Sixth Sunday of Easter
Sunday, 16, May 2004
Acts 14:8-18
Revelation 21:1-14,22-23
John 14:23-29
Psalm 67
Sermon: (Frank Eberhardt)
(Reads John 14:23-29). Pax tecum means peace be with you. Pax cobiscom means peace with you all. "Glory to God in the highest, pax tecum." "Do not be troubled, do not let your hearts be cowardly, neither let them be afraid." We have a different kind of peace. We're fed up with the troubles of life. How much peace do you have? Many people say, "the more success you have, the more peace you will have." The people who say that are often workaholics, who put family aside. It's always the same. They have no one to share the wealth with. Those who say that peace comes from earning money don't have a job.
At the end of the Japanese war, people celebrated the end of the war, there were peace pacts, big tables, special pens to write special documents, they shook hands and such, but it was as secure as your index finger on a trigger. This is worldly peace. Is peace the end of problems? People are scared of dogs, and to some those dogs make a peaceful neighborhood. Some say that a peaceful world would be one without perverts or preachers. Is that pax? If so, you may never find that in this life. My pax is at Calvary. Pax is when God is with you in every situation. Jesus going to the cross alone was pax. The government, the "church(synogogue)" at the time, sold him out. If pax is justice, Jesus had none. But Jesus had God with him. When Paul was imprisoned, his pax was knowing that he could do all things in Christ. Pax was when he spoke with boldness even when they were threatened with beatings. Christ had a message and a mission to bring salvation. He was tempted by Satan. Satan told him the things Jesus could do to "get his name out there." Satan promised that if Jesus comprimised himself "just a little," he could become famous. But Jesus resisted the temptation.
We live in a world where 95% of all students cheat. A world that has a philosophy that "everything is relative." We look for loopholes in every law and wonder why we have no pax. Jesus says "if you love me, keep my commands." Then we will have pax. You have pax, obedience to who you are as a Christian.
Some Iraqi captives were mistreated at a certain prison. A document explained the breakdown of command, leadership, and the disobedience. People didn't handle the situation properly. Nobody asked the right questions. They took out their aggressions on prisoners, and did other things. It was an example of people not doing their job.
Another, less famous case happened when the military police units were commended for doing a good job. They had the same physical conditions, but the soldiers themselves took it upon their own to keep military law. There were no reports of abuse or death. They were obedient to their mission. Someone had moral integrity without being told.
The church should stand firm in Christ, empowered to share and forgive. Pax comes when you love others, even when it is difficult to do so. Do we think that the world would have more pax if we had no beggars? Pax comes from talking and listening to them. When you work at a food kitchen, you see people getting a free meal, you get pax from working there, listening. We get pax from giving to the poor.
We shouldn't argue, we should forgive as we have been forgiven.