Peace and Fingers

We worship in a liturgical church. Among many other things, that means that we take the time to touch, sometimes hug and greet one another. However, we don't do it in an off-handed or casual manner. Rather, there is a set time in our worship service when everyone present is invited to turn to his/her neighbor and speak the blessing of peace. And we take peace quite seriously, even if not all of us understand the implications of what we are saying.

Peace is a very interesting Bible word. The Apostle speaks his prayer for peace at the beginning of his first letter to the Corinthians as he writes, " Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." A word or two about peace in that context.

First, peace is so much more than the cessation of war. Many articles about warring nations begin with a comment about the search for peace. For instance, we often read, "The search for peace in the Middle East dates back to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948." The assumption is that peace can be found by stopping the fighting and building some type of economic ties between Israelies and Palestinians. Peace in the Bible means so very much more than that.

Of course it refers to the cessation of war between nations, but it also refers to concord and harmony between nations, communities and individuals. How vital, for instance, it is for us to be at peace in our marriages and how difficult it can be to bring about this type of reconciliation. I'm thinking this may be one of the reasons why the Holy Spirit ties grace with peace in the greeting.

Grace refers to the undeserved and unmerited mercy of God offered in the work and life of Jesus Christ. Paul writes to the Ephesians, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast" (2:8,9). And then he goes on to say that Jesus himself is our peace, who has made both Jew and Gentile one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. No room for boasting when you are saved by grace.

In my years of working with couples and families to restore peace and harmony in their homes I soon discovered that little progress could be made until all stopped boasting and accusing to acknowledge the need for undeserved forgiveness and grace. When all parties acknowledged their faults and contributions to the conflict we began to make progress. We began to move toward peace, especially when the couple or the family members accepted the fact that we are all beggars in the eyes of God and by faith all receivers of forgiveness and mercy in Jesus Christ.

That's at least one meaning of the greeting of peace in our worship services.

If you are looking for reconciliation in your personal relationships, start with taking a good, hard look at yourself. To quote an old canard, "There are always three fingers pointing back when you point your one finger at another." Then accept God's grace, given in spite of the fingers pointing at you and begin anew.