Philippians 4.4-7 8 July 2007
“PEACE PASSING ALL UNDERSTANDING”
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. The Lord is near.” Could any verses ring happier in our ears than these cadences opening our epistle lesson? Friends, this is a clarion call to good cheer. Someone once defined hell as being in a place where God is absent. That is about right. But we can go the other way with that saying. Heaven is that place where “the Lord is near.” And in this joy-starved, celebration-deprived world, when God is near, hearts will always rejoice.
What a perfect text, this happy blessing is, on the day we take full measure of how Noel Tipton has blessed us for 14 years. This Philippians blessing comes in waves. Gentleness. Serenity. Prayerfulness. Thanksgiving. Only to find ourselves awash in peace. I would like to follow these waves as they wash upon us, as we also trace Noel’s presence and influence on the ministry of Dennis Union Church.
”Let your gentleness be known to everyone.” Noel, you are not only a gentleman, but you have a gentle, kind way about you. You tread lightly, with the alacrity of a leprechaun, your soles barely touching the earth. I have been impressed with the humility of your light touch as you have handled this transition. Most church musicians treat other church musicians, particularly their predecessors and successors, as bearers of something like the bubonic plague. Can anyone here say prima donna? But, Noel, your first priority has been the well-being of the church, and that we should move from strength to strength. You have empow-ered us and cheered us on as we have made covenant with Maggi Bossi for a new era in music ministry. You have gotten yourself out of the way so God might fill a space. What a gift. Have you ever heard theologians speculate on how it is that angels are able to fly? It has little to do with aerodynamics, but everything to do with the state of their souls. Knowing that God is all in all, and only God mat-ters, angels don’t take themselves too seriously. With this lightness of being, they start to levitate, to rise off the earth, only to find themselves flying and soaring.
Well, Noel, we should put lead weights in your leather jacket as you mount that moped of yours. You are so gentle and humble you might find yourself levitating right off Old Kings Highway, Marlon Brando meets Mary Poppins. Have you ever wanted to fly? Yes, lead weights in your pockets, and we should have embroid-ered on the back of your leather jacket, as you menace villages along Old King’s Highway, Born to be Mild. This first wave is gentleness in the rising tide of peace.
But then Paul makes his next move in blessing. “Do not worry about anything.” The second wave is serenity or contentment. Have no anxiety about anything, read other translations. Noel, you and I both occupy places in the church where we are out there, visible, and open to criticism. Both music and preaching are places where seemingly everyone has an opinion about how we are doing at any given moment. These kindly souls can be so generous about wanting to help us, to show us the proper way. Never mind they have no idea what it means to sit at a keyboard or stand in a pulpit. What we do puts us in a very vulnerable position.
No matter what we do, a few will think that nothing could be more exquisite and others will shake their heads and mutter. So how do we find anything like peace in these important ministries of music and the word to which God has called us? Here’s how. According to the world’s scheme of what happens here, we in the chancel are the performers, God is the prompter, and the people in the pews are the audience. But in God’s scheme of worship, this arrangement is completely different. We in the chancel are the prompters, the people are the performers, and God is the audience. Noel, I said that in my first sermon here and you quickly alighted on it. Then you have repeated it back to me on more than one occasion. Indeed in this high wire act we share called ministry, this is how we find serenity.
If you and I are performers, Noel, then everyone else here is with us as well before the throne of God. Do you think we should tell them? For example, I remember in a previous church, a woman who could be critical said to me one Sunday, as though surprised, “Why, you preached well today, Dale.” I smiled and replied, “And you were listening and hearing well, Shirley.” No, she didn’t get my point, we’re all in this together before God’s watchful gaze. It’s not about how entertaining we staff are before a gathering of religious consumers. Noel, our contentment is giving the best we have to give with what gifts God has endowed us. Letting that be the lead in the larger offerings of all the people of God. And trusting that is good enough, that God will receive our offerings. Well-done, good and faithful servant, Noel. The second wave is serenity in the rising tide of peace.
“Be prayerful in everything.” The third wave is prayer in the rising tide of peace. Noel, I’ve worked with many church musicians, many of whom had nothing like a real living relationship with God. That you and Betty are people of faith, people devoted to Christ’s church, people who understand yourselves as enlisted in serving God’s reign, makes all of the difference in the world. That we can enter together in this space having been candid with one another about our children, asking for each other’s prayers. That we can occasionally step on each other’s toes, but then share the abundance of forgiveness Christ brought, walking side by side. Then move on and collaborate as though it was nothing. That we can share frustrations and triumphs as men and feel God rooting for us through one another’s work. Prayerfulness is the third wave in God’s rising tide of peace.
Being thankful in anything is the fourth wave as the tide of God’s peace draws in. Noel, I have heard you talk about these 14 years here, about your many more years in service to the church, and you do so with a kind of grateful glow. You talk about the people of Dennis Union Church and your first glimmer of being led here as a charmed moment. You and I both share the highest regard for the people of this church. We know we are blessed and we feel thankful to God for leading us here. But you and Betty regularly cultivate thanksgiving between you as a spiritual practice. You have me over to your lovely Eastham home and offer a heartfelt table grace of thanks before we partake. You cook a delicious dinner for me and act like I am doing you the favor. We talk about your days in
As this rising tide of blessing finally arrives in its fullness—gentleness, serenity, prayerfulness and thankfulness--we are awash in the peace only God can give. Noel, you care a great deal about peace. You care about world peace and this wrong and destructive Middle Eastern war in which our homeland is engaged. You read voraciously and you write letters with your heart out on your sleeve. You care about finding a personal niche of peace as you travel through each day, whether its in the way you treat us or taking a walk to your nearby peaceful pond.
We should remember that Paul wrote these words invoking peaceful blessing from a prison cell. As he sat alone, Paul was old and ill and only about to write the encouragement that he had traveled to the corners of the earth to proclaim. Paul knew whereof he spoke when he called it a peace passing all understanding
It passes all understanding, this peace of God, because it is much bigger than we are. It passes all understanding, because the gravitational force driving this full tide of peace is not the sun and moon, but the power of selfless love loosed by a humble carpenter. Because of Jesus this peace ebbs and flows in new ways still. It passes all understanding because we can no more earn it or create it alone by ourselves than we can sit in our own lap to caress and console ourselves in our fears. Such is the peace of God, the gift of Christ, the byproduct of gentleness, serenity, prayerfulness, and thankfulness, and the million other little spiritual gifts.
Will you rehearse this full blessing with me? Please repeat after me. Gentleness unto all. Anxiety about nothing. Prayerfulness in anything. Thankfulness in everything. Such are God’s successive waves of blessing to broadcast his peace. Noel, do you feel blessed yet? Do you feel at peace in this day? I do too. Amen.
