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Gospel: John 14: 23 -29
Jesus said to his disciples:
“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.
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;
yet the word you hear is not mine
but that of the Father who sent me.
“I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me tell you,
‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’
If you loved me,
you would rejoice that I am going to the Father;
for the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you this before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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In 1973, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East.
When his son was asked whether or not he thought Kissinger deserved the Prize for Peace, he answered, “My mother doesn’t think so.”
(Some years prior, Kissinger divorced his wife.)
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Peace is elusive. We all desire it. We all pray for it. We all strive for it in our hearts and homes, but what exactly is it?
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Peace comes in many forms.
There is, of course, the type of political peace that Kissinger worked for. But that peace still remains elusive in the Middle East. Having just traveled there with a group of parishioners, we saw firsthand how delicate it is.
The Israelis and Palestinians are co-existing at best; they’ll share an economy, but not their lives. They live in fragile peace, which isn’t rooted in love; it’s rooted in the fear of retaliation.
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Then there’s leisurely peace.
It’s the kind of peace you feel on a hot summer day, while laying on a floatie, drifting around a pool, sipping lemonade through a straw.
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There’s the prized “peace and quiet,” which for parents means the absence of noise; no nagging spouse or screaming children running around.
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None of these are the type of peace that Jesus offers us. What he offers is a much deeper sense of peace, the kind of peace that he himself felt while walking on this earth.
“Peace” – in Hebrew, “shalom” – is the first word that the Lord will say to his Apostles after being raised from the dead. It’s the fulfillment of the promise he makes to them in today’s Gospel, which happens during his final night on earth.
“Peace I leave with you,” he says, “my peace I give to you.”
But what exactly is this peace?
It’s not political peace. It’s not leisurely peace. It’s more profound. It’s “shalom.”
“Shalom” means to make whole; to restore; to be in good health. When Jesus says, “shalom” to his disciples, he reveals to them that he’s alive again; he’s back from the dead. His life has been restored.
And, by extension, humanity’s relationship with God has been restored.
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This is what God offers us, a type of peace that the world cannot give. Your life cannot be restored by sipping lemonade while floating in a pool; nor can nations live in harmony strictly through a carefully crafted peace deal.
Lasting peace comes from God. We must be restored – healed – by the Lord before we can expect peace in our world.
As our tour guide in Bethlehem reminded us, “You cannot have peace with your neighbor if you do not have peace in your heart.”
World peace, and our own inner peace, will only come from “shalom,” the fruit of God’s presence within.
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Why does peace remain elusive in the Middle East and around the world? Kissinger might boil it down to economics or politics.
But the Lord tells us, lasting peace comes – not with political agreements or a leisurely vacation – but with “shalom,” Christ’s gift to us.
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Image credits: (1) The Word Among Us (2) Nativist (3) The Snarky Vicar