RVCC Pastor's Sermon

Sermon - May 4, 2008

“Holiness or Havoc”

By Rev. Nancy Foran
2 Corinthians 13:11-13 and Matthew 5: 21-24

A first time visitor walked into a small New England church a few minutes before Sunday worship began. Not surprisingly, he tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. As the organist played the prelude, a greeter handed him a bulletin and whispered, “Where would you like to sit? In the Reserved Section?”

The visitor was puzzled and wondered if that was where the pastor segregated all the new comers, or if there was another reason for the cordoned off pews up there on the left. Half a dozen people were amply spread out over the three rows – one here, one there, one all alone way over there. Each one stared straight ahead – looking exactly as the name implied – “Reserved.”

The visitor whispered back to the greeter. “Who sits in the Reserved Section?”

“Oh.” she replied. “They are the ones who don’t like the Passing of the Peace.”

The Passing of the Peace – that relatively recent reincarnation of an ancient Christian practice. My father-in-law has said that if he was ever subjected to it in a church, he would never go back. He was firmly of the opinion that (and I quote – but not him) “the raucous ways that this sacred moment as implemented in many (most?) congregations resemble a reckless circus rather than a holy greeting. The community spirit of awesome worship, prayer and reverence is crucified recklessly on an altar of Woodstock theater as clergy may easily be heard to remark: "Nice hat, Gloria!" "Hey, good to see ya; quite a game last night!" (as they prance) up and down aisles with vestments flapping like butterflies in heat (while) some extraverted congregants (leap) at others merely enduring the assaults.”

With such a dubious legacy, why would any right thinking pastor or congregation incorporate this liturgical practice into worship? As David Kingsley mentions, though “for some, passing the peace is the best time of the service; it’s warm, friendly, and joyous, for others, the passing of the peace is disruptive, chaotic, and annoying.” So why do your Deacons here at RVCC think that we should consider doing it on a regular basis? What should we expect to get out of the ritual?

Well, first of all, Paul did it. In fact, the Apostle began and ended many of his letters with the greeting, “The Peace of Christ be with you” - and even exhorted his congregations to greet one another with a holy kiss. That would probably really fill up the “Reserved Section” in many a New England church!

And, of course, Paul patterned his greeting after the one Jesus used when he appeared to his disciples following the resurrection. “Peace be with you,” Jesus said, wafting through the walls of that upper room in Jerusalem where the disciples hid so fearfully in the aftermath of his crucifixion.

“Peace be with you,” he said again to Thomas, who had missed him the first time. When you think about it, those words – “Peace be with you” – seemed to be why and how his old friends recognized him in the first place.

That is the origin of the tradition, and the words are as ancient and central to the essence of our faith as any. After all, surely when we are joined together in the act of peacemaking, there we find Christ present among us.

Sounds plausible, yet, when we do it in worship, sometimes it seems that Christ would have no interest being in our midst at that particular time, especially if it involved vestments flapping and congregants leaping.

Perhaps then, we should first consider why the passing of the peace might scare off Jesus himself. First and foremost, it is a chummy greeting – or a time to plan whether you are going to Cole Farms or Tim Horton’s after church for lunch. Second, it is not a time to recruit volunteers for the pot roast suppers or even a time to joke about the Red Sox. As several of you have pointed out recently, that is why we have the Fellowship Café.

As Robert W. Bertram wrote, “The passing of the peace, while it does have an element of greeting about it, is not meant primarily as a greeting.” In fact, during the Passing of the Peace, we should be worshipping just as much as while we are praying, singing, or listening to the scriptures. (Kingsley)

“How’s that?” you might ask. “Not my experience.” Not often mine either, I must admit, so let’s reflect for a moment on what the Passing of the Peace is intended to be.

First, the Passing of the Peace has the potential to be another way of praying. You see, when we offer those around us the peace of Christ, we are wishing for them that peace which passes all understanding. It is a sacred address, a blessing that we give – something that does not happen often – if at all - beyond these doors. Remember that the word that Jesus used for peace was "Shalom," which also means wholeness. When we look someone in the eye and say, “The Peace of Christ be with you,” we are praying for God’s grace in their lives. In a way, we are saying, “God's wholeness, God's healing, be with you.”

As Richard Henderson notes, “It is a kind of prayer on the other person's behalf. One of the great things about this greeting is that it gets us out of the "Me and Jesus" kind of thinking - where my faith is all about me, and my relationship with Jesus.

Passing the Peace causes us to bless others, and, just as importantly, to receive a blessing from them.” In addition, this capacity to bless does not originate with the pastor and then flow to the congregation. It happens among all of you, perhaps strengthening even more the ties that bind.

Second, the Passing of the Peace has the potential to be an opportunity to become reconciled, one to the other. It can reunite men and women who have been torn or even just drifted apart. A simple gesture, those few words say – “let’s make things right again among all of us.”

The Bible certainly justifies that. In today’s Gospel reading, Matthew says that if we are angry with someone, then we need to make things right. If someone holds a grudge against us, then we need to be the bigger person and work out that relationship before we get too deeply into worship because our relationship with God and our relationship with each other are tied together.

You see, the Passing of the Peace has the potential to be a way of forgiving one another as God has forgiven us. When incorporated into worship, it is a visible sign that this place, this church, is a place of acceptance, a safe place for all who walk through its doors, perhaps even a place where a person’s heart will be opened to receive God's healing and God's grace. (Lisa McIlivena)

Finally, the Passing of the Peace has the potential to be a reminder that in the end we are all one and really not so different from each other. We all in some way have made a shambles of our lives, yet, when we venture into a church community, we can expect something from one another. We can expect not to be condemned for our mistakes and misjudgments, for the things we said and the things we failed to say. We can expect to come and find that we are still loved, that we still can love. The Passing of the Peace can be an affirmation of that sense of oneness.

As Jim Love wrote, “W may not approve of each others actions ... we may even be dismayed at our choices; but here we will not condemn each other. We might be angry, even outraged with each other; and there might be consequence to our actions; but here we will not condemn. We will not say, "God has given up on you.” Rather we will hear, “Christ’s peace be with you.” The Passing of the Peace has the potential to affirm that God is indeed with us and within us.

The Passing of the Peace has the “potential” – and that caveat is important - to take on certain roles in worship. It can be a blessing, a prayer, a reminder of the need to be reconciled with each other, and an affirmation of a special connection with God and with one another.

Of course, we all have experienced that it does not always work that way. The sacredness of the Passing of the Peace can be lost in the flapping vestments and leaping congregants, especially when we haphazardly include it in our worship service.

Should we here at RVCC decide to share the Passing of the Peace on some regular basis, first and foremost we need to be comfortable that there is a formula involved. Too often what occurs is that those who sit in the first couple of rows of the sanctuary use the ancient words of greeting – “The Peace of Christ be with you” - maybe because they figure the pastor is going to hear them - while those further back quickly revert to “Good morning. Cole Farms or Tim Horton?”

Now there is nothing wrong with greeting one another – I am all for it. However, that is not the purpose of the Passing of the Peace, which should be an integral part of worship, not a disruptive break in its flow.

“The Peace of Christ be with you – and also with you” are words that may sound foreign or formal or just downright strange. In spite of the fact that they are words of prayer and blessing, words of reunion, reconciliation, and affirmation, they may just be too darn weird to say to someone – even your spouse or best friend.

And you know what? That is OK. The ritual of the Passing of the Peace may not be for every congregation – and that probably has more to do with personality preference than anything else.

However, as you reflect upon whether it can be a good and natural part of our worship here, ponder as well the significance of the ritual – the “why” you would do it. Talk among yourselves – but not in the parking lot - and freely express your honest opinions directly to me and to your Deacons. We need to hear from you. And if you choose not to speak up, well, as I used to tell some volunteers I once worked with – No Whining!

But, above all, remember that the passing of the peace is, in the end, not about us. It is a way to express what God has done for us in Christ. The important question is how we celebrate – both in worship and beyond - that we have been forgiven and so have been freed to love one another, to pass that love and peace to one another, and to go out into the world to serve in the name of Christ. (Kingsley)

Sermon - May 4, 2008

“Holiness or Havoc”

By Rev. Nancy Foran 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 and Matthew 5: 21-24

By Rev. Nancy Foran
2 Corinthians 13:11-13 and Matthew 5: 21-24