{"id":4496,"date":"2022-12-18T19:00:48","date_gmt":"2022-12-18T19:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2022\/12\/18\/peace-based-on-matthew-118-25\/"},"modified":"2022-12-18T19:00:48","modified_gmt":"2022-12-18T19:00:48","slug":"peace-based-on-matthew-118-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2022\/12\/18\/peace-based-on-matthew-118-25\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cPeace\u201d\tbased on Matthew 1:18-25"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nWe have a lot of phrases about
\npeace in our faith tradition. \u00a0Jesus is called the \u201cprince of
\npeace.\u201d \u00a0We speak of the \u201cpeace that passes understanding.\u201d \u00a0A
\nsung blessing offers the line, \u201cdeep peace of the running waves to
\nyou.\u201d \u00a0Songs and prayers ask God to \u201cgrant us peace.\u201d We often
\nsing, \u00a0\u201cPeace be with you ‘til we meet again,\u201d and we greet each
\nother with \u201cpeace be with you.\u201d \u00a0We yearn, collectively, for
\n\u201cworld peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

\nI’ve been trained in the
\nknowledge that the Hebrew word for peace, shalom, refers to holistic
\nwell being \u2013 body, mind, and spirit \u2013 of the individual and the
\ncommunity. \u00a0It is more than the absence of war. \u00a0It is the absence of
\nneeds, the adequate distribution of resources so that no one has to
\ntry to get what they need via violence.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nIn this way, shalom, peace, is
\ndeeply integrated with the kindom of God.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThis week I’ve been struck at
\nhow RELATIVE peace is \u2013 both internally and externally. \u00a0I think
\nI’ve often been distracted by the wondrous language about peace in
\nour tradition, and thought of peace as some perfect and excellent
\nthing. \u00a0But that assumption has distracted me from a whole lot of the
\nincremental gifts of peace.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThe many people in our church
\nand our society who have lived through trauma have fairly constant
\nalerts in their bodies and minds to remain vigilant, stay safe, LOOK
\nOUT! \u00a0What looks like peace for someone in a constant state of alert
\nmay be a relatively safe place or person that allows a few of the
\nalarm bells within to slow down. \u00a0Which is to say that what looks
\nlike relative peace for some would be REALLY HIGH agitation for
\nothers. \u00a0Yet, still, increased peace is a gift for all those who
\nexperience it. \u00a0Peace in the midst of trauma.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThere is a famous story of
\nChristmas 1914, in the midst of World War I, when soldiers singing
\nChristmas hymns in the trenches started singing back and forth to
\neach other across the \u201cno man’s land\u201d eventually leading to
\nsoldiers experiencing a Christmas peace and exchanging gifts and
\nlaughter. \u00a0Peace in the midst of war.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nI often think of a young mother
\nI knew by being her pastor, who shared that her life was full with a
\nfull time job and the needs of young children. \u00a0She spoke of her
\ncommute time as the most peaceful part of her life, and savored it as
\na time to connect with the Divine. \u00a0Peace in the midst of a
\nburstingly full life.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThis week Matthew gives us a
\nlook at Mary’s pregnancy through the eyes of Joseph. \u00a0Mary is
\nvulnerable, as a pregnant engaged woman who wasn’t pregnant from her
\nfianc\u00e9. Joseph has a lot of power here, he can publicly shame her
\nand her family, which would most likely result in Mary being removed
\nfrom her family so they can regain some status. \u00a0His original plan,
\nto let her go quietly, seems aimed at letting the father of her baby
\nmarry her. \u00a0It is aimed at respecting everyone involved. \u00a0Of course,
\nthen he gets new information and changes course, no longer assuming
\nanother man needed the space to become the father of that man’s
\nchild.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nI adore the way this translation
\nspeaks of Joseph, \u201cJoseph her husband was a just man and unwilling
\nto shame her, he wanted to divorce her secretly.\u201d \u00a0I find myself
\nthinking that Joseph was a man who knew peace within. \u00a0Either he
\nwasn’t personally offended by Mary’s pregnancy, or he was able to
\nhold that in perspective and not wish to retaliate. \u00a0His aim was not
\nviolence or harm, but rather everyone’s well-being. \u00a0Peace.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nAs I’ve considered the factors
\nthat lead to peace within, I’ve been struck at how mundane they are.
\nLike most things \u2013 athletic skills, musical talent, etc, – there
\nare people with natural connection to peace, and there are people who
\nnurture their receptivity to peace, and while both matter, the work
\ndone to nurture receptivity to peace ends up mattering the most over
\ntime.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nWe have been in the midst of
\nhighly trying times for many years now. \u00a0I tend to think back to the
\n2016 election cycle as the beginning of the escalation of tension and
\nanxiety, but you may place it elsewhere. \u00a0Even if you want to place
\nit at the beginning of the pandemic, we are YEARS into what our
\nbodies have probably experienced as a \u201cwar.\u201d \u00a0I say war because
\nthe stress levels have been escalated, and very few things have
\nhelped us bring them back down.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nSome of you, thanks be to God,
\nhave found life-giving ways to reconnect with peace, wholeness, and
\nthe Divine. \u00a0I’m of the opinion that walking in nature is one of the
\nbest practices for this, and a lot of you seem to agree. \u00a0You have
\nfound ways to connect with each other and loved ones, you’ve found
\ncreative expressions, you’ve done meditation or prayer practices,
\nyou’ve looked for beauty, you’ve been still in the face of your awe,
\nyou’ve PLAYED. \u00a0I can see the differences in us from a year ago, and
\nI can see that God is working to cultivate peace in us AND that we
\nare working on receiving those gifts from God.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nMy exclusive point today is an
\nencouragement to keep nurturing your receptivity to God’s peace. \u00a0I’m
\nhappy to chat about it with you more, to think about what it looks
\nlike in you. \u00a0I think we can look at the example of Joseph to see how
\npeace within a person impacts those around them. \u00a0I want to be more
\nlike that, and I suspect you may too. \u00a0May God grant us peace, and
\nmay WE prepare ourselves to receive it. \u00a0Amen <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rev. Sara E. Baron
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she\/her\/hers
http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a>
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

December 18, 2022<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have a lot of phrases about peace in our faith tradition. \u00a0Jesus is called the \u201cprince of peace.\u201d \u00a0We … Continue reading \u201cPeace\u201d\tbased on Matthew 1:18-25<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[28,33,86,1265,1518,1517,1484,394,56,57,1519],"class_list":["post-4496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-rev-sara-e-baron","tag-umc","tag-advent","tag-first-umc-schenectady","tag-incremental-peace","tag-music-sunday","tag-pandemic-preaching","tag-peace","tag-schenectady","tag-sorry-about-the-umc","tag-walk-in-nature-to-nurture-peace"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4496\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}