“PEACE IS IN THE PRACTICE”

Sermon Preached at Scarboro United Church

By Judy Chapman

December 7, 2008

Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8

    Today’s scripture readings present two related scenarios. 

    The first from Isaiah recalls the renewed hope of the exiled Hebrew people that they might return to their former home in Jerusalem.  Having rejected the idea that a mightier Babylonian God had defeated their God, the Hebrews preferred to think that God had allowed them to be punished for their sins.  Now, the prophet says, we have been punished enough, our suffering is over, and God is going to rule again in the land of Israel – which was seen as God’s dwelling place, God’s home.  God would rescue the people and bring them back to their homeland where God would take care of them like a shepherd tends his flock.  Proclaim that good news, Isaiah says. 

    The second scenario is similar.  In the midst of a Roman occupation, John the Baptist says turn away from your sins and be baptized – God will forgive your sins and will come again in power.  The writer of the Gospel of Mark casts John in the role of a messenger announcing the imminent arrival of Jesus, the anointed or chosen one, who will baptize (literally, saturate) the people with God’s Holy Spirit.  That’s the good news, according to Mark.   

    The task for the people in both cases is to prepare the way.  Using the metaphor of road construction, Isaiah says to prepare a road for God to travel - fill in the valleys, level the mountains, smooth out the rough patches, get rid of all the obstacles along the way.  Clear the way for God’s arrival.  Make it possible; make it easy for God to come.   

    Looking at this passage on Tuesday night as a group of us met together as partners in preaching some of us couldn’t help but think of that new Park Bridge that was built in Kicking Horse Pass east of Golden, B.C.  A deep valley or canyon was ‘filled in’ so to speak - with huge pillars built to support a four lane highway 90 meters above the Kicking Horse River.  Many of the twists and turns, ups and downs that had made the former road so difficult and dangerous were eliminated with the construction of that bridge.  The obstacles to smooth travel were removed. 

    Today as we look at this passage about preparing the way for God, I want to think specifically about preparing the way for God’s peace.  Since we are in the 2nd week of Advent which focuses on peace, I would like to think about how we remove the obstacles to peace.   

   

After the events of this past week in Ottawa we may all be yearning for a peace that seems to have eluded us.  We have heard the arguments on both sides of the political debate.  How unfortunate that the House of Commons is set up with the winners and losers of elections on opposite sides of the room facing off against each other.  How unfortunate that we are still trying to run our country using an adversarial system – when even our justice system has recognized the folly of such an approach for many matters.  Too bad we debate vehemently in the Commons instead of having “conversations that matter.”  It is really too bad that so much good will has been lost this past week in the heat of the rhetoric. 

What else can be said?  The choices that the government and the Governor General had for action have been well publicized.  It is too late for the “could haves” or “should haves.”  Economically, it will be a difficult time for Canadians who are losing jobs this month or in the near future.  Politically, the crisis has led to much polarization and blaming.  And Quebecers have been made to feel that their votes don’t count as much as the votes of other Canadians.  If anything, it seems our politicians have created a few more obstacles to peace through this situation.      

The best that most of us can do right now is let our Members of Parliament know how we feel and then wait for parliament to resume after the Christmas break.  Perhaps our M.P.s will have a chance in the stepping back from the precipice to consider how God’s mercy and justice and peace might be included in a new economic plan.  We can only hope that they might consider mercy and justice and peace as they sharpen their pencils for another attempt at a budget.        

    But we said that we at Scarboro would focus this Advent on a quieter, simpler, more thoughtful Christmas and so I wanted to say something today about “peace” not in the context of the current political situation, but in the context of our Christmas celebrations.  Because whatever else is happening in the political arena, millions of Canadians will be celebrating Christmas in some way or another this year.  Thankfully, most of us will be able to exercise some choice in how we will celebrate.  For some of us celebrating Christmas for the first time after the death of a loved one or after having received a diagnosis of a difficult disease, the challenge may be to make peace with our new circumstances.  For many of us the challenge will be to prepare for peace in the midst of the ever-present busyness of the season and the relentless pressure to consume. 

    These two things – our general busyness and the consumerism of our culture – are obstacles to peace.

    We rush around a lot in our society and we spend precious little time just being quiet, just entering the silence.  We seem to think that being busy is what we are supposed to do.  If we are not busy, we think there must be something wrong with us – physically or mentally.  And yet, silence is necessary for the spirit; it is the milieu in which we connect with Spirit.  And so, we need to give ourselves permission to be silent and still.      

   

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In regard to consumerism, the expectation that we will always want more and more has a way of eating away at our sense of peace and satisfaction.      

    As if we didn’t already have enough evidence of that in our own lives, there is a tragic story that has come out of Long Island in the last week and a half.  It is an example of consumerism run rampant.  It happened on the day after American Thanksgiving, the day traditionally known as Black Friday because businesses finally start making money that day – they get out of “the red” so to speak.  It is a big shopping day similar to our “Boxing Day” in Canada.  This year Black Friday was November 28th and Wal-Mart was having a big sale.  They had advertised specials that would go on sale between 5:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. 

Two thousand people were lined up at the Valley Stream outlet of Wal-Mart on Long Island to take advantage of the excellent prices.  Unfortunately, the crowd got so anxious just before the doors were to be opened that they broke down the doors and pushed their way into the store.  In the crush of people, store employees and shoppers were knocked to the floor.  People stepped on, over and around the fallen.  In the stampede one employee was trampled to death and four shoppers were injured.  

    This was an extreme example of bargain hunting gone amok.  We are shocked and dismayed by the actions of an out-of-control mob of frenzied shoppers.  How could people trample another human being in the rush to save a few dollars on a T.V. set.  Yet, part of us knows that our whole consumer society is implicated; we know that we all appreciate a good bargain.  In our heart of hearts we know that on some level we have bought in to the rampant consumerism that fuels an economy run amok.  The frenzy on Wall Street is not unrelated to the frenzy at Wal-Mart. 

    I was interested this week in a news release about a book just published by the United Church Publishing House, called “Overturning the Tables: Consumerism, Children, and the Church” written by Julie Kinkaid.  In her book Kinkaid takes a hard look at how the consumer marketplace has taken over every aspect of our lives.  Our understanding of the world is being shaped by the push for profits.  And our children are being watched and hunted as the new consumers. 

    I found Kinkaid’s distinction between materialism and consumerism quite helpful.  She said,

    “Materialism is not about how much or how little wealth one has, but rather how much importance we place on accumulating that wealth.  And consumerism is not about shopping - because we all need to buy things, but it is the belief we [absorb from advertising] that buying more and more stuff is necessary to fulfill all our longings and desires.”    

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Every day all we are bombarded with messages to buy products.  Children, too, hear hundreds of messages from strangers motivated to sell the most products to the most vulnerable.  And this is not child’s play – these strangers who market to children are creative geniuses using state of the art research techniques to work their magic. It’s their job, after all, and they do it very well. 

The marketing that children are exposed to encourages materialism, impulse buying, over-consumption, and selfishness.  And, Kinkaid says, “When the culture pushes a steady diet of materialism and self-absorption, parents and the church need to serve up equal measures of generosity and thoughtfulness.”    

This year our national church has served up a resource for individuals and families who want to celebrate a simpler Christmas.  “Whose Birthday is it, Anyway?” reminds us to keep the focus on Jesus and the values he lived.  Some copies are available on the back table; some will be distributed to the children and youth this morning.  There are lots of ideas in it that support the idea of generosity and thoughtfulness. 

I know that this is not new to any of you.  Many people in our community have been working over the years to try to simplify their celebration of Christmas – to make it more peaceful and less hectic.  They try to spend less time shopping or fussing about “the perfect Christmas” and more time with loved ones.  They might buy for young children and draw names among the adults.  Many make a habit of giving an extra gift to the church or to favorite charities at Christmas time.  Part of the preparation for Christmas is to think about where Jesus might be hanging out this year in our city and the world.  Where are the places of poverty and pain, of sorrow and grieving?  Where in the world can we meet Jesus?

Through various organizations people give families around the world the gift of food, livestock, trees, education, safety, tools, eyesight, or healthcare.  Others focus on organizations right here in Calgary that work with people experiencing poverty, abuse, homelessness, addictions, broken relationships.  Some focus on environmental organizations working to save fish, animals, birds, water, earth, and air.  Still others support organizations that focus on human rights, politics, health or research.   

There are so many ways to reach out beyond our own small circles of influence – including the ones we have suggested for our White Gift service next week – toys for children, grocery vouchers for adults; sandwiches and socks for the Drop Inn Centre. 

All of these things that we can do have the effect of removing obstacles to peace.  Whatever we do that recognizes our common humanity and our common destiny as earthlings helps us to bring peace on earth. 

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“Prepare the way!” John the Baptist proclaimed.  Remove the obstacles.  Turn away from your own narrow focus and enter into the way of the Lord.  Make it possible; make it easy for God’s presence to be felt.  Make the way a little less difficult and less dangerous for people to travel.    

We have seasonal and year round opportunities to do this – to make the way smooth and to create peace by our actions and our thoughts.  Every peaceful thought or action brings a spirit of peace into the world in the here and now.  Peace is not some distant hope; it is a present reality.  As we practice peace we experience it.  For peace really is in the practice of peace.    

My prayer for all of us is that we might experience the peace of Christ this day and always.  

Amen

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