The Peace of the Lord

The PEACE of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.
This week’s fruit of the Spirit is peace.  Each week during our Sunday morning worship, we offer the words above as the invitation to share the peace with each other before we share Communion.  These words and actions can become very rote, done without thought of what it really means to be at peace with one another.  When I was a child, I hated this part of the service because I had to look adults in the eye and constantly be asked if my sister and I were twins.  The passing of the peace was something to be endured, not enjoyed.
At St. Barnabas, the sharing of the peace can be a bit intimidating to the “un-initiated” as most people get out of their pews and walk around to greet each other.  I sometimes feel like a schoolmarm having to call the students back to order after recess in order to continue the worship.  While I would much rather have this circumstance than a congregation full of the “frozen chosen,” we do walk a delicate line between sharing the peace and starting Coffee Hour a bit early.
The sharing of the Lord’s Peace should be understood as a deeply spiritual exchange, not a social time.  I am just as guilty as the next person of using the peace to connect with someone I haven’t seen in a while and ask how they are.  However, the sharing of the peace is not the time or the place to have that conversation.  That should be done during a Fellowship time.  During the peace, we are acknowledging that we are at peace with our neighbor, that we hold no grudges or bear any ill will that needs to be confessed before presenting our offering to God.
We also need to remember that this is God’s peace, the peace that passes all understanding, the peace in the midst of chaos that we are talking about – not the idyllic tranquility that we all hope to achieve on some future vacation.  This is a peace that respects one another’s dignity even if we disagree with their opinions.  This is about letting go of our agendas and allowing God’s Spirit to work within and through us to share God’s unconditional love with each other, both friend and stranger.
It is God’s peace that Jesus demonstrates in this week’s Gospel, in his conversation with the devil after his 40 days in the wilderness.  Weary and hungry, Jesus could have easily given into the temptations offer by the devil to make his life easier.  But through the spiritual gift of peace, Jesus knew that such gifts were only beneficial in the moment and not in the long term, that nothing the devil would have to offer could ever compare to what God offers us.  In the busyness and chaos of our lives, it is important for us to allow God’s peace to enter into our hearts and minds before making rash decisions or quick comments that might seem innocuous in the moment, but have negative ramifications in the long run.
As we begin the holy season of Lent, I offer you the Peace of the Lord – a peace I hope you find and feel throughout these 40 days in a new and powerful way. 
In Christ,

Rev. Valerie+

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