Peace!

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. —John 14:27

Peace.

A word we all long for. Christ says in his final discourse that he is leaving us with peace. That peace, by the world’s standard, is hard to see—especially in these days. With shootings across the United States just this weekend, hate crimes rising, and a war in the Ukraine that continues to rage, peace seems long lost. Yet, peace is what Christ calls us to find. Peace is what he says he is leaving us with. Where is that peace now one might wonder.

But Christ also tells us that he does not give as the world gives. Christ peace does not look like that external peace that we are seeking as we look for an easy way to find peace for he does not give as the world gives. Christ provides peace in a different way—a deeper way. Christ provides us peace in the form of trust in him and hope in God.

For the peace that Christ promises we must lean into the hope we find in God through Christ Jesus. We must open our hands to grasp the peace that Jesus desires for us. But to grasp that peace, we must empty our hands of the worries, concerns, and weight that consume us—to which we hold so tightly. We must acknowledge our own limits and open our hands to the peace that Christ is extending to us through faith. By emptying our hand of our own worries, we free our hands to grasp on to the deep peace Christ promises.

Turning our worries over to God does not free us from action, however. It does not mean that we close our doors to the world around us to find earthly peace. We don’t get to turn our backs to the ways of the world. No, in fact it means that we are called to act more boldly. Indeed, we CAN act boldly because we have placed our hope and trust in God alone. We can speak the words God calls us to speak without fear or worry. We can be bold in the name of Christ to speak and act in love. In so doing, we can step into the inner peace that clears our conscious—a deep peace from Christ alone. We can act boldly in the face of injustice, prejudice, hurt, and pain because God has called us to be the hands and feet of Christ in broken world and we can find peace.

Finding peace does not mean blocking out all the hurt, chaos, and pain of the world. It means stepping with boldness into all that God has called us to—it calls us to boldly love God and our neighbor, and in so doing find a deep peace.

Peace is not always easy. Peace is not always peaceful. But peace in Christ will bring contentment and love of God, self and neighbor.

Let us work to be peace! Amen