I Greet Everyone with Peace 2

Continuing series Walking with God...

Let’s begin by saying the The Pilgrim’s Credo together.

I am not in control.

I am not in a hurry.

I walk in faith and hope.

I greet everyone with peace.

I bring back only what God gives me.

There is a tradition in some churches, usually right before they take Communion, called passing the peace. It’s much like the greeting time we just observed, except instead of a generic “How ya doin?” there is a very specific greeting and response giving by congregants. As they turn toward one another, one congregant with say, “The peace of the Lord be with you.” and the other responds, “And also with you.”

It would be easy to pass this off as some kind of dated, meaningless ritual. Except that it comes directly from scripture. In most of the letters of the NT the recipients are instructed, actually they are commanded, to Romans 16:16 “Greet one another with a holy kiss.”

This has been called “the kiss of peace”. It acknowledges the person you are greeting, but more than that it communicates acceptance and welcome. It was a was of indicating that, whatever I may have had against you, I now release it, choosing reconciliation instead of conflict. Done right before Communion, it was a way of renewing brotherly and sisterly affection and community.

While it is no longer our custom to demonstrate this with a kiss, many churches practice the passing of the peace as I mentioned. A handshake or hug takes the place of a kiss. But the message is the same: I see you, I recognize your inherent dignity, I offer reconciliation.

This is the message of the fourth line of the Pilgrim’s Credo - I greet everyone with peace. It’s an acknowledgement that, as pilgrims who are walking with God toward God, we are ambassadors of peace, not just with fellow believers, but with all people. This morning I want to look at a story in Acts 3 that illustrates what passing the peace may look like today.

Acts 3:1-4 “One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.””

To greet everyone with peace first demands that we take the time to truly notice others. I’ll be absolutely honest: when I am out and about I try hard NOT to notice others. I avoid interaction. I pay at the pump. I do pick-up orders at Walmart so I don’t have to go inside. And especially, when I pull up at an intersection where someone is holding a sign asking for money, I go out of my way NOT to make eye contact. Shocking, I know, but true.

Here is a man who is used to this kind of treatment. Dumped off at one of the gates of the Temple to try and hustle some money, he has likely become an object that is so common as to be overlooked by most. It’s easy to avoid or ignore these kind of people. To do otherwise is to risk the discomfort of eye contact. Of possibly having a genuine connection.

Much of the time I soothe my conscious by the fact that I can’t give them what they are asking for. I don’t typically carry any cash with me. But is this their only need?

Psychologists tell us that one of needs all humans have is the need to be seen. That this is something that has been passed down to us from our evolutionary ancestors. In ancient times, when humans were hunter/gatherers, to not be seen meant the possibility of being left behind when your tribe moved on. I don’t know if this is true or not, but I do know that all of us want to be seen. Not necessarily in a “give me attention” sort of way, but to be noticed and treated with dignity and respect. This is what Peter does when he tells this man, “Look at us”.

Think about the people you pass by during your normal week. Who is God prompting you to “see”, perhaps for the first time? What would “seeing” them look like?

Acts 3:4-5 “Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.”

More than noticing someone, to greet others with peace is to recognize the face of Christ in every person. To see the dignity of that person as an image bearer of God, no matter how marred that image might be because of sin. We look intently at all, not turning away, so that we may be the face of Christ to them.

Greeting everyone with peace requires that we see Jesus reflected in the face of others. Mother Teresa of Calcutta was asked how she maintained her zeal for ministering about the most pitiful human situations imaginable, among drug addicts, prostitutes, lepers, and the poorest of the poor in India: “I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene; I must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus.”

But it also means that we are to be the face of Christ to them. To greet others with peace is to give more than a mere greeting. We are to bless them. To offer them God’s shalom. His wellbeing. To use the power of our look and our language to bestow God’s blessing upon them. One of the things I’m most proud about our food pantry is that whenever I’m there, I see our pantry team treat everyone with respect. We get very colorful characters who come through there. But those on our team look at them, tough them, hug them, pray for them. More than offering food, they offer them dignity.

Here is a man who maybe for the first time is being truly seen for who he is - a son of God. Someone who bears the divine image. Someone who is worthy of dignity and respect. If this is all Peter and John offered him that day, it would still be worth recording. This is what it means for us to be pilgrims who meet everyone with peace. To be the face of Christ to them; to see the face of Christ in them.

Who is God calling you to really see? Who are you called to bless?

Acts 3:6-7 “But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.”

This story have a very happy and amazing ending. As those who believe in the ongoing work of God in the power of the Spirit, this may be the results we see sometimes. But let me suggest another result of this encounter.

As a result of being seen, of having the divine image acknowledged in him, this man experiences genuine reconciliation. This is one of the primary meaning of peace - to be reconciled. He is reconciled in a miraculous way in his body. The body that has been handicapped since birth is all the sudden set back right within itself.

But he’s also reconciled to society. Where he had previously been consigned to the fringe, he is now able to join in with the regular function of a normal society. He can work. He can actively worship with his body. He can pursue relationships in ways that were restricted before.

But he’s mostly reconciled to God. If we kept reading, we’d see that the first thing he does is run into the Temple, leaping and praising God. We can’t read too much into this, but it’s pretty safe to say that those who feel unseen by others usually feel unseen by God. Having people tend to treat you as unworthy of attention or notice tends to make us project those same attitudes onto God. But in this moment of being seen by Peter and John, this man knows that he has also been seen by God. He is not abandoned. And in this moment he is reconciled - not because God has turn his back on him, but perhaps because he had lost his faith in God.

The apostle Paul writes, 2 Corinthians 5:20 “So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” To greet everyone with peace is to recognize that we are ambassadors of reconciliation.

Where are you feeling unseen right now?