Beneficent Congregational Church

AND NONE SHALL MAKE THEM AFRAID
Zechariah 8:1-8

A sermon given by the Rev. Richard H. Taylor
January 1, 2006 / 1st Sunday after Christmas

By the time of the birth of Jesus, the marking of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Ha'Shanah, that fell on the first day of the month of Tishri, was well in place. In the Jewish tradition New Year begins ten days of penitence that conclude with the highest holy day Yom Kippur. It calls forth repentance. It is a time to confess sin, to acknowledge what is wrong, to pray for what should be.

Our tradition of New Year's resolutions is a modest reflection on this old tradition. We realize things have not been as good as they could have been. We plan to change.

A central prayer in the Rosh Ha'Shanah liturgy is the Avinu Malkeinu, "Our Father, Our King." The prayer translates as follows:

"Our father, our king, hear our prayer
We have sinned before Thee
Have compassion upon us and upon our children
Help us to bring an end to pestilence, war, and famine
Cause all hate and oppression to banish from the earth
Inscribe us for blessing in the Book of Life
Let the new year be a good year for us.

A common setting goes like this: (Here is sung Max Janowski's setting of the Avinu Malkeinu.)

Christian cultures have moved the celebration of the New Year to the first of January when we celebrate Joseph and Mary presenting the baby Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem. It is the time when they encounter the old man Simeon, and the old prophet Anna. In a Temple setting with the devout elderly, the Christian New Year retains a reserved devotional quality. But by introducing a baby to the world in the presence of hopeful prophets it also provides us with a time of dreaming, a time of imagining what the world would be like through holy living, what the world should be like when we follow God, what God intends the world to be like.

So I would like to spend the rest of our time with the Word, hearing again what some of the prophets say about God's future, the New Year for which the penitent pray.

The prophet Ezekiel (chapter 34) uses the image of a shepherd caring for sheep. He says that God intends to create a "covenant of peace," that there will be "no more plunder for the nations," and that God's people "will live in safety, and no one shall make them afraid."

The prophet Micah (chapter 4) repeats the hope of Isaiah that there will be a time when people "shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks…" He says people "shall all sit under their own vines and their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid."

The prophet Zephaniah (chapter 3) talks of a time when there will be "a people humble and lowly…" He says of them that "they shall do no wrong and utter no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths. Then they will pasture and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid."

The visions of the prophets are so similar. They call forth a unity in our New Year's prayers.

As I looked at the words of so many of the prophets in scripture to prepare today's sermon, I decided to choose as our text words from the eighth chapter of Zechariah. I so love Zechariah's images, "Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem… and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets." The prophet reminds us, even if it seems impossible to us, it is not impossible to God: Old men and women going outside, unafraid; Children playing in the streets in safety. And none shall make them afraid.

What is your vision of this New Year 2006? What wrongs do you want put aside? What kind of a world do you dream of? What kind of world do you imagine? How do we get from here to there?

I thought I might end these New Year's visions with the words of a modern prophet. Chath Piersath has served as the head of Habitat for Humanity in Cambodia. Many people from Cambodia live here in Rhode Island.

Most of us have strong memories of Cambodia. I remember when President Nixon announced the bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War. At the time one of the most popular songs among the young was "Bridge Over Troubled Water." "Like a bridge over troubled waters, I will lay me down." The song seemed to be such a great longing of millions of Americans for an end to war, and end to troubles. And yet, at that time of great popular longing for peace, President Nixon extended the War into another country. It led to terrible upheavals here at home. It so violently rejected the mood of the people.

We know now that the invasion of Cambodia, and the intrusion of the War into a neutral nation had actually been going on for a long time before the bombing was announced. And we also know the results of that warring, that bombing. The extension of the War so destroyed the Cambodian infrastructure, destroyed crops with agent orange – creating hunger and famine, so de-stabilized the government there, that it created a vacuum into which the murderous excesses of the Khmer Rogue of Paul Pot could move. Millions of people died from those decisions. Cambodia seems scarred for eternity.

So listen to the words of Cambodian prophet Chath Piersath, written for the New Year six years ago, and be aware how much the prophetic tradition is an international tradition. God speaks in many languages.

"I think of my motherland, Cambodia, like an invocation I'd give to the world, dreaming that by the year 2000, peace will truly come to this wounded nation of mass genocide and violence.

"I think of her becoming a land of gardens, a rain forest of air and life, a country of forgiveness and compassion. She will represent understanding beyond borders and become a peacemaker of neighboring conflicts with the Vietnamese, the Thais, and ourselves.

"All her children will have a childhood, a generation with both parents alive and siblings to play with. No child will be forced to hold a gun for someone else's political or economic good.

"All the land mines will have been destroyed from the land her people farm to eat. All land mines banned from the world.

"There will be playgrounds instead of war zones. There will be more schools instead of brothels and nightclubs. The children will sing songs of joy instead of terror. They will learn how to read love instead of hate. And each child will have enough to eat and clean water to drink.

"My homeland will be green again – she will sprout seeds of peace into spring blossoms of love and joy. Her tropical trees will be left unlogged. Her abundant fruit shared. Her forests an earthly paradise. She will be serene, beautiful, and full of charms like the statues carved on her temple walls, filled with peace and hiding smiles. Her people will have been made strong and wise from all the suffering they have endured.

"The bigger and more wealthy countries will stop selling her arms to kill her own people. They will become good role models for her political and spiritual development. They well respect her as an equal and love her as their own sister.

"Those nations with skills to share, friendship to gain, and love to give will sincerely come to help her, give her encouragement, and provide her with the support needed to keep her people growing trees instead of cutting them down to pay their debt.

"I think of Cambodia as one nation loved, one nation healed and freed from war and hate. Imagine the earth with all nations loved and treated when sick or diseased. Imagine families of people willing to share, to understand and learn from each other. Imagine all the wisdom and the experiences that we could gather to make our planet one home and ourselves one people, united in our diversity. Imagine – " ¹

Amen.

1 – Piersath, Chath, in Prayers for a Thousand Years, Edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon (Harper, San Francisco, 1999), pp. 34-35.

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Beneficent Congregational Church seeks to be a wellspring of Christian faith for a diverse people and a voice for justice, in the heart of the City of Providence. Located in Downcity Providence 300 Weybosset at the intersection of Empire, Broad and Chestnut	AND NONE SHALL MAKE THEM AFRAID Zechariah 8:1-8 A sermon given by the Rev. Richard H. Taylor January 1, 2006 / 1st Sunday after Christmas By the time of the birth of Jesus, the marking of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Ha'Shanah, that fell on the first day of the month of Tishri, was well in place. In the Jewish tradition New Year begins ten days of penitence that conclude with the highest holy day Yom Kippur. It calls forth repentance. It is a time to confess sin, to acknowledge what is wrong, to pray for what should be. Our tradition of New Year's resolutions is a modest reflection on this old tradition. We realize things have not been as good as they could have been. We plan to change. A central prayer in the Rosh Ha'Shanah liturgy is the Avinu Malkeinu, "Our Father, Our King." The prayer translates as follows: "Our father, our king, hear our prayer We have sinned before Thee Have compassion upon us and upon our children Help us to bring an end to pestilence, war, and famine Cause all hate and oppression to banish from the earth Inscribe us for blessing in the Book of Life Let the new year be a good year for us. A common setting goes like this: (Here is sung Max Janowski's setting of the Avinu Malkeinu.) Christian cultures have moved the celebration of the New Year to the first of January when we celebrate Joseph and Mary presenting the baby Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem. It is the time when they encounter the old man Simeon, and the old prophet Anna. In a Temple setting with the devout elderly, the Christian New Year retains a reserved devotional quality. But by introducing a baby to the world in the presence of hopeful prophets it also provides us with a time of dreaming, a time of imagining what the world would be like through holy living, what the world should be like when we follow God, what God intends the world to be like. So I would like to spend the rest of our time with the Word, hearing again what some of the prophets say about God's future, the New Year for which the penitent pray. The prophet Ezekiel (chapter 34) uses the image of a shepherd caring for sheep. He says that God intends to create a "covenant of peace," that there will be "no more plunder for the nations," and that God's people "will live in safety, and no one shall make them afraid." The prophet Micah (chapter 4) repeats the hope of Isaiah that there will be a time when people "shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks…" He says people "shall all sit under their own vines and their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid." The prophet Zephaniah (chapter 3) talks of a time when there will be "a people humble and lowly…" He says of them that "they shall do no wrong and utter no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths. Then they will pasture and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid." The visions of the prophets are so similar. They call forth a unity in our New Year's prayers. As I looked at the words of so many of the prophets in scripture to prepare today's sermon, I decided to choose as our text words from the eighth chapter of Zechariah. I so love Zechariah's images, "Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem… and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets." The prophet reminds us, even if it seems impossible to us, it is not impossible to God: Old men and women going outside, unafraid; Children playing in the streets in safety. And none shall make them afraid. What is your vision of this New Year 2006? What wrongs do you want put aside? What kind of a world do you dream of? What kind of world do you imagine? How do we get from here to there? I thought I might end these New Year's visions with the words of a modern prophet. Chath Piersath has served as the head of Habitat for Humanity in Cambodia. Many people from Cambodia live here in Rhode Island. Most of us have strong memories of Cambodia. I remember when President Nixon announced the bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War. At the time one of the most popular songs among the young was "Bridge Over Troubled Water." "Like a bridge over troubled waters, I will lay me down." The song seemed to be such a great longing of millions of Americans for an end to war, and end to troubles. And yet, at that time of great popular longing for peace, President Nixon extended the War into another country. It led to terrible upheavals here at home. It so violently rejected the mood of the people. We know now that the invasion of Cambodia, and the intrusion of the War into a neutral nation had actually been going on for a long time before the bombing was announced. And we also know the results of that warring, that bombing. The extension of the War so destroyed the Cambodian infrastructure, destroyed crops with agent orange – creating hunger and famine, so de-stabilized the government there, that it created a vacuum into which the murderous excesses of the Khmer Rogue of Paul Pot could move. Millions of people died from those decisions. Cambodia seems scarred for eternity. So listen to the words of Cambodian prophet Chath Piersath, written for the New Year six years ago, and be aware how much the prophetic tradition is an international tradition. God speaks in many languages. "I think of my motherland, Cambodia, like an invocation I'd give to the world, dreaming that by the year 2000, peace will truly come to this wounded nation of mass genocide and violence. "I think of her becoming a land of gardens, a rain forest of air and life, a country of forgiveness and compassion. She will represent understanding beyond borders and become a peacemaker of neighboring conflicts with the Vietnamese, the Thais, and ourselves. "All her children will have a childhood, a generation with both parents alive and siblings to play with. No child will be forced to hold a gun for someone else's political or economic good. "All the land mines will have been destroyed from the land her people farm to eat. All land mines banned from the world. "There will be playgrounds instead of war zones. There will be more schools instead of brothels and nightclubs. The children will sing songs of joy instead of terror. They will learn how to read love instead of hate. And each child will have enough to eat and clean water to drink. "My homeland will be green again – she will sprout seeds of peace into spring blossoms of love and joy. Her tropical trees will be left unlogged. Her abundant fruit shared. Her forests an earthly paradise. She will be serene, beautiful, and full of charms like the statues carved on her temple walls, filled with peace and hiding smiles. Her people will have been made strong and wise from all the suffering they have endured. "The bigger and more wealthy countries will stop selling her arms to kill her own people. They will become good role models for her political and spiritual development. They well respect her as an equal and love her as their own sister. "Those nations with skills to share, friendship to gain, and love to give will sincerely come to help her, give her encouragement, and provide her with the support needed to keep her people growing trees instead of cutting them down to pay their debt. "I think of Cambodia as one nation loved, one nation healed and freed from war and hate. Imagine the earth with all nations loved and treated when sick or diseased. Imagine families of people willing to share, to understand and learn from each other. Imagine all the wisdom and the experiences that we could gather to make our planet one home and ourselves one people, united in our diversity. Imagine – " ¹ Amen. 1 – Piersath, Chath, in Prayers for a Thousand Years, Edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon (Harper, San Francisco, 1999), pp. 34-35.