My Peace I leave you

Introduction

I was born in 1977. That year Elvis died and Star Wars Episode 4 (the first one) was released. That makes me 47 years old. In my lifetime, there have been several global events of significance that I can remember. My first vague memory was of the break up of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986. In 1998 there was the massive ice storm that took down power in eastern Ontario and Quebec. Then the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Eastern North America blackout in 2003. The first iPod, iPhone and iPad. The SARS outbreak, Gulf War 1, Gulf War 2, the disintegration of the Space Shuttle Columbia on reentry. The rise of internet, email, the world wide web and social media. The death of John Paul II and Queen Elizabeth. The Haitian earthquake, the resignation of Pope Benedict and the election of Pope Francis - and of course, his recent passing. The Rodney King and George Floyd riots. COVID, the attack on the American capital, the trucker protest in Ottawa, the war in Ukraine. Oh, and I moved 6 times.

How ya feeling after that? This is mostly what you might call a half glass empty list. Only focussing on the negative events of the world. As the song goes “love is all around me” and so is beauty. The problem is that love & beauty are often more subtle. They aren’t as imposing as the awful stuff can be.

Peace in Chaos: The Assurance of Christ

Jesus didn’t arrive in an X Wing with all blasters blasting. Though that would be cool to see. Love can seem weak to the insecure or scared, but it is in fact the strongest force in the universe. It’s the glue of the strongest, most lasting, relationships you’ll find. Fear only binds you to someone until you find a way out.

In medicine there are signs and symptoms. A sign is something you can see and a symptom is something the patient experiences. Some things can be both. One of the signs & symptoms of love is this thing called peace. Sometimes in life we get signs, symptoms and causes mixed up. We see someone living on the street and think they’re the problem when they are really a sign of a problem, not the cause. President John F. Kennedy had a great speech writer. In 1963, he gave a commencement address at American University and broached the topic of world peace, where he said in part:

What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children--not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women--not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.

A peace enforced by coercion, fear, or power is not true peace. A peace enforced through a death star is not true peace. True peace will never be found at the muzzle of a gun or imposition of fear. We talk a lot about inner peace and world peace and sometimes all I want is a piece of chocolate cake. God’s peace is not given to us by this world and is not something this world understands. What is true peace and how do we get it? Today we are going to attempt to answer these questions in less than 12 parsecs.

1. Peace Through Obedience

John 14:22–24 NLT

Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?” Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me.

In today’s reading we join our Hero as he is spending some time with his Jedi Council, trying to prepare them for his impending departure while reassuring them that they will not be left alone. He speaks to the heart of fear and doubt by promising them peace, indicating that His presence and the presence of the Holy Spirit will empower them and guide them, even through life's trials and uncertainties.

Our text today is found in the Gospel of John, chapter 14, verses 22-31. We’ll break it down into 3 parts. Last week was 4 chapters, this week its a trilogy.

We talked last week about the deep need we have for community and relationship. We need to belong. We all want to have friends. Why do you think Palpatine was such a jerk? He didn’t have any friends. Whether it’s for mutual support or just to have someone to spend time with, we need each other. In this passage we see Jesus with His disciples, with His people. Jesus and his crew have been together for a couple of years, teaching, learning, healing people. To find out your leader is going to be leaving was a hard thing to hear. Think of Luke’s reaction when he lost Yoda or Ben.

I’m sure some of you have had this experience. You have a leader you like and then they leave and you feel a bit disoriented for a bit, until someone new comes in to lead the group. And of course this isn’t just anyone, this is Jesus Christ, the son of God.

But they are also confused. Why is He only revealing Himself to them? This is a question you might hear from skeptics today. “If God is real, why doesn’t he just save us all? Reveal Himself to us all”. Jesus replies and states the obvious “Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me.” People aren’t ready. Jesus will make Himself known to the rest of the world as it becomes ready. And the task of the Church is to help make that happen.

Jesus reassures his disciples that loving Him will lead to a direct experience of God’s love and presence. This relationship with Jesus fosters a peace that transcends understanding, as believers are unified with the Father through that connection. This relational peace is not contingent on worldly circumstances but rooted in obedience and love towards Christ.

2. Peace Through The Spirit

John 14:25–27 NLT

I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

What is peace, anyway? In Jewish culture there is a word you’ve likely heard before: Shalom.

In the Old Testament, it held a wide range of connotations (wholeness, health, security, well-being, and salvation) and could apply to an equally wide range of contexts: the state of the individual, the relationship of man to man or nation to nation (e.g., absence of conflict—), and the relationship of God and man. Peace was understood to be not so much something humans accomplished of their own efforts, but a gift from God and was therefore closely tied to the idea of covenant. If you entered into a covenant with someone, peace was the sign of whether the covenant had God’s blessing or not.

So essential was the concept of Shalom that the coming messiah was referred to as the Prince of peace. Peace wasn’t just some out there idea. It was the total outworking of God’s plan to bring renew all of a creation under Him. To heal all that was broken by the fall back into relationship with Him.

Have you ever seen one of those movies where you look at a scene and everything is in a state of destruction or decay, but then it all starts to heal in front of your eyes as if it’s running in reverse. Or maybe you remember in the early days of COVID when everything was shut down, there were stories of how nature was starting to heal itself. Air pollution went down, whales showed up in bodies of water they hadn’t been seen in forever. This is how I imagine it happening.

All of creation, everything under heaven coming back into relationship with God and each other. Not just us, but the trees, the rivers, the animals, the air. This is true shalom. True peace. Everything and everyone reconciled to God and each other. The way it was always meant to be. Any attempts we make at peace on earth are mere shadows or caricatures of God’s true peace. This what makes peace work so frustrating. We occasionally see glimpses of it. We think we get so close in some areas that we can almost taste it and then it vanishes and seems so far away again. In the enlightenment period we thought we had conquered progress. We had finally figured it out. Get rid of God and watch us soar. That anyone still believes in a meta sense of global progress is baffling to me in a post-world war 2, post-holocaust world.

We’ve made significant strides in many areas, but the true peace of God is that which only He can and will provide. That is the hope we cling too. But evil is always there lurking. Just like we thought we had seen the end of the republic, the first order turned up to ruin the party again.

In these verses Jesus now tells his disciples that His imminent departure is in fact, necessary. It’s part of the plan. He needs to go, so the Spirit can come. Our Advocate, our teacher and the one who will remind us of Christs teachings and convict us when we “forget” them. But this process of teaching and reminding isn’t just for us, it’s the process of the very transmission of the Christ’s message to the world. Remember, the Bible as we know it today was a long way off from being fully written and compiled. The primary transmitter of the Gospel message, is the same today as it was then: Us.

The gift though, isn’t Spirit. It’s “peace of mind & heart”. Like many sayings, we’re used to saying “peace of mind”. It’s in a lot of ads. “Get life insurance today and have peace of mind that your loved ones will be taken care of after you die.”

Jesus offers a unique gift of peace of mind and heart to his followers, which is distinct from what the world can provide. This peace is enduring and not fragile, unlike the temporary and circumstantial peace offered by the world. It is presented as a source of comfort and strength, enabling believers to navigate through troubles and fears. This peace is associated with the presence of the Holy Spirit, described as a Counsellor who guides and indwells believers. The peace Jesus offers is also linked to understanding that the world is temporary and that God is ultimately in control. It is a peace that transcends human understanding.

But keeping Jesus’ word, following Him, is not for John a matter of legalism, but rather a commitment to the “way” of Jesus. This is good news, because more than focussing on a specific written code or set of rules, it is about emulating a person and a way of life based on love for God and neighbour.

Jesus reminds us not to be afraid, because even though He has left, He is has not abandoned us and in fact God will “come and make a home” with us.

Jesus promises the Holy Spirit as an Advocate who will teach and remind us of His teachings. We should see the Holy Spirit as the sustainer of peace amidst life’s chaos by helping us to recall Jesus' assurances.

3. Peace Through Divine Victory

John 14:28–31 NLT

Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really loved me, you would be happy that I am going to the Father, who is greater than I am. I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do happen, you will believe. “I don’t have much more time to talk to you, because the ruler of this world approaches. He has no power over me, but I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let’s be going.

Keep in mind, that Jesus is preparing them for the resurrection. It’s difficult for us as humans to take our minds off of ourselves. We’re a pretty selfish group in that way. You may recall that later on, as the hour of His death approached the disciples couldn’t even stay awake to pray with Him in Gethsemane. So, Jesus needs to constantly remind them about what’s about to happen.

And there was one final matter to attend to. The ultimate threat to peace. The enemy. The prince of this world. Satan. The adversary, the dragon, the devil. The one behind the plot to kill Jesus and who gained control of Judas Iscariot. This creature would inspire the persecution of Christians but would also be defeated by the crucifixion. Just as Christ is the Prince of Peace, the prince of the earth rules our world and the world was bound to follow him in crucifying Jesus.

This was, of course, the final error of Satan for he didn’t fully realize who he was killing and his spiritual Order 66 failed. By the time He did, it was too late. God had won. Evil had lost. The serpents head was crushed. For Satan understood a part of the mystery, but as CS Lewis shows in Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, the evil one failed to understand the deeper mystery. “They could kill the king, but they never understood the deeper mystery that this lion king would, in fact, conquer through his death.

Evil gets its power from sin and therefore can have no power over one who has none. Jesus would not lose because Satan could not even get a toe-hold grip on him since Jesus did only what the Father commanded him to do.

Jesus death then was the ultimate source of peace. It had to happen or the plan fails, death isn’t conquered and salvation remains elusive. His departure might seem chaotic, yet it fulfills a divine plan that brings peace to those who trust in Him. Jesus’ victory over the world assures us of continual peace, urging them to remain steadfast in faith despite external chaos.

In the meantime, while we live our life here, we still need to find ways to live in peace with each other, because it is simply not healthy to be separated from others. I could tell you that to cultivate peace in your life, do things like, pray, read and study Scripture, come to Church and be in fellowship. And all that is true.

But I think it also needs to start with a simple proposition. A willingness to accept peace as your default, if not non-negotiable, start and end point. One of the ancient church fathers, Tertullian asked, ‘How will a Christian man war, nay, how will he serve even in peace, without a sword, which the Lord has taken away?’

And one more: Justin Martyr said ‘we who formerly used to murder one another do not only now refrain from making war upon our enemies, but also … willingly die confessing Christ’.

If we are to follow the prince of peace, understanding that peace is not just the absence of conflict, but the presence of human flourishing. We must learn to live what some call “militant peace”.

The Apostle Paul endured stoning, shipwrecks, floggings, and imprisonment. And yet, in Philippians 4:12, he writes:

Philippians 4:12 NLT

I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.

Some of you may know Christian writer Johnny Eareckson Tada. When she was 17 years old, she became paralyzed from the shoulders down from a diving accident. She wrote: Christ’s enablement was more than sufficient, and so Paul’s secret was learning to lean on that fact. Learning meant making tough choices—turning to Christ and not away from him. Deciding this and not that. Going here and not there. Standing up to unruly emotions and seeking God’s peace.

I fight every day to make choices like these. Lack of access to buildings and finding something to do with useless hands are no longer an issue for me. Neither is being fed a hamburger while others steal glances. My current issue is with pain. When pain tempts me to feel disheartened and glumly stare out a window, I stand up to my miserable emotions. I am shrewd to their cunning ways, that they could be the ruin of me.

She further encourages us to “learn” peace. As we make the tough choices to hold fast to his grace, divine peace surges through us. As hard as life is, militant peace arrives at the instant we exercise faith during the battle. It gives us strength to say, “I can do this. I can make this tough choice for the honour of Christ. I can, I will trust him!”

We are still trapped in this world and therefore, must battle our inner world for peace. But we are not alone and have our advocate for help.

Finally, Trappist Monk Thomas Merton reminds us that: We are not at peace with others because we are not at peace with ourselves, and we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God.

Commit to peace. Peace in your heart, peace in your relationships, peace in your community. Do the hard work of forgiveness and reconciliation. The world needs this desperately and if Christians can’t show Christ to the world, who else will? Live long and prosper.

BENEDICTION

May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.