One of the best known facets of the Alcoholics Anonymous program is a little three-line quotation known as the “Serenity Prayer.” Though it has often been misattributed and quoted in a number of forms, it seems very likely that it was first said in a sermon by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr in the 1930s. The best known form is this:
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.
In our text for this Sunday, John 14:23-31 (I’ve added two verses to the lectionary Gospel reading), Jesus offers His disciples good reasons for serenity in the face of what they are soon to experience (Jesus’ own arrest and death).
The first reason for serenity is the promise in verse 26 of “another Advocate [or Helper or Comforter–various translations of paracletos are possible].” We understand this to be the gift of the Holy Spirit which Jesus’ followers receive after His death and resurrection. The Spirit provides a continuity of Christ’s own presence with them, as well as further instruction in understanding and remembering what Jesus had taught.
Another reason for serenity is offered in verse 27, probably an expansion of the promise of the Spirit, “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 let them be afraid.”
Presumably both gifts, of the Spirit and of peace, can be seen as answers to the first request of Niebuhr’s “Serenity Prayer.” Jesus offered internal spiritual resources to cope with the unchangeable circumstances surrounding the disciples as the Crucifixion loomed near. Those same resources, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the spiritual fruit of peace, are still available to those who follow Jesus now.
What might be less clear, and why I added verses 30 and 31 to the lectionary text, is that the serenity or peace given by Jesus does not reduce to mere Stoic acceptance of all circumstances nor apathy in the face of trials or hardship. Unlike the Greek Stoics and some modern scientific determinists, Jesus did not teach that all events in the world and predetermined and unchangeable. As Neibuhr’s prayer correctly capsulizes, God gives power through His Spirit for His people to change things in this world.
In verse 30, Jesus mentions the coming of “the ruler of this world.” Other Scriptures give us to understand that this is Satan, whose evil has dominated our world and human life throughout history. Yet Jesus declares, “He has no power over me…” By implication, the forces of evil have no power over those who trust in Christ and receive His peace through the Spirit. Evil, in fact, can be challenged in the name of Jesus.
Which is all to say that we must not understand a truly Christian serenity simply as an internal state of mind or feeling. It is that, but it is not merely that. Which is why I’d like to offer an odd take on the last bit of verse 31, when Jesus says, “Rise, let us be on our way,” or “Come, let us leave now.”
That invitation to depart at this point in John’s text is a conundrum for interpreters, since Jesus appears not to leave at that point but continues talking for another three chapters! One solution which is mere conjecture, but I like it, is that they did in fact get up and begin walking to Gethsemane at that point and Jesus kept instructing them and praying along the way.
It’s a bit fanciful, but that peripatetic time of instruction could be a good image of discipleship and Christian life in general. Our serenity in Christ is an “on the way,” active sort of peace, doing its best to understand what He teaches and to go forth into the world and challenge the evil we find there. May God grant us the courage and the wisdom to get up and take our serenity out into the arena of a world very much in need of it.