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Last updated on
May 17, 2004
Extending the Peace
of Jesus Christ
Delivered May 2, 2004
by Pastor Werner De Jong
Text: Acts 9:32-43
Main Idea: God calls the church to extend the peace of Jesus Christ.
Purpose: To examine the new vision statement of the Mennonite Church of Eastern Canada. To challenge the listeners to extend the peace of Jesus Christ.
Introduction: Last weekend I attended the annual spring conference of the Mennonite Church of Eastern Canada in Leamington, Ontario. Before the conference started I had a free afternoon so I took the opportunity to take a walk in Point Pelee National Park, just south of Leamington. It is a small park, only eight square miles in area, but it is full of biological diversity. I spent my first hour strolling on a board walk through a marsh on the shores of Lake Erie, watching scores of red-winged blackbirds dance in and out of the reeds, and turtles sun themselves on rocks. After that I took a walk through the woods of one of the few areas in Canada where you can still find what is known as the Carolinian forest, which is characterized by the presence of deciduous trees like beech and ash much more than evergreen trees. In fact, over seventy tree species grow in the park. Every May, over two hundred different kinds of warblers descend on the forest on their annual migration north. Every fall tens of thousands of monarch butterflies settle there for a few nights on their way south. The trail through the woods also passed through a savannah habitat, where red cedars were growing among the grasses on sand dunes. Finally I went out to the point, the southernmost tip of Canada, where I deliberately ambled into a flock of hundreds of seagulls on the beach; when they reacted by soaring all around me and screeching it seemed like I had stepped into a blizzard of giant snowflakes and howling wind. In addition to the birds, there are more species of reptiles and amphibians found at Point Pelee than anywhere else in Canada. If we wonder what holds this diverse environment together, the primary answer is the unique climate. The average annual temperature is warmer at Point Pelee than almost any other place in Canada, both because of its southerly position, and because of the moderating effect of the great lakes.
New Vision Statement for MCEC: When I consider the diversity of life found in this small park it reminds me of the diversity of our own church conference. We are a relatively small conference of ninety churches, but we come from so many different backgrounds. At the conference there were many "traditional" Mennonites of Russian and Swiss descent, but there were also Chinese, Korean, Laotian, Francophones from Quebec, and an Atlantic Canadian! Some of us came from large urban centres, others came from small rural areas. When people spoke at the mike from the conference floor, both men and women spoke, both youth and seniors, both pastors and lay people. If we ask what unites us, what is the glue that holds us together, the answer is our common faith in Jesus Christ. He is our "warm climate," he is the one who enables diverse people to live and grow and serve together. What excited me the most about the conference was the fact that it centred on Jesus. The theme for the weekend was taken from Colossians 1:17, "In Christ all things hold together." The high point of the conference for me was the fact that our diverse group was able to agree enthusiastically about a new vision statement for the Mennonite Church of Eastern Canada. It is a simple but powerful statement, only six words long, and I've chosen it as the title for today's sermon: "Extending the Peace of Jesus Christ." This statement is so good because it reminds us that we find our centre in Jesus Christ, and it encourages us to be a missional people by extending the peace of Jesus to others. We are united in Christ, and we are united for mission.
Today's text and its context: Spring is a great time of year to articulate such a vision, for it coincides with the Easter season, when we remember the death and resurrection of our Lord. Throughout the Easter season the lectionary readings from the book of Acts centre on the emerging church, which arose as a direct result of the proclamation of these events. It is impossible to read through the book of Acts, or even a single chapter of the book, without encountering the church engaged in the mission of extending the peace of Jesus Christ to the world. That is what the entire book is about, for that is what the early church was all about. These are the readings that accompany us throughout the Easter season.
When I last spoke two weeks ago we encountered Peter and the apostles boldly declaring the resurrection even in the face of imprisonment and violent persecution. They announced the good news of repentance and divine forgiveness even to those who wanted to do them harm. In between that text and the account we read today we meet Stephen, Philip, and Saul. Stephen and Philip were both chosen to help oversee the daily distribution of food to widows. Both were also powerful preachers and miracle workers. Stephen was faithful in witnessing to Jesus even to the point of death, and became the first Christian martyr. Philip brought the good news of Jesus to the despised Samaritans, he helped to break down walls of prejudice between ancient enemies. He also proclaimed the good news to an Ethiopian eunuch riding in a chariot. Saul was a Pharisee who initially hated the Christians and persecuted them, but after he encountered Jesus he became the greatest missionary the church has ever known.
Today's reading from Acts 9 further helps to fill in the picture, as we meet Dorcas, a follower of Jesus who lived in Joppa, a Jewish city situated along the Mediterranean coast. She was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor. For example, Luke records how she made coats and other garments for needy widows. When she became ill and died, the followers of Jesus in Joppa immediately sent for Peter, who was in the neighbouring town of Lydda, and Peter came and worked a tremendous miracle by bringing her back to life.
It doesn't matter where we read in Acts, we always see the same thing–we see the church boldly and enthusiastically reaching out to others. And always the work is done in the name of Jesus and for the sake of Jesus. Always we see the church extending the peace of Jesus Christ.
"Extending": So we can certainly say that our new vision statement is grounded in the Bible. What I would like to do for the rest of this message is to examine the three different components of that statement: extending, peace, of Jesus Christ.
First of all, the vision statement begins with the word "extending." It is the only verb in the statement, and it is a great choice. For "extending" is an active verb. It implies movement. It is not static. You can't use the word extending as it is used here without implying some kind of movement from one source to another–in this case, from the church to the world. Think of an extension ladder. You can't extend it without movement, and the movement is directed outward. When you extend a ladder the top of it moves away from you, until it reaches its destination. Then you are able to climb up the ladder and do what you need to do. That is exactly what we are called to do with the peace of Jesus–we are called to extend it, to stretch it out, until it reaches its destination, until it reaches others and blesses them. As followers of Jesus, we are to be like those who extend ladders and climb them, we are to take the peace which we receive in Jesus, and we are to move upwards and outwards in order to hold it out to others who need healing and hope. In so doing we follow Jesus' example, who extended God's peace from heaven to earth. He didn't keep it for himself, but he humbled himself and took the initiative and left heaven and became human and died for us in order to extend to us the blessings he already knew.
The mission of the church is all about following this example. The peace of Jesus is not something we are to keep to ourselves. The concept of extending peace helps to eliminate the erroneous idea that our faith is a private matter. Having a personal relationship with our Lord is essential, but like Mary Magdalene learned, there is more to our faith than "Jesus and me." After she encountered him on the morning of his resurrection and embraced him he said to her, "Don't cling to me...but go and tell my disciples." Why? Because the gift of Christ's peace is for sharing. It is not something that we are to clutch to ourselves. Neither is it something that we try desperately to preserve. Unlike police officers, who are called to "preserve the peace," we are called to extend the peace. Like Abraham we have received a blessing in order that the families of the earth might be blessed through us (cf. Gen. 12:3).
In our text we meet a wonderful example of someone who extended herself in order to bless others. In Greek her name is Dorcas, in Aramaic her name is Tabitha, and in English both of these names mean "gazelle." As we've already heard, she was dedicated to good works and acts of charity. She was a gifted seamstress, or a tailor, who didn't only make clothes for herself or her own family, but who used her gift to help alleviate the needs of other people in her city, like the widows who had few or no people to care for them. By the number of widows who had already gathered to grieve her death by the time Peter arrived, and who showed Peter all of the tunics and other articles of clothing she had made, it is apparent that she was a busy, industrious, caring woman. Her name therefore is appropriate and well-suited to her, for a gazelle of course is a small, swift, graceful antelope, often on the move. It is easy to picture Tabitha as a woman on the move, full of grace, extending the goodness and love of God in very practical ways to others.
Some scholars in fact think that she was the leader of a circle of friends who had benefited from her generosity (like the widows), and who in turn decided to join her in reaching out to assist others. As Beverly Gaventa puts it, "These ‘widows' of v. 39 almost surely constituted what amounted to a guild of persons who provided charity to needy individuals in the name of Christ" (Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSC–Year C, p. 297). I like that picture, but we can't know for sure if this was the case. Nevertheless, it is certainly something that we see happen in the body of Christ again and again. When we extend the peace of Jesus to others, and when they open themselves to receive it, then they are inspired to do the same. But the cycle has to begin with someone's willingness to extend peace.
"the Peace": Now that we've considered the concept of extending, let's move on to consider precisely what it is that we are to extend. Our new vision statement calls for us to extend "peace," the peace of Jesus Christ. But what is meant by that word peace? At the conference floor several people stood up and asked for clarification on this matter. The answer which our leaders gave is one deeply rooted in the Bible, and in our own Mennonite heritage. The peace in our vision statement is meant to be understood as the Hebrew concept of "shalom." Shalom is the Bible's word for salvation, for justice, and for wellness in every arena of life. Shalom speaks of material and physical well-being, it speaks of well-being in human relationships, and it speaks of right relationship with God. When we speak of extending peace, therefore, we speak of extending to others whatever is needed to enrich their lives. Extending peace to the hungry means feeding them, extending peace to prisoners means visiting them, extending peace to the sick means comforting and healing them, extending peace to oppressors means challenging them, extending peace to those whom we have hurt or to those who hurt us means a willingness to work at reconciliation, and extending peace to our enemies means praying for them and loving them. Through all of these actions, as well as through words, extending peace means proclaiming the good news of Jesus, and inviting all people everywhere to receive the grace God offers them. In all of these endeavours, and many more, we take something that we have, and we offer it to others. We don't keep it to ourselves, but we go to others, to offer them the gifts we ourselves have in Christ.
It is vital that the church maintain as broad a definition of peace as the Bible does. Our society often speaks of peace to mean the absence of war, but it is much more than that. It is also much more than a feeling, like the feeling of tranquillity. Sometimes we in the church are tempted to reduce the concept of peace to inner peace, to the wonderful peace that can be ours as we grow in relationship with our Lord. Such peace is crucial, the NT often speaks of it in that way, and most often in Acts we see the apostles working toward that very end by engaging in the ministry of evangelism. But the story of "Gazelle" reminds the church that peacemaking is not only evangelism; it often takes the form of responding to the needs of others. There is no indication that Gazelle was a gifted preacher, but she was clearly gifted at making clothes, and she used her gift to extend peace or well-being to others. Right here in our own congregation we have a gazelle, someone who knits mittens and such things every year to give away to others. Outsiders are able to discern our Lord's presence through acts of mercy as well as through acts of speech. Both are needed, and we clearly see Christians in the early church engaged in both activities, for both extend peace.
The same is true of our own church history. The first Anabaptists were among the most fervent evangelists the church has ever seen. Sometimes the only way their persecutors could keep them quiet was to cut out their tongues or to insert tongue-screws in their mouths. But they also placed great stress on doing the works of Christ. Throughout our history Mennonites have engaged in works of compassion like feeding the hungry, offering hospitality to strangers, helping refugees, establishing hospitals and rehabilitation programs, sending relief kits to other countries, cleaning up the environment, defusing land mines, promoting regional development, selling crafts in North America that were made in the two-thirds world, and on and on we could go. Such are the things that make for peace.
"of Jesus Christ": Before we close we must look at the final segment of the new vision statement. God calls us to extend peace, but not a peace of our own making–we are called to extend the peace of Jesus Christ. People the world over desire peace in all of its fullness; as Christians we confess that such peace is only fully available through Jesus our Lord.
Such a confession means humbly acknowledging that we can only extend to others that which we ourselves have first received. If we only have our own peace to offer, our gift would be very poor. But peace is the gift of God. It is the gift God made possible by sending Jesus to live among us, and ultimately to offer his life for us.
On the first evening of our spring conference Mennonite historian Arnold Snyder was the guest speaker. He gave an excellent talk on what he called the two historical boundaries which have defined who we are as a people. The first boundary he called "discipleship." This is the deep-rooted Anabaptist idea that our faith must be lived out in the world, that faith is not simply a matter of intellectual belief, but that it involves a conscious decision to follow in the footsteps of Jesus by proclaiming the gospel message of repentance and forgiveness, by healing the sick, by feeding the hungry, by taking time to befriend lonely and outcast people–in short, by living as peacemakers. But then he said something very profound. As important as this boundary is, and as often as we stress it today, he said that it is not the primary boundary of Anabaptist faith expression. The other boundary is even more important, for without it we would have no peace to offer. What is the other boundary? He defined it as the spiritual life, or the life of piety, what we have been calling the spiritual disciplines, including the key practises of prayer and Bible study. He strongly insisted that the early Anabaptists set aside regular time to meet with God, to talk to God, to listen to God. They relied upon the Spirit of God to work in them and through them. They stressed and believed that without tending to their relationship with God, they had no peace to offer others.
That idea is strongly implied in our new vision statement, when we speak of extending the peace of Jesus Christ. In order to extend Christ's peace we must regularly receive his peace. Daily we must receive peace, healing and hope from Jesus, and then we can live daily as peacemakers. We can think of these two boundaries, of active discipleship and receptive spirituality, as the two banks of a river. If as a church we live between these two banks, we will be like a river through which life-giving water will flow and quench the needs of others. But if one of the banks is missing, there is no river, and there will be no flow of life through us to others. Both banks are critical. We are called to extend the peace of Jesus; therefore we must regularly spend time with Jesus, in order that we may have something divine to offer.
In our text the apostle Peter serves as a powerful example of one through whom the life of Christ flowed. Early in the book of Acts we read how Peter and the other disciples were constantly in prayer. By remaining in Christ Peter not only became a bold preacher, but also a miracle worker. In our text we read how in the name of Jesus he healed a man named Aeneas, who had been paralysed and bedridden for eight years. Then when we was summoned to Dorcas' side, the power of God enabled him to raise her from the dead.
Conclusion: The power of the resurrected Christ to bring peace to our broken world is still available to the church today, for our risen Lord is the one who lives among us and enables us as diverse people to live and grow and serve together. Jesus is the one in whom all things hold together. We can therefore be effective peacemakers, provided we humbly acknowledge that the power to heal and to save comes not from a peace of our own making, but from the peace of Jesus Christ, our Lord. May we be faithful stewards of the grace God has entrusted to us, and may we extend the peace of Christ by living in the Christ of peace. Amen.