God’s Peace by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Kurt Young)

In the movie, Miss Congeniality, each contest in the beauty pageant is asked the question: If you could make one thing happen in the world what would it be? One after another they give the same answer: world peace. It’s a good answer. Who would not be for world peace after all? But comes off as a bit shallow in the film. Do these beauty pageant contestants really care about world peace, or are they just saying it because it sounds like a good answer. 

Today’s scripture passage (John 14:23-29New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) for those following along from afar) is about peace: the peace that comes from Jesus and comes from God. Jesus is preparing his disciples for his impending death. He tells them: “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. ²⁵ “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. “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.”

He promises that the Holy Spirit, also known as the Advocate, or the Comforter will come to them after he dies. The Holy Spirit will show them the way of peace. This peace that Jesus’ offers is different from the peace the world offers. This is God’s peace. 

There’s a blogger, PJTheoLogy, suggests that the peace that the world offers occurs on several levels. First there is the idea of political or national peace. Then there is peace in our relationships and finally there is inner peace.

Political peace or national peace has eluded us since the beginning of time. During the time of Jesus, the Roman Empire had spread across North Africa, the Middle East and Europe. The Emperor Augustus established what he called Pax Romana, or the peace of the Romans. Doesn’t really make sense as Rome invaded lands and took them over by force. Peace was kept by force and fear. This is no kind of peace I want to be a part of, but things have really not changed much from those days.

When I was in high school, we were in the middle of what was called The Cold War. The United States and Russia were both building nuclear weapons and pointing them at each other. The threat was annihilation. We tried to convince ourselves that we were keeping the peace by building up arms. I remember when I learned about this in high school, being very frightened that the world would be destroyed in my life time. This was really no kind of peace that I want to be a part of.

 Today is not much different. Now we have the war on terror. There is fighting in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. We are still using a “might makes right” philosophy when it comes to political and national peace. This is really no peace that I want to be a part of. 

So what about the peace of personal relationships and communities? Even in the best families there is fighting among brother and sisters, parents and children, in-laws, cousins and the like. We may try to find peace in our relationships but often it eludes us. Our communities are filled with problems: crime, drugs, unemployment, and discrimination. If this is the world’s peace, we are not doing a good job of it. 

What about inner peace? We are supposed to be able to be at peace with ourselves, but are we? We live in a fast paced world that is all about getting ahead of the next person. We are stressed beyond belief. I read somewhere that doctors say 70% of the health problems they treat are stress related, seventy percent. We are a people that feel isolated from one another because we have lost the ability to form relationships. Instead we rely on Facebook for our social interaction. Facebook has its place but it is no replacement for real human interaction. We have stress at work, stress at home, stress with our families, and the list goes on. The world tells us that we can have inner peace. I don’t know about you, but I find inner peace a goal that eludes me. On all levels the peace of the world is less than satisfying.

 

So what is this peace that Jesus has to offer? What is God’s peace? Jesus says “My peace I give to you.” Drawing from his Jewish heritage, Jesus, when he speaks of peace, is speaking of the fullness of a right and perfected relationship with God. What we want is a relationship where God dwells in us and we dwell in God. This comes when we make our home in God. Jesus speaks of this home in the scripture as we read: “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” When we find our home in God, we have peace. This peace is a gift from God. We can’t strive for it, we can only rest in God to find our peace. 

Saint Augustine said: “Our hearts are restless until we rest in God.” This means that we find peace when we rest in God. Until we find a home in God we are restless and unsatisfied. We are longing for something more. We are busy striving for things of the world. But when we stop, and look for God, we will find God and find our rest and our home in God.

The first disciples were scared when Jesus talked of leaving them. That’s why Jesus promised the Holy Spirit, who is a Comforter. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would bring them the peace for which they were longing. 

Jesus offers us this peace too. I know from talking with many of you, that you don’t have much peace in your lives. We all have worries, which by the way don’t do anyone any good. Worry is just wasted energy.

We have conflict, with our families, with our neighbors, with our co-workers, with the woman at the lunch counter who gets our order wrong. This conflict can raise our anxiety levels and our blood pressure. But when we make our home in God, these conflicts won’t have so much power over us. They may not disappear, but they won’t throw us off course. They won’t affect us so much. When we find a home in God, and put our trust in God, we find peace. 

One definition of peace is freedom from disturbance; quiet and tranquility. This is what we mean when we say: “Oh, I need some peace and quiet.” But the peace that God gives is deeper than this. God’s peace means we have a sense of wholeness in our lives. We have a sense that we are connected to the rest of the world in a good way. God’s peace calms the soul. This is what it means to have a home in God. God lives in us and we are content.

         The answer of the beauty pageant contestants was a bit glib when they said they wanted world peace. But the peace that Jesus gives us is a peace that will last and sustain us for the days ahead. When we live in God, we have peace. So make your home in God. Trust in God. Then you will have peace, God’s peace. Amen.