Cafe du Pax (Cafe of Peace)

Cafe du Pax

Good morning everyone!  It is wonderful to be with you all here at St. James! 

Well, after hearing all these languages just now, there is no question that today is the day of Pentecost!   

Yes, today is all about the Holy Spirit.  Let's see, I just heard Spanish, and what else?  French?  Russian? German?   Did I hear Arabic? Hebrew?  Well, I know, some of us are bit rusty on our Hebrew!

You know, many preachers tend to avoid sermons on the Holy Spirit. Why do you suppose?  Because it's just so hard to describe and pin down! 

So, let me ask you, what comes to your mind when you think of the Holy Spirit?    (The people respond / share.)

I have been a military chaplain, and we speak many languages as well.   I work with an Assemblies of God and an Anglican chaplain.  So we tell people, that we speak Catholic / Anglican / Episcopal , "Thanks be to God".  And we also speak Holiness / Pentecostal, "Hallelujah!" "Praise the Lord!", plus we also we speak secular too, "Yay!"

A few years ago, I was deployed to an airbase in Arabia, & I was the “Protestant Chaplain”.  We also had a Roman Catholic priest chaplain and a Jewish chaplain.   As the Protestant chaplain I had to lead every service which meant I led just about every style / type of worship service except for the Roman Catholic mass, the LDS service and the Jewish services.  That meant I led three different worship services on Sundays, each one so very different than the other. 

There was the “Contemporary Christian” service, with rock band, PowerPoint and lots of music.  This service attracted many young people.   The service was high energy but also very heart felt, many of the attendees would hold their hands up in the air during prayers and music, they were feeling the Holy Spirit.   

And then there was the “Liturgical” service, which was pretty much like an Episcopal or Lutheran type of service.  This service is more inward, calm and contemplative. 

And then there was the “Gospel” service, which was predominantly African American and very Holiness-Pentecostal in worship style.  The energy of the service was very up-tempo, with lots of hand clapping and foot stomping.   Lots of great music, a band, a choir, and lots of “Amen’s” and “Hallelujahs” and “All right nows” being shouted from the congregation. They wanted me to preach not in the pulpit and completely extemporaneously. 

Now, being and Episcopal priest, this style of preaching took me a little getting used to.  But they were just so much fun!  Soon, I was preaching like a Pentecostal preacher…do I hear an amen? 

But as we know, the holy is experienced in many different ways.  An intense, ecstatic experience is only one way to feel the holy.

And so I ask you, how have you experienced, or felt the holy?   The Holy Spirit? (Wisdom, inspiration, calm, guidance...)  

And now, I'd like to invite you all to the Cafe du Pax, the Cafe of Peace.

A few weeks ago I went on a 4 day mini vacation down to Cabo San Lucas in Baja California.   It was my birthday present to myself.  Ordinarily I don’t give myself such treats but this time I did.   You see, it was a milestone birthday...yes, I just turned 21!   OK, just kidding.

On one of the days I took a day trip tour to the city of La Paz & the town

Cafe of Peace, El Triunfo, MX

Todos Santos. Along the way to La Paz, we stopped in a little town off the beaten path called El Triunfo.    

Built in the 1800ds, it was a cute little old one street town the length of one block.  Interestingly, the town was like an oasis in the desert, it was very green with lots of trees and plants as it had an unground spring.

And on that tiny old main street was a tiny café called “Café du Pax”, (Cafe of Peace).  It was very old world Mexico and very picturesque.  Old brick work with bright yellow adobe, and on one wall, a huge painting of a woman drinking a cup of tea.   It was the cutest, most quaint little old café.  The café was closed so I couldn’t go inside, but the more I looked at it, the more I liked it.

Why did I find such joy in this cute little old café?   I’m not sure.  But the place had a presence about it.   It gave me such peace.

Well, I guess it would.  It was the Café of Peace!

And so I ask you, what would your Cafe of Peace look like?  What kind of food would it serve?  What colors would it be?   Where might it be?

Yes, there really is a peace that passes all understanding.   It comes in the calm, in the quiet…in our breath… in everyday moments…in “gut feelings”, in dreams we dream and visions we envision, and in those special unexpected moments in life.

The Holy is always present…

And as Deacon Robin just read from the Gospel, “My peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.”

Amen.

[Sermon given at St. James Episcopal Church, Tempe, AZ on May 15, 2016]