Thank you, again, for the wonderful surprise for Pastor Appreciation Day! I was so touched by your kind words and the cards I received. I was also touched that on the beautiful plaque you gave me, it had inscribed on it my Life Verse.
A Life Verse is something that we hold on to as our very own. It’s a verse that can bring encouragement, hope and comfort no matter what the circumstances. Many of you have shared your Life Verse with me – and the story behind why that particular verse is significant for you.
All Saints Day is where we honor those loved ones who have gone on ahead of us. While I was back in the Midwest a couple weeks ago, I visited our family cemetery in Minnesota – and my mom has her Life Verse engraved on her stone – Phil 4:13! And after her passing, while I was taking care of her arrangements, I thought, “Why not take care of mine at the same time?” So, I ordered a beautiful bench – with my Life Verse engraved on it – Phil 4:6-7! Nothing like planning ahead!
During times of sorrow and grief we often hear these words, “Peace be with you.” Or, “Rest in peace.” And we want that not only for our loved ones, but also for ourselves.
Our biblical word for peace, Shalom, comes from an ancient Akkadian word “salaimu” which means to be healthy, whole, complete.
Physically, it signals health; emotionally, it means to be centered – at one with yourself; spiritually, it means to be rounded or complete – to have balance and values that not only allow you to face life’s challenges with steadiness, but also to creatively shape the world and make people and things around us grow.
Morally, it is when there is congruence between your inner spirit and your outer actions. When you are consistent in integrity. The Greeks had a word for that (galene); it was the same word they used for the calm sea, when your conscience is calm and even because you have integrity.
Economically, it’s what follows when you’ve repaid your debts; interpersonally, it’s what follows when you live up to your vows and are faithful and responsible.
Socially, it’s the result of people in agreement. The Greek word homonia, Paul uses to describe what the Church looks like when people are in harmony with one another.
The deeper peace of Shalom is a combination of truth and social justice. It looks forward to the eradication of the very root causes of conflict and friction. That is true Shalom.
The simple prayer attributed to St. Francis describes this so well.
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred … let me sow love
Where there is injury … pardon
Where there is doubt … faith
Where there is despair … hope
Where there is darkness … light
Where there is sadness … joy
Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled … as to console
To be understood … as to understand,
To be loved … as to love
For it is in giving … that we receive,
It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned,
It is in dying … that we are born to eternal life”
There are so many places in the Bible where we read about living in peace. In Isaiah 11, we are given a picture of that peaceable realm. “The wolf shall lie down with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the baby goat and the calf and the lion shall dwell together … the cow and the bear shall feed together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.” Don’t tell me there won’t be animals in heaven!
When the writers of the gospels looked back on the life of Jesus and remembered the prophecies of Isaiah, they called him the “Prince of Peace.” Charles Rush says that when they wrote the story of Jesus’ birth, they did it in a very clever way. On the one hand, they did it to lift up the ways that Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of Isaiah and Micah. On the other hand, they took the broad outlines of a familiar Roman practice of telling of the birth of a Roman emperor.
These stories illustrated how the gods blessed the emperor with a destiny to rule and miraculous powers to conquer and subject others to their will. But in Luke, when Jesus is born, it’s not the powers of conquest or might that are lifted up. Rather, the angels sing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among all people with whom God is pleased.” Not just the Romans, not just the Jews with whom God is pleased … but all people. And it is not about ruling, but about peace and harmony.
At the heart of Jesus’ message is the gospel of peace. It’s not just a footnote, nor an editorial comment in the margins, it is central. When Jesus sent out his disciples, in the Gospel of Luke, they carried no physical protection, not even a purse or a bag for support. And he tells them, to each house you enter, say “Peace be upon this house and if a child of peace lives in that house, your peace shall rest upon them.”
When Jesus heals a woman with a wound that wouldn’t stop bleeding, he says to her, “Go in peace.” When a woman comes to him seeking forgiveness for something she had done, he blesses her and says, “Go in peace.”
In the Gospel of John, just before he is arrested and will be killed, Jesus speaks to his disciples, summarizing everything that he wants to tell them. There, he speaks of the importance of dwelling in love and then he says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you, not as the world gives … Let not your hearts be troubled, neither be afraid.”
And after Jesus dies, when the disciples are locked in a room because they are afraid, Jesus appears to them and says, “Peace be with you. As God has sent me, so send I you.” And he breathes his spirit upon them. And he breathes it upon you.
Peace – Supernatural Peace. Peace in the midst of the storm. Peace in the midst of dying. Peace in the midst of the unknown.
Be anxious for nothing – don’t worry. But in everything – by prayer, and supplication, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses ALL understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
I hope for you, in the midst of your struggles, that peace.
As I was watching the news as Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast one journalist was sharing how she was out in the street, looking at the downed trees and the mess from the high waters when all of sudden the sun came out and they looked up and saw this bright, clear, pronounced rainbow.
And a hush came over everyone. They all stopped what they were doing and just took a moment, in silence, together. Probably so many different thoughts going through their heads, but as the reporter told what happened, it felt as if there was a mysterious peace that came over them. Peace, in the midst of the chaos and destruction.
In your life, filled with your own particular struggles, I hope for you that mysterious peace. I hope that you can breathe in the spirit of peace. That you can touch others with that holy peace, and that you, in your own way, can do the things in your life that make room for peace.
Let God breathe the life of peace in you.
Peace be with you. Amen.
Rev. Dan Koeshall is the senior pastor at The Metropolitan Community Church (The Met), 2633 Denver Street, San Diego, California, themetchurch.org. Services every Sunday at 9 and 11 a.m.
