s house. We put in new railings, a new door for the basement, redid the bathroom in the basement, added new trim to the house and a door for their bedroom which they had never had. As I was finishing installing the railing to the basement, I heard them talking on the second floor admiring our team's craftsmanship. I listened in on their remarks. They spoke of our work as a "God-send" and said that they could never have wished nor even dreamed of the work that was being done to improve their quaint home that the husband had built himself many years before. Those remarks changed my life. If ever in your life, you have the chance to console those who are in need or feed the hungry, do so. If ever, or whenever, you have the opportunity to clothe the naked, do so. Let your light shine through you and your work. This is a part of what it means to be a peacemaker. Make peace with others and yourself. Sarah McGill Speaks:“If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.” (Isaiah 58:10) Often, it seems, we focus on how we can be helped or healed and not the powers that are held in our very own hands, mouth, or advice. When something goes wrong in our lives, we depend on the loving care we receive from others. The care is immensely important to our being. We could not live without it. Unfortunately, many times, we fail to realize that our experiences and troubles may aid in helping others. We withdraw into ourselves and keep our troubles hid from sight. Jesus tells us, “You are the salt of the earth but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under a bushel basket, but on a lamp stand, and gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Every day, when I walk down the hall in my high school, I am inspired by a group of students. This group of students and teachers, of which I am very proud to be a member, form the SAP team, or Students Assistance Program. We have organized conversation and support groups with focuses that vary from grief and loss, to drug and alcohol abuse, to senior-freshman mentoring. The SAP team has also organized a peer mediation program. The groups that the SAP team offers allow students to talk with other students about everyday life as well as problems that they may be having. Students then receive comfort and support from their entire group. The mediation program is a planned meeting between students after a confrontation or misunderstanding. It allows the students to talk things out and get a better understanding of where the other is coming from. With out telling the students exactly what to say or how to solve the problems, the mediators act as peacemakers to resolve tension. I know many schools nation wide have taken on programs much like the SAP program. It is a time and place in which students can relate their experiences in order to help others, a time when they can create a more peaceful school and more peaceful lives. Of course, people participate in SAP for different reasons. For me, the choice to be a part of this program is very much motivated by my faith and by Jesus' words which call all of us to be peacemakers. Many in this church have heard this call. Many make a difference by being the one who consoles, understands, loves, gives and pardons to those in need. For instance, every Sunday deacons are caregivers from our church set out with bunches of flowers to cheer those who were unable to attend the service due to poor health or other reasons. The message that they deliver is much larger than a simple bunch of flowers. The message instead is that God is with you through a church community that truly cares about you and prays for your recovery and well-being. I’m sure if you asked any one of the deacons about their duty to help others they would reply that it is not a duty, it is a rewarding joy, because those who give the most are actually those who receive the most … a hug, a hand shake, a thank you, or a simple smile. These are the things that help and heal. Each day presents new glories and challenges for us all. Each day also presents opportunities to do God’s work, to make peace in the way St. Francis prayed, to be those who console, who understand, who love. So, work as friends, neighbors, mentors and peacemakers. Every action you make impacts someone and let's God light shine brighter in the world. Thanks be to God.Katie Connelly speaks:Text to follow soon. Dan Toffey Speaks: What’s next? Saddam is gone, his people, liberated. A (alleged) terrorist hotspot diffused. Who would’ve thought peace making could be so easy? The honest, and obvious, answer is, it isn’t. Arguably, the quintessential ingredient for peace making is “understanding”. Through understanding, trust and communication can be formed. Unfortunately, our country has a poor record of pursuing understanding, gaining trust, or making way for communication. Nearly 3 million people worldwide, protesting the impending war with Iraq were shrugged off, and compared to a “focus group” by which American foreign policy could not be based. As our leaders rallied support and mobilized for war, it seemed as if the justification for action in Iraq shifted from a preemptive measure taken to secure our own country to a humanitarian mission to free the people of Iraq. This, perhaps, is where the greatest deception can be seen. It is relatively easy to relate America’s foreign policy to its capitalistic interests. Our country’s tendency to turn a blind eye to horrible human rights violations when our economy is not directly affected is perhaps one of the greatest factors contributing to distrust and a lack of understanding. Many in a non-capitalistic society would argue that a country with so much wealth and influence would have a moral obligation to help those less fortunate. Others would say it would be within our country’s best interest in order to establish solid ties with the world community, and to create a positive image in the eyes of those who are less fortunate. The religious might quote Isaiah 58: “Is not this the fast I choose… Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house…” Unfortunately, in an economy centered around the acquisition of wealth, where greed and desire are rewarded, it is understandable that the wealthy would not be so enthusiastic about giving up their money. Giving money to the poor is just not a capitalistic ideal. It is this unwillingness to use influence in a positive way that has bred such deep anti-American sentiment. We stood back and watched years of genocide in Rwanda, resulting in the slaughter of 800,000 Hutus and Tutsies. To this day, Sierra Leone is over run with guerillas that, by night, kidnap men and children and hack off their limbs to prevent them from harvesting their fields. This is not including times where we have supported extremist groups when they favor us only to find they do more harm that good in the long run. Basing foreign policy upon our own interests, rather than the interests of humanity, is not only a testimony to our pride, but to our greed as well. Our pride allowed us to carry on without the United Nation’s support, undermining its authority on not the only problem resolving front, but all aspects, including programs like UNICEF. Greed is exemplified in the billions made by corporations that lobby for laws, equip our military, and own the media. It is a nice gesture that we are contributing $15 billion to fight AIDS in Africa, but to add perspective, that is one twenty-ninth of the $440 billion set aside for our military. I mean not to sound like a cynic. I ask only that you imagine the good that our country could do. I then ask you how that good we do, based on the needs of humanity and not our own superfluous wealth, could cultivate peace making, understanding and trust in this world. As the profit Isaiah once said, “If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like noonday”. Thanks be to God. Amen. |