Advent II: Peace

The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

~ John 14:27

I have never been one prone to rest.  My wife, Cindy, is the same way.  In fact, as we sat on the couch watching a movie on a recent Saturday afternoon, we both remarked, “Shouldn’t we be doing something?”  We felt lazy.  A wave of sloth rolled over us weighing us down.  The irony is that neither of us are indolent.  We are always on the go.  If we’re not working, then we are doing chores around the house.  (I may even paint the shed next summer!)

Sabbatical gave me a chance to get some rest.  Spending the entire summer with Cindy, who, because she is a public school teacher, was off during that time, was a joy.  We took several day and overnight trips.  We visited family in Ohio and went camping, as we always do, at the Sebago Lake State park at the end of July.

The word “sabbatical” originated in the early seventeenth century.  It is from the Greek word sabbatikós, which means “of the Sabbath.”  Of course, the idea of a Sabbath rest for all of creation — people, animals, and the land — is part of the Hebrew tradition as well.  This goes back to the act of Creation itself: God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, the latter becoming one of the Ten Commandments we are to follow.  There is also a Sabbath year that occurs as the seventh year within the Jewish agricultural cycle.

We all need to rest.  We all need an occasional breather.

Last Sunday we ushered in the second week of Advent.  The focus is on peace — the peace that the Christ child brought to a world shrouded in violence and despair.  Though separated by two millennia, we have our own problems and concerns.  The Coronavirus still plagues us.  Gas prices and the cost of groceries are on the rise.  Politics divides us.  Peace seems in short supply.

But there is a peace that passes all understanding.  It was born two millennia ago in a manger.

I once heard a pastor put it quite beautifully.  She said that when she feels stressed-out or overcome with worry, she imagines the pain materializing and sitting on her chest like a blowfish, all prickly with its sharp spines.  She moves cautiously and picks up the creature gingerly.  She places it in the hands of Jesus who stands before her — and as he holds it, the fish turns into a baby rabbit or some other furry, cuddly creature.

That is the peace that is the Christ.  Let him hold you and bring you solace unlike anything you have ever experienced.  It is yours.  It is mine.  It is forever.