Peace

John 20:19-31 is the lectionary text for April 19.

It was the evening of the resurrection day.
Jesus appeared to His disciples, standing among them and saying, "Peace be with you."

Jesus spoke similarly to His disciples at another place in John's Gospel (14:27-31), perhaps reminiscent during a reading of this passage.  In that passage, we have Jesus saying that the Peace He gives is not like that which the world gives, and He encouraged His followers to not let their hearts be troubled or be afraid.

Indeed, the Shalom/eireinei of which Jesus speaks is completeness, wholeness and well-being for all people and not like the Pax Romana, which may have been a lack of crime or disorder, but was given under occupation, oppression, violence and injustice.  People did not have well-being because all that they had was taken to fuel the empire.  People did not have well-being because the Temple Cult leaders of their time were in collusion with empire, at the expense of their own people.  Jesus' Shalom is built on Agape Love and Grace, and is therefore just, equitable and sustainable as a better way for ALL people.  That is the value of the Kingdom of God that Jesus brought.

So, on this day when the witness had come that Jesus was raised from the dead and alive, Jesus appears to give peace, a sense of well-being, and quell trouble hearts or fear.  Jesus was among them again, and it meant Shalom for them.  Even the doubter was dealt with graciously and because of him we are provided a lesson regarding how to face uncertain, troubling and fearful times and circumstances.

"Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."  Perhaps they are blessed because they have a sense of hope in uncertainty, trouble and fearfulness.  Perhaps they are blessed because they believe in God's Presence, Power and Love for us.  Perhaps they are blessed because their faith is not shaken in these times, so they maintain a sense of well-being, completeness and wholeness.  Hold on, in faith, to hope, especially in times like these.

We need a little Shalom.  We need to have a sense of completeness, wholeness and well-being.  We need to have our troubled hearts comforted and fears quelled.

The world will not provide it.
Empire will certainly not provide it.

In Jesus we can find peace.  In what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled, as we have witness in the Gospels, we find a formula for well-being for all people.  In it we find a sustainable way to be in the world, this part of God's Kingdom, here and now - an alternative, even a resistance to the ways of empire that tear down, marginalized, disenfranchise many lives for the sake of a few.  It is the only, real sustainable way for humanity - that we live not just for ourselves but for one another - live Agape Love and Grace.  When we actively commit to the well-being of others, we are ultimately committing actively to our own.  The truth is that unless ALL have Shalom, none truly have it.

That is faithfulness.  That is our hope.
We are in an uncertain time, even fearful time.  We need to have our Shalom established and/or restored.  We will find that in Jesus' Way and NOT in the ways of empire.  Greed, lust for Power and desire for Status have brought us to this time of uncertainty, illness, poverty and distress.  The Way of Jesus will bring completeness, wholeness and well-being for ALL, because it is built on the living of Agape Love and Grace.

That is the Good News of Jesus in times of uncertainty, trouble, fear and doubt.  Jesus is among us and gives us words of Peace.

Now, we can embrace the things that make for peace/shalom/eireinei, or we can continue to create and then live in despair, uncertainty, trouble and fear.

The Good News IS Jesus' better way for us.

Pastor Jamie