I have a confession to make: I don’t know if I remember how to preach! It’s good to be home from my sabbatical and study time, notwithstanding the fact that this past Thursday morning when I walked into my office my conference table and chairs had been replaced with two pieces of old patio furniture and there was a prominent sign on my desk that read, “Gustavo Coria, Head Custodian.” You’ll hear more about my time away, but for now let me say I greatly enjoyed visiting many churches, doing some recreational reading, meeting some wonderful people both within and outside the church, and then, at the end of the summer, having a first-time-ever first-hand experience with a hurricane.

The last two weeks of August, as I have done for several years now, I spent with two preacher friends in a home in the Florida Keys, preparing this year’s sermon plans. And yes, after hitting south Florida as a category one hurricane, Katrina made the highly unusual move of turning south and coming down the Keys, where we were. A few trees went down and the wind and rain were fierce, but we never lost power and were never in serious danger. Of course, we all know what the storm did after that.

I need not reiterate for you the destruction that Katrina has caused. And I need not emphasize the tremendous responsibility and privilege we have to help those whose lives were devastated. I am confident that this church has responded and will respond further in generous and creative ways. There are many in our church family who have family members and friends that have been directly affected by the hurricane, but as of now—to the best of my knowledge—there are none who have lost their lives. Such a catastrophic event instantly generates many questions, not a few of them theological ones, and over the course of time we will think about some of them together. For the moment, let me share with you this summary of Christian thinking that my good friend David Berry, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, is sharing with his congregation today. First, Christians are not exempt from the storms of life; second, you are never alone in the storms of life; and third, we put our trust in the God who can still the storms. That’s good stuff to hold on to today!

Before Katrina hit, as I waited for a word from the Lord about what he would have me preach to you this year, some critical facts about our life together began to jell in my mind. In this program year of 2005 – 2006 we will celebrate the 50th birthday of this church! In this program year we will make some decisions together about much-needed developments in our ministries and our church campus. And we will—as always—continue down the path of “following Jesus for life.”

I have been thinking of late about this question, and maybe it’s a question that you have as well: How can I have a good life? That question pretty much covers all our other questions, it seems to me. A good life is where, as much as possible, everything is right, everything is useful, everything is in its place, everything is happy and secure and satisfying, everything is as good as it can be. An event like Hurricane Katrina that destroys so much that is good also reminds us of the good that we enjoy. It reminds us not to take that good for granted. And it leaves us searching ever more earnestly for the good that we hope life has to offer. Paul captures that sense of longing for the good life and also points us in the direction of where it is to be found in the opening sentences of every single one of his letters to the early church. He uses a phrase that I use every Lord’s Day to begin our worship together: “Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

What you and I want in life is what the ancient Hebrew people called “shalom,” peace. To the Jews, peace was not simply the absence of war, it was an all-encompassing reality of health and abundance and security and all of the other things that go into the making of the highest good that human beings can experience. Shalom is “the good life.” Such peace was so important, so fundamental, that good Jews still say hello and goodbye with it, “Shalom.”

Peace is what we want. But how do we get it? You and I learn very early in life that if we want something we have to work for it. To get Mom and Dad’s attention, you have to cry. To get good grades in school, you have to study. To get the girl, you have to buy flowers and candy. To get something so comprehensive and so foundational as peace, we sense that we have to go much further in our effort. We know that we have to go to God. Every religion on the face of the earth has its own way of directing our effort so that we can earn God’s love and therefore have peace with God, and peace in our lives. The Buddhists teach an eight-fold path you must follow. The Hindus talk about finding good karma. The Muslims have a code of law. The Jews have a similar law expressed in the covenant. What about Christianity?

During a British conference on world religions a discussion developed on whether or not Christianity had anything about it that was unique. The participants agreed that all religions talked in some way or other about God becoming present in human form, about life after death, and so on. And then C. S. Lewis walked into the room. He said, “What’s the rumpus about?” and then was told of the debate about Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions. He said, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.”ⁱ

How do you and I earn peace, the good life? We don’t. We can’t. God gives it to us. That’s grace. Paul always says, “grace” before he says “peace.” That’s because grace comes before peace. By the grace of God we receive peace with God. Jesus’ great message to us, therefore Christianity’s great contribution to the world, is that, “God so loved the world that he sent his only Son,” he gave him to us, and in the giving, which meant death on the cross to pay for our sin, we could finally have peace. We didn’t pay for Jesus and we cannot earn Jesus. We can only receive Jesus purely and simply as a gift.

The grace of God gives us peace with God. The “hows” and “whys” and “so whats?” of this reality must be answered in later sermons. In fact, for much of this year together we will dig around in the rich theological mine that Ephesians is and find a great deal of treasure there. But the fundamental message is simple and life-changing. The good life that you want is a life that God is ready to give you. Living the good life is really all about living a God life, a life bathed in God’s grace and God’s peace.

In the aftermath of Katrina it hardly seems like we should be talking about things like grace and peace, about having a good life. But I believe that now more than ever we need for our thoughts and hearts to dwell on the good news of the peace we have through grace. In the very best times of life we must never forget that all comes from grace. And in the very worst times of life, we must never forget that grace is our only sure hope. As part of the Katrina benefit concert Friday night on MSNBC, Aaron Neville sang these words that we all know so well: “Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come: ‘tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.”ⁱⁱ

Our home is in the heart of God. God broke his own heart and shared it with us in the body and blood of the Man who is God Himself, in Jesus. God revealed his heart to us as a heart overflowing with grace, grace that leads to abundant peace. And so we gather around this table, to be filled again with God’s amazing grace, so that we may live “the God life.” That is our hope, our joy, our purpose, today, and every day. Grace to you and peace to you, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.

ⁱFrom Philip Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1997, p. 45.
ⁱⁱJohn Newton, Amazing Grace, 1779.

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