Sunday, January 25, 2009
Sermon for the Peace Pole Dedication
Psalm 62:5-12, Mark 1:14-20
by Rev. Steve Poteete-Marshall
Celebration
This is a great and wonderful day, a day to celebrate the presence of our
Bishop, who is worshiping with us. It is a day to celebrate the planting of our
peace pole: an outward symbol of our inner prayer to live in peace with our
brother and sisters around the world. It is a day to celebrate with our
neighbors, who work with us for peace. It is a day to celebrate our work
together as peacemakers, as we follow the Prince of Peace.
Is it not extraordinary that we are all here? We have come from all kinds of
places, Pakistan, the Philippines, England, and Columbia, Korea. Some of us
come from others States: other cities yet right now and right here we are
gathered together.
Of course we celebrate the journey of this past week, of the remembrance of the
life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., of the inauguration of a new
president, the confirmation of new members of President Obama’s cabinet. Here in Walnut the city celebrated its 50th birthday, and at the
beginning of this year we begin the 45th year of this churches journey to
follow the Prince of Peace.
In the midst of our celebration we can’t help to notice that for some the news is not all good. We are aware that war
rages on, in Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa too. We hope that the conflict in
Gaza will not take any more innocent lives. Closer to home we know those in the
San Gabriel Valley are feeling the fall out of the economic crisis, as many
lose jobs, homes, and they are uprooted
Joe Vernola, of Norwalk, who has been out of work for one month, looks for
available jobs on the computer listing at the State of California Employment
Development Department (EDD) office in Norwalk on Friday January 23, 2009.
Recent surveys report that California's unemployment rate rose to 9.3 percent.
(Keith Durflinger SGVN/Staff).
In the midst of this celebration of peace, in the midst of the turmoil we turn
to our texts to see what God’s message to us as peacemakers.
As we turn first to the Psalm we read together we are reminded of the first step
in our journey as we listen to the words of the poet.
For God alone my soul waits in silence from him comes my salvation.
In the midst of turbulent times, if we are to become peacemakers first we have
to wait for God.
Our careful attention to God’s voice in the midst of our conflicting priorities, of abundance of tasks to be
fulfilled, and of so many hearts to be healed, it is easy to get overwhelmed. Yet unless we develop the ears to hear the voice of God in the silence, we can
easily become fatigued and depressed.
Jim Moran gave me a book of sermons by Harry Emerson Fosdick of the famous
Riverside Church in New York. Fosdick served the Riverside church New York
during WW II and wrestled with preaching on peace even as many of his
congregation were sending their young men off to war. Fosdick says this about
the struggle to obey Christ and be a peacemaker: the most decisive battles of
history are always fought on the inner battlefield. He says of this inner
battlefield in which we struggle to practice peacemaking in face of the
temptation of war, Peace is not a mere logical deduction from new world
interdependencies, but the most difficult task mankind ever undertook, the way
to it is blocked by huge obstacles both in outer circumstance and in the deep –seated prejudice and greed of human hearts.
The huge obstacles we meet cannot be overcome by our power and intellect it is
only through the miraculous power of God that the inner and outer battlefields
are won. Like stumbling in the dark without light if we take up the cause of
peace without a strong connection to the God of peace we will find ourselves
falling back into the bad habits of prejudice and greed. Each and every moment
we need to take time to wait for God, to fill our souls with the miracle of God’s peace. Waiting, keeping silent are the ways to salvation, not unfocused energy that
fails to light even a single soul for the cause of peace.
The Psalmist goes on: God alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I
shall never be shaken.
Living in Southern California we get used to being shaken from time to time, our
fortresses tend to crack and bend, but when our internal world gets shaken,
when we lose hope, when we lose our nerve, when we become lost all of these can
shake us or those we love. When we yearn for safety, for guidance, for a solid foundation for our lives, it
is only in God that we find that fortress. Peace comes to our souls as we turn to God await God’s guidance to help us navigate through the wars raging all around us. My
grandmother Marshall was a source of strength and comfort especially when I was
trying to discern God’s call, in March of 1985 she wrote, “If I wake up in the night as I lay there it is all quiet and still and I turn to
God in prayer asking His blessing on all those I love and asking guidance in
all I do”. Her prayers meant so much to me as I traveled the sometimes terrifying path
through college and seminary. From her, I saw in action the Holy Spirit bringing care as she preached as a
certified lay speaker, taught bible study in the nursing home, and as she cared
for our family in countless ways.
In the gospel lesson Jesus calls his disciples with a simple invitation: “Come Follow Me”. I found a new way of looking at this story in a sermon by Barbara Brown Taylor
who suggests that we're missing the point if we linger on such questions on how
Jesus calls us, and how we are to respond. She writes: This is a story about God, not the disciples or us. To focus on what
the disciples gave up (and whether we could do the same), is "to put the accent
on the wrong syllable." This "miracle story," as she calls it, is really about
"the power of God--to walk right up to a quartet of fishermen and work a
miracle, creating faith where there was no faith, creating disciples where
there were none just a moment before."
As we consider the cause for peace, it is easy to be cast as dreamers of an
impossible dream. How can we even ponder peace when there are so many terrible
people with weapons of mass destruction at their disposal? The miracle is that God does act in miraculous ways. The world was changed by
Dr. King and the movement of non-violent resistance, which sought equal rights
of all people, the ripples of which have led to our electing our first Black
American as president. We are invited to participate in the miracles of today, of being a peacemaker
trusting in God and God alone, and resist the temptation to put our trust in
violent means. As the psalmist states: Put no confidence in extortion, and set no vain hopes on
robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.
Jesus believes in the power of God and calls us to participate he affirms in the
gospel reading for today: the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe
in the good news
Former Attorney General Colin Powell spoke to this issue on Monday at a speech
in Minnesota at a breakfast honoring Dr. King. Powell said he is often asked if
he ever dreamed of being attorney general, “Yes I remember being on the corner when I was 10 making an oath to myself that I
would someday be Attorney General”, Then he laughed and said of course not, I could never imagine this possibility
given the racial barriers in place at the time.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. saw in a dream how the country could overcome its
desire to segregate and oppress. It was Dr. King’s absolute belief in the good news, in the gospel that fueled the hope that one
day we would live in peace and harmony. Dr. King saw those who suffered, those
who were mistreated, hated, abused and stigmatized. But because of his faith in
God to work on behalf of the oppressed, on behalf of the poor, on behalf of the
disenfranchised, although he did not know exactly what would happen, he trusted
in God to bring justice, to bring redemption, to bring peace. Dr. King had the
audacity to believe in using words, not weapons, marching, preaching, praying,
and using non-violence resistance to make this dream a reality. Many said that
Dr.King was smiling down from heaven as our new president took the oath, and I
like to think that as well. But I also know the work is not done; the beloved
community where all people of all races religions and creeds would live in
harmony and peace that Dr. King envisioned is far from complete. The kingdom of heaven is at hand, but the hard work in has just begun, and
begins afresh every new day.
Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
God is at work to bring peace to the hearts and minds and bodies of all
creation. God’s actions in the past cause us to hope for the future, and so as we get ready to
plant our peace pole we need to decide if we are ready to follow the Prince of
Peace with all our hearts and minds and strength.
Jesus does call ordinary people, like those fishermen those who have little
power, little wealth, only big faith in the one who calls them. Jesus chooses not the city but those in the country. I grew up in the country of
western Massachusetts in the shadow of Walnut Hill, where I saw through the
lives of my grandparents what it means to follow Jesus. On the Sunday before I
was born, my grandfather, a lay preacher under Bishop John Wesley Lord, was
preaching as he often did for the pastor who was away on vacation.
My grandpa Marshall was a high school graduate, a wallpaperer and house painter
by trade, who had a passion to serve God. He said, in his sermon on July 6, 1958, “If we are to find peace and freedom, it will come through faith in something
that is above and beyond and within all life”. His example inspired me to follow Jesus. Now I serve with you here in another
place called Walnut. Her in this place, far away from the terror of war, yet
only a prayer away, Jesus calls us, yes, even here, in this nutty place!
Jesus calls us to be peacemakers, as my grandfather said: “As Christians we are committed to seek peace, work for, pray for it and if
necessary die for it”. We are not alone, just as Dr. King was not alone in the work to sow peace in the
world. Let my grandparents, and all who have inspired us, the saints who have
gone on before us, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. embolden us to be peacemakers.
Let the leaders of today, our new President, our Bishop; inspire us to new
heights of those who carry on the work for peace. Let us be ready to join our brothers and sisters here and around the world to
work for peace. And let this peace pole that we plant this day be a reminder of
how God sows the seeds of peace in our inner and outer worlds so that miracles
are possible. Let us continue to gather in the peace garden to listen for the
call of God of how to be peacemakers in our lives, for you are the miracle. You are the children of God. You are the instruments of peace the world so
desperately needs.
Amen.
