Peace with Justice

Hampden United Methodist Church

May 26, 2024 homily on 2 Samuel 23:1-5 and Luke 1:67-78 by Pastor Galen for Peace with Justice Sunday

“One who rules over people justly, ruling in the fear of God, is like the light of morning,
    like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.” — 2 Samuel 23:3b-4

Like the Light of Morning

Imagine that you are waking up just a few moments before sunrise. You walk outside and see the sky just starting to get light, as the sun is just getting ready to slip above the horizon. In front of you, there’s a grassy field, and as the sky grows lighter you see that there must have been a gentle rain overnight because tiny little raindrops are clinging to every blade of glass. You have a blanket with you, and so you lay the blanket on the ground, and quietly sit down, watching in silence as the sun slips above the horizon and the light begins to glisten off the millions of tiny water droplets scattered across the grassy field.

As you sit silently, watching the sunrise, your closest friend walks over and lowers themself quietly onto the blanket next to you. You feel the warmth of their presence, but no words need to be spoken. The two of you just sit there on that blanket in the crisp morning air, enjoying the beauty of the morning together as you watch the rays of the sun gleam across the grassy and feel the warmth on your skin.

Justice and Peace

Peace and justice often seem like big, farfetched, abstract concepts. But King David, in his final words here in 2 Samuel 23, helps us to imagine the peace that is possible when there is justice, saying “One who rules over people justly, ruling in the fear of God, is like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land” (2 Samuel 23:3b-4). 

David, most likely speaking to his advisors and sons and those who will carry on his legacy of leadership after him, invites us not only to dream and imagine but also to see ourselves as participants with God in creating such a just and peaceful world. He goes on to say, “Is not my house like this with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. Will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire?” (2 Samuel 23:5). 

King David believed that if we work for justice, if we strive to bring about order and equality in the world, then God will work in and through us to bring about such a just and peaceful world. True peace exists when there is justice.

Our Guide in the Way of Peace

In Luke 1, Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, prophesied the coming of the Messiah, Jesus, saying, “Because of the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:78-79). This is such a beautiful picture of who Jesus is and what he came to do. Jesus is the sunlight gleaming on the grassy field, illuminating the tiny droplets on every blade of grass. He was and is the Messiah the world was waiting for, who leads us in the way of peace.

In fact, Jesus did just that, instructing us in the way of peace through his words and modeling the way of peace with justice in his deeds. Jesus taught us to love our neighbors, even those who are different from us, and he modeled that when he hung out with the social and religious outcasts and when he talked with the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus taught us to love even our enemies, and he modeled that for us when he refused to fight back against those who persecuted him, and when from the cross he forgave those who had conspired together to have him killed.

But Jesus did not tell us to stand by and be silent when there is injustice. Rather he taught a form of nonviolent civil disobedience, telling his followers, “If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. [And] if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles” (Matt. 5:41). He modeled this form of nonviolent social action when he turned over the tables of the money changers in the temple who were defrauding the foreigners and preventing them from praying in the temple, and he reminded the temple leaders that God’s house is to be a house of prayer for all people.

Jesus did indeed guide us in the way of peace, a peace that can only come about when there is justice.

Peace within Ourselves

But before we can truly work for peace and justice in the world, we must have peace within ourselves. Working for peace in the world also involves being gentle with ourselves, practicing good self-care, and tending to our own physical, and spiritual, and mental well-being. These are essential if we want to be agents of peace and justice in the world.

The word picture that I shared in the beginning of this message was one of experiencing peace in both solitude and community.  Before the friend came and sat with us on the blanket, I hope you felt a sense of peace and calm that came from simply being still, surrounded by the sunlight reflecting off of every blade of grass. My hope is that as you imagined that scene, you felt peace in the solitude, and that when your close friend came and sat with you in silence the peace you felt was multiplied. 

When we are experiencing inner turmoil, we will often have turmoil in our relationships with those around us. But when we have peace within ourselves, only then can we begin to have peace with those around us.

The Countercultural Mr. Rogers

When I think about what it looks like to work for peace both within ourselves and in the world around us, I think of Mr. Rogers. Now, normally when we think about famous peacemakers and social justice advocates of the 20th century, we tend to think of people who put their own lives in danger to save others, or we imagine someone with a loud booming voice who spoke prophetically against the injustices in our society. We think of people who marched, or fought, or organized. 

We don’t typically think of people like Fred Rogers, who created and hosted a children’s program by the name of “Mister Rogers Neighborhood” from 1968 to 2001. Mr Rogers spoke gently and “wore colorful, comfortable, soft sweaters made by his mother.” And yet, author Michael Long describes Fred Rogers as “one of the most underappreciated peacemakers in U.S. history…[who] richly deserves a place in the pantheon of pacifists who tried to shake the foundations of society and culture. In his view, Fred Rogers was “a quiet but strong American prophet who…invited us to make the world into a countercultural neighborhood of love—a place where there would be no wars, no racial discrimination, no hunger, no gender-based discrimination, no killing of animals for food, and no pillaging of the earth’s precious resources.

And how exactly did Mr. Rogers do this? How did he invite us to make the world a countercultural neighborhood of love? By first of all inviting us to recognize the beauty and worth and value of each and every person, including ourselves. Before the closing credits, Mr. Rogers would say to his viewers: “You always make each day a special day. You know how: By just your being yourself. There’s only one person in the whole world that’s like you, and that’s you. And people can like you just the way you are.” For Mr. Rogers, this idea that we are loved and accepted just the way we are stemmed from his deep and profound belief that God loves and accepts us just the way we are. 

Fred Rogers was a person of deep and profound faith in God — he was actually an ordained Presbyterian minister whose ministry was to children and families through mass media, and he believed strongly in God’s radical love and acceptance for all people. Fred Rogers used his platform as the creator and host of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood to teach the Christian values of peace — not in an overtly religious way, but in a way that exemplified Christian principles nonetheless. For Mr. Rogers, it was this truth of God’s radical love and acceptance for each and every one of us that allows us to love and accept and be at peace with others, including those who are very different from us.

Peacemaking Wherever We Are

Now you and I may say, ”But what can we do to bring about peace with justice? I’m not a king who makes laws like King David. I’m not the host of a children’s TV show with millions of viewers like Mr. Rogers. And I’m not the Messiah like Jesus. 

But as followers of Christ, we are called to follow Jesus’ way of peace. And because of the work that Jesus did for us on the cross, we have been forgiven and redeemed and restored in our relationship with God. We have peace with God and therefore we can be at peace with ourselves as well. And because Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit, we have the Spirit living inside of us, empowering us to work for God’s purposes in the world.

Although we are not kings like King David, we do “rule” in our own little spheres of influence. Whether we have responsibilities to care for children as a parent, or grandparent, aunt or uncle, teacher, or older sibling, or whether we have been given roles or responsibilities in our workplaces, or whether we are simply part of a neighborhood or a community, we have a responsibility to work for peace with justice wherever we are.  And even if we don’t have a large audience like Mr. Rogers, we can participate in the radical love and acceptance of God by seeking to be at peace with ourselves and those around us, and by letting those in our spheres of influence know that they are loved and valued just the way they are.

Mr. Rogers would say, years later, that when he looked at the lens of the camera, he would imagine that he was speaking to just one person. It didn’t matter that there were millions of children tuning in. What he experienced, and what those of us on the other side of the TV screen experienced, was that he was speaking to each and every person individually. Surely we can do the same when we’re speaking to the children, teens, and adults in our own lives.

Conclusion

And so this morning, wherever you are, whatever your sphere of influence, may you “rule justly” in the fear of God. May you know that you are loved and valued, just the way you are, and may you grow to be more and more like Christ, “like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.”  Amen!

Questions for Personal Reflection:

1. Reflect on the serene scene described at the beginning of the sermon. How does the imagery of a peaceful morning resonate with your experiences of peace? In what ways can you create moments of stillness and peace in your daily life?
2. What steps can you take to cultivate inner peace that positively influences your interactions with those around you?
3. How does Mr. Rogers’ approach to peacemaking inspire you to create a “countercultural neighborhood of love” in your own context? What actions can you take to recognize and affirm the worth and value of each person you encounter?