‘Peace to this house!’
Bang in the middle of the uncertainty and toil of Jesus’
mission there is a promise of peace. It is clearly an account (Luke 10) that
reflects the trials but also the intense joy of the early church discovering
how people received the gospel. It is coupled with a vivid reading from the “Book
of Consolation” about Jerusalem being a mother and her children being “suckled
and savouring with delight her glorious breasts.” Such experiences and such
readings stop us in our tracks and open to us for a moment the life that lies
beyond our normal experiences.
Those who have TVs and, what is more, access to
international channels can watch the best of sport and this week there are
millions glued to an eighth of an acre of grass in South London. The thrill of
Wimbledon is to see men and women reach beyond themselves and they carry us
with them. It is just for a moment but it is enough to give us a glimpse of the
stretch we are capable of.
It is all about peace. The word is used and reused. It is
used in greetings and often said lightly and sometimes meant deeply. There is
not much point in praying for it, in our own country or anywhere else, unless
we combine our prayer with a stretching beyond ourselves to achieve it. It
comes upon us suddenly like a gift but only if we have been reaching for it
deep within us. It cannot be forced or imposed any more than you can force
water to boil. You have to create the conditions and then wait.
How do we connect all these beautiful readings in the
scriptures and our own experience? It is awesome to watch Wimbledon, or any
sport, but it is also awesome to watch what is being enacted in Cairo. Passions
have been coming to the boil for decades and now people in one country but with
opposing views have come face to face. Now one side seems to have the upper
hand, now another. To the distant
observer it looks like a nonviolent, on the whole, struggle being waged between
two ways of thinking. The next stage in the struggle will be to go deep within
and search out what they hold in common and how they can satisfy each other’s
longings. It will be wonderful if they can do that. That is a far better prize
than one side imposing its will on the other through force.
This prize is the peace Jesus promised. It cannot be simply
mouthed. It has to grow from deep within. It has to overcome set ways of
thinking; the barriers within me which prevent me moving out of moulds set in
concrete. It can be done and this is the promise that set the 72 disciples
alight. 72 was the traditional number of all the nations of the earth. So we
can think of all the countries of the world today from A to Z, which is where
we come in.
7 July 2013 Sunday 14 C
Is 66:10-14 Gal 6:14-18 Lk 10:1-12
