Greetings!

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in my Lord Jesus, but the Holy Spirit calls me, gathers me, enlightens me.... Luther reminds us.

All springing from scripture's blessing: Grace to you and peace....

Maybe we should invent a new usage:

“Grace you” and/or “Peace you” just as we say “Bless you” to one another.

And then there is another variation which is unique to the letters of 1 and 2 Peter:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

I take that as an antidote to the idea that grace and peace are somehow containable, controllable by us.

May grace and peace be multiplied to you is much more akin to Jesus' pronouncement story in Matthew and Luke 13 about the small amount of yeast that a woman used to leaven a large amount of flour.

The kingdom of God, the locus of grace and peace, is like that, bubbling over, spilling out, permeating everything with its fragrance.

I'm thinking about Madeline, now many years in the heavenly choir.

I don't remember her speaking of relatives, and so she moved into an assisted living facility, or a rest home as it still tended to be called back then.

She wasn't resting, however.

She had worked in a fine clothing store for many years, and had developed a special sense of style and a flair all her own.

She enjoyed costume jewelry to complement her wardrobe.

But most of all, she wore a smile.

In that institution which we know all too well can be a grim sort of place, she was truly sunshine and joy.

Fully outfitted, she scooted along the halls in her wheelchair, with a new joke every day for staff members and visitors, a song with other residents in the lunchroom, a smile for everyone, and encouragement for her pastor when he was feeling out of sorts.

She wasn't on the paid staff, but she should have been, for grace and peace flowed through her as she did much on behalf of life in all who lived or worked in that institution.

Yeast that leavens the entire amount of flour; the kingdom of God

Grace and peace to you from Jesus through persons like Madeline.

May their number be multiplied, many times over!

Grace and peace seem often to be in especially short supply in times of turmoil and crisis...such as now, or the days when Revelation was penned!

The blessing is pronounced to his readers ancient and present-day alike.

Grace and peace to you from the God of origin and goal, the God who deigns to be present to all who hear this word with hope and expectation.

It makes me think of an incident from Antoine Saint-Exupery's book Wind, Sand, and Stars.

If I remember this correctly, in north Africa in the 1930s he met a man who had been enslaved.

He had lost everything, goods, family, and spouse when he was captured and enslaved.

They even took away his name and called him “Bark.”

He had every reason to be consumed with bitterness and misery, but he was not.

He dealt with the situation by getting up early every morning and throwing himself into vigorous prayer and lamentation, asking for deliverance from his bondage and for return to his family.

Then, said the author, the slave, satisfied that he had done everything which he could do to change the situation, that is, to name it fully in prayer and lament, put away his prayer things and got about the tasks demanded of him that day, with a calm spirit.

John, exiled to Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, he says, [Rev.1:9]

could have been bitter and angry:

“I've been faithful, and look at the mess in which I am caught.” but he is not bitter.

He writes boldly but cryptically in order to encourage others who are in danger of persecution, so that they too will hang onto faith despite the problems.

No matter what the stock market does,

no matter what the doctor's report lists,

no matter what the Mutual Ministry Committee or Council pronounces,

grace and peace to you this night.

There is an artist from Tiberias, Israel, Bracha Lavee, whose colorful prints are for sale all around the country.

She has a good marketing person.

One especially attracted my attention and finally at the airport before leaving Tel Aviv I broke down and bought a copy for my study.

It is called “Six Days of Creation, and Sabbath”

In swirls of color and motion, the events of the six days are depicted in 6 little panels.

And then in the seventh panel which is twice the size of each of the others, there is a quiet scene of a room overlooking the city through an open archway, a table set with candles lit and wine-cup in place, an olive branch waving at the window and a white dove hovering.

The table is set, and the only thing missing is the people.

The viewer is invited to step into that role and begin the proper table blessing whether there is much else on our table or only a little:

“Blessed are you, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.”

“Blessed are you, O Lord our God, king of the universe who creates the fruit of the vine.”

“Blessed are you, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who has kept us alive and sustained us and brought us to this season.”

Blessed be God, whose gifts which organize all things and persons into their proper relationships are

Grace to you and peace

from him who made us to be a kingdom of priests to himself on behalf of one another, in whatever life-situation we are struggling.

Grace to you and peace from him who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.

Let all add their word: Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.