Zephaniah 3:14-20
14 Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The LORD has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm.
16 On that day they will say to Jerusalem, "Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp.
17 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."
18 "The sorrows for the appointed feasts I will remove from you; they are a burden and a reproach to you.
19 At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you; I will rescue the lame and gather those who have been scattered. I will give them praise and honor in every land where they were put to shame.
20 At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes," says the LORD.
(NIV)
Philippians 4:4-9
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, 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.
9 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.
In the Old Testament, the prophet Jeremiah says there come times when people say “Peace, peace, but there is no peace.” (Jeremiah 6:14)
And boy, that’s the truth!
We are a world at war, under the threat of war. There is violence and turmoil in every corner of the globe.
And it is not just international conflict and war.
In our own lives there is domestic violence. The threat of home invasions.
Add to that the economy, the gas prices, the uncertainty of jobs and layoffs. Our pensions and investments are at risk.
If you are not afraid, you must certainly feel some anxiety about these times.
Friday was Veterans Day and with it there is the reminder that so many of our people have struggled to protect our nation and valiantly tried to establish peace.
Sadly, ten years or a hundred years from now, we will honor NEW veterans who have been called to protect us in conflicts we cannot yet imagine.
What do we, as Christians. do to establish peace in a world in which there is no peace?
I mean, we are not the president of the United States. We don’t have a say in International Affairs. I don’t think any of us are in the diplomatic corps. So where does that leave us? What can we do, in our little corner of the world, to seek peace?
First, we may not have an impact on a global scale, but we can have a positive and peaceful attitude that can influence the people in our immediate surroundings.
Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, writes about peace. He gives a wonderful benediction to the readers of his letter in which he says that the “peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ.”
In this benediction of Peace, Paul tells us how we can experience peace in our lives. The first step is to have a positive attitude.
Paul says in verse 4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”
I’m not talking about putting your head in the sand and ignoring the troubles around you. I’m talking about having a realistic, but positive attitude about life.
Someone emailed me with a story this week about a 92 year old woman whose family decided it was time to move her into a nursing home. The family worried about the change, but the woman took on a positive attitude. On the long drive, the family began to talk positively about the nursing home, talking about wonderful staff, the nice view, the good food. Finally the woman declared, “I love it.”
Her son said, “But you haven’t even seen it yet. But just wait, I’m sure you’ll like it.”
“I don’t need to see it,” she said. “Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged... it's how I arrange my mind.”
That is a rare gift!
I know that there are some folks who never experience peace because they have such a bad attitude about life.
Several years ago, I met a fellow named Andy.
Andy was without doubt the most depressed person I have ever met.
He was so gloomy and depressed, that he radiated gloom and depression.
All you had to do was to come within 10 feet of the man, and you began to feel gloomy and depressed yourself.
Andy never looked on the positive side.
He always looked on the negative side.
I remember he came to the Men’s Club at the church – and I was serving a very small church at the time. He came to the Men’s Club and said, “You know, I don’t understand this church. We never seem to get people interested in our events. Look at this. There are only 20 people here.”
Well, I thought – hey – we have 20 people here – that’s great. There are only 25 men in the whole church. Besides, the Men’s Club met for breakfast. On Sunday mornings. At 6:30 AM. I was always amazed that anyone would get up that early on a Sunday morning for breakfast.
But that was Andy. Never looked on the bright side.
One day I went to visit Andy to try to get him out of his gloomy attitude.
He told me he was gloomy because he was so lonely.
I suggested that he invite some folks over, have a small get together, a party.
“Wouldn’t work,” Andy said. “My wife wouldn’t want to do all the work to get ready for it.”
I suggested that he have a dinner with just one other couple.
“Wouldn’t work,” Andy said. “People don’t like the kind of simple foods I like.”
I suggested that he go out and visit other people in their homes – just drop by for a visit.
“Wouldn’t work,” Andy said. “People don’t like you dropping by like that.”
Finally, I suggested to Andy that nothing was going to work because he liked being gloomy and depressed.
Andy agreed.
He was lonely, anxious, restless, never had a moment’s peace, because he was allowing his bad attitude to become a stumbling block in his life.
On the other hand, a positive attitude can become a pathway to peace.
Paul in this New Testament letter we read from for today, told his readers, “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.”
The prophet Zephaniah, in our Old Testament lesson, said, “Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart… Don’t be afraid, don’t let your hands hand limp. The Lord is with you.”
Some people are like Andy. They let their bad attitude become a stumbling black in their search for peace. Others however, seem to find a sliver lining in the darkest cloud. For example, during the Second World War, General Creighton Abrams found himself and his troops surrounded on all sides. With characteristic optimism, he told his officers: “For the first time in the history of this campaign, we are now in a position to attack the enemy in any direction.”
Whatever problem seems to surround you, concentrate on the solutions, not the difficulty.
Have a good, healthy attitude. A positive attitude. As Paul said, “Rejoice in the Lord.”
The prophet Jeremiah says there come times when people say “Peace, peace, but there is no peace.” But Jesus taught us that the Kingdom of God is within – and so in a world in which we cannot control wars and violence around us, let us be at peace within.
Copyright Maynard Pittendreigh, 2011
All Rights Reserved
