A Devotion for the People of Peace
Jesus answered him, “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. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.
“I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. 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 heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.
- John 14:23-29
What does peace mean to you?
In the book of John, Jesus speaks the word “peace” five separate times. To Jewish readers and hearers in the first century, the word “peace” (in Hebrew, “shalom”) meant many different things.
Often, we think of peace as just the cessation of conflict or war, an almost empty space where there is no violence, but crowded with nothingness.
However, like the Hebrew word “shalom,” the peace that Jesus offers the disciples in this passage and the peace that we are offered today is more than just the absence of negativity or strife; it’s the offer of wholeness, of restoration of relationships that have been broken, a righting of systems that have been abused and tattered.
When Jesus used the word shalom, he was describing the world as God intended it to be: the Kingdom of God on earth and the way in which God's kingdom people - empowered by the Holy Spirit - would live.
God gives to us the gift of peace, so that we may be people of peace.
Think about the people that you’ve known in your life or in your church and ministries that have opened up their lives, given of their time and resources willingly and fully.
What does peace mean to you?
In the book of John, Jesus speaks the word “peace” five separate times. To Jewish readers and hearers in the first century, the word “peace” (in Hebrew, “shalom”) meant many different things.
Often, we think of peace as just the cessation of conflict or war, an almost empty space where there is no violence, but crowded with nothingness.
However, like the Hebrew word “shalom,” the peace that Jesus offers the disciples in this passage and the peace that we are offered today is more than just the absence of negativity or strife; it’s the offer of wholeness, of restoration of relationships that have been broken, a righting of systems that have been abused and tattered.
When Jesus used the word shalom, he was describing the world as God intended it to be: the Kingdom of God on earth and the way in which God's kingdom people - empowered by the Holy Spirit - would live.
God gives to us the gift of peace, so that we may be people of peace.
Think about the people that you’ve known in your life or in your church and ministries that have opened up their lives, given of their time and resources willingly and fully.
These are people of peace.Or the people who use what’s been given to them by God to make beautiful and useful things, whether it is art that demonstrates the beauty of God, or a sandwich served to another hungry person. These are people of peace.
You, my friends, are called to be people of peace. You have been called and beckoned, gifted and sent by God’s spirit. In your work you are not just solving conflict, but you are creating spaces for people to find restoration and wholeness.
That’s why Jesus’ call in the gospel is to receive peace and moreover, to make peace. So that we would not be passive receivers – but active, involved, empowered participants in making God’s kingdom a reality here on earth.
Peace, shalom. Let’s be people of peace, makers and creators of God’s goodness and wholeness here and now. Amen.
Chaplain Amy
You, my friends, are called to be people of peace. You have been called and beckoned, gifted and sent by God’s spirit. In your work you are not just solving conflict, but you are creating spaces for people to find restoration and wholeness.
That’s why Jesus’ call in the gospel is to receive peace and moreover, to make peace. So that we would not be passive receivers – but active, involved, empowered participants in making God’s kingdom a reality here on earth.
Peace, shalom. Let’s be people of peace, makers and creators of God’s goodness and wholeness here and now. Amen.
Chaplain Amy
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