Do You Come Peaceably?
Sermon preached at The Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia
on Sunday June 14th 2009 by The Reverend Alan Neale
“Do You Come Peaceably?”
I Samuel 16:4 “The elders of the city came to meet Samuel trembling and said, ‘Do you come peaceably?’”. Or as the New Living Translation reads, “The elders came trembling, apprehensively, to meet him. ‘What’s wrong?’ they asked, ‘Do you come in peace?’”.
“Do you come peaceably?”.
It occurs to me that this is one of the most basic, primal questions that we ask (and that is asked of us) from day to day. It may not be clearly articulated or expressed but we, surely, are concerned that the people and situations that confront us will lead to our good, our welfare… our peace!
“Do you come peaceably?”.
I wonder if any of you have seen the situation comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (which, come to think of it, may be a sort of epithet for Episcopalians… but to move on!). In every episode there is a moment, or two, when Larry David stops speaking and looks intently into the eyes of the person before him. Up… down… from side to side… he is wondering, in so many words, whether that person is coming to him peaceably? Are the words he hears true and authentic?
The elders of Bethlehem are terrified, askance, perturbed, anxious as Samuel draws near. What should be a visit by a well-known celebrity has become a cause for apprehension.
In his commentary on Samuel, H.W. Hertzberg writes, “The reception by the elders, who seem more terrified than honoured, may be a result of the discord between Samuel and Saul and their fear of involving themselves in trouble. This [explanation] is more comprehensible than the assumption that Samuel’s coming was as alarming to the Bethlehemites as is the sick visiting of the parson to many members of the congregation”.
“Do you come peaceably?”.
It is more than understandable that this question is most often asked by those whose history involves countless incidents when people (perhaps even the closest of people) have come with harmful intent and destructive purpose in mind. The abused child or spouse, the ill-treated employee… all, and more, not only ask this question often but, because of their experience and their fear, can only project a most wretched and gloomy response.
The ministry of the Gospel, the work of grace in our hearts, the forgiveness and power showered upon us because of the work of Christ on the Cross… all this, and more, enable us to move into the world and into relationships with an expectation that our question, “Do you come peaceably?” will be answered with a resounding YES!
Friends, as we come to experience the love of Christ for us… then we are enabled, in the words of St. Paul, to see others “no longer from a human point of view” (2 Corinthians 5:16).
Now this is difficult… like Samuel, we reasonably, understandably, tend to view people from a human point of view… and so Samuel assumes that the one to be the Lord’s anointed stands before him because he is tall, mature and strong but… he is wrong… oh, so wrong1
During a recent pre-marital interview, we began discussing friendships beyond the marriage relationship. The bride-to-be said that she was beginning to see that if her partner had a good friendship with someone she did not like then… there must be something good in the third person for her partner to like them! And the same is even more true when we consider the person we dislike or fear and the way in which God views them! They are beloved by God… God has for them a good and glorious future… Can we begin to want to view, to see, even “our enemies” in the light of God’s love for them? As this miraculous process begins, so we ask of them, with hope, “Do you come peaceably?”.
But this question is also asked of us! It would be all too naïve, too Pollyannaish, if we indulged in thinking that no-one ever wonders as we approach, “Does he/she come peaceably?”.
Here we must pray, and pray on, that the love of Christ will invade us and reform us. 2 Corinthians 5:13 (The Message Translation) – “Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do”.
As we focus more and more on the near presence of the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:7)… as we make it our aim “to please the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:9) so as we approach others (as they consider our words and our actions), so they will find to their question “Does he/she come peaceably?” a resounding YES!
Of course the most basic, crucial, fundamental person of whom we ask this question “Do you come peaceably?” is… God himself!
One dour, rather gloomy, commentator on today’s Old Testament reading (Alexander McClaren) comments, “If men were not dimly conscious of sins they would not be afraid of God’s messenger or of God”. Oh my! Oh dear!
There are many, very many, who at heart fear God and, like the elders of Bethlehem, tremble with apprehension at the suggestion of God coming close to them. Such people are ashamed… are guilty… see God only as a demanding Judge and a distant parent.
As such people intuitively ask of God (and of His world) “Do you come peaceably?”… they expect, they think they deserve, a resounding NO!
To such people St. Paul speaks today words of hope… of reassurance… of welcome and acceptance… “Christ has died for you” so that you may live!
As St. John writes, “Perfect love casts out fear”.
The moment will come for all of us (and please God it will not be too sudden) when we know that death is drawing near… at the moment, we will ask even of death “Do you come peaceably?”. How will I, how will you ask the question… with trembling and apprehension or with courage and faith.
It rather depends on how today we have responded to the love of God for us and through us to others.
AMEN
