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| In the darkest hour, the soul is replenished and given strength to continue and endure. |
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SERMON LIBRARY |
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· Deacon Debbie Wesseloo (2)
· Deacon Phillip Laurings (3)
· Dean William Mosert (1)
· Reverend Angus Paterson (0)
· Reverend Graham Alexander (1)
· Reverend Joe Thompson (2)
· Reverend Lindy Rookyard (4)
· Visiting Clergy (0)
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| Date | 2010-05-09 | | Preacher | Dean William Mostert | | Title | FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER | | Sermon Details | JESUS SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES: “PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU, MY OWN PEACE GIVE I YOU”.
THESE\WORDS ARE FROM OUR GOSPEL PASSAGE FOR TODAY TAKEN FROM THE DISCOURSE AT THE LAST SUPPER BUT IT IS DOMINATED BYHIS IMINENT DEPARTURE.. BUT HE IS CONCERNED TO ASSURE THEM THAT HE WILL NOT LEAVE THEM DESOLATE, HE AND THEY WILL NOT BE APART. IF THEY KEEP HIS WORD THEY WILL BE DRAWN INTO THE LOVE OF THE FATHER AND THE SON. AND THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL REMIND THEM OF HIS WORDS. AND SO PEACE IS HIS FINAL GIFT TO THEM, A PEACE THAT THE WORLD CANNOT GIVE.
PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU, MY OWN PEACE DO I GIVE YOU., THAT IS HIS GIFT TO THEM, TO US. SO DO NOT LET YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED OR AFRAID.. SOME OF THE MOST LOVELIEST WORDS IN THE GOSPEL.
WHEN WE LOOK AROUND US FROM CITY TO CITY, COUNTRY TO COUNTRY, WE DISCOVER CERTAIN LEGACIES, THINGS WHICH PEOPLE HAVE LEFT OR BUILT OR WHICH OTHERS HAVE DONE IN THEIR MEORY BY VIRTUE OF WHAT THEY HAVE SAID OR LEFT TO BE CARRIED ON IN THEIR NAME. WE HAVE GREAT INSTITUTIONS, BUILDING AIRPORTS, LIBRARIES AND STREETS NAMED AFTER PEOPLE. LEGACIES WHICH THEY HAVE LEFT.
WE WANT TO LEAVE SOMETHING WORTHWHILE BEHIND AS WE DEPART FROM THIS WORLD. THERE ARE MARVELOUS MUSICAL PIECES, GRETA WRITERS, GRATE STAESMEN AND WOMEN. EVEN IN THE CHURCH WE HAVE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE MADE THEIR MARK AND LEFT SOMETHING BY WHICH WE CAN AND MAY HONOUR THEM. THE DESIRE IS THERE TO LEAVE A LEGACY. THESE MEMORIALS AS\THEY ARE SERVE AS REMINDERS WHAT PEOPLE HAVE DONE AND MEANT.
WHAT THEN CAN WE LEAVE. THAT THOUGHT MUST HAVE COME INTO OUT THINKING.. WHAT IS THERE FOR AT TIMES IT IS DIFFICULT TO LEAVE MUCH FOR NOT EVERYONE IS ABLE TO LEAVE ANYTHING WORTHWHILE MATERILISTIC AT THE END OF OUR LIVES. BUT THE DESIRE IS STRONG AND THE HEART YEARNS FOR US TO DO OR LEAVE SOMETHING.
JESUS LEFT NONE OF THOSE KIND OF LEGACIES. HE HAD NO MATERIAL GOODS, FOR EVEN HIS CLOTHES WERE GAMBLED AWAY WHILE HE WAS STILL DYING. HE LEFT NO ENDOWMENT, NO LIBRARIES, NO RARE BOOK COLLECTIONS. AS\ FAR AS\WE KNOW HE PLAYED NO MUSICAL INSTRUMENT, NOR COMPOSED ANY MUSIC, WE KNOW OF NO WRITTEN TREATISES OR OTHER DOCUMENTS LEFT BY HIM.. HE HAD NOTHING TANGIBLE TO LEAVE AS\A LEGACY, CERTAINLY NOT IN THE WAY THE WORLD WOULD UNDERSTAND HIS LEGACY.
YET HIS LEGACY TO HUMANKIND OVERSHADOWS ALL THE COMBINED LEGACIES OF HUMANKIND. INDEED MOST OF THE GREAT MUSIC WRITTEN BY HUMANKIND HAS BEEN WRITTEN BECAUSE OF HIS LEGACY AND THE GRETAEST ART AND AWESOME CATHEDRALS WERE INSPIRED BY THAT SAME LEGACY LEFT BY SOMEONE WHO SEEMINGLY HAD NOTHING TO LEAVE.
IN OUR GOSPEL READING WE DISCOVER THREE BENEFITS WHICH HE LEFT TO ALL OF US. HE LEFT THE LEGCAY OF LOVE, THE LEGACY OF THE SPIRIT AND THE LEGACY OF PEACE.. THEY ARE NOT TANGIBLE GIFTS AND VERY DIFFERENT FROM THOSE NORMALLY LEFT BY PEOPLE, BUT THEY ARE MORE LASTING AND BENEFICIAL THAN ANY LIBRARY OR MUSIC OR ART OR ANY OF THE GREAST CONTRIBUTIONS LEFT TO US BY OUR FORBEARS.
HE KNEW WHAT HE WOULD LEAVE HIS PEOPLE. FOR THIS I CAME HE SAID. THAT YOU MAY HAVE LIFE AND LIFE IN ALL ITS FULLNESS.
THE LEGACY HE LEFT TO US IS MANIFOLD. THE IMPORTANT FEATURE OF THIS LEGACY IS THAT IT IS REFLECTION OF HIS LIFE AND MINISTRY. NORMALLY A LEGACY WOULD COST SOMETHING. THE LEGACY OF LOVE COSTS NOTHING IN THOSE TERMS. THE LEGACY OF LOVE COST HIM HIS LIFE AND HE GAVE IT FREELY, BUT THAT LEGACY STANDS FOREVER, NOT AS A MUTE MARBLE MEMORIAL IN A CEMETRY OR STATUE IN A CITY PARK, BUT AS A LIVING ACTIVE FORCE.
HE LEFT FOR US, THE LOVE OF THE FATHER, THE FORGIVING CREATIVE LOVE THAT WOULD STAND FOREVER. AND TOGETHER WITH THAT LOVE IS THE GIFT OF THE SPIRIT WHICH COMES MYSTERIOUSLY AND MYSTICALLY TO SHORE UP OUR SAGGING WILLS, WHO ENLIGHTENS OUR BEMUFFLED MINDS WITH THE LIGHT OF THE TRUTH, WHICH STRENGHTENS WEAK HEARTS AND SHATTERED SPIRITS. WE CANNOT FEEL IT OR TOUCH IT IN A PHYSICAL WAY. HE SAYS THE GIFT OF THIS LEGACY WILL TEACH US ALL THINGS. TEACHING US TO LIVE AS DISICIPLES, TEACHING US HOW TO BE THE PEOPLE OF GOD IN A WORLD AND SOCIETY WHERE THIS IS UNPOPULAR IF NOT DOWNRIGHT IMPOSSIBLE. TEACHING US TO LIVE AS HIS INSTRUMENTS OF PEACE IN SPITE OF THE CRUSHING FEAR THAT CAPTURES OUR MINDS AND PARALYZES\OUR WILLS. TEACHING US TO STEP OUT BODLY IN FAITH AND BE WHAT WE CAN BE IN CHRIST.
STILL TOGETHER WITH THE LOVE AND THE SPIRIT IS HIS PEACE. HIS PARTING GIFT TO HIS DISCIPLES PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU, MY PEACE I GIVE TO YOU, NOT AS THE WORLD GIVES DO I GIVE IT TO YOU.
THE HEWBREW WORD FOR PEACE IS SHALOM, A WORD\VERY WIDELY USED IN THE BIBLE. IT IS SO RICH IN CONTENT THAT THE ENGLISH WORD PEACE CONVEYS ONLY A FRACTION OF WHAT IT MEANS..
IT GENERALLY CONVEYS A SENSE OF UNIVERSAL COMPLETENESS, A CONDITION IN WHICH NOTHING IS LACKING. THE STATE OF PERFECT WELL-BEING WHICH THE WORD SIGNIFIES BELONGS ONLY TO GOD. THAT MEANS WHEN ONE POSSESSES PEACE, ONE IS IN PERFECT COMMUNION WITH GOD.
LET NOT YOUR BE TROUBLED, NEITHER LET THEM BE AFRAID IS WHAT HE TOLD HIS DISCIPLES WHEN HE PROMISED THEM PEACE AND WE KNOW TODAY THAT TO UNDERSTAND THAT PROMISE AND TO ABSORB IT INTO OUR LIVES, WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS GOD’S OWN SPECIAL PEACE , NOT AS THE WORLD PROMISES, NOR AS THE WORLD GIVES. NO IT IS A LEGACY, THAT WILL SHINE THROUGH ALL THE MURKY TROUBLES AND DISPUTES SWIRLING ABOUT US IN OUR SMALL OR LARGER WORLDS. MY PEACE I GIVE TO YOU.
THE POOR WANDERING JEW FROM NAZARETH LEFT HIS LEGACY TO HUMANKIND. DYING ON THE CROSS HE PROCLAIMED IT BY PLEADING WITH HIS FATHER FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO. AND THEN MEETING FOR ONE OF THE LAST TIMES WITH HIS DISCIPLES HE PROMISES\THEM THE LEGACY OF THE SPIRIT WHOM THE FATHER WILL SEND IN HIS NAMEAND RISING FROM THE SEALED TOMB HE ANNOUNCED MY PEACE I GIVE TO YOU.
FOR ALL PEOPLE, IN ALL TIMES, THROUGH ALL THE AGES HE LEFT.
HIS LEGACY OF LOVE, HIS LEGACY OF THE GIFT OF THE SPIRIT, AND HIS LEGACY OF PEACE. AMEN. |
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