“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” Jesus made this promise to his apostles and to us at the Last Supper. Peace. Another one of those short words, like faith, hope, joy and love that leave our lips so easily yet remain a mystery. We seek peace but just what are we looking for?
It seems strange that in the opening scenes of Luke’s gospel, the angels announce peace on earth to shepherds in the fields at Bethlehem yet the world continues to experience conflict. Memorial Day reminds us of that grim reality. Where is the peace that the angels spoke of? Certainly not in Afghanistan, Mexico, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Nigeria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Mali and the Congo. Last year war-related fatalities in each of those countries ranged from 1750 to over 35,000.
Alas, peace remains a distant reality. Still we seek peace but what is this peace that we are seeking? The dictionary defines peace as the absence of war or other hostilities, but that isn’t what Jesus has in mind here.
The peace Jesus offers isn’t the peace so many people yearn for, namely the absence of hostility, but his gift of peace is essential if we are to find the worldly peace that we have vainly sought since prehistoric times.
We need to contrast our notion of peace with the biblical notion of peace that Jesus speaks of. The peace in his promise goes back to the Hebrew word, shalom, which is too rich to easily translate into one word. Shalom is my hope that things are going well for you; shalom is my hope that you are happy. Shalom is my hope that you are secure and blest with friends. Shalom is my hope that you are in harmony, not only with God, but also with your friends, with nature, with yourself. Shalom is a peace that reflects harmony within one’s self, made possible because God is dwelling within that person.
The peace Jesus speaks of comes when we endeavor to do what he is asking of us. Recall at the start of the gospel he said, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.”
No wonder in the Jerusalem that John spoke of in his vision, recounted in Revelation, there is no temple. God is to be found not in some distant building but in the hearts of those who are faithfully keeping his word. The peace Jesus speaks of can be found when we lay our personal desires aside and allow the Holy Spirit to enrich our faith and guide us. The peace Jesus speaks of will be ours when we endeavor to work for peace by keeping his word instead of using violent means to attain what we want for ourselves.
That became apparent to Paul, Barnabas, and other early Church leaders when confronted with division over the question of circumcision. Many viewed the early Church as a form of Judaism, so they expected Gentile converts to first become Jews. The Jewish religion back then had more to do with laws than beliefs. A Jew didn’t have to believe in the afterlife but he had to faithfully keep the law. The Holy Spirit enabled the early Church leaders to see things differently and to bring peace to a once divided church by focusing on what really mattered, namely keeping Jesus’ word.
The peace that Jesus offers us is linked to our willingness to be true to his word, that is his commandments. By doing so, the Christian can be truly at peace even in the midst of violence or temptation for true peace comes from knowing that God loves us and in turn that prompts us to love others.
I recently read about a farmer who found peace by being true to Jesus’ word. He grew excellent quality wheat and every season he won the award for the best grown in his county. One year a reporter from the local newspaper interviewed him and learned that each spring the man shared his seed with his neighbors so that they too could plant it in their fields.
“How can you afford to share your best wheat seed with your neighbors when they are entering their crops in the competition with yours?” the reporter asked. “Why that’s very simple,” the farmer explained… “The wind picks up pollen from the developing wheat and carries it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior wheat, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of all the wheat, including mine. If I am to grow good wheat, I must help my neighbors grow good wheat.”
The reporter realized how the farmer’s explanation also applied to peoples’ lives in the most fundamental way. Those who want to live meaningfully and well must help enrich the lives of others, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” May you leave here, knowing that no matter what ills the world might throw at you, Christ is forever present with you, sustaining you, guiding you, and loving you.