This is the text of a sermon which was preached at St Neot on the Sixth Sunday of Easter
These were the readings Acts 169-15 Revelation 2110, 22-225 John 1423-29
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
We saw a few weeks ago that Jesus greeted his disciples, on the day of his resurrection, in the upper room with the words, “Peace be with you.” He did it again the following week when Thomas was present with them. Paul greets the churches he writes to with the word “peace.” He does so in his letters to the Romans, both of his letters to the church in Corinth, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians; in fact every one of his letters begin with that greeting. It was a conventional greeting among the Jews of his time, just like our, “How are you?”, “I’m fine.”
In today’s gospel Jesus changes what that greeting means as he says to his disciples, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
What did it mean then? And, what does it mean now?
When a Jew greeted a friend in the time of Jesus Peace be with you meant something very similar to How are you? It carried ideas of soundness of body, a hope that the person greeted is in good health, that all is well with them.
But Jesus here extends its meaning, I do not give to you as the world gives. This is now not just a greeting, a way of initiating a conversation. It’s not just politeness. Now, it is about Christ’s gift to us.
As always, we need to look carefully at the context in which Jesus offers this new gift to his disciples – and through them to us.
This saying of Jesus occurs in that long discourse in John’s gospel which takes place at the last supper. The discourse is Jesus’ valedictory words to his disciples; it prepares them for what happens after his resurrection.
There are three key sayings of Jesus up to this point in this discourse in John’s gospel,
I give you a new commandment: love one another; you must love one another just as I have loved you. It is by your love for one another that everyone will recognise you as my disciples.
I am the Way; I am Truth and Life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you know me you will know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him.
Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
Like so much of what he says and does the disciples can only fully understand when they look back after his resurrection. But although Jesus must leave them they will not be alone, that was Jesus’ promise to them,
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.
And,
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
We have the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the gift of Christ’s peace to make these sayings of Jesus not mere words but deep experiences for us in which these words of Jesus are truly fulfilled in our lives.
The Holy Spirit will remind us and teach us all that we need to remember and know. (We’ll reflect more on this as we approach the feast of Pentecost in two weeks time.)
The peace that Jesus gives is the very presence of God with us. It’s not the sort of peace that the world gives (an absence of conflict, noise and clamour), but a peace that only God can give. It is a peace which comes from our being the place where Jesus and the Father make their home. The peace which comes from having God dwelling in our hearts.
This peace that God gives doesn’t simply wish us good health or wholeness – it makes us whole, it is healing, it is renewing, it forgives our sins, it puts us in a right relationship with God and with each other.
When we share the peace in a few minutes we will be sharing the peace which God gives. It’s not just about wishing each other well it’s about healing our relationships and putting us right with each other – so that we can be right with God – as we read in the first letter of John (420b), whoever does not love the brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. So to be put right with God we need to be right with each other. The peace which God gives does that for us.
God’s peace means that we can love one another, as Jesus commanded. It means that we can truly know God and Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life. It means that we can become the place where God and Christ make their home.
The peace which Jesus gives is a gift which transforms who we are, which makes us Christians and, most importantly, makes God present in the world through us. Each one of us.
We are the dwelling place of God and of Jesus.
exultemus 