What a week or two of news. Cell phone videos of black males being shot by police on July 5th and 6th drew demonstrations and protests in Baton Rouge, St. Paul and major cities. Black Lives Matter have held marches calling for justice. The rhetoric has been high with some crying out, “death to cops,” and unfortunately that very thing occurred July 7th in Dallas as Micah Xavier Johnson opened fire killing five police officers and wounding numerous others. America was stunned. There were calls for self-examination of American consciousness, more concerns about the proliferation of guns, and worries that things were getting out of control and that more violence was coming. For a week it held the attention of the media until Thursday evening, July 14th and what had been a joyous Bastille Day in France. Joyous until a thirty one year old male drove a truck through the crowds walking on le Promenade des Anglais in Nice. Witnesses spoke of running for their lives, seeing bodies, and comforting the injured. It was carnage and journalist, Damien Allemand, wrote of hearing “noises and cries that he will never forget.” It was an undeniable act of terror. French prime minister, Manuel Valls said, “We are facing a war that terrorism has brought to us. The goal of terrorists is to instill fear and panic.” France, as a nation, is in a three day period of national mourning.
From Charlie Hebdo, to the Bataclan Theatre, and now Nice the barbarity of the violence almost defies description. It is unsettling. Whether it is found that the perpetrator was a lone wolf or connected to a terrorist cell, it is unsettling. The ability of ISIS to influence people on the edge of sanity and push them over the edge to commit hideous crimes in the name of God or Allah is unsettling. It is all unsettling. These mass murders, whether caused by terrorism, racism, hatred, or mental illness, are all unsettling. We want peace. We want to be able to get on with life without fear.
Current context makes the apostle Paul’s encouragement to “rejoice in the Lord always” and “not be anxious” appear somewhat absurd. It appeared no less absurd in his own day, however, when we think again of the circumstances. The Philippians were experiencing some sort of difficulties simply because of their faith. We know more specifically what Paul had incurred. He speaks elsewhere of imprisonments, floggings, and being near death because of his faith. He speaks of beatings, stonings, endangerment due to shipwrecks, bandits, his own Jewish people, Gentiles, and false believers. He speaks of going hungry, thirsty, and having suffered in the cold all for the sake of Jesus and the gospel (2Cor.11:23ff.). Let us remember too that he had been imprisoned in Jerusalem for preaching Christ, lingered for a couple of years in a prison in Caesarea, then, when it seemed that he might be transferred back to Jerusalem for trial, he appealed to Caesar as was his right as a Roman citizen. He was taken under guard to Rome. En route he encountered hardship and a shipwreck and, as he wrote to the Philippians, he was still awaiting trial and under guard (Acts 21:27 – 28).
So, Paul has suffered much and been under guard for about four years. He is now concerned about the outcome of the trial before Nero (Phil.1:19ff.). Perhaps news of a Caesar who disliked Christians has reached him and caused him concern for his own life. And yet he looks at his situation with vastly different eyes than most. In the face of death he is quite at ease. “My desire,” he writes, “is to depart and be with Christ (1:23).” He sees before him a glorious resurrection (3:10) and, in spite of the hardships he and his followers may face, he speaks of rejoicing in the Lord always and encourages them not to worry, pray, and “the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard them to the end (4:7).
It’s absurd to the ordinary person but Paul sees his circumstances and life itself through different lenses. He knows something. Deep down he knows something that affects his whole being. Think again about what Paul had experienced. He had been a zealous Pharisee. He had been commissioned by the leaders in Jerusalem to accost Jews who had turned to Jesus and bring them back to Jerusalem for trial. On one of these missions, he was on his way to Damascus. In Luke’s words here’s what happened.
Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ He asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’ The men who were travelling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
After being instructed by the Lord to lay hands on Paul for his healing, a man named Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on your way here has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Think about it, Paul had encountered something incredible, the risen Jesus. We in the Christian church, 2,000 years after the event, hear about the risen Jesus so much, perhaps, we forget the power and significance of it.
Philip Yancey tells a story about his first visit to Yellowstone National Park. “Rings of Japanese and German tourists surrounded the geyser (Old Faithful), their video cameras trained like weapons on the famous hole in the ground. A large digital clock stood beside the spot, predicting twenty-four minutes until the next eruption.” Yancey wrote, “My wife and I passed the countdown in the dining room of Old Faithful Inn overlooking the geyser. When the digital clock reached one minute, we along with every other diner left our seats and rushed to the windows to see the big, wet event. I noticed immediately, as if on signal, a crew of busboys and waiters descended on the tables to refill water glasses and clear away dirty dishes. When the geyser went off, we tourists oohed and aahed and clicked our cameras; a few spontaneously applauded. But, glancing back over my shoulder, I saw that not a single waiter or busboy – not even those who had finished their chores – looked out of the huge windows. Old Faithful, grown entirely too familiar, had lost its power to impress. Sometimes we may feel the same way about the gospel and the resurrection. It no longer impresses us.
Think about it, however, Paul, an opponent of Christianity up ‘til that time, encountered something incroyable. A risen Jesus. He had thought that resurrection talk about Jesus was nonsense but there he was and that event changed his life. It transformed his thinking. Think of what it might mean if it happened to you. What would it do to your thoughts on Jesus? What would it do to your thoughts on resurrection? What would it do to your thoughts on God? What would it do to how you looked at this life? The fact that it happened to some people, even if not us individually, is significant, however, and it’s in that light that Paul says to all of us, “You know, bad things may happen around us, bad things may happen to us, but there’s more to life than meets the eye. God is at work. God is out there, maybe not in ways that we always like, but God is out there; and regardless of what’s going on around us, there should be a deeper part of us that doesn’t get overly anxious, a deeper part of us that is filled with peace and joy in Christ.” Civil governments may have to act in the face of terrorism today, they must enforce the rule of law. And while we may be saddened at these things, we should not be totally disheartened or unsettled. Deep within us there should be a peace founded on a bigger story.
I love the biblical concept of peace. It’s not just an everyday “peace” that Paul speaks of here, it is a broad and deep inner peace that can be felt even when the rest of the world is going crazy around us. The Greek work Paul uses is eiréné and Paul’s concept of eiréné was influenced by his Hebrew upbringing and his Jewish heritage. It was influenced by the Hebrew understanding of shalôm. Shalôm is beautiful word. It’s not just everyday “peace,” it’s a fullness of peace, a deep peace, it’s something that brings health, well-being, wholeness to a person or a situation.
Ethel Waters life was anything but peaceful. She was born as the result of a terrible rape a few years before the beginning of the twentieth century. Her mother was in her young teens when the rape happened and because of it, they had little and her mother moved them around a lot. Ethel never lived anywhere for more than a year at a time. She herself first married at age 13. In her teens she found a niche in a traveling carnival and began to develop singing and acting talents. Life was not easy but, in time, she became a well-known blues and jazz singer. Later, in 1949, she became only the second African American to be nominated for an academy award for the film "Pinky,” and she was the first female African American to be nominated for an Emmy in 1962 in an episode of "Route 66." Ethel is now in the Grammy Hall of Fame but her life wasn’t easy, particularly early on and her lifestyle left a lot to be desired. But somehow in 1957 she encountered God in a significant way, she says that she found peace in her soul. From those years onward, she began to accompany someone all over the world. And even though she had known much discouragement and unrest in her life, she would testify to God’s grace and peace. She travelled with none other than Billy Graham and in his crusades she added to the popularity of one song:
Let not your heart be troubled; these tender words I hear;
And resting on his goodness I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.
His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.
I sing because I'm happy;
I sing because I'm free;
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me.
If that message is in your heart, there is peace. You may encounter trial and tribulation, you may still hurt at times, you may be saddened and disappointed by events in life, but you will know that there’s more going on in this world than meets the eye. God’s eye is on … even the sparrow!
We have all been saddened, not only by events in Nice, but by the events that have raised again the spectre of racism and hatred just to the south of us. But over the last year or so, we have witnessed different outcomes when these things occur. It depends who the victims are and who their families are. There are outcomes that involve cries for justice, parades, shouts of hatred toward those who serve in police forces. There are outcomes that have involved retribution and more killing and violence. But there was one place where this did not happen or, if it started, it was laid quickly to rest. Remember the young man who sat through a Bible Study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina 13 months ago? That young man, after hearing those people share the word of God, still pulled out a gun and shot and killed nine members of that church including their pastor. It was shocking! Repulsive! The racism question rose up again. But one thing changed all that. One thing turned the discussion right around to something else. In a move that completely went against the grain of human experience and emotion, the families and the folks of Emanuel A.M.E. Church forgave the perpetrator. They prayed and forgave and the very next Sunday, the doors of that church were open. Rev. Norvel Goff Sr. gave a rousing sermon in which he said, “I want you to know that because the doors of Mother Emanuel (that’s what they called the Church) are open, it sends a message to every demon in hell and on earth.” Later, his voice roaring, he added, “Some wanted to divide the race — black and white and brown — but no weapon formed against us shall prosper… A lot of folks expected us to do something strange and break out in a riot … but … they just don’t know us. We are people of faith.”
Charleston has the nickname “Holy City” because of all its churches. A large banner hung from a building near Emanuel. “Holy City ... Let Us Be the Example of Love That Conquers Evil.” Down the street, that same Sunday, people gathered in Marion Square. Pastor Jermaine Watkins spoke of the race issue to a mixed congregation. He declared “What unites us is stronger than what divides us. To hatred, we say no way, not today. To racism, we say no way, not today. To division, we say no way, not today. To reconciliation, we say yes. To loss of hope, we say no way, not today. To a racial war, we say no way, not today. To racial fear, we say no way, not today. Charleston, together, we say “no way, not today.” The whole feeling around what had happened and reports in the media took on a different tone.
When a person or a group of people have Christ, there’s a different tone. They respond in ways that the world knows not for Christ and the peace of Christ, a whole peace, is in their hearts and their minds. They may be troubled, they may be hurt, they may grieve like anyone else, but deep down something else reigns – peace, a peace that passes all understanding. Their faith knows that God is at work. Their heart knows that Jesus has risen. They know they too will rise to be with him and in that there is a true shalôm - a true peace to guide them.
Listen to Paul’s words again: “The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
We’ve been through some difficult news days but let us keep faith and pray for these situations of terrorism and violence. Let us pray for the victim’s families and friends. And let us keep in mind that the kingdom of the Lord still lies ahead.