SERMON – Fruit of the Spirit. Week 3: The fruit of peace
We continue with our series on the Fruit of the Holy Spirit and today’s focus fruit is peace. Let’s begin with an imaginative exercise. I invite you to close your eyes and picture in your mind what peace looks like. What colours permeate your serene scene? What objects are there? Is it a location you have been to before, or an imaginary place?
Now open your eyes. When we think of peace, we might think of sitting in beautiful meadows under a blue sky, a calm beach, or some other serene setting. That is how peace is usually pictured.
Did anyone have a raging storm in their picture? It’s not a scene we would immediately associate with peace. But artist Jack Dawson did! In his painting “Peace in the Midst of the Storm” Jack painted a cliff face, with a rushing waterfall and a storm raging all around. At first that seems strange, and anything but peaceful. But a close, careful look shows that Jack painted a bird nesting in a crevice, sitting on her eggs. The bird appears secure and at peace as the waterfall gushes overhead and the storm rages around. In this picture Jack depicted peace—not the absence of turmoil, but security in the midst of it, as the mother bird protects her young, keeping them safe.
Today’s gospel reading gives us a similar picture of peace. The bird sitting on her eggs in the nest is not dissimilar to Jesus sitting with his disciples, in the boat, lashed by the wind and waves. Jesus is quite calm, sleeping peacefully, seemingly oblivious to the raging tumult around. Much like the eggs in the nest, the disciples, in the small boat, are vulnerable in the middle of the lake, in the middle of turbulent waves violently crashing over the boat. In the ancient worldview, tumultuous seas were symbolic of the presence of evil. One could argue that Mark is presenting a deeper picture—a darker picture—of the full forces of the kingdom of darkness and demonic realm lashing against Jesus and his followers.
In danger, the disciples are exasperated with the slumbering Jesus. An extra pair of hands from him to help them with their rowing and bailing water out of the boat wouldn’t go astray! If only Jesus could help them in what they’re trying to do! Perhaps his slumbering is to show them that all their work and effort will accomplish nothing themselves—a message we should remember as his church today. It would seem that they had forgotten the scriptures—and the Psalms of the ancient hymn book of Israel:
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come and see what the Lord has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. (Psalm 46).
They rouse him: “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown!” In their desperate rowing and bucketing, screaming and rousing, it seems they have forgotten that God is an ever-present help, even as the waters roar and foam. It seems they do not know who it is who is in the boat with them. The God of Jacob is with them. He got up and lifted his voice, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
Jesus said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
I’ve often wondered why Jesus said that. “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” In fear and panic, their focus had narrowed down to their own capabilities. They look to their overwhelming circumstances then back to themselves, instead of looking to God. They do all that they know how to reverse the danger. When the danger only escalates, they do the same things, working harder, working faster, panicking, in their fear forgetting that God is with them. The help in this situation they need is up to him, not them. If they would but be still and let God be their refuge and strength.
Jesus brings calm and peace in the midst of chaos and fear, simply by saying the word: “Quiet, be still!” “Who is this?” The disciples ask each other. “Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
How might you see yourself in this gospel reading? Are you rowing through a stormy situation at the moment? Does it seem that evil is crashing all around you, against you, as we hear of wars, violence, crime, fighting, road rage, abuse, school yard harassment, social media bullying, strife even in the church? Where do we see the fruit of the flesh, that Paul speaks of in our theme text from Galatians 5 (:20-21): hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy…” Is there a storm raging internally, of guilt and shame, fear, despair, uncertainty? In what situations do you long for peace—and where do you look for it? When are we like the disciples, frantically bailing out water, rowing against the lashing waves, trying to mitigate the chaos and sail full steam ahead by our own efforts? Does it seem that Jesus is asleep at the wheel, as he pilots the ship of his church through the raging seas?
God wants you to have peace. He wants his church to be at peace. He wants the world to know peace.
For, as Paul said: “God is not a God of disorder but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33). His Kingdom of grace and peace reigns through his Son, who came to reconcile the world to God. He is the One whose birth ushers in the reign of God’s peace in the world:
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6).
In him God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the Cross. (Colossians 1:19-20). God so loved the world that he has done everything necessary to reconcile all people to himself. He sent his only Son to make his peace with all people through the Cross—for those who were unable to reconcile themselves to him—all those who reject him, the worst tyrants, all of those who do not work for peace but bloodshed. Those who are selfish, greedy, corrupt and violent.
In his letter to the Colossians, Paul says that we too were once alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour.” (Colossians 1:21). But through faith in Christ’s blood—by trusting this as the way God has made peace with us—he declares us to be in a right relationship with him. God has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.” (Colossians 1:22-23). Paul could therefore say in Romans: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
This peace is not something that can be achieved by rowing harder and bucketing faster in the face of chaos. This peace cannot be discovered, no matter how hard we look to the things we enjoy. This peace cannot be achieved, no matter how hard we try. Peace cannot come through being educated. In the puzzle I showed you for the time with the children of God, only the piece that was originally a part of the puzzle would complete the puzzle. So it is with peace for our hearts. Jesus said: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27).
Other religions and ancient worldviews picture God as a wrathful, often unpredictable being, who needs to be appeased by the people’s worship, offerings, and obedient service. But true peace is not something that can be earned. Jesus teaches that true peace is a gift that can only be received. That is because it only comes from him.
That is what makes Jesus’ gift of peace unlike any of the other means by which the world promises to give peace. They are fleeting and temporary, superficially covering wounds in our hearts that need the divine peace of sins forgiven, the grief of broken hearts to be mended and the taking away of guilt and the hiding away of shame and disgrace, far from view.
The world cannot give true peace, it only strives to avoid, eliminate and escape from calamity. Peace is not the absence of storms, trouble, suffering or persecution. Peace is experiencing the promise of God’s presence in the midst of the storm. Before he was about to experience his own storm as the wrath of God lashed upon him on the Cross, Jesus said: “I have said this to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face tribulation but take courage: I have conquered the world!” (John 16:33). Jesus is our shelter. He may not stop the storm. But he will be with you in the storm and he will deliver you.
God’s peace is “above all understanding”; that is, to the worldly mind, such peace is incomprehensible. Its source is the Holy Spirit of God, whom the world neither sees nor knows (John 14:17).
As the Holy Spirit calls and gathers us into the boat of Jesus’ Church, we again hear Jesus calm the tempests in our hearts with his word of peace: “Peace be with you.” Originally they were the words of the risen Christ to his disciples who had gathered behind locked doors for fear of the Jewish leaders. The first words Jesus said when he came to them was: “Peace be with you.” These words give what they say. They are usually in connection with the forgiveness of sins, as the pastor gives the absolution, and as a part of the Holy Communion liturgy. They are not just words the pastor says, but as the pastor speaks them the Chief Pastor of his church, the Lord Jesus, the Prince of peace, speaks them to you. As he does, his word that does not return to him empty, but accomplishes everything that he desires, brings about peace for those with ears to hear, filling the lives of his faithful people with this fruit of the Holy Spirit so that peace overflows. Paul’s blessing to the church at Thessalonica is God’s blessing to us too: “Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!” (2 Thessalonians 3:16).
Through Jesus’ word the Holy Spirit continues to grow in us the fruit of peace. That is not just for our own benefit, but for God’s church, the communion of saints. Jesus said “Blessed be the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God.” This is not a moral command, as if Jesus means that if we make peace with people, then we will be blessed. That would again be trusting in our own efforts. Rather, it describes the reality of our relationship with God already—that our Father in heaven says we have the same legal standing and privileges as Jesus the Son of God himself! This is only because we have first been blessed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has first called us through the gospel, enlightened us with his gifts, and sanctified and kept us in true faith.
The Holy Spirit continues to bless us in faith, and give us his gifts. As the Holy Spirit grows the fruit of peace in us and among us—the peace that the world cannot give—we have the privilege of representing God to each other as his ambassadors of reconciliation. God invites us to participate in his ministry of building up his church by bringing peace to our brothers and sisters in Christ. We have the opportunity to take Christ to each other and pronounce his peace, so that as we proclaim peace to others, we receive the same peace from them by Jesus’ word that is spoken: “Peace be with you”.
No matter what is happening in your life right now, no matter how turbulent the waters are as we sail on the seas of this world, God has something far better for you than withdrawing from the world, or turning to the things of the world for peace. Be still, and know that he is God—God at work through his word, growing in us what we cannot fit our hearts with ourselves—the Holy Spirit’s fruit of peace. This peace is the joyful assurance of God’s presence with us in the storms of life, as Jesus pilots the ship to the safety of the harbour of heaven.
Until we disembark there, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7). Amen.
