FIRST READING Isaiah 25:6–9
6 On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. 7 And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. 9 It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
PSALM Psalm 23
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. 2 The LORD makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters. 3 You restore my soul, O LORD, and guide me along right pathways for your name’s sake. 4 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil, and my cup is running over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
SECOND READING Philippians 4:4–13
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. 10 I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it. 11 Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
GOSPEL Matthew 22:1–14
1 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2 The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ 5 But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ 10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, 12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
SIX IMPORTANT WORDS
When I saw the word “mantra,” I’m betting, that for many of you, the first thought that comes to mind are the thought-energies of certain sounds in Hinduism and Buddhism. Mantras have also been used for years in the business and self-help worlds to improve performance. Everything from “enjoy simple”, to “I am the master of my own destiny, to “Nothing great was ever achieved by being realistic!” Needless to say, the internet is full of them. But, would you be surprised if I told you that Christians have mantras as well.
One of the earliest mantras was 4 simple words said three times in different combinations, and can be used in every circumstance imaginable. Anybody guess what this early Christian mantra was? Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy. We know this mantra as part of our worship, the Kyrie, or the Kyrie eleison which is Greek and is translated as Lord have mercy. The second part of this prayer set to music is Christe eleison or Christ have mercy.
These four words, Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy, spoken three different times, or as many times as we need, can be used to help beat back those forces and powers that are dragging us down. This Christian mantra is a cry to God for help, a cry that’s always heard and always answered. If you don’t use this prayer I suggest you begin. And while we’re talking about mantras, Paul gives us another one we can use and it’s found in this morning epistle text. It’s not really a prayer, so I guess you could say that it truly is a mantra, or words of guidance. And these words of guidance aren’t 4 powerful words, but 6 words: six words that can bring us peace, and dare I say it, six words that can save our life.
But before I tell you Paul’s six words, I need to set them up by having you re-visit a medieval monastery. In these incubators of holiness, there were often multiple gardens. The center-most garden space was called the “garth.” The “garth” was protected by the walls of the cloister, by the labyrinth of out-buildings and by the multitude of pathways.
The reason this particular part of the monastery is different, is that unlike other parts of the monastery where the grounds are open to the public, the “garth” was reserved for the exclusive use of the monks. The “garth” was a sacred space, a place for prayer, of prayer-walking, Bible-reading, meditation, solitude, and solace. The “garth” acted as the “keep” for the spiritual health and well-being of the community. In the sacred space of the “garth,” the prayerful sought and received “the peace of God that passes all understanding.”
For those of us not living a cloistered life, who don’t reside behind monastery walls, with a central, protected “garth,” a real, live, geographical space, locating a place to find the peace of God can be difficult. Sometimes finding such an island in life where we can encounter and embrace “the peace of God” can appear to be a fool’s quest. Or is it? Don’t we experience places of solitude on a regular basis?
Your car, for example, trapped in rush hour traffic, can’t that be a “garth”? Or how about our work place, filled with tensions, deadlines, boredom, panic, and prickly personalities, is it possible that it too could be a “garth”? What about our dining room table, complete with flying peas and sniping siblings, grumpy teens and left-over lasagna, can that be a “garth”? Or the living room, with two computers, one T.V., plugged in IPODS and tuned out people, can that possibly be a “garth”? Can they?
In this week’s epistle reading, Paul offers to the congregation at Philippi a road map to a new kind of existence, an existence free from anxiety, a life free from worry and gnawing doubt, a life filled and fulfilled by what the apostle called “the peace of God which passes all understanding.” How do we reach that divine destination? How do we get such a “garth?”
Paul offers six words, three couplets that give precise directions to this place of peace. Here is my translation of this part of today’s text: Be anxious in nothing, be prayerful in everything, be thankful in anything. Or to say it in the mantra form: Anxious: Nothing – Prayerful: Everything – Thankful: Anything . . . that’s Anxious Nothing, Prayerful Everything, Thankful Anything. Doesn’t that sound like good advice? Doesn’t that sound like a recipe for peace? Do you want the peace of God, “the peace that passes all understanding?” Then follow those directions and, Paul promises, you will find the “peace of God,” your own personal “garth” among the landscape. Just six words: Anxious: Nothing, Prayerful: Everything, Thankful: Anything. PEACE.
Of course, Paul’s path to peace may be a little more difficult to follow than it first appears. First of all, you have to realize Paul gave them in reverse order. You can mix it up any way you want. Put them in any order you want. But the most Pauline order is this one: Thankful: Anything, Anxious: Nothing, Prayerful: Everything. This will equal peace. Now one thing I need to point out is a nuance. Paul is saying be anxious, thankful and prayerful IN, not necessarily about.
We’re not expected to be thankful about getting the car totaled for example. That would be absurd. However, in the midst of the stress, the worry and inconvenience we need to be thankful that God can and does work. While we’re in these difficult times and situations we should be in prayer, not given to anxiety and giving God thanks for the work He is doing during that time. Anxious in, thankful in and prayerful in. These challenging words are life changing and deserve a closer look.
The first and foundational direction is toward “thankfulness.” Again, being “thankful” in anything. Sometimes the words choke coming out, as being “thankful in anything” isn’t easy. However, we must recognize that our ultimate thanksgiving is in Christ and His salvation. Because of this gift of Christ, we can be thankful in all things. That’s right: all things. Even during a crashing stock market we should be thankful. Gratitude to God is the foundation of the firmament, the first step in progressing towards peace. When we begin at the beginning, with God, who is the source of all good gifts, and recognize all He’s done for us, only after our infinite debt has been acknowledged, only then can we move forward. I’m not saying that this first step will be easy, I’m not implying that this will be our first reaction to the difficult times. I am saying that this first step is huge! And I also recognize that this first step takes into account seriously the shortfall of our short lives.
This first step tromps on “I was Young” or “I didn’t mean it” or I’ll make it up later” or “No one will notice.” The tiny sins, the bad moments, the real disappointments, the big-time crimes—-they all come together in this first step. This first step encompasses all our human weaknesses and fallibilities. The small time infringements: The larger than life downfalls. Christ didn’t distinguish, didn’t care, didn’t ask about “less” or “more.” He went to the cross for each and every one of these infractions. That’s what each of us have to be thankful for. That gift that embraced and embodied all of our sins and shortcomings—-no matter how small, no matter how large. It’s only after acknowledging this sacrifice, this gift of salvation, with genuine, heartfelt thanksgiving, that the ball can start rolling.
I guarantee that right now it’s very difficult for any of us to say: Yes, I am thankful for “anything?” Thankful for a winning lottery ticket, probably: Thankful for losing half your investment in the stock market, not so much. Thankful for the children and grandchildren who give us love and joy, you betcha!: Thankful for the times when our children caused us pain and worry, much more difficult. Thankful for jobs, families, homes, friends, enemies, unemployment, rejection, ostracism; we probably have a lot of work to do. Thankful in “anything?” However, once we have mastered “thankfulness,” the rest is much easier.
All we need do now is be “anxious in nothing” and then be “prayerful in everything.” If we’re truly “thankful in anything,” the “prayerful in everything” component is kind of a given. There’s no way to be thankful in anything without resorting to being prayerful in everything. Try being thankful for your overly demanding boss without uttering a prayer first. Try sending out the mortgage payment without uttering a prayer first. Try believing in the future, in these unsettling political and financial times without uttering a prayer first. We must be prayerful in everything, once we’re thankful for anything, because thanksgiving requires prayer as its most essential nutrient, we can learn to be anxious for nothing.
The easiest of Paul’s directives is the one that sounds the hardest: be “anxious” in “nothing.” Once thankfulness and prayerfulness are established, the relief from anxieties, from day to day “worry-wartness,” is purged from our lives. Of course, this doesn’t mean that everything will be hunky-dunky, that life will be footloose and stress-free. In fact, following Jesus will most likely bring a host of added difficulties and discord to your life. Nowhere in the Bible are we promised a trouble-free life. What we’re promised is a place to go to lay our burdens down and a place to receive peace. What we’re offered is a focus for our lives and for our future.
With the larger vision of Christ at the top of our horizons, and with the always-open doorway to prayer and petition available to us, there simply is no fertile ground to nurture anxiety and distress. The fear and doubt, the despair and misery, that provided the nutrients for growing anxiety are dried up and blown away by each prayer spoken, by each bread-of-life broken, by each token of gratitude. I’m sure some of you are sitting there saying, this makes for a nice chant, but it isn’t always as neat as all that. And you’re right. Paul understood this. That’s why he added the words we find in verse 8.
“Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think on these things.” Paul knew it’s more than simply learning to change our attitude and focus, it’s also about changing the way we think and perceive life. When we refuse to dwell on the bad as the only alternative, refuse to consider the brokenness around us as the final word and refuse to see only the wickedness as the only option, then we can begin to see God’s hand at work in our lives and in the world around us. Paul knew how hard all this was. And Paul had become an expert in learning to see God’s work in all things.
Paul as a Pharisee knew what it was like to have everything go his way. But after meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, he also knew what it was like to live under oppression. Because of his willingness to serve God in all things, Paul also learned what it was like to have little. To be driven off, ship wrecked, beaten and imprisoned. If anyone is an authority on how to deal with the worst this world can offer it was Paul. Paul knew where his hope lay.
Paul placed his hope in a God who not only answers prayers but walks with us every step of the way. And with that hope and promise before us, despite what life can throw at us, we can learn to change the way we approach, see and deal with life. And when we learn to embrace thankfulness and prayer, when we learn to change our attitude and view of this world, it’s then that we can enjoy the blessings of living anxiety (but not trouble) free. Trouble will come, but that doesn’t mean that we’re overcome. When we know that Christ is for us and that no one is against us, we can then become a Shalomer.
“Shalom” is the Hebrew word for peace. Peace in the Hebrew sense of “shalom” is far more than the absence of conflict. Shalom is a state of being, a presence of wholeness and holiness. Shalom is an incarnation of a divine gift. In short, Shalom is the best human beings can hope to bring into this world. And those who bring “Shalom” into this world, can be called “Shalomers.”
What will it take for you to become a “Shalomer?” What will it take for us to become someone who advertises and advocates God’s peace unto this world? First it’s about prayer, second it’s about focus and lastly, it’s about attitude. Paul knew this and this is why he gave these words to the church. It’s not an easy task, but again Paul said it best in verse 13. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. To help in this change, Paul gave us instructions that I’ve boiled down to just 10 words to remember. Lord have, Christ and mercy. Anxious, nothing; prayerful, everything and thankful, anything.
I suggest you start each day with the prayer Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy and repeat these words as many times as needed. Next, begin to turn all the worries of this world over to God. Once we’ve learned to let go of those things out of our control, finally we can begin to experience God’s peace, the Shalom of God that comes with being anxious in nothing, prayerful in everything and thankful in anything. If we can indeed learn to change the way we approach each day and everything that comes with living in this world, we too will be able to say with Paul, I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me. We too will be a Shalomer.
Amen