What is this blog about, and what’s the deal with Grace and Peace?
In every one of the letters of Paul, we find some variation of the same greeting:
‘May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.”
That one is from 2 Thessalonians, but these words “grace” and “peace” appear over and over as Paul would send words of encouragement, instruction and rebuke to the churches he loved so dearly. Some folks see these words at not much more than a simple greeting or opening to a letter – kind of like “Dear Bob – I hope this letter finds you well”. I think Paul had other ideas – I think Paul had a greater reason to use them. I think they were part of a defining story – words to live by so to speak. Paul was known for a lot of words or phrases and is easily one of the quotable figures of culture in general – not just in the church. But these 2 words, Grace and Peace, are words that he drops every time he picks up the pen.
Paul was thoroughly Jewish, so his thinking was fed by his rich tradition. Grace wasn’t just good thoughts or saying the prayer before supper. Grace was an awareness of the good that God has caused in the life all around – it was a response to this movement of God – it was a calm and still pool of joy that resides inside the believer no matter the hurricane that rages outside. Peace was a word that didn’t mean the absence of conflict. It was the removal of all that didn’t bring wholeness. Shalom, the Hebrew word for peace, is more about the embrace of wholeness – the completeness that can only come from the ONE who is our all-in-all. The word picture of shalom is the tranquility of a waterfall. Restful to watch, but also powerful and life reorienting.
I think Paul started out his letters with “Grace and Peace” because he was allowing these words to be foundation pieces for how he lived his life. His letters were invitations to respond to the incredible work of a God that releases tremendous joy and who brings a still small quiet to the soul. Wouldn’t the world look a whole lot different if more folks lived their story with the foundation pillars of grace and peace? Wouldn’t our words be richer? Wouldn’t our interactions be deeper? Grace and Peace isn’t a mantra or some wordy-talisman. They are directions of our heart. They won’t cure all of society’s ills – that’s God’s work – but they just might allow more of God’s Kingdom to come “on earth, as it is in heaven.”
This blog is devoted to sharing my ideas – my wanderings and wonderings – on a life devoted to words and a walk of grace and peace. I pray you will not just enjoy the readings but will be inspired to walk and even run on ahead. Some of these posts will be elements of sermons I am preaching at 1st United Methodist – Andover in Lexington Kentucky. When I share these posts, I will try and link the audio podcast of the sermon. Other posts will just be thoughts that I’m wrestling and thinking through. Again, I pray you are blessed, but more that you will join me on the journey.