John 14:27
In a few months we will be facing a significant anniversary. July will mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War. It was a war fought on several fronts and involved the newest technology, including chemical weapons and airplanes. When it ended in 1918 it had been the sixth deadliest war in history, some 10 million had been killed and more than 8 million were missing and presumed dead. But it was not the deadliest war of the twentieth century. Of course, it wasn’t the last. Since 1918 dozens of wars have erupted around the world.
I mention this because at its outset the Great War, as it was called until the 1939, was sometimes called “the war that will end war." Although that phrase is sometimes associated with President Woodrow Wilson, it originated with H G Wells. He actually believed defeating Germany would end war. It didn’t.
It’s easy to be cynical when a politician begins talking about peace. But, when someone like Jesus talks about peace, it’s worth paying attention. We pay attention because the peace Jesus talks about is a peace that calms the deepest recesses of our souls.
Even though Christians, including Evangelicals, have often worked for world peace and the end of war, they have always remembered that peace of heart may be the road to that peace.
The night before the crucifixion Jesus introduced the subject of peace. He told his disciples:
“I am leaving peace with you. I am giving you my peace. This peace that I am giving you is not like the world gives. Don't let your heart be troubled or afraid.”
Earlier in the evening he had said, “Don’t let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me.” The troubled heart is distressed, agitated, worried, fretful, fearful. Some of the modern paraphrases get at the meaning. The Voice translation puts the command this way: “Don’t get lost in despair.” The Message says, “Don’t let this throw you.” Why would they be lost in despair? What would throw them?
Keep in mind the situation the disciples faced. Jesus had been making cryptic references to “going away,” and, lest we forget, he had been making less-veiled references to being put to death in Jerusalem. With hindsight, we can say the references were pointing to the same event—the crucifixion. But, hindsight wasn’t something the disciples possessed. After all, the crucifixion and the resurrection weren’t behind them.
Still, they realized something momentous was going to happen and they their hearts overflowed with uncertainty. Those troubled hearts needed a word to calm them. That word came from the One whom they had seen calm the raging seas with a word. The word he gave them was the same word he had used then, “Peace.”
As Jesus makes this promise of peace he provides an important clarification, his peace is not like the peace the world gives.
What can we say about the “peace” the world gives?
The peace the world gives is so often temporary. I’ve already suggested that. Think of what you know about recent history, just since WWII, the war that made it necessary to call “the Great War” something else. Think of names like Korea, Vietnam, Algeria, Ireland, the Falklands, the Congo, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places where war is a way of life. As soon as peace emerges in one place, war breaks out in another.
It’s often the same when we speak of our own inner peace, the peace of our hearts and minds. What peace we find is soon shattered and we begin our quest again.
The peace the world gives rests on circumstances. When things are going well, we are at peace. When our security is threatened, we become restless.
The peace the world gives is given by frail humans. These men and women mean well but they lack the power to fulfill their promises.
The peace the world gives is often superficial. When the former Soviet Union collapsed several nations were reborn, nations which most of us had never heard of, but nations which existed before the Soviet Union. It wasn’t long before civil war broke out in those nations; actually, in some of those nations the factions in those wars simply picked up where they’d left off when the Soviets took control. While the Soviets were in charge there was an enforced peace but war was still going on in the hearts of the people.
We’ve all known people who outwardly seem to have things together but after you’ve gotten to know them, you realize there is a seething unrest within them. Maybe you’ve even been there when the façade has fallen away to reveal the turmoil.
The peace Jesus gives is in contrast to this worldly peace.
Remember Jesus is the Source of Our Peace.
Jesus said, “My peace I leave with you.” Of course, he had already made clear that the antidote to a troubled heart was faith, faith in God which was faith in him. It’s as if he were saying, “Trust in God, trust in me, same difference.” Later he would actually say, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” Once again, Jesus was making the bold claim to divine. To put it another way, to know what God is like look at Jesus.
To the disciples Jesus was saying, “The next few hours will have the potential to shake you, don’t let them.” Of course, they would be shaken. Their failure is both a comfort and a warning.
It is a comfort because it reminds us that those who are closest to Jesus may sometimes waver in their faith. It is a warning that we all must stay focused on him to enjoy that peace he promises.
At the same time Jesus promised this peace he also made another promise. He promised to send the Holy Spirit. The Amplified Bible renders verse 16 this way, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever—.” Robert Mounce says the Greek word translated as “Comforter,” “paraclete,” refers to “one present to render various beneficial service.” After the resurrection, the Spirit emboldened Christians in the face of persecution, the Spirit enabled simple disciples to confound the wisest opponents, and the Spirit gave them the words to reach across cultures to change the world. When speaking of the Spirit, J B Phillips said, “Ever time we say ‘I believe in the Holy Spirit’ we mean that we believe there is a living God able and willing to enter human personality and change it.”
Ultimately, Jesus is the source of our peace, a peace mediated through the Spirit. Paul would tell the Galatians that the “fruit of the Spirit is…peace.” This is important. The peace which Jesus promised was linked to the promise of the Comforter.
This is why Jesus emphasizes his return to the Father. They should have been glad he was returning. When he returned to the Father he would reclaim the glory which he had temporarily laid aside or suppressed during his earthly ministry. From his place of authority with the Father he would send the Spirit.
The peace the Spirit gives us is always ours because the Spirit always abides with the believer.
This means our peace isn’t tied to our circumstances. No matter how dark the night, we can know peace.
Consider the Substance of the Peace Jesus Gives.
The peace which Jesus gives addresses the greatest problems we have.
The peace which Jesus gives addresses our alienation from God. Sin separated us from God. In his death and resurrection, Jesus provided reconciliation. He opened the way for us to come back to God. Because of him, as Paul would write, we may have “peace with God.”
At the heart of this peace is calmness of soul. Greek scholar Joseph Thayer knew this calmness of soul was at the heart of our peace. Peace, Thayer says, is "...a conception peculiar to Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot." Such is the peace Christ gives us.
Many of the world’s ancient religions know nothing of this peace. A drought or a flood sent people into a panic as they struggled to find how they may have offended the gods who are punishing them. The peace Jesus gives reminds us that the tough thing we may be facing does not mean God has stopped loving us.
The peace which Jesus gives addresses our alienation from each other. We live in a divided world, divided not simply by political boundaries but by ethnic, economic, and other boundaries. In Christ there is an unprecedented unity. Those who truly follow Christ can live as brothers and sisters in a broken world.
The peace which Jesus gives addresses the alienation we sometimes sense in ourselves. This alienation may be seen in a sense of worthlessness, aimlessness, or despair. Jesus’ peace allows us to rest patiently in the knowledge that God’s grace is at work in us. Instead of being stressed about our condition, we can relax.
Recently I’ve become intrigued by the practice of “snake-handling” in some American churches. No, not intrigued as in “I’m intrigued by what kangaroo steak might taste like; I’ll have to try it.” I’m intrigued because I think Christian behavior—even odd behavior—is interesting.
Anyway, the practice goes back to the beginning of the last century when an nearly illiterate Holiness preacher named George Hensley became convinced from his study of Mark 16 that Christians are supposed to show their faith by handling snakes. So, during a service in 1910 he preached on the passage and then concluded the sermon by picking up a rattlesnake and holding it. Ted Olsen says, “He handled it for several minutes, then ordered his congregation to handle it too or else be ‘doomed to eternal hell.’” Hensley had a checkered career in the following years which included time on an Ohio chain gang for moon-shining. He escaped and went back to preaching, spreading the word about snake-handling as a test of faith. He died in July 1955—from a rattlesnake bite.
I didn’t share that with you so you’ll have something to share around the coffee pot at work. I want to remind you that the peace we have through Christ means we don’t have to prove ourselves to God by being stupid. God has proven himself to us.
He has given us his Son. Years later Paul would pick up this theme when he wrote the Romans.
If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?
If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself.
Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?
No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Conclusion
Jesus brings peace. Through the violence of the cross, Jesus made it possible for us to enjoy peace in the darkest hour.
O God, from whom all holy desires,
all just works do proceed:
Give unto thy servants that peace which
the world cannot give.
(Book of Common Prayer)
