Peace (Remembrance Sunday)

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.

Do not give to you as the world gives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Quite a few years ago now, a couple on retirement

decided they wanted to live in the most peaceful place

and the most secure place that they could find.

They were particularly worried about the threat of nuclear war

and so they undertook a research project to find the place on the planet

that they felt stood the greatest chance of being most secure and most peaceful.

After many months of research, they eventually found a place.

It was rather remote, but they felt that it seemed very, very secure.

Secure and as likely to be full of peace as anywhere else on the planet.

And so it was that Christmas 1981,

they sent a Christmas card to the minister of the church,

the place where they had left,

from the Falkland Islands.

Of course, it was only a matter of months later before war broke out.

And that story serves to remind us that no matter how hard we may try

to find a place of absolute peace in this world,

given the structures within which we live,

we will probably never be able to find somewhere where we can say

we are with absolute certainty.

Here is peace.

Not this side of eternity anyway.

Of course, that does not mean for one moment

that we should give up the pursuit of peace,

the very opposite.

The peace that Christ gives us is a peace that inspires,

that sends us out,

that tells us that we must do everything we can

to pursue peace.

But let's be clear.

This side of eternity,

the world groans.

This side of eternity,

war continues to rage around us

and, of course, within us.

But Jesus says,

peace I give you,

my peace I give you,

not as the world gives.

That's important,

because what Jesus is talking about here

is something that is unique.

It's like nothing else.

Remember that Jesus said this

knowing that he was going to the cross.

And yet,

even with that knowledge

that he would suffer the most horrific death,

he was able to speak with conviction

of a peace like no other.

And it is that peace

that he offers us.

So strong and so uniquely robust is this peace

that Jesus is able to say,

therefore,

do not let your hearts be troubled.

Think about that.

How easy,

how realistic is it

to honestly speak of

don't let your hearts be troubled.

how can you make that happen?

Well, you can't.

And here's an experiment.

Hold out your hand,

your right hand.

And now swing it around,

so it's like that.

And now with your left hand,

I invite you to take hold

of your middle finger

and fold it into the palm

of your hand.

So you're holding it down like that.

And now place that on your chest.

Now, I'm going to ask you

a number of questions.

If you could make

all your problems go away,

then just lift your thumb up.

I mean, right now.

Just lift the thumb up.

Give it a little wiggle.

I kind of thought

if you could just do anything

to make all the problems go away,

yeah, you probably would answer that

in the positive.

Okay, now let's move on

to your first finger, okay?

If you could just eliminate

all worries and stresses

that you have,

then just wiggle that finger

at me now.

I thought that might be the case.

Okay.

Let's move to the little finger.

The little finger.

Imagine you were offered

to have a personal servant,

somebody who was with you always,

24-7 for the rest of your life,

to do absolutely everything,

to take care of every last job

that you had.

They were there always,

in the background,

not in your way,

but just there to help out

with anything and everything.

Just lift your little finger

if you wish you could have that.

I thought that might be the case.

Now we come to the ring finger.

That's the one left

that I haven't asked you

to do anything with yet.

In my bag over there,

I've got 10,000 pounds.

If you'd like it,

just lift that finger now.

Okay, I didn't think,

I didn't think you'd want it.

I was lying about the money,

by the way,

but hold your hand in that position

for just a moment

and think about this.

Think about that command.

Don't let your hearts be troubled.

Imagine that's me telling you right now.

Don't let your hearts be troubled.

Now try and lift that finger.

Yeah?

That's what it's like.

That human effort

to strive to just eliminate

all human tension.

You can't do it.

Really try hard to raise that.

It's what it's like

when you try of your own human resource

to just not be afraid.

Now you can relax your hand.

We'll come back to that in a moment.

So what are we to do?

How do we make sense

of those words of Jesus?

You know,

his words there are

as profound,

as empowering,

as they are simple.

But simple does not mean easy.

See, Jesus gives us a hint

as to,

more than a hint,

as to how we're to do this.

How we're to not let ourselves

be troubled or afraid.

He gives us a hint

in the words that precede

those last words

in that passage.

When he says,

and remember he's speaking here

to the disciples,

this is the first generation

of Christian believers.

He says that the Holy Spirit

will teach you

and will help you to remember.

The Holy Spirit will teach you

the things that I've said to you,

says Jesus,

and the Holy Spirit

will help you to remember

what I've said to you.

In other words,

as he says these words

of promise

to his earliest disciples,

he's talking about

the Bible

that is still in the process

of being written

at that time.

Those written words

that they did not have

but we do.

Those written words

that Jesus knew

we would need

for the generations.

Those written words

which we can now

have access to

to keep the teachings

of Jesus alive.

The Holy Spirit,

Jesus says,

the Holy Spirit

that will come

will teach you

and will enable you

to remember my words.

That means that

when we read

Jesus' words,

we can be confident

that they are

Jesus' words.

they are God's words

given to us

in Scripture

for our time

here on earth.

That we might

encounter that relationship,

that only relationship

that can bring us peace.

It doesn't eliminate

our problems.

It doesn't immunize us

from struggles

and pains.

but it gives us

a peace

that is unique.

It means two things.

Firstly,

when we read

these words

of Jesus

in the Bible,

first,

we've got to trust them.

And that's not easy

but it's what

we're called to do.

Secondly,

and this is a word

that's not particularly

fashionable

or popular,

we've got to obey them.

Now we don't like

the word obey,

we wince at it

because it sounds

like mindless submission.

It's not.

When we think,

when we talk about

obeying

the word of God,

it's about

allowing it

to have authority

over our lives.

You see,

we can read

the Bible

but when we

submit to its authority

we find that

it has this

uncanny habit

of reading us.

Now put out

your hand again.

Take hold

of that little

middle finger there

and bend it down,

swing it round,

place it onto

your chest

back in the same position.

Now once more

I ask you

to try

to lift

that ring finger.

Now don't try

too hard

because you might

cause yourself

an injury

but just in that

state of tension

that's what it's like

when we try

to bring ourselves

some sense of peace

humanly speaking.

We just can't

eliminate.

We can't

actually save

ourselves.

Now with your

left hand

take hold

of that finger.

only God

can do this.

I invite you

to lift

not too far

or you will

hurt yourself

but lift

that finger

off your chest

and hold it

there for a moment.

When we accept

the authority

of God's word

when we allow

the word

of Jesus Christ

into our lives

when we turn

to him

knowing that

he is the only

one that can

bring that peace

that is beyond

understanding

he lifts us

not of our own

strength

but in his.

Let's pray

together.

Lord thank you

that you do not

just leave us

in this world

to get on

with things

but that you

come to us

in Jesus

that you come

to us in Jesus

and by the power

of your Holy Spirit

you continue

to speak to us

some 2,000 years

on

through your word.

Lord help us

whatever we are

going through

in our lives

right now

whatever is

stopping us

from having

peace

for whatever

is troubling

our hearts

help us

to turn

to turn

to you

and to

know the

power

of your

Holy Spirit

to know

the power

of your

word

Lord would

you lift

us

would you

help us

to have

that peace

that is

uniquely

yours

not of our

own strength

but of

yours

help us

to know

that peace

help us

to grow

in that

peace

this day

and in

the time

to come

in Jesus

name

Amen