Easter 6 C

Acts 16:9-15; Psalm 67; Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5; John 14:23-2

Even Jesus had to make plans for the future.

Are you a planner? Do you like to plan things out in advance?

… living with a 3 month window for two years … not terribly easy, especially with a small child … but then again, I know plenty folks live paycheck to paycheck where something like catching the flu can end your job and force you to change almost everything in your life.

Everything did change for the first followers of Jesus — both when he came into their lives, and when he left.

In these weeks after Easter, we’ve been reading together through passages of Scripture that deal with the struggle of those first disciples after the Resurrection. Their question is also ours: what do we do now?

Jesus left them. Jesus is still not here in the conventional sense. If he was, we could each ask him all our important questions and get to the bottom of the deep mysteries of life. Then again, Jesus never was very conventional, even when he was here.

Every follower of Jesus has to contend with the basic truth that Jesus is not here in that sense. We followers of Jesus have been doing it since those first twelve.

Luckily, Jesus was planning ahead.

The gospel that we’ve heard today is Jesus’ response to the disciples asking basically, How will we know what to do if you’re leaving us? Not only was Jesus leaving, but he was about to do so in a way that would confound the ways of the world.

“Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?”” (John 14.22 NRSV)

And Jesus answers that he’s been planning ahead. He promises the Holy Spirit will come. And he leaves his Peace.

“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.” (John 14.27 NRSV)

What would happen in this world, if suddenly, all at once, everyone felt this Peace? If every person’s heart became untroubled, and unafraid?

We have no idea, because it’s never happened!

Instead our hearts are guarded against what others might do to us. Fear & anger are infectious…as we seek to protect ourselves, we pass along fear and anxiety to others. To be honest, when I think of peace, I mostly just think of being safe from others.

But Jesus says, I do not give to you as the world gives. Jesus brings a different kind of peace.

Jesus draws on his faith … Hebrew shalom…

… ancient but nonconformist: the type of peace Jesus had already been teaching his disciples was so unusual in this world that it often looked miraculous. Jesus believed in abundance for a crowd of 5000 people. He cared enough for a wedding party to turn water into wine. We call them miracles; Jesus would call it peace.

But it’s not just about a free lunch and flowing wine: Jesus believed in a risky peace. His peace brought him in contact with sick people. “Undesirable” people. People who were labeled ‘sinners.’ People who lowered Jesus’ honor and social standing, just by being associated with him. The Prince of Peace began his own life entrusted to a young woman with no experience raising children and who had very little power or resources in this world.

Jesus leaves a different kind of peace — one that aims for nothing less than a renewal of the whole world. Everything: our selves, the Earth around us, our relationships…

It’s a peace like that described in Revelation, where all people are welcome to come together, gathered around the Tree of Life which produces fruit for all and brings healing to all the nations.

A peace that brings not just safety, but abundant life for all who participate in it together.

This is the peace that Jesus leaves with the disciples. That different kind of peace that he gives.

Unfortunately, we cannot magically share that peace with every single troubled and afraid heart all at once. But we can begin with ourselves.

Jesus has made plans for the future, for our future. And God’s promised future changes our present. And not in the sense that we all have to act good now so that we can get access to that future. God’s promised future gives us freedom and permission to live in peace now, even if all the world doesn’t reflect that peace yet.

God’s future frees us to live with peace that is both very old, and very new…the freedom to live generously towards others in a world that teaches us to accumulate as much for ourselves as possible. To have a generosity that is so unusual in this world it can appear miraculous.

God’s future frees us to live with peace that is risky and bold. It invites us to connect with those at the margins — those we believe are unlovable, dangerous, unwanted. It invites us to see them not as targets of our charity but people to eat with. People to listen to.

God’s future for us means peace begins now. A peace that brings not safety, but abundant life. Life so abundant that it spills over our borders to share with others.

In God’s future, every heart is touched and changed; given life. And because we share in this future, God has already begun to change your hearts. Do not let them be troubled; do not let them be afraid.