Acts 3:12-19, 1 John 3:1-7, Luke 24:36b-48, Psalm 4

Jesus himself stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

Peace is another one of those very important words in our English language that is broadly defined, so much so that we too seldom reflect on its very significant meaning.  When an elder loved one dies a gentle holy death after a long, fruitful life, we say we are at peace.  We sing of our souls being “well” as like that of a peaceful river.  We pray for peace in our country and in the world – a peace that is much more than the absence of war – though the absence of war seems less and less attainable.  This morning, we are privileged to baptize three of our precious young children into the peace of Christ, while the precious children of Syria have never known peace – they have never known life without the threat of exploding bombs and chemical attacks so prevalent that even their loving parents cannot protect them from being maimed or killed.

What do we mean when we speak of peace?  The peace of which Jesus speaks is one of welcoming, restful hospitality and unity.  The original Greek translates the word ειρηνη from the verb meaning “to join.”  Peace be with you = I join with you. This peace of which Jesus speaks is defined as “oneness, peace, quietness, rest + set at one again.”  Thus, we do not have ειρηνη without quiet and rest in the context of being at one.  When we are at peace, our souls are joined in our trust of the peace of Christ; when we are at peace, our anxieties are replaced by our faith in Jesus Christ our risen Lord.

Especially in light of the horrendous tragedies and mass murder throughout our world, an intense and surprising reflective experience of our time in Berlin was the visit to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.  The memorial is located within sight of the German Reichstag, which once again is restored and houses the German parliament; nearby is the Brandenburg Gate, under which have passed Germany’s victorious armies of centuries past and through which ran the wall separating East from West until 1989; the intent of the 4.7 acre site is to memorialize, in a most unusual unsettling setting, the 6 million Jews murdered in the 1930’s and 40’s.

Upon arrival, my surprised response was “Oh, this is it?  This is odd.”  The memorial is odd, to say the least, and perhaps it is the oddity and perplexity that draws one deeper into the complex in a quest to understand.

From the webite visitberlin.de we find this description:

On a site covering 19,000 square metres, [New York architect Peter] Eisenman placed 2711 concrete slabs of different heights. The area is open day and night and from all four sides you can fully immerse yourself in the fully accessible spatial structure. The memorial is on a slight slope and its wave-like form is different wherever you stand. The uneven concrete floor gives many visitors a moment of giddiness or even uncertainty. Its openness and abstractness give you space to confront the topic in your own personal way.[1]

As best I can describe, the concrete slabs or stelae evoke the equivalence of enormous grave markers; all are the same length and width, similar to that of a concrete burial vault, but their height varies randomly from eight inches around the perimeter to over fifteen feet in the inner area.  And, many of the stelae are set unevenly.  Thus, the further you move into the straight but slightly rolling 3’ wide alleys dividing the concrete columns, the higher they become, until suddenly you are engulfed.  At this point, even though you can see the way out ahead or behind or to either side, there is an overwhelming sense of imbalance and chaos; there is aloneness and fear of what might be encountered at the next juncture of alleyways.  The stelae become the known and the unknown voices from the grave.

Moving through the alleyways with our two daughters, I had the overwhelming need to hold onto them for fear of losing sight of them or getting lost in this mesmerizing setting.  The effect is truly indescribable, defying human reality, except to say, there is no peace, and perhaps this is the overall motive of impact – reducing us to a place of such lack of peace that we emerge with renewed desperation to carry out our commissioning as messengers of peace- never again closing our eyes to such magnanimous human atrocities.

Author Joan Chittister reminds us that Jesus’ message of “peace is our legacy, our mandate, and our commission, as alive today as ever, more in need today – in a nuclear world, a world of starving people – than ever.”[2]

Our Collect for Peace found in the service of Evening Prayer [BCP p. 123] asks our most holy God to “Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, so that our minds may be fixed on the doing of your will that we, being delivered from the fear of all enemies, may live in peace and quietness.”  This peace is an inward peace and tranquility of heart known by those whose minds are fixed on God’s will.

Thomas a’ Kempis, the 15^th century monk, is quoted as saying, “First keep peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others.”  Similarly, St. Francis of Assisi would remind us that if we want peace, we must first experience it in our own hearts.  Only then, Francis would say, can we give birth to peace in our homes and communities, in our country, to the children of Syria, and the world.

Very shortly, we will [receive the newly baptized and] exchange the peace with one another; this is an essential act in preparation for our unified reception of the Holy Communion.  Remember that these words of peace are the words of Jesus, spoken to his frightened and doubtful disciples.  Look deeply into the eyes of your companions in the faith and exchange a true sense of peace from within yourself as we join with one another – a quiet restful sense of being at one with God and with others.  Here, even though we may feel engulfed by imbalance and anxiety, we seek and experience the nearness of Jesus and the sound of his voice speaking to us, “Peace be with you.”  Keep peace within yourself so that you can bring peace to others.