Easter
Six: Peace I give to you!
Obviously,
St. Mark’s is in the midst of a rather big transition. As you know--In about 2 months—I will step
down out of the pulpit and move onto to a new church- so there will be a change
in pastoral leadership at that point or soon thereafter. First there will be an
interim priest put in place who will serve for about a year and then hopefully
by next fall you will have a permanent new rector installed.
Of course, this can provoke some anxiety
provoking- not sure what the next leader will bring- who will it be, -- what
happens between now and the time we get boots on the ground. Lots of potential for anxiety.
Of
course, I too am in the midst of a transition—there are still lots of
unanswered questions and other things that need to be answered where will we
live, will Chrishelle have a job, what
is this new congregation “really” like—I know what I have here, but I don’t
really know what I have there in Dover.
Transitions
can be difficult.
Of
course transitions or change are a universal part of all of the human
experiences. I would imagine that if I
were to poll you we would find that there are folks out there transitioning at
working- someone maybe looking for or contemplating a new job, maybe someone’s
retiring after thirty- forty years of work--- some folks might be finding that
they are experiencing health transitions—getting used to a new way of living in
your body after surgery or some illness- maybe you can’t do everything you used
to do. There are transitions in our relationship—babies coming into our lives,
teenagers going out the door and off to college-some of us might be in the
midst of difficulty in a primary relationship.
Of
course in this election cycle--We are in the midst of a major change in our governmental
leadership— anxiety, turmoil, angst, chaos all seem to accompany
change-transitions.
The
disciples in the Gospel story today are in the midst of their own
transition. Jesus is about to leave—in
less than 24 hours he will be marching with a heavy wooden cross strapped
across his back toward the Calvary and his
execution. He will die and will leave his disciples
behind without a leader—he’s leaving.
But he tells them that even though he’s
leaving God is sending them someone else- John call that someone the Advocate ---
the Holy Spirit. In Greek the word is
paraclete—literally it means one who comes along beside. Someone who comes
along beside. In the midst of this major
transition—this life altering event a new time without Jesus—but he isn’t
abandoning them—he’s sending this paraclete—this Holy Spirit who will now walk
alongside of them for the rest of their days.
If
that is true for the disciples—isn’t that true for us as well—haven’t we too
been gifted the Holy Spirit—to walk along beside us—to go where we go—when I go
to Dover-does not the Holy Spirit go with me? As you face this transition
doesn’t the Holy Spirit walk with you in the midst of your transition?
But
not only does Jesus promise the Paraclete and the Holy Spirit? He also talks
about giving some of the peace that resides within him peace that he knows. A peace that theologians call a peace that
passes all understanding.
In the midst of their transition—the word Jesus
speaks into the chaos—Peace- Peace I give to you.
In
fact later on in John’s gospel we hear the story where Peace and the Holy
Spirit seem to be inseparable—when Jesus shows up after his resurrection—he
announces to the stunned room filled wth terrified disciples—his first words
are peace be with you and then John says he breathes out the Holy spirit out upon
them. And the Holy Spirit washes over them.
Several
times this week as I was researching this passage the commentators said the peace we are talking about is not the
absence of conflict or the cessation of hostilities.
The
Family Life Website said it this way—“Peace is not the absence of turmoil, but
[rather] the presence of tranquility even in a place of chaos.”[1]
Elizabeth
Johnson says that the peace of Jesus is a “profound holistic sense of
wellbeing.” Professor Johnson continues
by saying this peace that Jesus speaks about, that resides in his spirt is not
something we conjure up all on our own— it is not sometime we can will into
existence—it is peace that only comes from God. A Peace that passes all understanding.
Jesus said, “I do not give to you as the world
gives to you.” The world offers us
chaos, turmoil, fear and anxiety. But
God is not of this world and his offer is himself and a sense of peace that resides
no matter what the storm is.
Yes
chaos happens—yes change is inevitable, but the promise is that the Holy Spirit
walks with us and that one of the gifts of that paraclete is shalom,
peace. Maybe if we could focus less on
the transitions, less on the chaos and more on the one walking beside us- the
transitions, the chaos, the turmoil, the questions, the anxiety would become powerless—fade away.
Several
years ago when I was doing chaplaincy residency I with another chaplain walked
into the room of a middle aged women who was in quite a bit of discomfort. I don’t remember what exactly was ailing her, some sort of digestive issue and she was having a really hard time
dealing with the discomfort of a feeding tube that went in through her nose and
down into her stomach—after a brief conversation we asked if she would like
prayer.
She
laid down on her bed and we kind of prayed over top of her I was on one side of
the bed and the other chaplain on the other side-- as our prayers covered her
and washed over her physical discomfort lessened she stopped moving so much—the
agitation that we had encountered dissipated and she was consumed by a sense of
peace and comfort that only God could have provided in that moment.
Yes
we don’t control that peace that comes only from God- but we can storm the
gates of heaven with our prayers—and say Lord help us. Yes it is a gift that only comes from God—but
we can escape into the presence of the almighty in prayer and meditation and
begin to allow the peace that we find there to soak into our bones and we can
take that peace out into the chaos— and what we will find is that the chaos is
simply a paper tiger.
Peace,
I give to you, my own peace I leave with you.
Jesus says that disciples and he says it to us.
Where
might you need this peace in your life? Where do we need God to sow seeds of peace in this
church?
Jesus is speaking today and he's speaking a word of peace.
AMEN
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