Peace

The word “peace” tends to be thrown around a lot. Many times it’s accompanied by “and quiet”. What we’re really looking for in this instance is to just be left alone and have the world around us settle down. Ideally, that we are not being bugged by our kids; That our needy friends would message someone else; That our siblings would care for an ill parent instead of it always falling to us; That the world in general would just stop being in conflict and calm down because it’s all getting on our nerves!

The word peace also gets associated with “peace of mind”. Often it’s to do with supposedly giving us a greater sense of security, usually accompanied by a sales pitch. Financial planners will tell you, heaven  forbid, you should live longer than your money. (One wonders how many people on their death bed give thanks for not out-living their assets.) Insurance folks will tell that you can have peace of mind that your dependents will be looked after. And so on. The overall pitch is about feeling more in control and having a future with no stress, lot’s of travel or golf, sipping on fancy drinks enjoying sunsets. Dream on.

However, when we read about “peace” in the gospels it’s very different from the above examples, and with much more vitality. It’s not just an idle well wish or casual optimistic line, but something real even if we can’t necessarily fully grasp it. Apparently the word peace appears over 100 times in the gospels, so it’s clearly something that Jesus thought was important. In fact, in the beatitudes, Jesus says:

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5)

There are two examples that seem to highlight how Jesus wanted us to think of peace. The first is in Matthew 10 where He commissions the disciples to go out and proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He tells them, “When you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not let it return to you”. And in John 14, Jesus at the last supper says to the apostles: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid”. 

In both of these instances we see both a gift being given and an admonition. In the case of the Last Supper, it’s a gift from the Son of God to the apostles, and by association, to each of us to this very day. However, there’s a catch: you need to be ready. The disciples going out to preach are told that their gift of peace will only work if the people of the house are worthy of the gift. Moreover when Jesus addresses the apostles, He tells us what He means by being ready to receive and live the gift of peace: “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid”.  So in all the turmoil in which we live, how are we to be ready to receive this gift and equally important, to pass it on?

Clearly there are lots of things that are troubling and downright scary in our world. Illness or job loss in our families, culture clashes in our communities and the fairly constant threat of war, just to name a few. It was probably the same two thousand years ago. However, Jesus didn’t expect us to be oblivious or disengaged, but He knew that our hearts would be “troubled and afraid” unless we had our eye on the bigger picture of creating the kingdom of heaven here on earth. And this could not be achieved without having His peace in our lives.

And so yes, while we do need to deal with all of the challenges facing us, and that often our hearts likely will be troubled and afraid, we need to always keep in mind that each day Jesus is giving us the gift of peace, and we just need to do our best to be worthy of it.