Peace I leave with you. (John 14)

     “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” From the Gospel according to John, the Gospel for today, chapter 14, verse 27.

     In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.

     Peace. We all know what this word means; we all have an idea of it. Perhaps we tend to think of it as an absence of conflict, of violence, an absence of any kind unpleasant or painful or disturbing condition or situation. And we certainly know what it means, or would mean, in Syria today, and in every other place torn apart by war. In our own city, peace would mean an end to gang warfare. I remember, when I lived in Los Angeles, that a truce was arranged between two major gangs. The peace that followed allowed people to walk the streets without fear of being struck by stray bullets. Peace is a universally understood concept, a universal desire and goal. For most people, anyway. And we all use the expression “peace and quiet;” this kind of peace is the absence of noise. We’ve all heard the Arabic “salaam aleikum,” “peace be with you,” close to our liturgical expression, and the Hebrew “shalom.” And young people today use an expression, “peace out” to conclude an email or a text message. Or at least they do when they’re communicating with me! I don’t know how current it is. In any case, it is an improvement on the old radio expression, “over and out!” And I’ve noticed lately on Muni buses and trains, placards portraying sayings expressive of various ideals: Respect, Love, Gratitude, among others, and, of course, Peace.

     All these concepts and experiences are examples of peace “as the world gives.” They are all good and necessary. They all come from that universal desire for safety, security, freedom from violence, for the absence of conflict. Taken together, they suggest a way of living that would be comfortable, contented, and safe. This is peace “as the world gives.”

     But Our Lord says, “I do not give to you as the world gives.” Our Lord knew well, as we know, how fragile the world’s peace really is, and how fragile, temporary, fickle even, our own personal peace can be. Peace between friends, in families, on the job, and of course in government and the world, is easily lost. This is the real nature of the world’s peace. And this is not the peace Our Lord is talking about.

     “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” This sentence points toward what Our Lord is getting at. Perhaps we think that if everyone else would just calm down, and stop being so selfish and small-minded and demanding, then there would be peace. After all, isn’t it obvious that there are lots of people out there behaving badly, and if they would just stop, everything would be fine? But, Our Lord says, to his first hearers and to all of us, “Do not let YOUR hearts be troubled.” In other words, he locates the difficulty in finding peace, not in others, but in ourselves. He is addressing us, not some hypothetical other who is the source of all the trouble in the world. “Do not let YOUR hearts be troubled.” And what is the source of this trouble in our hearts? “And do not let them (your hearts, he means) be afraid.” The source of the trouble in our hearts, is FEAR. Fear is the real opposite of peace, not conflict, as we may be tempted to suppose. There may be no apparent conflict in one situation or another, creating the impression of peace, but if there is fear, there is no peace. And conflict arises from fear. If we want peace, we must let go of fear, our fear.

     In Form I of the Prayers of the People, which Deacon Michael and I use from time to time, we pray for “the peace from above, for the loving kindness of God, and for the salvation of our souls.” And then we go on to pray for “the peace of the world, for the welfare of the holy Church, and for the unity of all.” The two kinds of peace could not be more clearly distinguished. The peace of God IS his loving-kindness, and IS our salvation. And the peace of the world, at its best, IS the well-being of the Church, and the well-being, and unity, of all. And the peace of God, the peace not of this world, makes the peace of the world possible.

     In our liturgy, we greet one another with the Kiss of Peace. Perhaps we experience it only as a perfunctory gesture, a polite nod in the direction of an ideal, but I would like us to experience it as something more than that. We are extending to each other, with the grace that is given us, the peace not of this world which Our Lord has extended to us. If we can let go of the trouble in our hearts, the fear, if there is any, even for a moment, we can catch a glimpse of what Our Lord is getting at. There is a double movement here, since extending peace to each other in this way, we are helping each other and ourselves to let go of trouble and fear. We are able to give each other the kiss of peace, because Our Lord has enabled us to let go of our trouble, whatever it is, for a moment at least, and beyond, in ways that we may not perceive directly, but which are endlessly working in us. Let us appreciate this grace-filled moment, this gesture, of peace, and think of ourselves as carrying it out into the world, the trouble-filled, fear-filled world, which needs the peace from above to help find the peace that we all desire.

     “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”  In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.