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Minister
and President’s Message
Christ’s gift of peace is a gift of power
April,
2003
By
Nancy S. Taylor
To the clergy and laity of the United Church of Christ in Massachusetts:
peace be with you in the name of Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church,
the Prince of Peace.
“Peace be with you.” These four words are repeated over and over again
in John’s gospel.1 Spoken by Jesus both before and after he is crucified
they are a gift, a pledge, a blessing, and a command. Yet, the peace
that Jesus bequeaths to his disciples is neither a general sense of
well-being nor a universal peace. This is his peace. Nor is it a gift
bestowed freely or randomly upon the world; it is given to the followers
of Jesus. It is his gift to us. By this gift we are united with Christ
and commissioned by Christ. His work has become our work.2
Peace be with you. It is a peace that cannot be understood or experienced
apart from his death and resurrection. It is God’s Easter blessing
to us in this Good Friday world.
Peace be with you. By this peace the followers of Jesus face death,
war, enmity, hatred, persecution, illness and strife with freedom and
with courage.
Peace be with you. It is a peace given to us in the midst of intense
violence and hatred so that we may not become violent or hateful ourselves.
Peace be with you, as you faithfully follow on the way of the cross,
ministering to this broken and battered world in this holy season.
Peace be with you, friends, as you witness day by day to God’s way
of reconciliation, mercy, and grace in this world filled with division,
cruelty, and vengeance.
Peace be with you. This gift of peace is a gift of power. It is the
power of Christ’s weakness over Pilate’s strength. It is the power
of suffering love over brute force. It is the power of courage over
fear, of confidence over despair, of resurrection over death, of Christ
over the world. This is the power of Christ’s peace and it is intended
for you.
In the words of Martin Luther, let us earnestly pray for Christ’s
peace:
In these our days so perilous,
Lord, peace in mercy send us;
No God but thee can fight for us.
No God but thee defend us.3
Amen and amen.
1 See The Gospel According to John, 14. 27; 16.33; 20.19, 21, 26.
2 Paul S. Minear, John: the Martyr’s Gospel, The Pilgrim Press, NY
(1984)
3 Martin Luther, Hymns (1529)
