Peace Out!

Peace upon Israel. 

Peace upon all the nations. 

Peace upon you and me. 

Peace upon those in harm’s way. 

Peace upon peace upon peace.  

Peace is a word that gets thrown around by all-types of people. 

Politicians will talk of peace among nations and communities. Activists will speak of peace through equitable justice. College fraternity brothers and dads who are trying desperately to hang on to their youth as 40 comes closer and closer will end a conversation with “peace out.” In hospital rooms and living rooms chaplains and clergy of all stripes pray for peace, for the presence of peace in the face of a difficult situation or diagnosis. In the church, at the end of most worship service, the peace of the Holy Spirit is prayed upon the gathered congregation. I am sure I have missed a few examples that you maybe thinking of but the point is that we as humans have been seeking peace – among one another and within ourselves – for centuries and yet there has rarely been a time when peace was present across all of creation, experienced by all of creation. 

For the past two months our scripture readings have been following Israel as they went from being a people on the move to settling down and establishing their roots in Jerusalem. We followed along as our scripture readings told to the story of a young giant-slaying king who rose to power. Peace was rarely present throughout David’s rule. His grand procession into Jerusalem, delivering the ark of the covenant to it’s new home, was marred by the dramatic, unpeaceful death of Uzzah after Uzzah touched the ark. Peace was out of the reach of David as the result of his abuse of Bathsheba and betrayal of Uriah. When God told Nathan the sword would not depart from the House of David the Lord was stating that peace would remain beyond the reach of the king. David’s daughter was raped, a son killed, and when another son usurped David’s throne the unfaithful son was killed as David retook his kingdom.  

But life without peace was nothing new to Israel. Israel had been a nation used by other nations to secure the peace of the exploiting nation. Peace at the expense of Israel. Peace at the expense of the other. Peace at the expense of a person or group of people made to be the “other” so that their humanity could be stripped away so that the person or group of people becomes expendable. This had been Israel’s reality while in bondage in Egypt – enslaved to be the muscle behind the Pharoah’s building projects – and while exiled from their homes, all the way up to when Jesus arrived on the scene and peace for Israel meant Pax Romana, Roman Peace, typically achieved with the pointy end of a sword.  

Peace was as illusive for Israel as it seems to be for us today.  

Psalm 125 is part of a collection of psalms titled “Songs of Ascent.” These songs and prayers were recited reminding the community or the individual praying to trust in the righteousness of the Lord so that they would be shielded from opponents, the “wicked” who are unrighteous and had “set their hands to wrongdoing.” This prayer is broad, petitioning shielding from the “wicked” inside and outside of the community. Protection from anyone or any group opposed to the righteousness of God. Anyone opposed to the standards and expectations established by God. 

To trust in the Lord is to have complete confidence in the protection and sustenance extended to all of creation by the Lord, and that protection aligns with the reality that God stands in solidarity with God’s people.  

And who are God’s people?  

I’m glad you asked.  

We believe that all of creation – every human – is the Lord’s. There’s no caveat, no asterisk to this. All people, full stop, no exceptions are God’s people. That would be you and me, our families, and our neighbors. But also the person at the office who drives you nuts and the person you believe to be unlovable, unforgiveable, and irredeemable. Dad’s who continue say “peace out” and everyone in between. If I left someone out, they are God’s as well. No exceptions. 

This psalm is a reminder, rather a proclamation, that God will and does protect the righteous by extending peace to the righteous.  

But Pastor Teer, you just said the people we believe the be irredeemable, unrighteous, are God’s people, how can it be both ways?  

I’m glad you asked. 

I can have it both ways because Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace, extending peace that surpasses all understanding to the righteous – the people who follow God’s law, loving God and neighbor perfectly – but also to those of us who depend upon grace being extended to us. Through his life, death, and resurrection not only did Jesus display what peace looked like among the nations and neighbors but by taking our unrighteousness upon himself on the cross we have been made righteous. The righteousness of God in Jesus Christ became our righteousness not because of anything we have done or ever could do, not because of our ability to secure peace for ourselves or others, rather because of Christ’s insistence that Pax Romana, peace by the sword, would not continue to hold a grip over creation. 

In the Kingdom of God peace is not the result of the sword or a world at war with itself, or human accomplishment. The peace of Christ, extended far and wide, extended indiscriminately, is the result of Christ’s faithfulness.  

Because the peace of God is already ours to grab hold of, the church along with all of creation is free to acknowledge our own unfaithfulness, our own unrighteousness, and strive toward peace for all people. Peace for all of creation. 

Peace upon those who voted differently from you. 

Peace upon those who view God differently. 

Peace upon the flood victim. 

Peace upon the refugee. 

Peace upon the nations at war with one another and with themselves. 

Peace upon the abused and peace upon the forgotten. 

Peace upon the other. 

One of my favorite hymns to become snarky over at clergy meetings is Let Their Be Peace On Earth. I become snarky because we rarely listen to the words we sing. The hymn opens and closes with “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” The peace we seek does not begin with you or with me. The peace we seek begins with Jesus Christ making the unrighteous righteous and extending peace that surpasses all understanding to all of creation. We are extensions of Christ’s peace to be sure but as with all things, we are not the source. Everything in all of creation has come into being through Christ – you and me, the bird, and the cicadas – but also peace. Peace, the psalmist states, is of God. 

In Jesus Christ, God has turned toward all of creation, choosing all of Creation as God’s beloved and flipping our notions of righteousness and faithfulness, flipping notions of peace, bringing the outsider in, no longer the other and welcomed at Christ’s table of grace. Extending peace, Pax Christe, the peace of Jesus Christ, and stamping out peace by any other means.