Evensong Lent 3 Year A 2023 ‘Fruits of the Spirit’ Peace and Justice
Readings: Joshua 10.1-9; Ephesians 6.10-20
As you know we are looking through Lent at the Fruits of the Spirit
as outlined for us by Paul in his Letter to the Galatians,
and of which there are nine! One short of two per session.
Although not part of the nine, those considering how to group our fruits immediately came up with the notion of adding Justice to Peace –
on the basis of my passions! Thank you Graham!
Just over a year ago Russia invaded Ukraine, and the Church
in various settings set up opportunities to pray for peace –
including St Paul’s Cathedral, their prayers for peace
commended to me by a good friend who is also a priest!
But I railed against the cry for peace per se, just ‘peace’.
We could have a sort of peace – in the sense of an end to violence, immediately if Ukraine and her astonishing President gave up the fight!
But what sort of peace could this be, their country and her resources
stolen by her neighbour, life to be lived under the heel of a vicious dictator?
So here we are this evening, the fighting and destruction escalating…
Surely we must pray for peace with justice – victory first, then peace?
And here I am preaching on the subject of peace and0 justice!
And per chance, our set readings for this night,
both engage with the theme of battle! Literal and spiritual!
Surely indeed, many of us know, and have held close to our hearts
setting out on a new venture, those words of God to Joshua,
as he leads his people across the Jordan and into the promised land:
Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’
And Paul’s admonition to his Christian readers
to ‘put on the whole armour of God’ in their fight against the devil!
In reality Joshua’s army crossed the Jordan
in pretty much an ancient form of the land grab we see today …
Although I’m not keen on the military imagery,
Paul’s exhortation fares better: the belt of truth, the breastplate of justice,
on our feet the shoes of the gospel; the shield of faith and the helmet
of salvation; the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God!
Images to steel the imagination and the nerve to fight for justice!
Nevertheless, I would like us tonight
to focus on some other verses from the Bible.
The Old Testament of course contains nuggets of wisdom
which are pure gold!
You may know the wonderful words of Psalm 85.10!
Iin the NRSV translation used in our Anglican liturgy they are rendered:
Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
But I think I prefer the Catholic translation:
Mercy and truth have met each other: justice and peace have kissed.
Mercy and truth have met each other: justice and peace have kissed.
Let us ponder these words for a moment.
These words are a response to the cry for forgiveness and restoration.
And they contain most everything I want to say!
Mercy and truth enable justice and peace – to kiss each other!
They are intimately bound together…
We cannot know the truth without mercy in our hearts,
there can be no peace without justice!
Jesus famously said that the truth will set you free!
And the whole story of his life is riven with compassion and mercy.
Without mercy, we will never understand what the truth is.
It is only with a heart full of compassion – full of kindness,
that we can behold what lies behind the surface and understand
what is truly happening. And it is this loving truth
that will lead us to that more profound understanding of what is just.
A justice which embraces all the dimensions of the situation.
The vast majority of the inmates of our prisons grew up in poverty
with parents or caregivers, so stressed there was little energy left over
to meet the child’s emotional needs, emotional needs we all share.
There will always be some culprits we need in the immediate moment,
to shut away for the protection of others, and maybe as a deterrent.
But prisons must always be places of great care and love,
offering physical protection, emotional sustenance, and education.
Not forgetting the promise of a place of safety and employment on release.
A mentor who believes in you,
walks with you until you can run with a heart full of confidence!
Someone who rejoices with you in that leap of joy
when the unimaginable comes to fruition! Your life is back on track!
This is what truth and justice look like. It is also where we find peace.
So what about that elusive gift of peace.
The peace which Paul is speaking of in his Letter to the Galatians.
Personal inner peace which will ultimately feed into bringing about
peace between nations. Peace between factions of many different varieties found in all institutions, be that government,
the Church, education, business.
How do we find that peace which Paul is speaking of,
the peace which brings us confidence and freedom and fulness of life?
Of course our confidence and self-esteem begin
within our personal circumstances over which we have little control.
Certainly the child we were has had no control
over whether our parents were themselves, emotionally available to us, could share a confidence in the world they were able to pass on.
But as we grow up, as we turn to our loving God,
as we commit ourselves to belonging in whatever Christian community
-480we have found, our lives can be transformed.
As we study the Scriptures and pray.
Acquire the discipline of sitting in silence with our Creator and Saviour;
deepen our understanding through other reading;
as we get involved and give back – in whatever sphere that my be.
As we give loving intention to every aspect of our lives, work and play,
as we do these things, little by little, even without our realisation,
little by little we are growing in grace in the power of the Spirit,
growing into the likeness of Christ, growing into that peace we long for.
Ayla in her reflection on Peace as she explores Monet’s Waterlilies,
speaks of how a group of young people sitting a while in front of
this picture, began to find themselves drawn into their interior being.
I love Monet – though not so much his Waterlily series –
perhaps because I like sky! And perhaps because,
important as I regard stillness to be, I don’t necessarily find it easy –
which is precisely what Monet’s Waterlilies demand of us!
In the stillness, the Holy Spirit is able to move us, change our perceptions.
And in this change of perception, we find that growing peace.
But I want to go back to an early painting
in this Fruits of the Spirit exhibition.
To Ron Stenberg’s Two Auld Wifies who are not actually two wifies at all!
This picture and its back story, illustrate so many things for me about peace, how we grow into that inner peace – which is God’s birthright to us!
I think it has much to do with the choices we make, those deliberate choices, choices which are maybe against the direction the crowd is running in!
Choices very much related to that generosity of heart
the picture has been chosen to represent.
When we are distressed, let us sit in stillness with our pain,
allow ourselves an openness to other possibilities, other perspectives,
other ways of looking at what confronts us.
Choose to see what has happened from the other person’s point of view.
In my experience as we flex these spiritual muscles,
transformation may come very fast indeed!
Feelings of warmth and generosity – and peace, begin to emerge.
We are able to return with hope and joy in our hearts.
Just as did Janet and Alexander, not two old wifies, rather mother and son! Both of whose lives had been difficult, harsh even, Alexander
living with learning disabilities in an institution, his mother on her own.
Yet they chose to rejoice in each other’s company week by week
sitting together on Friday mornings outside the shopping centre in Dundee.
A delight that held and captivated the artist Ron Stenberg – who knowing nothing of their circumstances picked up on their delight in one another!
He captured their intimacy – though he had wrongly understood
their relationship! They are not two friends catching up on the gossip!
Do read their story in the exhibition notes! It is quite extraordinary!
It’s good to remember, we will never know the whole story about anything – and we may be just plain wrong in our assumptions!
Generosity of spirit is essential to a heart filled with peace.
As is our continuing support for the people of Ukraine
in their battle for freedom, for there cannot be lasting peace between nations
without justice in international relations. Amen.
Intercessions
And so this night as we continue our pilgrimage through Lent,
let us pray for the empowing of the Holy Spirit
that we might be growing into those gifts, the Fruit of the Spirit,
and particularly tonight, let us pray for generosity of heart
that we might behold all people and all situations with the eyes of Christ: Lord ….
We pray for lands torn apart by war, propagated by the violent will of dictators;
we pray especially for Ukraine and her people, for her President Volodimyr Zelensky and all who advise him; for the soldiers who defend their homeland, for all
whose lives have been torn apart by death and destruction; remembering also the people of Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, each place on our own hearts: Set our hearts on fire with a passion for justice in our communities and across the world, give us courage and strength to stand out from the crowd that we might indeed become peacemakers; we pray for our own governement and the new laws it intends to enact with regard to our freedoms, and especially at this time, the law surrounding those seeking asylum: L
We pray for the Church, for her mission to make known the love of God
across our world; we pray for the part we play here in Hampstead,
be with us as we journey through Lent, open our hearts and minds
to new ways in which we can enable all to know that they belong among us;
and especially at this time, guide our wardens and the PCC, our Readers and clergy,
in putting together our Mission Action Plan, and in the search for our new vicar;
bless and guide the leaders of our Church, our archbishops Justin and Stephen,
our bishops in London, Sarah and Rob,
and in the search for a new Bishop of Edmonton when Bishop Rob moves on
to take up the leadership of the Church Urban Fund in July;
we pray for our Deanery, for our Area Dean Mthr Carol,
and for our neighbours also in interregnum at this time, Emmanuel West Hampstead, St Mary’s Primrose Hill, St Peter and St Saviour’s Belsize Park: Lord ….
We pray for those who suffer in body, mind and spirit; those on our own hearts…
We pray for those who are dying, and those who mourn their dead,
praying at this time for the Revd Anna Matthews, vicar of St Benet’s Cambridge,
for her congregation, her family and friends, and all who love her,
among whom our curate Graham: Lord ….
Loving God, Creator of all, through your grace we are your people;
through your Son you have redeemed us;
in your Spirit you have made us your own transforming our lives:
lead us now into all the good things you have prepared for us:
we ask these things in the name of your Son our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.