Sermon:
“What wrong with the world, mama?” this is how my absolute favorite rap song begins. I do not have that many favorite rap songs, I must admit, but this one has been one of my favorites one is ever since Black-Eyed Peas released it. The song was inspired by the aftermath of the attack in US on 9/11 2001.
SLIDE 17 “What’s wrong with the world, Mama”
People living like they aint got no mamas
I think the whole world’s addicted
to the drama
Only attracted to things
that bring you trauma
Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism
But we still got terrorist
here living in the USA”
Sadly. Sadly, this song is more relevant than ever. “What is wrong with world, mama?” we might be crying out as we watch the war and war crimes in Ukraine, as we witness the terrible mass shooting in Buffalo and as we mourn the frightening Church Shooting in Laguna Woods. Just in our neighborhood.
“What is wrong with the world, mama?”
Overseas wars are raging and here we are fighting domestic terrorist and an epidemic of mass shootings.
“Where is the love?” as the song asks.
“People killing, people dying,
Children hurting, hear them crying
Can you practice what you preach?
And would you turn the other cheek?
Father, Father, Father, help us
Send some guidance from above
Cause people got me questioning
where is the love?”
As we ask the same question in the aftermath of yet another violent week in US and yet more violent sad reports from Ukraine, - we hear the children crying as they lose a parent to gun violence or to war acts, and we have to ask the same question: “What is wrong with the world mama, people living like they aint go no mamas.”
We are facing a world that is experiencing more unrest. The events of the last couple of years have seen health unrest, economic unrest and social unrest. And in this year of 2022, we have witnessed an unsettling war in Ukraine and sadly witnessed so many sad and deadly shootings in our own country.
Yet during all of this we are greeted with a promise Jesus made to his disciples, which is much needed today. Here is the promise from today’s gospel John 14:27:
“Peace, I leave with you.
my peace I give you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
I am sure you would agree that right now we are all praying for peace: peace in Ukraine, peace is all the places of unrest in our world, peace here in US, among us, within our society, - peace we need. In our world and our community.
We need peace In our troubled hearts. And that might be where we must begin.
And we pray the Old Prayer’s that was given to us by Jesus, Our Lord’s Prayer: or we pray like the chorus line in the song:
“ Father, Father, Father, help us
Send some guidance from above
Cause people got me questioning
where is the love?”
In the Gospel we hear that peace is a gift and a promise. Peace, I leave with us, my peace I give you. But I don tnot give to you as the world gives….”
The world might be able to grant us peace treaties and could work politically to try to end gun violence, but the peace Christ gives to us begins with us.
As Christians we are called to seek peace and build peace, we are called to turn the other cheek. But do we always practice what we preach, as the rap song questions us.
We long for peace in the world and among us, just as much as the disciples of Jesus longed for peace in their country and their time. The history of humanity is filled with long times of war and brief times of peace.
The peace Jesus gives us, it a peace that is granted to each one of us to believe in, trust in, live in and act on. It is certainly not absences of trouble, but a constant calling. As Christians we are called to be peace makers and it should be reflected in our lives, in our relations, in our view of humanity and the world.
In the letter to the Philippians, it says:
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
The peace of God makes us focus on what is important, what is right, and what is good.
In the famous and radical peace prayer of Frans of Assisi’s we pray that God will make us a tool for peace:The Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is error, the truth.
Where there is doubt, the faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled, as to console.
To be understood, as to understand.
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
After the sermon today, we will sing a new Hymn “God, in our church’s teaching.” This hymn written by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette and was a response to the shootings of Asian women in Atlanta in 2021
“God, in our church’s teaching,
may we be bold and clear
May it become our practice
to counter hate and fear.
….
O God, we grieve the violence,
the shootings, and the hate
We grieve our own indifference,
our speaking out too late
God, in our church’s witness,
may we say load and clear
We welcome every neighbor.
We work for justice here.”
And we ad today: we work for peace here.
The peace and the hope that the Spirit breathe into us, it as spirit of faith and courage that whispers to us: Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
There is indeed so much to be troubled by and so much to be afraid us. There is indeed so much and to much war, violence, shootings and injustice in our world, that we might shout: What is wrong with the world, mama!”
And then we listen to the Spirit, guiding us to pray:
“ Father, Father, Father, help us
Send some guidance from above.”
Remembering, believing, and trusting that we do have a Father, a God, who loved the world so much, so he did send his son, not to condemn us but to save us.
And his son, our Lord, left us his peace so our hearts should not be troubled, but should be filled with sacred passion and relentless acts for peace, love and humanity.
So, let us be bold and clear
May it become our practice
To counter hate and fear.
That is where peace begins…… Amen.