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“While the disciples were telling how they had seen Jesus risen from the dead, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’.” These are the words that we just heard read from the gospel of Luke. The Prince of Peace speaking “Peace” to His disciples does not seem strange to us until we realize that these disciples were in trouble with the establishment from the beginnings of their ministry.
In the reading from Acts today, we heard about Peter and John’s run in with the authorities of the Temple. Because a lame man was healed through the name of Jesus when Peter prayed for him, Peter and John were thrown into jail. Later, they were released miraculously through divine intervention, but we are still faced with the reality that being a disciple of Christ does not mean living a life of peaceful quiet. Instead the lives of the original Twelve was anything, but peaceful.
Of Jesus’ faithful Apostles, all were martyred, except John who lived a long life, but was exiled. Even the one disciple who was not martyred was cast out of society by the authorities for his faithfulness to Jesus. Where is this peace that Jesus claimed for his loyal disciples?
Perhaps Jesus’ peace is something different from how the world defines peace. Peace in the secular world usually refers to peaceful relationships such as between individuals or countries. This type of peace is too often a luxury instead of the norm. Until 9/11, many of us here in the United States had been lulled into the belief that our peace was supernaturally protected from intrusion by outsiders. As painful as the atrocities of 9/11 were, they were a wake up call to many here in the United States that our life of safety was penetrable. Peace is no longer seen as a given way of life. We have come to value peace as a priceless commodity that must be nourished and protected.
Unfortunately, there are many in the world, as our dear friend Bishop Ochola has made us so aware, who have not known peace in their land for twenty years. Hearing about his personal losses and the sufferings of his people has been heartbreaking. We here at St. Raphael’s will never be able to look at our own lives in the same way. The inconveniences in our lives that we once saw as adversities now pale in comparison with the hardships that the people in Northern Uganda face on a daily basis.
The knowledge of children being kidnapped and forced to do things that we here in America can not even imagine happening in our own country has awakened us to the reality of the horrors that happen when evil overcomes good. The words of Jesus, “Peace be with you” sound hollow in the midst of such atrocities. How can we speak of peace when our brothers and sisters in Christ are caught up in such devastating circumstances?
The word ‘peace’ that Jesus claimed for His followers comes from the Hebrew word ‘shalom’. Although the New Testament was written down in Greek, we need to remember that Jesus was a Jew. The word ‘shalom’ is a Hebrew greeting used for saying either ‘hello’ or ‘good-bye’. As in English, it is used to describe peace between two entities as well as inner peace.
As we have seen, this world is not a peaceful place to live. Violence, the enemy of peace, is a strong and evil force that destroys homes as well as nations. Only one of Jesus’ faithful apostles was spared a violent death. A peace filled life seemed to allude even these faithful followers. Since this is the example we are given from the lives of these early men, where is the Peace of Christ?
I believe that the peace that Jesus gives is the peace that passes all understanding. It is the peace that floods the soul in times of trouble. It is the peace that allowed Jesus’ faithful disciples to face martyrdom and endure exile. It is the peace that allowed the early Christians to face death by wild beasts in the Roman coliseums. It is the peace that strengthens the victims of this world to overcome their abusers through the power of forgiveness. It is the peace that is so centered on Christ that no weapon formed in this world can destroy it.
The peace of Christ cannot be contained within our mortal bodies, because the peace of Christ is limitless. It is a power that is not restrained to the boundaries of the physical world, because it is everlasting. The peace of Christ is a spiritual gift that can change the hearts of even the cruelest people.
How does a victim of rape forgive the rapist? How does a nation forgive terrorists that steal and destroy their children? How do we forgive those who have come against our homes and our loved ones? The answer is in knowing the peace that only Jesus Christ can give.
It is so tempting to hate those who destroy and devour the lives of the innocent. It is so tempting to want to fight evil with evil. Yet, if we go that route then how can we claim that we have been freed to do good works through the righteousness of Christ? How can we proclaim Jesus the Prince of Peace as our Lord if we choose the ways of this world instead of The Way, Jesus the Christ?
A prayer attributed to Saint Francis sums up how we are to live as instruments of peace. It is found in The Book of Common Prayer on page 833. If you want to be an instrument of the peace given by Jesus Christ, then I ask you to pray this prayer with me.
“Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
For those who said this prayer with me, let us look to the Prince of Peace who greeted His disciples, who were hiding in fear of their lives, with the words, ‘Peace be with you’ and in so doing instilled within them the strength to face all adversities for His sake to help us to follow The Way of Peace. In the language of our Lord, Jesus of Nazareth, “Shalom”.
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