Choosing Peace, Hope, and Love

The Rev. Kathi Johnson

Reformation Sunday – 30 October 2016

Text: Psalm 46

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

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Our psalm today is full of contrasts – the psalmist describes God as a refuge and a stronghold, and God is one who is present with us. The world, by contrast, is trembling – the earth moves, the mountains shake, the nations rage, and the earth melts away. The point of this psalm, then, is to assure the people of God that when everything around us seems to be shifting and uncertain - God is our refuge, God is our strength, God is our very present help in trouble.

Like us, the reformer Martin Luther lived in a time of great turmoil. The world of Luther was filled with political, societal, and religious division. Into this turmoil, Luther and others spoke the words of the Gospel – that God is a loving God, who longs to be in relationship with us, and who sent his Son to save us.

In a world of turmoil, Luther wrote hymns like “A Mighty Fortress” – a towering theological hymn that is his reworking of Psalm 46. We may sing it with moderate gusto here in the 21^st century, but for Luther, those hordes of devils eager to devour him were the people who were trying to kill him because of his faith. Luther knew the evil that was around him, and he also knew that God is stronger.

A couple of Wednesdays ago at worship, I reflected with that group that this is a really hard year to be a pastor. It’s not just me, either. When I’ve had the chance recently to gather with colleagues, we’re all weary.

It’s not just the clergy. Our country is weary. We have news cycle after news cycle shouting at us, and into that turmoil, my colleagues and I speak words of the peace, hope, and love that we find in God. In fact, on Facebook each day until Election Day (at least), I am saying these words to people: “God loves you.” It’s my little way of injecting some good news – some gospel – into people’s lives.

God loves you.

That is the bedrock that the psalmist wrote about – that when the earth is moving and the mountains are quaking, and when the nations won’t stop raging – the bedrock of our faith is that God loves us and is our stronghold.

That is the bedrock that Luther wrote about, too – that when the evil threatens to overwhelm us completely – the bedrock of our faith is that God is by our side because God loves us and is our stronghold.

The bedrock of God’s love for us is what we can rely upon when nothing else seems to make sense – when everything is shaking – that bedrock gives us the stability to stand. And then, strong upon that bedrock, we can begin to look outside of ourselves with compassion once again.

I end with a story about choosing love or hate; choosing hope or fear; and choosing peace or discord. Where do you see yourself in this story? And how can God use you in this world of turmoil to be a voice of peace, hope, and love?

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Once upon a time, a queen ruled a kingdom. When she first became queen, she would go out among the people almost every day. She would hand out alms to the poor and place her hand upon their heads in blessing. She loved her people, and they loved her.

Over time, the queen built a tremendous castle. She had walkways built along the top of all the castle walls, so she could survey her kingdom. Over time, it became her daily habit to walk along the top of her castle walls, watching everything down below. She watched the people come and go from the market. She watched the merchants sell and the tradesmen work. The peace and industry of her kingdom made her proud and happy to be queen.

One day, the queen was up on her castle wall, and she saw two men arguing. The more they argued, the more heated they became, and eventually they came to blows. Eventually, the crowd pulled the two men apart, but not before blood was splattered on the street where they had fought. The queen was shaken by what she had watched – never before had she seen such hatred and violence.

The next day, the queen was reluctant to observe her kingdom from atop the castle wall. But she trudged up the steps, and again walked along the top of the wall, to watch the townspeople below.

Suddenly, a ruckus broke out in the marketplace – another argument, this time between two vendors. A bread vendor, filled with rage, knocked over a fruit vendor’s display, so the fruit vendor responded in kind. Soon, the entire marketplace had erupted in spontaneous rage, and everything in the market was torn apart while the queen watched in horror. She was again shaken by what she had observed, and so she retreated to deep within her castle.

The next day, the queen had no heart to observe from atop the castle wall. Instead, she relied upon reports brought by her servants every fifteen minutes. Each report was worse than the last – each report had more hatred, more violence, and more bloodshed. And then the queen realized that, for her own safety, she had to become a prisoner in her tremendous castle.

The queen was perplexed by these changes in her kingdom. Why was everything falling apart? Why did she feel as though the very foundations of her tremendous castle were being shaken?

She asked her advisors: What should we do? “More soldiers,” was their answer. So they put more soldiers on patrol – and the hatred and the violence continued.

Again, she asked her advisors: What should we do? “Starve them into submission!” was their answer. “Starving people can’t possibly fight!” So they limited supplies to the townspeople, all the while making sure that the castle was well-stocked, of course. And the hatred and violence continued, and the townspeople, realizing how well-stocked the castle was, began to turn their hatred and violence toward this queen whom they had once loved.

The queen felt that never before had humankind seen such hatred and violence. And still she puzzled over what to do.

Desperate, one of her quiet advisors finally spoke up. “O Queen,” he said, “There is one more thing we can try…”

“What is it?” she responded. “I’ll try anything!”

“There is a wise man who lives out in the woods. He is very old – all the gossips in the town say he is at least a thousand years old! He is very wise – maybe he would know what to do.” said the advisor.

“Call him at once!” responded the queen. “Bring him here to me as soon as possible!” And she sat back to wait for the wise old man.

A while later, the doors opened, and her servants led the wise old man in to see the queen. He bowed before her slowly, as if he might break in two. “Yes, yes,” she said, hurriedly. “We need your help. My advisor tells me that you are very wise. My kingdom is falling apart – it is shaking down to its very core! In all the history of humankind, it’s never been this bad before, old man. And I don’t know what to do. Can you help us?”

The wise old man leaned on his walking stick, deep in thought. After a long minute, he spoke, quietly, haltingly: “O queen, you say that your kingdom is shaking to its very core, and that in all human history, things have never been this bad?”

“YES!” she shouted.

Again, the wise old man spoke quietly and slowly: “I have lived for a long thousand years. I have seen kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall. I have seen plagues wipe out entire cities. I have seen wars destroy the countryside. I have watched family members take up arms against each other.

But the difficult part of any kingdom’s fall is this: it is the time when people who once showed love begin to hate, the time when people who once walked in hope begin to walk in fear, the time when people who once lived in peace begin to dispute every last matter.

O Queen, your people need peace. They need hope. And they need love.”

There was silence as the queen pondered his words.

And she began to think back, back all the way to the beginning of her reign, when she would go out, among the people, handing them alms and placing blessings upon their heads. And she began to realize that the wise old man was very wise indeed. For she realized that when she was out and among the people, she was walking in the way of peace, she was a voice of hope, and she was showing love – exactly what her people needed.

“Thank you,” she said to the wise old man. And without hesitation – without even looking back – the queen stepped off her throne. She went to her treasury and collected coins for her purse, giving some to her servants to carry. She went to her kitchen and told them to open the storehouse for the people.

And then she went out, into the streets, and began to walk among her people again. She handed out alms and put blessings upon their heads.

Slowly, at first, the people began to put down their weapons of destruction. A carpenter went to help his neighbor repair his damaged home. And then the two of them together went to repair another damaged home. And on and on it went, more and more people gathering together to repair the damage that they all had inflicted.

And the queen walked on every street of her kingdom that day.

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Amen. Let it be so.

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