Good day dear friends. I neglected to mention for our out-of-town readers the devasation that visited San Marcos with the hail storm that blew through here last Thursday. The area most affected was South San Marcos at the outlets and those neighborhoods nearby. The Rev. Del Brown was attending a camping outing in Boerne and he was called home because his brand new car was totalled by hail damage. Several church members had damage to cars and property. We thank God that no one we know was seriously injured but grapefruit sized hail was falling in the area mentioned. On Friday, Nellie and I toured the mall area and saw nothing but broken car glass in the parking lots and several tow trucks still hauling cars away. The car dealerships in that area of town also suffered major losses. Again, we're thankful for the reports of no loss of life and also for the rain that came with that storm.
We continued our season of Easter with a message of peace. In the John 20 passage, Jesus appears to the Disciples (minus one, good ole Thomas), and shares with them a message of peace: "Peace be with you" Jesus says in verses 19 and 21. Eight days later when Thomas is finally with the disciples the risen Lord greets Thomas with the same message: Peace be with you.
Peace is ours was the theme and we continue that this morning with this study guide:
Monday: Peace is ours! What a wonderful declaration from the Lord for us! Reread the passage from yesterday again. Then look up the passage from Matthew 6:25-34. Take careful note of all that was shared by Jesus on His Sermon on the Mount to those who were on the hillside listening as well as what Jesus is sharing with you and me. What do you hear the Lord saying to you about worry?
Here is the John passage (RSV):19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." 24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe." 26 Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing." 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."
And here is the Matthew passage:
25 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. 34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day.
I mentioned in my sermon the messages brought by Bishop Sharon Brown Christopher at this year's Bishop's Convocation. She had a very timely message about peace and how the lack of peace affects our lives. This week's (April 24, 2006) Newsweek magazine had a cover story on "Why Women Can't Sleep." And what Jesus shared with the disciples is also shared with us: We must be people of peace. If we receive the Lord's peace it carries over into our personal lives and we can be the people God intended us to be. We're the generation that might just be remembered as the most stressed-out. Our children may, sadly say, "My parents were always too busy, and too worried...about everything...I never had them like I wanted, with joy and peace. They rarely smiled and always frowned. I remembered that they never really slept like they should; many were the nights they kept me up with the noises of their disagreements, they're going to the bathroom..." etc.
Jesus' Easter message is ours as well: Peace be with you. As we face all that we face, especially those things that trouble and worry us, we should always remember that we face nothing alone and that God provides for us. I shared the story Bishop Christopher shared about WWII orphans and how when they slept clutching a piece of bread they were able to sleep the entire night, and how that story reminded me of a conversation I overheard at the graveside of one of my sister-in-law's relatives' funeral: Two brothers, raised by the same mother had grown up quite differently. One chose to stay close to home and he was blessed financially for that decision by his mom (whose funeral we were attending); the other chose not to live near and was not blessed, in fact, he suffered much and his appearance gave him away. One of his longtime friend, a friend from the Valley told him, "why don't you move back to the Valley; we don't have much, but there's always beans and tortillas!" To demonstrate that (and this will help if you hear the sermon online), I tossed some tortillas into the congregation as a reminder of God's love and care for us.
Peace is ours.
PRAYER: God of life and peace, we thank You for the timeless Easter message of Jesus, that peace is ours. Let that be true today and all days as we learn to trust You and walk with You that in all things and in all ways we might bless You by blessing others with the same message of peace. We pray in Christ Jesus' name, amen.
Have a blessed and great day!
e.v.
PS: The sermon is online at www.fumcsm.org. Please allow some time for the sermon to download onto your computer. You could also save it to your desktop.
