April 27, 2016
Peace in the Flesh
Scripture Readings for this Week: Acts 16:9-15; Psalm 67;
Revelation 21:10, 22—22:5; and John 14:23-29
 

When we gather for worship on Sundays, we sing, we hear God’s word, we pray, and then, just before we share the meal at God’s table, there is this strange thing we do: we share a sign of God’s peace. Or, to be exact, we shake hands or hug the people around us, saying “Peace be with you!” or “Christ’s peace!” In doing so, we echo the words of Jesus: “Peace I leave with you” (John 14:27).
But what does this mean? Peace as a feeling of tranquility and relaxation? Peace as the absence of disagreement? Peace as a diplomatic solution to global tensions? What exactly is the peace Christ gives us?
True peace is not a feeling, nor is it a policy or a program. It is a person. “For he (Christ) is our peace” (Eph. 2:14). Peace is enemies being reconciled, strangers becoming brothers and sisters. Peace is the healing of a broken and polluted earth, the poor being lifted up, the oppressed set free, the lonely welcomed. Peace is community.
All of us have experienced this peace at some point in our lives—perhaps in the forgiveness of a friend, the love of a mother, or the unexpected generosity of a stranger. When we gather around the water of baptism, the meal of the eucharist, and the word of the gospel, we come to seek that peace in each other. And because we all need reminders occasionally, we take time to say out loud in the middle of worship, “The peace of Christ be with you always.” And as we look around at the people gathered here, our words become flesh: the peace Christ left for us is reaching out to us in one another.
 
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