PAUL’S APPEAL
A sermon by the Rev. Dr. James G. Kirk
Harundale Presbyterian Church
Text: “listen to my appeal” (2 Corinthians
First
Second
This past week Orpha and George Crabbs were in the office making arrangements to put their daughter Susie and her husband in the columbarium. They both reminded me how important it is to tell your loved ones how much you love them. As you know Susie died quite unexpectedly. They still don’t know the cause of her death. But both of them had told her repeatedly just how much they loved her and it was one of the last things they’d said to her the last time they’d talked with her.
On this
Memorial Day, our thoughts can’t help but be on last September 11th
and the countless families who’re mourning the death of their loved ones. Elizabeth and I think of Catherine who
perished on the 101st floor of The World Trade Center. On July 4,Th she and Neal would
have been married six years. We’d gone
to
In the five years they’d been married there’d been some major adjustments. Catherine always suffered from a lack of self-esteem. There’d been times when Neal had come home and found her crying in the closet. Recently they’d had better days and, with medication, Catherine had begun to feel more comfortable with herself and with others. We all had seen her beauty and had told her how she was her own worst enemy. She’d begun to believe us, to get out more and enjoy her life with Neal. Each day, as she left for the office, she and Neal would tell one another their love for each other. Then she was gone and all they’ve been able to find was her charred driver’s license.
This past
week has been the season’s finales on all the popular TV shows. Two of our favorites, JAG and the West Wing,
have been particularly trying. Those of
you who watch JAG will know that Bud has been at sea, while his wife Harriet
stayed at her usual deployment. On
Wednesday, she kept e-mailing Bud for his opinion on what color furniture she
should buy and Bud had other things on his mind, namely the terrorist threats
in
For those of you who watch West Wing you’ll know that CJ has been haunted by a terrorist threatening her life and has had to have around the clock secret service protection. This past Wednesday the secret service agent had told her that they’d caught the suspect and that she was finally safe from harm’s way. He’d also told her that during their time together he’d begun to have feelings for her. Of course, CJ was ecstatic. Finally, she might have a love in her life. Why then did he have to stray into a convenience store just after it had been robbed, the cash register was empty and the owner was trying to tell him that the offender was still in the store? Why did the secret service agent have to subdue the offender, cuff him, explain his actions to the owner, only to have the offender’s partner shoot him dead on the scene?
In light of
the paucity of information leading up to September 11th, the
government has captured the news almost nightly about the potential for another
terrorist attack on the
All of this
is by way of saying why it’s so utterly necessary that we take Paul’s appeal
this morning with utmost seriousness, that we “put things in order, listen to
my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace.” That’s not the first time we hear such words
from Paul’s lips. Elsewhere, in his
correspondence with the church at
The Linthicum Women’s Club ends every one of their meetings with the song. “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” Time and again the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program emphasizes how peace also has to begin with the individual. Yet, so often, we have to hear what Paul says, “so far as it depends on you.” So often peace is taken out of our hands. With George and Orpha, Susan’s death was taken out of their hands. They’ll find peace only when her and her husband’s ashes are placed in our columbarium. Neal hasn’t known peace since September 11th and won’t until every last effort is made to find anything beyond Catherine’s driver’s license. Harriet just wanted Bud to be a part of her remodeling, especially with his being so far from home. It was her way of telling him how much she loves him. Now, we don’t know if she’ll ever have a peaceful moment or not. You could tell from the look on CJ’s face that she had found peace with a man who showed interest in their having a relationship. A bullet shattered her peace once and for all. Now she’d never have a chance to tell him how much she loved him.
Those of you who watched the documentary this past Thursday on Celine Dion’s life heard that there were two significant moments of peace during her singing climb to fame. One was the day that her niece died of Cystic Fibrosis as Celine held her and sang to her. Celine said what a privilege it was to share her sixteen year-old’s journey into heaven and to tell her how much she loved her along the way. The other was when her husband Rene found that he had a cancerous tumor on his neck and that now she would have an opportunity to care for him rather than his always watching over her. No matter where in the world she was, or in front of how ever many thousands of fans, Celine and Rene always found ways to communicate their love for one another and how unashamed they were to tell the world of that love.
This Memorial Day weekend we remember the countless who’ve died so that we in this country might live in peace. Now there are those who’re committed to a future of terror that will make life in this country anything but peaceful. All of which drives home just how important Paul’s words are, “listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace.” And we could add, “so far as it depends on you” and then pick up the rest of his sentence, “and the God of love and peace will be with you.”
Let’s use this holiday to re-commit ourselves to Paul’s appeal and, as far as it depends on us, learn how to agree with one another and seek peace at all costs. Sure, there will always be situations where peace is so beyond our reach that it doesn’t, can’t, and won’t depend on us. In those situations we’re just going to have to learn that we’ve done all that we could and it’s no longer up to us. That’s what Paul’s embellishment does. It helps us put in perspective and differentiate between what we can do and those situations over which we have no control. “So far as it depends on you, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.”
But in the meantime take all the time that’s necessary to tell those closest to you how much you love them. Don’t let a day go by, a situation pass, or a moment be lost, because in taking advantage of every opportunity that presents itself that special someone may just show you a little bit of heaven. It took Celine Dion’s dying sixteen year-old niece to show her the way; it took my opening the doors of the columbarium to bring peace to Orpha and George Crabbs; let Paul’s appeal help you along on your journey as well.
Thanks be to God,
Amen