Peace be With You (1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31)
Peace Be With You
1Peter 1:3-9
John 20: 19-31
By: Melody Briggs
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Good morning… Thank you all for this opportunity to join together in worship and praise after such a bustling and busy final sprint through Holy Week, last week full of emotional twists and turns…as well as the all-encompassing journeying through the Lenten desert these past 40 plus days of reflection… sometimes the Lenten season is often full and intuitional pivots, pulls, and realizations as each one of us in our various ways has hopefully connected… grounded and reconnected and reground to various parts of ourselves along this awaited celebration into Easter… Last week we traversed through Maundy Thursday and the spiritual welcoming gatherings and witnessing that happened here around this very table of grace and communion, not only in witnessing and nurturing our spirits with bread and body, but also our hearts and the communion amongst our community in love… To the bearing witness of Good Friday… and its sometimes reverently comforting ritual of knowing that through darkness and encompassing tombs, there can also be light waiting on the other side.
To last Sunday when we so beautifully came together in celebration and witness last week as individuals, and a community celebrating life renewed … the ever blooming and renewal of our spirits and those around us… as well as the Easter lightness that often breathes within us as a continued acknowledged joyful spirit… and a continued promise of presently living in hope.
To today the 2nd Sunday of this Easter season. The scripture readings shared today are examples of the re accounts from John and Peter’s versions of what they witnessed, felt, and perceived. I felt called to reference both accounts within our readings this morning for their intertwining intricacies as well as the beauty and differences between their accounts of Jesus’s sending and individual perceptions. For each of them sheds light into their exchanges not only with Jesus but also each other.
John 20: 19 starts off describing Easter evening with the disciples hiding, gathered in the Upper room from fear of the Jewish leaders.
Can you imagine Easter evening hiding in a dark room in the mist of grieving… praying… weeping… reflecting on the events of witnessing the cruelty of man and the crucifixion of Jesus in fear for not only your own life, but also the lives of those alongside you?
And then in the mist of such life altering pivotal moments. Breathes of stillness. And what must have felt like endless minutes in the darkness in a place of sanctuary where you were asked to faithfully wait… Jesus just happens to appear plain as day. And in his appearance and states. In John's version of the sending. That we just heard. Jesus appeared and stood among them and said. “Peace Be With You!” “Peace be with you!” Showing him his hands... And his wounds ... Then again Jesus said, “Peace be with you!”
“As the Father has sent me - I am sending you.”
“As the father has sent me- I am sending you.” You ... I am sending you! You... being the extension of Christ life. Jesus witnessing to John and the disciples to continue on in the mist of overwhelming grief. in love… in spirit. In faith. And in action… and then as John reaccounts in his version here. Jesus breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.”
The word Spirit in Hebrew is often translated as a wind… a breath. Jesus breathed on them… receive..the Holy Spirit,. Re-creation with breath is a new creation. A soul consciousness so to speak.
A soul consciousness tends to be defined as the spiritual awareness that we have as individuals that is an eternal.. Non physical being of light. A soul. Jesus breathing into us the Holy Spirit and saying to his disciples and to us … Go Forth. Be present for as John reaccounts within his writings the word became flesh … make flesh the word. Make flesh the word… the living out of our faith.
Within Peter and his version here of the sending he acknowledges that Jesus through his mercy has given us a new birth.. A breath of renewal .. a new birth into a living hope. 1Peter 1 verse 8 states Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. 9 For you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
A soul, rather than just a physical body or being. A soul can be known to be defined as an inner self, and is often characterized by qualities such as peace, purity, love, light, and bliss. These words are powerful. So are our words when we exchange the passing of the peace here… Within our community of each other.. Just as we did a little bit ago .
The passing of peace within ourselves and the passing of peace that we extend to strangers.. Loved ones.. And the prayers of peace that can extend beyond ourselves through our inner light.. Our love..
Sitting at the sound booth each Sunday here, I have the opportunity and beautiful viewpoint to witness each of you pass the peace with each other… as you reach out your hands as an extension of yourself and inner state “Peace be with you!” “ Peace be with you.” just as Jesus stated in John’s reaccounts to his disciples as the first words he satiated as he appeared through darkness.. and as Peter described as the genuineness of our faith.. A praise for a living hope.. For you are renewed and filled with inexpressible joy. A breath made flesh… our words made flesh. An extension of our souls, our spirits.. Our truths.. And inner light.
What do you all spiritually believe happens in the exchanging of peace here and in your day to day encounters? How does John or Peter’s perspective speak to you or sit with you? Do we as individuals tend to navigate our internal and external worlds boldly, bravely and openly and if so how does that affect us? How do we tend to express our peace in exchange with each other and ourselves outside of these walls? Do we tend to pull back at times…due to fears.. Shame.. Guilt.. And grief as we navigate conflicts within our head.. Our hearts .. our spirits? And what do we honestly believe is happening could or could not be happening in these spiritual moments of exchange with each other? Our peace… our out reach of hands in greeting one another .. our peace shared in eye contact and a smile with a stranger… Peace be with you…. And also with you… Is our peace within us tied to our forgiveness and the forgiveness of others? Is our internal peace tied to grace? Is our peace tied to the accounts of a resurrected place? Is our peace breathed into us? Into our spirits.. Our souls.. Our inner light..?
I would like for all of us to take a little time and explore some of these expressions and questions of peace within ourselves and our souls... Here .. in this space.. In this moment in the presence of each other.. If the form of a Breath Prayer. Breath prayers are prayers that tend to be aligned with the rhythm of our breaths.. Often the first half will be prayed during inhalation and the second half is prayed during exhalation. Often in repetition for the purpose of meditating on God’s words by actively processing the words and reflecting on them. So if you feel so called to just take a few deep breaths as we center our hearts.. Our minds.. And our souls…within our inhalations and exhalations in your own rhythm and timing.. Adjusting into your seat… and your body as you relax… and acknowledge your rhythm consciously becoming aware of your body… and your mind and your presence within this time.. This space.. and closing your eyes or relaxing your gaze if that feels comfortable… and safe to you and within you.
I would like to invite us all to breathe in peace ... and as you breathe in and fill your lungs, just notice how it feels to inhale peace… inhale peace and the resurrection of peace… inhaling peace in spite of all wounding… inhaling peace in the mist of physical pain… and as you continue to breathe in just notice the feelings.. Sensations.. The wondering of your mind.. Inhale the peace of forgiveness… the peace of the breath of the spirit within you..
And now we are going to shift our attention to our exhalations.. As the breathing out of the peace through us and within us.. As we have just breathed peace in … we will breath peace out… notice how it feels to exhale peace.. We exhale peace ..dispite all of our woundings… our fears… our shame and our grieving… exhale peace in the midst of any physical pain you may have or have noticed as your body and mind have quieted… to exhale peace in the renewal of our spirits… and exhale peace as we extend hope to ourselves and eachother…. And when you are ready.. I invite you to come back to our space here .. to your surroundings.. And to open your eyes as you need to..
Jesus breathed into them The Holy Spirit. And stood among and said Peace be with you! For as the father sent me. I am sending you. How is it with your soul today? How does the passing of peace on a Sunday morning ignite an inner light in you.. I have to say it is one of my favorite parts of worship to witness each week.. It always fills me to see each of you sharing this sacred space with eachother.. The smiles you all interchange and exchange with each other… the lightness in the air after you greet each other's spirits in warmth, renewal and comfort..
The smiles and the giggles of joy from our youth and children .. the lightness in your voices in prayer and thanksgiving as we usually join in song after…And knowing that as you may have entered this space feeling unseen and heard in a world that doesn't offer much comfort these days.. That just for a brief second… the inner light of your neighbor.. A friend.. A stranger touched you.. Just as you have touched them. Shared peace in passing. Peace Be with you and in you.
I don't know if passing the peace speaks to all of us here in these ways or not.. Or if you all hold a passion for it .. But I do find it beautiful and comforting that it usually comes in our worship services each Sunday after our prayer of confession. After we hold space for our confessions and our needs and welcome them, just as John and Peter and the disciples held space in the upper room amongst a plethora of emotions and fears as well as the need for sanctuary from the outer world.. Jesus appeared and his first words were soothing .. comforting.. And full of love just as yours have been here today within yourselves and with each other within your breaths and attentiveness to your physical and spiritual needs.
Does taking a moment to breathe in peace affirm your inner light .. nourish your soul?
That may have felt a bit heavy and weary traveling here to church today even in the midst of the celebration of Easter as well as this overcast Sunday. There happens to be a fairly early John Wesleyan practice, Methodists used when meeting in small groups as a deep self examine the growth of living our faith, rather than just accepting it. The question he often asked those he encountered was .. How is it with your soul?
So as we continue through this Easter season acknowledging the celebration of resurrection and life renewal, practicing living in hope renewed I would like for us to consider not only our peace within us .. but also the nourishing and watering of our souls on our journeys. Jesus appeared, and said For as the father has sent me I am sending you. My hope for you today is that you can all take refuge and sanctuary in rest in the knowing of Christ's peace. Go in Peace!