Peace Be with You

This morning we finish our study of Jesus’ farewell to the disciples as they ate their last meal together. Jesus has told them he will be with them only a little while longer. But, they don’t want to him to go. They don’t want to be without him. The 14th Chapter of John’s Gospel is often read at funerals. It is a passage that brings us comfort in times of profound loss.

“I am going to prepare a place for you and I am going to come back and take you with me,” promises Jesus. “You know the way.”

Thomas is not satisfied. “No, no we don’t know the way. How can we know the way?”

And Jesus responds, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

What does it mean that Jesus is the way? Over and over again in the Old Testament, in the psalms and in the prophets, the desire of God’s people is for God to teach them concerning his ways, that they may walk in his paths. Jesus says, I am the way. Your prayer has been answered.

The first Christians called themselves followers of “the Way.” Remember when we used to have a glovebox full of maps, and an atlas in the seat pocket? And the navigator in the passenger’s seat would completely unfold it and then refold it to a manageable size with the section you needed facing up, then turn it, and turn it, follow the tiny lines, and finally shrug and say, I think we missed it. God’s people had been following a map, given in the law and the prophets, to find their way. Now we don’t have maps in our glove compartments.

The transformation of knowing Jesus as the way is not unlike the transformation ahead for us as self-driving cars become the norm. We have gone from maps to GPS systems, and now we have cars that self-drive you where you need to go. They are being tested in several cities, but they are spreading quickly. For the followers of the “Way” a similar shift has happened. They used to read and study the law and the prophets to try to find their way. Now, Jesus is the way. No more trying to figure it out and backtracking and frustration, seeking to find the way. Jesus is the way. He will take you where you need to go.

He doesn’t just map the way; he is the Way. He doesn’t just teach truth; he is Truth. He doesn’t just live; he is life. What Jesus is saying is that he is not a messenger of God. He is not a prophet. “If you know me,” he says, “you have known and have seen the Father.”

Now, that’s a big deal. Even Moses couldn’t look at God’s face. Moses pleaded to see God’s glory. And God agreed to pass by Moses and cover his face until after God’s glory had passed by and then let him see God’s back. Jesus tells the disciples, in me, you’ve seen God’s glory. And I will not leave you alone, the Father will send the Holy Spirit in my name, the Spirit of Truth, who will teach you all things and remind you of what I have taught you.

Here, Jesus describes what we have come to call the Trinity in as much detail as recorded anywhere in Scripture. God in three persons has been present and is present with God’s people.

When the Israelites escaped from Egypt, God was present, travelling with them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night and showing them the way. Then, when Moses was on Mount Sinai, God gave him instructions for the building of an ark, in which he was to place the stone tablets of the covenant, and for the Tabernacle and all its furnishings. Here, God was present. Solomon built a Temple in Jerusalem, and the ark of the covenant was placed inside. Here, God was present. When the time came, Mary delivered Immanuel, God with Us, and named him Jesus, “he saves.” Now, he is going away to the Father and sending the Counselor, the Spirit of Truth. Here, God is present.

So, be at peace. The Greek word is “eirene”. It is the Greek equivalent of shalom in Hebrew. Eirene peace is not just the absence of war or placidness of a lack of struggle – that’s the kind of peace the world holds out as ideal. Eirene peace is wholeness, when all essential parts are joined together (Strong’s). Eirene peace abides within us no matter our life circumstances because it flows from a right relationship with God.

This is the peace that gives us strength in the midst of crisis. Horatio Spafford expressed his experience of Eirene peace when he wrote “It Is Well With My Soul.” Horatio Spafford was a Chicago lawyer and businessman. He and his wife had 5 children – 4 girls and a boy. He was successful and blessed by anyone’s description. Until 1871, when their son developed pneumonia and died and the great Chicago Fire destroyed much of his business. But he rebuilt. In 1873, he and his wife and 4 girls planned to go to Europe together aboard the French ocean liner, Ville du Havre. He was delayed by business, so his wife and the girls went ahead, and he would come aboard a later ship. 4 days into the journey, the ocean liner and collided with another ship and within 12 minutes descended into the deep blue waters of the Atlantic.

“A sailor, rowing a small boat over the spot where the ship went down, spotted a woman floating on a piece of the wreckage. It was Anna, [Horatio’s wife], still alive. He pulled her into the boat and they were picked up by another large vessel which, nine days later, landed them in Cardiff, Wales. From there she wired her husband a message which began, “Saved alone, what shall I do?”

[Horatio] Spafford booked passage on the next available ship and left to join his grieving wife. With the ship about four days out, the captain called Spafford to his cabin and told him they were over the place where his children went down.”

It was on that voyage that Horatio Spafford penned the words “It Is Well with My Soul” describing the peace that passes understanding, the peace that Jesus leaves with us.

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Even in the pain of tragedy, Horatio Spafford was knew God was with him and experienced the balm of a peace that sustained him in the midst of his life’s trials.

The prophet Jeremiah expressed the need for that balm centuries before. He lamented, “We looked for peace, but no good came, for a time of healing, but behold terror…My grief is beyond healing, my heart is sick within me…Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?” Gilead, on the west side of the Jordan River, was known for a healing perfume that they produced there from a gum-like resin that came from the balsam poplar tree. This Balm of Gilead was carried all over and sold as the “Balm of Gilead.”

But the prophet Jeremiah isn’t lamenting a lack of supply to meet demand. The balm he seeks is peace, a time of healing. “Is there no physician there?” he begs.

This is the Good News, Jesus, who is the Way for us, in whom we have seen God, is the Great Physician, is the Balm of Gilead. And his peace he leaves with us. It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Thanks be to God. Amen.

http://www.staugustine.com/living/religion/2014-10-16/story-behind-song-it-well-my-soul