Be at Peace with Where You Are in Life

I'll tell you, as we continue in our Practicing Presence sermon series, that as I sat down (2:33) this week to begin preparing for this week's sermon, no matter when it was going to be (2:38) preached, I knew it was going to be preached at some point, I started giggling to myself (2:43) when I realized the topic that I had planned out over two months ago when we were planning (2:50) out this sermon series. (2:51) The theme for this week came from Brother Lawrence's, the book that we're kind of operating (2:56) out from under, from his eleventh letter, and the central key theme of this letter, (3:02) this chapter of the book, is be at peace where you are in life.

(3:11) And I giggled because this week has been anything but peaceful. (3:20) I think we've all been anxious as we heard the dire and ever-changing weather forecast (3:29) as the week has progressed. (3:31) I mean, early in the week, we were hearing snow totals of 20-30 inches for Lebanon and (3:39) Tennessee, and then when it shifted, the snow totals went down, but then they started using (3:49) numbers like an inch of ice, which is worse than 20 inches of snow, it would be crippling.

(3:57) And for those of us worshiping on Friday evening, we're still anxious, wondering what's (4:05) going to happen. (4:06) For those worshiping on Sunday morning, you've seen a lot of the brunt of what it is, whatever (4:13) that may be, whether it's a lot or a little. (4:17) I say this because this week's weather forecast and this weekend's weather are probably the (4:29) best sermon illustration that I can offer about seeking to be in peace in the moment (4:37) with whatever life throws at you, which is really what Brother Lawrence is trying to (4:42) get at.

(4:42) Whatever life throws at you, we need to be at peace in the moment. (4:47) And let me tell you, church, I have been failing. (4:54) I have been failing as I have worried to make sure that my family is prepared and ready (5:02) and is safe.

(5:04) And I mean that by not only Heather and Tyler and I, and Hickory at home, but I went to (5:13) Cookeville today to go and make sure my parents were taken care of, to make sure they had (5:18) everything they need to move firewood in so they had alternative fuel. (5:21) I've worried about making sure I made the right decisions as the pastor of this church, (5:29) trying to balance our need to worship God with keeping my flock safe. (5:37) I've worried about the needs of our community, especially the most vulnerable in it.

(5:46) How are those who are vulnerable in our community going to make it over these few days of precipitation (5:55) followed by a brutal week of frigid cold next week? (6:00) And I want to pause for just a minute and say thank you to those who are working hard (6:10) and tireless, sacrificing of themselves to be able to make sure that those vulnerable (6:17) are taken care of. (6:18) I know there's many here in this congregation who have fixed breakfast casseroles and volunteered (6:23) with the warming shelters and the places that are caring for those vulnerable. (6:28) It truly is a community effort and it makes me proud, but I worry about what this week (6:36) is going to hold.

(6:38) It's hard to be at peace in life because life throws so much at us, right? (6:49) We know that. (6:51) We turn on the news and it's anxiety producing. (6:56) We look at the weather report and it causes anxiety in us.

(7:04) We worry about our families and our loved ones. (7:08) We worry about their health. (7:10) We worry about our health.

(7:12) And there are so many things that we encounter on a daily basis that prevent us from being (7:21) at peace where we are. (7:26) And oftentimes what happens I think for us, I'm not going to speak for you, but I've struggled (7:33) with this at times, is that I simply wish that I was at a different place. (7:41) Literally sometimes, that might be a good thing to wish this weekend, but oftentimes (7:47) figuratively to wish I was at a different place with certain relationships in my life (7:52) or to wish that I was at a different place in my career or to wish that I was in a different (7:57) place with my economic status.

(8:01) We wish that we had things that we don't have. (8:05) And let me just say, church, there's nothing wrong with seeking to better ourselves or (8:13) to try to achieve goals that we may have around education, careers, money, relationships. (8:19) But in the midst of that, how can we be at peace? (8:27) While seeking to achieve goals, how can we be at peace with where we are today? (8:35) I'll tell you, I've come to see this weekend and whatever it holds and next week as potentially (8:41) harmful and damaging depending on how the weather hits and the snow and ice hit and (8:46) for potential of trees falling and power lines falling and power being out and impacting the (8:51) roads and being slick and people not being able to get around.

(8:54) But here's what I know, there is nothing I can do about it. (9:03) How can worry add even a day to our lives, right? (9:11) And what I've also come to understand in the midst of this, that this weekend is giving us an opportunity to stop either by choice or by force of nature. (9:29) So that we can practice presence.

(9:33) Because each of us does have the power to control what we do with the time that we have. (9:42) So how will you use this weekend? (9:44) How will you use next week? (9:46) How will we use the times when we're stuck at home either by choice or by weather to (9:51) practice the presence of God? (9:55) To spend time with God, in the presence of God. (10:02) How will we be able to stop and to practice presence with those vital relationships in (10:10) our lives? (10:11) Will we take the opportunities that are given to us to gather together with those that we're (10:17) stuck at home with and to play a game together or to put a puzzle together or to watch a movie (10:22) together? (10:23) Will we take the opportunity to use the technology there for us to pick up a phone and to call (10:29) the people who we love and talk with them when we can't do anything else? (10:33) There's an opportunity in front of us to practice presence with God and one another as we find (10:43) ourselves at home.

(10:47) What happens when we do this is we find that our attention comes off of the storms and those (10:56) storms are literal sometimes and sometimes those storms are figurative and we start thinking (11:02) about the good things in our lives, the relationships, the people, those that are important to us (11:08) that we value. (11:09) And hopefully what happens when we do this is we shift from anxiety, from worry, from (11:17) fear to a place of peace wherever it is that we find ourselves. (11:28) Because here's the thing church, we can create a mindset in our lives and we are good at (11:33) it.

(11:34) It's once I get there then I'll be good. (11:38) Once this happens then life is going to be great and I will be at peace then. (11:45) We get caught up in this and we strive for it so we can get to that place where we have (11:51) peace and that's what life teaches us.

(11:57) We say things like, well you know what, I will get the playing time I want, but you (12:04) got to earn it. (12:06) So you got to put in the hours in the weight room and on the practice field and doing the (12:10) things that you're supposed to do. (12:12) You don't want to be the first chair, well you better outwork the one who's the first (12:18) chair now to be able to get to that spot that that person has.

(12:22) We say if you want to make more money, have nice things, then work harder, get more education (12:27) and training and make those things happen. (12:31) And again, none of those things are wrong, but what happens in our lives is we make the (12:37) decision internally that I'm not going to be at peace until I get there and oftentimes (12:43) we never get there in our minds. (12:47) And even worse, what happens is we take that mindset over into our faith and the problem (12:59) with that when we do that is that we can't do anything to deserve God's love.

(13:06) We can't do anything to earn God's love. (13:11) And so if it's up to us to do something, to be able to finally be at peace in our relationship (13:17) with God, then the situation is hopeless. (13:23) But the good news of this is that that is not the way it works.

(13:28) That's not who God is. (13:30) That's not in the nature and character of our Lord because God gives this to us freely. (13:39) That's what grace is.

(13:42) Our text for today from the Apostle Paul begins, (13:46) Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through Jesus because (13:54) we have already gained access to God's grace. (14:02) Faith is what allows us to receive grace. (14:06) It's there.

(14:08) Faith helps us to grab hold of it. (14:10) Paul talks about this in conjunction with the storms of life, ironically. (14:15) He says that this faith that we have that allows us to grab the grace that's there (14:20) for us is produced because of the storms of life because he says suffering produces perseverance (14:28) and perseverance produces character and character produces hope and hope does not disappoint.

(14:34) Hope is what causes us to have faith and faith gives us access to God's amazing grace through (14:43) Jesus Christ. (14:46) The word grace is used so much so often that it's lost its meaning. (14:51) I think if you were to ask the average Christian what does grace mean then they probably would (14:56) come close to saying something like God's undeserved or unmerited love and that's true.

(15:02) That is right. But the ways we use it are oftentimes diminished versions of that. Because oftentimes we will say that we're asking a teacher to give us grace when we turn in our project late or asking our employer to show us grace when we show up to work late or asking our loved ones or people we're in relationships with to show us grace when we fail them.

(15:40) And yes, that is undeserved and unmerited, but grace is so much more than that. The Greek word for grace in the New Testament is charis, c-h-a-r-i-s would be the English kind of spelling of that.  And the literal meaning of charis is a special manifestation of God's divine presence.

(16:14) Charis, the literal definition of it, the literal definition of grace is a special manifestation of God's divine presence. It is literally God with us. It's not just simply God loving us even though we don't deserve it, it's God choosing to be present with us no matter what through the very storms that will cause us to be anxious and not be at peace.

(16:51) Faith helps us to see in the midst of the storms that we have the Prince of Peace present with us. You see, church, grace is practicing presence. When we practice presence with God, then we are receiving God's grace in our lives.

(17:14) And when we practice presence with others, then we are communicating God's grace to them. This is time not deserved or earned, but given freely as an act of love. Some of you may have heard of Chuck Colson, I heard him speak one time, he was President Nixon's hatchet man and was convicted for his involvement with the Watergate scandal.

(17:42) When he was in prison, he became a Christian and when he got out of prison, he started the non-profit, The Prison Fellowship. I heard him once at an event tell the story of a time when he was doing ministry on death row in an Indiana state prison. And he came across an inmate there on death row by the name of James Brewer who had been convicted and sentenced to death. He noticed throughout this event that this inmate, James Brewer, was praising God and  worshiping God, and the whole time he had the same Prison Fellowship volunteer by his side. And he thought, well that's impressive to see. But following the service, Colson had an appointment with the governor of the state of Indiana, so he was trying to slip out of this event, which he was there just to observe, to go to meet with the governor of the state of Indiana, and that volunteer stopped him.

(18:41) And Colson said, I'm sure that he could see the frustration on my face that I was being delayed. But then that volunteer said to him, I am Judge Clement. He said, well it's nice to meet you, I've got to go, I've got to meet with the governor. He said, I don't think you understand. I am the judge who sentenced him to death, but now he is my brother. Before you leave, would you pray with us? (Can you imagine how awkward that situation could have been? Can you imagine how awkward it could have been for a judge to go into a death row where he had sentenced, at least one of the men sentenced to die there? Can you imagine how difficult it would have been for Brewer to have been able to see the judge who sentenced him to die? And we know that Colson admitted that in that moment it was awkward for him because he had an appointment with the most powerful man in the state of Indiana. And yet there they were, practicing presence, experiencing God's grace, peace, in a time when peace made no sense. 

(20:11) Brother Lawrence in this 11th letter says, "What comforts me in this life is that I now see Jesus by faith. I see him in such a manner as might make me say I believe no more, for now I see."

(20:32) I feel what faith teaches us, and in that assurance and practice of faith, I will live and die with Christ, present with Christ. In other words, Lawrence is saying, my words, taken from other words that you will hear in just a minute, no matter my lot, thou has taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. Thanks be to God.