Since today, September 21, is the International of Peace, so I want to focus my message this morning on what it means to be “Instruments of Peace” in the world.
But, before I do that, I want to just touch briefly on the gospel reading from today’s lectionary, because it’s not one that comes around very often on the church calendar.
It’s known as the “Parable of the Shrewd Manager.” Most of you are familiar Jesus’s other parables like the “Parable of the Prodigal Son” and the “Parable of the Good Samaritan” – everybody knows those. But, the “Parable of the Shrewd Manager” may be a new one for you.
As we just heard, a manager has been caught stealing his employer’s money for his own personal gain.
So, he decides to quickly go to his employer’s debtors with the false promise of reducing their debts so that he’ll secure their favor after he’s fired.
And, when his employer later finds out about this, he actually commends the manager…not for his dishonesty, but for his shrewdness.
Now, some people think that being “shrewd” is a good thing, a commendable quality. For example, we talk about the “shrewd businessman” or the “shrewd politician,” as being something admirable.
But, you know, the word “shrewd” comes from an Old English word, which means “wicked,” “depraved,” “evil.”
That’s what Jesus is getting at here: that some may excuse dishonesty and deceit for personal gain, but Jesus says that the “Children of Light” know the Truth.
And, Jesus ends the parable with the line: “You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and mammon.”
Mammon means wealth, power, and prestige.
Throughout the gospels, Jesus reserved his greatest criticism for those who claimed to serve God, but were actually serving Mammon.
You may remember, Jesus called them “hypocrites” to their faces.
These hypocrites pretended to be outwardly pious, but they were dishonest, unjust, and unmerciful people.
Sadly, here we are more than 2,000 years later, and not much has changed.
There are still many people (people who call themselves Christians – supposed followers of the Way of Jesus) who act dishonestly, unjustly, and unmercifully in service of Mammon.
How did we get to a place where people who call themselves Christians have actually come to admire shrewdness, arrogance, and self-righteousness?
Those are all opposite to the teachings of Jesus.
In Matthew 20:26, Jesus says, “Whoever among you wishes to be great must humble himself and become a servant of all.”
And, in Luke 14:11, Jesus says, “He who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The Dictionary describes a humble person as “one who is free from arrogance and self-aggrandizement. One who doesn’t feel superior to others and is open to learning from others perspectives.”
You can tell a true follower of Jesus by their humility, not their arrogance. By their compassion, not their self-righteousness.
The World, however, tells us the opposite. It tells us that meekness is weakness.
But Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek. They shall inherit the Earth.”
The Bible (in Galatians) tells us that the Fruits of the Spirit are Love, Kindness, Goodness, Patience, and Peace.
Those are the qualities exhibited by someone who truly is following the Way of the Lord.
That’s what Jesus is saying here: You can’t serve both God and Mammon. You either serve the ways of the world (the ways of the EGO), or you serve the Way of the Lord.
The Way of the Lord is the way of peace, love, kindness, justice, and mercy.
That is the Way (that is the World) Jesus calls us to build: the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth.
And, that brings us to “World Peace Day,” because World Peace Day started with the same exact vision: building a world of peace and kindness and love.
Not a world of separation and division, but a world of Oneness.
After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japanese spiritual teacher Masahisa Goi was inspired to create the Peace Pole Project.
The words “May Peace Prevail On Earth” are written on the pole in different languages, and there are now a quarter-of-a-million Peace Poles planted on every continent.
The Peace Pole we are going to dedicate over at Emig Park this morning for World Peace Day will be the very first Peace Pole in Rowayton.
On World Peace Day, we’re not only praying for the end of war and violence in areas of conflict around the globe, we’re also praying for the end of conflict and division in our hearts.
One of the reasons there’s so much conflict in the world is because most people are not at peace within themselves.
Now, you may say, “Pastor Sal, how can I have peace in my heart towards those are causing so much division?”
Well, spiritual writer, Gary Zukov, says, “If we can’t show compassion to those who show no compassion, then we’re mirroring their behavior.”
That’s why Jesus said to “turn the other cheek,” “to bless those who persecute you,” “to love your enemy,” “to forgive seventy times seven times.”
He understood that when we find peace within ourselves, we become instruments of peace in the world.
That what we mean when we sing, “Let there be Peace on Earth and let it begin with ME.”
Earlier this year, I told you about a woman who was known as Peace Pilgrim.
She was a middle-aged woman in the 1960’s who decided to sell all of her possessions and walk across the United States for peace.
This was at a time of great division in our country: the Vietnam War, the fight for Civil Rights and Women’s Rights led to great conflict among neighbors and family members, but Peace Pilgrim believed in the goodness of people.
On her walk across the country, she carried nothing with her (no backpack, no food, no money). She trusted that no matter where in the country she went, she would be provided with food and with shelter when needed. And, she was right. Every time.
And, she said, ““World peace will never be stable until enough of us find INNER PEACE to stabilize it. No one can find inner peace except by working, not in a self-centered way, but for the whole human family. Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love. This is the Way of Peace.”
That, my friends, is the world (the Kin-dom) that Jesus was envisioning for us, and calls us to build.
A world (we hear about in Micah 6:8) where each one of us acts justly, loves mercy, and walks humbly with God.
The UCC’s “Be the Church” banner hanging here in the church is reminder for us of some of the ways we can follow in the Way of the Lord and help bring about the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth.
And, each of you is going home today with a postcard of those words to put up on your desk or refrigerator or to mail to a friend.
And, the Peace Pole we will dedicate across the street this morning, will also serve a visual reminder for us to be instruments of peace in our community and in the world.
Not agitators of arrogance, creators of conflict, sowers of division, but humble and compassionate servants of God.
In a world filled with darkness, may we be the “Children of Light” Jesus calls us to be.
On this World Peace Day: Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with us. May it be so. Amen.