Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.”...
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
- Revelation 21:1-5a and 22:1-5
As we read and reflect and float in these images from Revelation, it is easy to get an immediate sense of peace. God will be there with us. There will be a tree that feeds anyone who picks the fruit, and the leaves may be picked to heal the nations. There will be no more pain and crying.
And, it is all a gift. It is a gift of peace for free. God’s peace is free!
That is only surprising to us because peace in this world is not free. Nations make peace deals that involve millions of dollars of economic benefits. Mafia families make peace deals that cost the marriage freedom of daughters and sons. Heck, when I go to get peace massaged into my sore muscles in a dark, candlelit room, it sets me back at least $65!
Given that, forgive me for being shocked that God's peace comes for free. Jesus freely offers it to us saying, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."
Obviously Jesus did not get the memo that there's some money to be made here. But, Jesus does not give peace as the world gives. Jesus’ peace does not have any cost. It does not require any deals or negations. It is simply given when he breathes the Holy Spirit upon us.
In addition, the peace Jesus gives even has a completely different character to it than its worldly counterpart.
In the world, peace means escaping from conflict.
When you find peace at the beach, you are escaping your job and your boss and your in-laws. As my uncle says, "I'm getting away."
When I find peace at the spa, I am leaving the cares of my job behind and getting away.
When I find peace in a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, I am taking a brief moment in the day to enjoy the wonderful bliss of chocolate sweetness mixed with salty pleasure. It is getting away.
Curiously, when Jesus promises his peace to the disciples, he is far from making preparations for a vacation or a day at the spa.
Instead, he is making preparations to be hated, spit upon, and mocked on the cross.
I like the spa better.
But, it is exactly at the time that the shadow of Jesus' death begins to overtake the disciples that Jesus promises peace. Obviously, Jesus’ peace goes deeper than the scented candle version that you can buy from the world.
If you were going to image what Jesus' peace looks like, it would look like a confident man, carrying his own cross, and trudging forth toward his glorification…which by glorification I mean a horrific, slow, strangulating death on a cross.
Jesus peace looks a lot like the image that a WWII vet had seared in his mind. With bombs falling, bullets whizzing, soldiers running, and yellow gas billowing forth, the soldier runs to safety in the foxhole. Hunkering down he is surprised to discover, right there in the in the corner of the foxhole, a mother feeding her child from the breast. As bullets fly, the mother sings and smiles at the cuing baby.
That is a peace that can only come from above. That is a peace that hopes when there is no hope to be had. That is a peace that trusts in God’s ability to create life even in the small, hand-dug valley of the shadow of death.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."
You see, Jesus’ peace is not a peace that seeks to escape from the world.
Notice that even the peace found in Revelation…in the end times…is a peace that comes down from the heaven to the earth. People are not raptured away in order to escape into bliss. Rather, God's peace comes down here…to earth. Thy kingdom come.
The world gives you escape.
Jesus gives you peace while the storm still blows. The resurrection of Jesus gives you hope of new life when all seems to be falling apart.
Jesus gives confidence to the mother in the fox hole that it is still worth it to feed her child.
Jesus gives faith that your little moment of hell on earth is not the end of the story….far from it.
Jesus’ peace is here…right here….right now…even if things seems scary…even if things seem impossible…even if.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."
Your gift of peace is the same peace that Jesus had as he carried the cross to the hill…trusting that he will die…but trusting even more that he will rise. We all will rise.
Knowing that the crying and pain and death is not the end of the story provides a peace that surpasses all comprehension and allows people to do courageous things like standing up to the gun tips of armed oppressors, standing up to the burning crosses of people motivated by racism, and giving a breast to a baby in a foxhole.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."
There is this old, old sermon illustration that I love. It goes like this:
There was a king embroiled in endless war, and he wanted it to stop. He wanted an image that would speak to the reality of peace. So he commissioned two painters to paint a picture of peace.
The first painter gave him a glorious landscape of mountains, trees, birds and butterflies in beautiful, calming hues of blue. It was the type of painting that hangs in spas today.
The king suspected that this must be the winner.
When he received the second painting, he saw an image that was completely different. The artist had chosen hues of red. There was lightning in the background. And, in the foreground the mountain scene was flooded with raging and rising waters. The painting was anything but peaceful.
Just as he was about to declare the first painting the winner, the king saw something in the second painting that he had not seen before. Under a raging waterfall, in a small cleft in the rock, was a mother bird feeding her young. In the scene of destruction, was the hope of a mother bird.
Peace is trusting that life will win even if the world is falling apart.
The second painting won the contest.
Jesus says, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."
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