I Give You Peace

Acts 16:9-15  John 14:23-29

A few first-century travelers have set out on a journey. They are on fire with the love of God and the desire to spread the Gospel. Their traveling conditions are tough, funds are tight, and in some of the places they plan to visit there is frightening opposition to the group they represent.   

Despite all this, they set out with conviction and faith.  They’ve mapped out where they will go, retracing the steps that one of them took on a previous journey.  Then one night, one of them has a vision. There stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." Because they believe the vision is calling them to proclaim the Good News in a way different than they had initially thought, they immediately change their plans and set off in a new direction.

This is the scene from today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles. It’s the story of Paul’s second missionary journey. On his first journey, Paul traveled with Barnabas to Cyprus and Galatia to proclaim the Gospel and establish small Christian communities.  On his second missionary journey, Paul is traveling with Silas. Their plan is to retrace the steps from Paul’s first journey, checking to see how those who became believers on his first journey are fairing. But then there is this sudden redirection, a call to drop their plans and change their destination.

The call sounds outrageous.  How does one just change horses in midstream?  The outward inconvenience is staggering. Yet, Paul and Silas do not hesitate, because it is not the outward journey that matters – the message, the Good News they are carrying, and the Spirit driving them on are all that matter.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives…

Today’s Gospel reading, like the one last week, comes from what the Church calls the Farewell Discourses.  Jesus is leaving His disciples, and He wants them to be prepared.  They are undoubtedly frightened by the thought of His departure, being left in the world without His strength and guidance.  They are anything but peaceful.

Jesus is only too aware of what His leaving will mean to His beloved friends, and He is intent on steadying them.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. The farewell discourses have sometimes been referred to as a “love letter” – from Jesus to His followers, which centuries later includes us.  He wants to instill in them the confidence they will need to continue on without Him, while also offering them strength and comfort.

And so, He gives them peace.  This is more than gently wishing them peaceful lives or inner peace.  Jesus gives them peace.  This is a profound gift.  And it is not a passive peace.  This peace will propel the disciples and later the Church, and remember, we are the Church today, into active ministry, into living lives of love and service.  It is this peace, given by God in Jesus’ Name, which enables the disciples and us to live lives of faithfulness, to be holy people.  What then is this peace of which Jesus speaks? 

The Paraclete, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.

We, who have been told the Law, will have the Paraclete, a word that refuses to be properly translated.  In today’s Gospel, the word used is “advocate”, but Paraclete can also be translated as counselor, or sometimes comforter/strengthener, because no one can figure out how to translate it into English. What then is meant by “advocate” in our Gospel today?   We tend to first think of Jesus as our “only mediator and Advocate”, but this isn’t what He is telling us.

We have been told that in time we will all face judgement – a judgement based on how well we have lived the Law, and how faithfully we have spread the Gospel and shared agape. But we must wonder, as the disciples surely did, while we live, are we to do this work by ourselves, and when we die, are we to face judgment alone?  The answer is “no”.  We have been given God’s Peace to help us.  Thus, we are to live our lives and face judgment always accompanied by the Paraclete – the Advocate.

Picture a courtroom scene.  You are headed into court to face a judge, and you need someone who fully understands the law, an officer of the court, a lawyer – if you will – who will escort you through the process.  That would be the one who has made the journey with us, who knows how we have kept the Law, perhaps knows us better than we know ourselves.  This is the one who comes with us, who stands beside us. This is our Advocate, the Paraclete.  This is the One whom we also call the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit, that Spirit that is one Person of the Trinity, God, is a living Spirit.  During our lives It brings a recollection of Jesus words, the words we must obey in order to have eternal life. Though it is God, and has the power of God, it is subtle.  We need to listen for It in silent prayer, and It will give us direction, leading us in the way chosen for us, our own personal path to holiness.   For some, though not many, this means being called to give our lives for Jesus, while for others the road may not be as fraught.

We have been taught that the Peace of God is no peace – I do not give to you as the world gives. God’s Peace is the Holy Spirit – that which sustains, defends, propels us forward, and stands with us in the Final Judgment.

It is through the Spirit that we experience the love of God and comprehend the life of Jesus. The Spirit, invisible, unchanging, unrelenting, all loving, is our gift from God at our baptism, and through the Spirit, we reach Our Lord.  It is the Spirit that binds us all, the Trinity, and the Church, in one.

Jesus has given us a gift - peace. The Peace of God, the Holy Spirit, is God, with us, among us, and in us.  We are the ones who are called to be the bearers of God’s Peace to the world, called to be holy people.

Mother Teresa once said, “The Holy Spirit is the fire that ignites our soul, setting us ablaze with love for God and for all God’s children”.

May we burn brightly for the LORD.

Let us pray:

Lord, teach us to pray with our hearts, to be open to Your Will and Spirit.  Help us to sprinkle our lives with prayer.  Help us to listen, that we may know Your will.  Ignite Your Holy Spirit within us, that, seeking no recompense, we may love and serve You all our days.  In Jesus’ Name – Amen.