Philippians 4:1-9; Luke 12:51-53
Joanna Harader
If you look up “conscientious objector” on Wikipedia, you can scroll down to the section on the United
States. This article is littered with the word Mennonite, even mentions Hutterite. And there is a picture
of John T. Neufeld, sentenced to 15 years hard labor at Fort Leavenworth for refusing to take up arms
during World War I. (I’ll give you one guess what kind of church he attended.)
As we spend a few weeks looking at our Mennonite identity, it is only natural to examine what it
means to be “people of God’s peace.” Mennonites have a rich history of resistance to military service
and refusal to bear arms. Even before the conscientious objectors in the US, most of the Anabaptist
migrations were due to military requirements in different parts of the world. Our ancestors in the faith
would leave one place where there was increasing pressure to take up arms and settle somewhere else
where they were promised exemption from military service.
This anti-military, pro-peace stance was one of the things that most strongly attracted me to the
Mennonite church as an adult. I think many of you here who did not grow up in a Mennonite
household would say the same thing–the peace position is a big pull. And I suspect that those of you
raised within the Mennonite tradition value this aspect of your faith heritage.
I know that if we really got into a nitty gritty discussion of pacifism, we would find hairs to split and
points of disagreement. I know there are people here with a history of military service; there are people
here with loved ones who have been or are currently in the military.
But I think it is safe to say that we do not want war; that we value efforts made to resolve violent
conflicts by peaceful means. That we understand that when Jesus says, “love your enemies,” he does
not mean to bomb them or torture them or invade them.
You all sitting in this room do not need to hear a sermon on beating your swords into plowshares. You
probably don’t have a sword, and you likely wouldn’t know what to do with a plowshare anyway.
Being people of God’s peace means that we do not support war. We get that. And that’s good.
But being people of God’s peace isn’t just about being against war. Being people of God’s peace
is about living in peace, working to create peace, wherever we are; in whatever situations we find
ourselves.
It’s this everyday pacifism with which I struggle. Which is why our primary scripture reading this
morning is from Philippians 4 instead of Isaiah 2.
In his letter to the church in Philippi, probably the first church Paul established in Europe, Paul is
not concerned with the people’s relationship to the state or their participation in the military; Paul is
concerned with the quality of the relationships within the church.
He calls out two of the church leaders by name–Euodia and Syntyche. We don’t know what was
going on between these two women, but we can assume they were having a disagreement of some sort.
Something was going on to cause Paul to urge them to “be of the same mind in the Lord.”
As I was studying this passage this week, I noticed that most of the writing and sermons on it either
dealt with Euodia and Syntyche or with the other part of the passage; you remember, rejoice! think
happy thoughts! Lots of sermons about thinking happy thoughts. And a few about Euodia and
Syntyche–about their feud and the general idea that Christians should try to get along. Which, of
course, we should.
But what I’m wondering is what happens when we read Philippians 4:1-9 as a complete passage instead
of breaking it up between the disagreeing women and the exhortations to rejoice. What help does this
passage give us for being people of God’s peace with each other in community?
First, rejoice in the Lord always. I know this sounds naive, like a “don’t worry be happy” mentality.
But I don’t think that’s what Paul means. Because he writes to the church in Rome that they should
rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. Paul does not want us to ignore
sorrow and suffering.
Yet we are to rejoice in the Lord. We should remember that our ultimate security, hope, joy, rests in
our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And in our community we should look for excuses to
rejoice, to celebrate, to give thanks to God and each other. We should be happy about the contributions
that others make to the community and not be bitter about things that don’t get done or money that isn’t
given.
I think that rejoicing is one of the more challenging spiritual practice in our hyper-productive culture
where skepticism and criticism are viewed as signs of sophistication and intelligence.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”
And let your gentleness be evident to all. According to William Barclay, the Greek word translated
here as “gentleness” has to do with moderation in administering justice, with flexibility in applying the
law, remaining sensitive to the complexities of human life.
Some of you know that Roger’s mom has been in the hospital this week. She went into emergency
surgery on Wednesday morning, and Roger and Barbara didn’t know how it would go. Barbara asked
Esther if she had any advice to give them; Esther, in her 94 years of wisdom, said they should never
judge anyone harshly because you never know what people have been through in their lives.
That is gentleness. And we need it if we want to live in peace within community. We need to
remember that people are more than their political opinions, more than their mistakes, more than their
annoying habits, more than their kindnesses and more than their cruelties.
“Let your gentleness be evident to all.”
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God.
We know, of course, that when our anxiety is high–when we are really worried and stressed out–
we are not our best selves. I, for example, have been known to snap at my children without much
provocation if I am working on a deadline.
And when we live in community–say a family or a congregation–anxiety is contagious. We pick it up
from each other. One person’s anxiety gets out of control and pretty soon the whole family is arguing
at the dinner table; the whole congregation is taking sides and picking fights.
It seems to go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: anxiety is not good for peace. Of course, anxiety
is not something we seek; I don’t know anyone who tries to be stressed out and anxious. So the
question is how to avoid anxiety. There are lots of steps we can take and lots of therapists and doctors
and books out there to help us take them.
Paul’s advice, it seems to me, is a good place to start: pray. If you are worried about something, pray
about it. Tell God what you want, and do it with thanksgiving. Sounds kind of like that part about
rejoicing, doesn’t it? For every stressful situation in our lives, there is also something to be thankful
for. Each time we pray, we can recognize the gift it is to be in relationship with our Creator who loves
us and hears our prayers.
Anxiety and stress can become serious problems, not just for the health of a family and congregation,
but also for the physical and mental health of individuals. Prayer may not be the only thing you do to
lessen your anxiety, but it is a good, a godly place to start.
“Present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard
your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
I suppose the metaphor of guards might be a bit militaristic when we’re talking about peace, but I
like the metaphor anyway. The idea of the peace of God guarding my heart and my mind. Because I
know how easily my heart can slip into violence. How easily my mind can justify the bitterness and
judgment and anxiety that lead me away from peace.
When the news of bin Laden’s assassination came out, people were dancing in the streets. These were
not bad, wicked, violent people. They were people who had been hurt and scared and the emotions of
relief and joy just rushed out of their hearts. Maybe your own heart gave a little leap of joy, or at least
a sigh of relief. We need the peace of God to guard our hearts.
Bin Laden’s death also lead to a lot of mental justifications for violence–the difficult logistics of
capturing and holding him, the number of lives potentially saved by his death. We need the peace of
God to guard our minds.
As we’ve already said, being people of God’s peace isn’t just about our attitudes toward war, our
reactions to the death of Osama bin Laden. It’s also, and more often, about our attitudes toward each
other, our reactions to those with whom we live in community. Having a peaceful spirit is difficult,
and I welcome the promise of God’s peace guarding my heart, guarding my mind. So that my feelings,
my thoughts, and therefore my words and actions might show me to be a person of God’s peace.
I think I would be remiss, though, in the midst of this nice sermon about getting along, if I didn’t also
mention what Jesus has to say about our relationships with those within our community. He says, “Do
you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five
in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided,
father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-
in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
It’s not that Jesus wants there to be division, but he knows that there will be division. Our efforts for
peace will not always work out. Relationships, by definition, involve more than one person; if both
people are not seeking to live in peace, the relationship may not be a peaceful one. And there are times
when the disagreements between people are significant, times when people or groups may not be able
to stay together with integrity.
Even as we work toward peace, we should recognize that division, while unfortunate, is not always
a sign of unfaithfulness. Just an aside here because it’s important to get a broad view of the biblical
teaching.
I personally rejoice to be part of a faith community that seeks to be people of God’s peace. Our witness
against war, against the death penalty, against other forms of state-sanctioned violence is an important
part of our identity as Mennonites.
But those watching us don’t just look at our position statements and protest attendance; they also look
to see how we treat each other every day. How do we speak to each other? How do we listen? Do our
daily lives show forth the peace that we proclaim?
It is not easy to be people of God’s peace. Think about the challenges you face as you try to live out
the peace of Christ each day. Maybe it would do your spirit good to rejoice more. Maybe you need to
treat others with more gentleness, more understanding for the complexities of life. Maybe you should
consider presenting your anxiety to God in prayer.
Maybe Euodia and Syntche took Paul’s letter to heart and did all of these things. I hope they were able
to work out their differences, whatever they were. I hope they were able to heed Paul’s advice:
Finally, brothers and sisters,
whatever is true,
whatever is noble,
whatever is right,
whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable
—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—
think about such things.
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me
—put it into practice.
And the God of peace will be with you.
Amen
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