Peace Be With You
Discipleship Questions for
Sunday May 11, 2008
Scripture Readings:
First Reading: Acts 2:1-11
Psalm Reading: Psalm 104
Second Reading: 1Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13
Gospel: John 20:19-23
Acts 2:1
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Acts 2:5
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
Psa. 104:1
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
O LORD my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
2 He wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent
3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
and rides on the wings of the wind.
4 He makes winds his messengers,
flames of fire his servants.
5 He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved.
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 But at your rebuke the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
8 they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them.
9 You set a boundary they cannot cross;
never again will they cover the earth.
Psa. 104:10
He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.
11 They give water to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the air nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches.
13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for man to cultivate—
bringing forth food from the earth:
15 wine that gladdens the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine,
and bread that sustains his heart.
16 The trees of the LORD are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests;
the stork has its home in the pine trees.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
the crags are a refuge for the coneys.
Psa. 104:19
The moon marks off the seasons,
and the sun knows when to go down.
20 You bring darkness, it becomes night,
and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
21 The lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.
22 The sun rises, and they steal away;
they return and lie down in their dens.
23 Then man goes out to his work,
to his labor until evening.
Psa. 104:24
How many are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.
26 There the ships go to and fro,
and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
Psa. 104:27
These all look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.
28 When you give it to them,
they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.
29 When you hide your face,
they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.
30 When you send your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
Psa. 104:31
May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in his works—
32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
Psa. 104:33
I will sing to the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the LORD.
35 But may sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked be no more.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
Praise the LORD.
1Cor. 12:3
Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
1Cor. 12:4
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
1Cor. 12:7
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
1Cor. 12:12
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
John 20:19
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
John 20:21
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Discipleship Questions:
1. Today is Pentecost Sunday. Today we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit and the formation of the Christian Church. Power is a dominant theme but today there is another theme that the early Church Fathers noticed. They saw it as a restoration of unity to the disunity that occurred at the Tower of Babel. Gen. 11:9 “That is why it was called Babel—because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.” Please reflect upon this and discuss. May I encourage you to read the description of what happened at that first Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-11.
2. Please read the follow scripture reference and then reflect upon the idea of the “bond of peace.” Eph. 4:3 “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Unity, peace – they need effort to find. Please discuss this point.
3. Please read the 1 Corinthians passage and reflect upon the theme of peace that permeates these verses. Please note that the sentence “Peace be with you!” Is a very strong statement and ends with an exclamation mark. This isn’t an “observation” but a call to take a hold on what He, Jesus, had just accomplished.
4. Please read the following from my sermon notes and discuss: Do we know what real peace is? Perhaps we would know it when we experienced it. I think we would and I say this because I’m convinced that because we’re made in the image of God there’s something deep deep down in the DNA, as it were, of our very beings that “cries” out for the peace we lost in the beginning when we chose to rebel against God – when we chose to be as Gods! And in making that choice we lost our peace with God and from that moment onwards “peace” has been a very very elusive thing for us!
Oh, we’ve found touches of it. You can probably remember fleeting moments of peace.
I can remember a morning on the beautiful powder white beach of Surfer’s Paradise. It was just as the sun was rising over the waves and I was 17 and I remember being overwhelmed with a sense of well-being and perfect peace.
This was soon to be rudely interrupted when a rather beautiful young woman walked by in a skimpy bathing suit! The peace I was feeling was pushed aside by other feelings which will go unnamed!
Hmmmm – how fleeting is this sense of peace and yet how poignant it is – how we crave it. And yet how easily we allow it be subverted by other compelling titivations.
Do you crave peace? Do you yearn for peace – a permanent sort of peace. Not one that is quickly overwhelmed by the stimulations – the distractions - of our all too glitzy world!
Peace – how important is it to you?
How important should it be to you?
How much peace is there in your life?
How much more peace could you experience with a few fundamental changes in your life?
You understand don’t you that we lost “peace” at the Fall. And with that loss we lost any sense of “rest.”
Let’s be clear about what we’re really talking about here shall we?
Peace – what is it?
ei˙rh/nh eirene; from ei¶rw which means: to join. It means: a state of concord or harmony.
The meaning of ‘peace’ or ‘tranquility’ may be expressed in some languages in a negative form, for example, ‘to be without trouble’ or ‘to have no worries’ or ‘to sit down in one’s heart.’ One is not standing up at attention but rather sitting down in one’s heart! It’s a state of well being – a heart restedness!
It’s that perpetual state that the citizens of the Kingdom of God are promised to live in.
It’s what you and I are heading towards and it’s that state that we get to experience albeit on special occasions here and now if we want it!
As we’ve already noted, St. Paul tells us: “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. . .” Eph. 2:14
5. Please read the following and discuss: C.S. Lewis wisely once wrote, “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it’s not there. There’s no such thing.” And so we return to the idea – the reality, that Jesus Himself is – “IS” our peace and He comes to us by His Holy Spirit today and every day after that one Great Day called Pentecost Sunday!
As Lewis wrote in his paper entitled, “On Stories,”
The Christian story affirms that in one human being that other and more real world has entered our history, that we need not transcend our finitude in order to find that more real world. The universal is particularized, located in time and space. The author has written himself into the play. As Augustine found the Word made flesh in the gospel but not in the Platonists, so here too Lewis has turned from myth to story and found the story which promises to satisfy the longing of the restless heart while yet acknowledging, even affirming, the relentless temporality of a pilgrim existence.
It’s in Jesus Christ that we find our peace within the restless temporality of a pilgrim existence.
Jesus Christ is our peace. On this day of Pentecost Jesus Christ invites us once again to enter into His peace by inviting His Holy Spirit once again into our hearts to renew and enliven us and not only remind us of His peace but in fact and in reality to BE OUR peace right her and right now!
Now how do you get a hold onto that?
I can almost hear some of your thoughts! OK – I want that peace – how do I get it?
Remember – Jesus Christ IS our peace! So it’s by inviting the resurrected Jesus to establish or reestablish His PEACE in our hearts! It’s that ridiculously simple! If Jesus Christ is real! If He was an historical reality and did in fact die and then rise again then it’s conceivable that He is what He said He is – OUR PEACE!