One of the most well-known of all prayers is the Serenity Prayer:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
This is a quite modern prayer; it was only composed in the 1930’s, but it has become a very well-known, much loved and often used prayer. And that’s understandable, what’s being asked for in the prayer is very much in keeping with the teaching of Jesus, and I’m sure people would be much happier if they could have the serenity, courage and wisdom mentioned in the prayer. And yet whilst we pray for these things, we often seem to find them very elusive and difficult to practice in our lives.
I remember very well, for example, a time when one of my fellow ordinands at the College of the Resurrection at Mirfield was looking very troubled about something and when I asked him what was wrong he said he’d just submitted a piece of work and was sure he’d left something really important out of the essay. But, as I said to him;
“But you’ve already submitted it?”
“Yes”, he said.
“So can you do anything to change it now then?” I asked,
And he said, “No.”
To which I replied,
“Well there’s not much point in worrying about it then is there?”
That’s just one example from my experience, but I could give others as I’m sure we all could because, at times we all lack the serenity to accept what we can’t change, the courage to change what we can and the wisdom to know the difference. But as we look at the world around us, these are qualities, gifts, that we really do need to have and to practice.
We live in a very troubled world, a very dangerous world, at the present time. If we read a newspaper or watch the news on television, about our own country we seem to hear about nothing but trouble; the cost-of-living crisis, the grooming gang scandal, the problem of illegal immigration, rising crime rates, two-tier justice to name just a few things. And news from the wider world is even worse; war in Ukraine, war in the Middle East, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and now fighting between Israel and Iran that’s threatening to involve many more countries in a much wider and far worse war. People are worried, very worried about the state of the world, they’re frightened about what may happen, and that’s understandable. But really, can we change any of these things? We may be able to influence things in this country by raising our voices in protest, but are the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Iran, the United States, or any other nation going to listen to what we say and allow what we say to change what they do? I think that’s not even a remote possibility. So these are things we can’t change but, whether we like it or not, have to have the serenity to accept. That doesn’t mean we have to like what’s going on in the world and we shouldn’t. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be concerned with what’s going on in the world, because we should and we should have the courage do whatever we can to help the victims of what’s going on in the world. But we have to accept that the reality of things is that we can’t change much of what’s going on in the world.
In our Gospel reading this morning, we heard St Peter’s great confession of faith that Jesus is “The Christ of God.” And we’re here in church this morning to make that same confession of faith, the Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the incarnate Son of God who was sent into the world to show us the light, to lead us out of the darkness of the world and its ways into the light of God and God’s ways. So what does Jesus have to say to us in the face of so much trouble and danger in the world?
One thing Jesus tells us is not to worry about the things of the world, the things of this life because we gain absolutely nothing from worrying about these things. He asks,
“And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”
He tells us not to worry about what will happen in the future:
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Jesus was speaking here about our own comfort, clothing, food and drink, but he spoke in the same way about great events in the world too:
“And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.”
But while Jesus tells us not to worry about things we can’t change, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be concerned about them and especially for the people involved in and affected by troubles. We know that, while Jesus accepted that the destruction of Jerusalem was coming, he still wept about it. He had compassion on crowds and individuals; we read that a number of times in the Gospels. We know he wasn’t immune to personal anguish because we read how he wept at the grave of Lazarus and suffered in Gethsemane. Even in his own darkest time, as he carried his Cross to Calvary, he still felt compassion for others, as his words to the women to weep for themselves and their children rather than for him tells us.
Jesus’ own example shows us that we should feel compassion for those affected by the world’s troubles but that’s not surprising given his commandment that we should love our neighbour as ourselves. And according to that same commandment and Jesus’ own example, if we can do anything about their suffering, we should. But Jesus also tells us that there are things we can’t change. Things can and do and will happen that we can do absolutely nothing about, but he tells us not to worry about these things. In fact, the only thing that Jesus really says we should be worried about is not being ready to meet him when he comes.
In this morning’s Gospel Jesus tells us that, if we truly want to be his disciples we have to take up and carry our own cross every day. And to carry our cross means to stop thinking about ourselves and our own pleasure and comfort in this life and put seeking the kingdom of God first. It means to stop worrying about worldly matters and concentrate on heavenly matters, eternal things. Time and again in the Gospels Jesus warns us that we have to be about this constantly. He warns us to be ready at all times, never to be found sleeping from this work is the way he often puts it. And he says this is what we must do even when it seems that the world is coming to an end.
“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
And this is something we should worry about because this is something that does lie in our own hands to change. Many things, many terrible things happen in the world that we can’t do anything about, we can’t change those things. But we can change ourselves so that we’re more Christlike and if we don’t make those changes it’s our own fault. Of course we can’t do it without God’s help, without God’s grace, but we have to want that help and we have the courage to use the grace of God to change our lives so that we are living as Christ’s disciples each and every day of our lives.
Many people are looking at the state of the world today and coming to the conclusion that the end times are here, that the end of the world is nigh. Que sera, sera, what will be, will be. There’s very little, if anything we can do to change the great events of the world, there’s nothing at all we can do to change God’s mind if he has decided that the end has come. What we can do though is ask ourselves if we’re ready to meet Lord. I’m pretty sure that answer for all of us will be something along the lines of.
“No, not really. Can we have a bit more time?”
Well, we may have more time but who knows how much. We might be run over by a bus tomorrow and then what the world does on Tuesday won’t matter to us at all will it. None of us know how much time we’ve got until we have to stand before the Lord so let’s make good use of the time we do have while we have it. Let’s try to have the serenity to accept that there are things we simply can’t change, no matter how much we might want to so that we can worry less about these things than about the things we can change. Let’s ask God for the wisdom to know the difference between the things we can and can’t change. And let’s ask him for the grace to help us change the things we can change and need to change and for the courage to make those changes so that whenever it happens, we will be ready to stand before the Lord.
Amen.
Propers for the 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, 22nd June 2025
Entrance Antiphon
The Lord is the strength of his people,
a saving refuge for the one he has anointed.
Save your people, Lord, and bless your heritage,
and govern them for ever.
The Collect
Grant, O Lord,
that we may always revere and love your holy name,
for you never deprive of your guidance
those you set firm on the foundation of your love.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Readings
Zechariah 12:10-11, 13:1
Psalm 63:2-6, 8-9
Galatians 3:26-29
Luke 9:18-24
Prayer after Communion
Renewed and nourished by the Sacred Body and Precious Blood of your Son,
we ask of your mercy, O Lord,
that what we celebrate with constant devotion may be our sure pledge of redemption.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Parish Church of St Mark Chadderton 