Year C

John 14:23-29

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

The Peace of “Good bye”

I can’t say I have ever really liked saying “goodbye,” it always feels so final.   So, sometimes I will say things like “Take care and hope to see you soon,” or “Don’t be a stranger.” However, many times when I say goodbye to my mother and to my grandchildren, especially if I’m not going to see them for a while, there are usually few words, a lot of hugging and maybe a few tears. We may try to lighten the atmosphere with a bit of humor but in the end the word “goodbye” is bound to be said. It’s comforting to know though that “goodbye” is really a shortened form of “God be with you.” In fact, “goodbye” in many languages expresses this very same thing.

Adios in Spanish, means ‘to God’ which is implying that our lives are in God’s keeping. And vaya con dios means ‘go with God.’ The blessing at the close of our worship, reminds us that as we part from one another God goes with each one of us. Thinking of “goodbye” in this way helps to lessen its finality. Today, our gospel story from John is also a time saying “goodbye” and a time of parting.’ Jesus and his disciples are gathered in the upper room just prior to his betrayal, arrest and crucifixion. The atmosphere is tense; the disciples are beginning to catch on that something is about to happen. They are troubled and at a loss for words.

Naturally they were frightened, Jesus was talking about leaving. How could they possibly survive without his presence with them? He was the glue that held the unlikely group together. So with his characteristic compassion, Jesus reaches out to comfort his followers. “I am leaving,” he says, “but do not be afraid, you will not be alone.” God will send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to teach you all things and remind you of all that I have said to you. After Pentecost, which was yet to come, as it is for us, the disciples would be better able to recall and to understand what Jesus had told them and to be open to the new revelations that God would give.

Jesus continued by saying they need not be troubled because he would give them the gift of peace, Shalom. Shalom was a word they understood well. It was a greeting and a parting and one Jesus would use after his resurrection to assure his followers that regardless of the hard days ahead, the Spirit of God would bring the peace of God. But this kind of peace, the one Jesus is giving, is a peace that the world would not understand. When we think of peace we usually think of the absence of war between nations, or ending of hostilities between persons.

The peace of which Jesus speaks is not simply the end of conflict nor is it, even the lack of inner struggle. The peace of God is an internal strength and tranquility which exists in spite of turmoil whether in the world around us or deep within us. This peace that Jesus gives is not a release from tension, the avoidance of struggle, an escape from pain or the peace of contentment. Therefore, the world bombards us with all kinds of promises for peace in the form of drugs, legal and illegal, and all kinds of diversions. We search our world with its glamorous promises for some ease, some respite-the peace of contentment and we think what is so bad about that?

The peace which Jesus gave to his disciples involved very little contentment. They had to endure persecutions and hardships of every kind. Perhaps that is why at one point Jesus says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” He didn’t say come to me to avoid the tensions and struggles of life. He tells us to come if we are weary and he will give us rest. The Greek word translated “rest” means refreshed and revitalized. For those at the end of their strength, Jesus promises “rest,” “a peace of the soul.” But we have to seek and make room in our hearts for this kind of peace, a gift of God.

Howard Thurman, one of the greatest preachers in the twentieth century who was the spiritual advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr., the first black dean at Howard University, a white university, a civil rights leader and advocate for nonviolence, wrote in his book ‘Meditations Of The Heart,’ “I seek the enlargement of my heart that there may be room for Peace. Already there is room for chaos. There is in every day’s experience much that makes for confusion and bewilderment. But the need of my heart is for room for Peace: Peace of mind that inspires singleness of purpose; Peace of heart that quiets all fears and uproots all panic; Peace of spirit that filters though all confusions and robs them of their power. These I see now. I know that here in this quietness my life can be infused with Peace. Therefore, before God, I seek the enlargement of my heart at this moment, that there may be room for Peace.”

This “peace of the soul” that Howard speaks of Paul experienced, not because he took the easy way out, but because he met head on the tribulations and tensions of the world, and by the power of God, overcame them. Paul said the peace he experienced was “beyond human understanding” because it was not simply the absence of hostilities and distress; it was not produced within himself but was an amazing gift given by Christ through faith. The peace of God is given to those who seek the room for peace in their hearts. “My peace I give to you…” says Jesus.

It is the resurrected, living Lord who offers us rest for our troubled spirits, and strength to cope with life. He doesn’t offer us this farewell “goodbye” gift to promote the life of relaxation, or ease, or of peace as the world offers it. No, he says, “Follow me!” Follow me into the world to love God and neighbor. “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” Jesus is leaving and ascending to the Father. The Feast of Ascension is this Thursday. Yet, our hearts are not to be troubled nor are they to be afraid because God’s spirit, a gift to all who believe, comes to live in our hearts. It’s a gift that keeps on giving; a gift of peace, a peace which the world cannot give or understand, but as Jesus said neither can the world take it away. And we have the Holy Spirit will help us engage the world with love and peace.  “I have told you this Jesus says, so you may believe.”

May the peace of Christ which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and your minds.