Praying for Peace: A Service of Word and Table | 6/22/25
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“You have heard it said... but I say to you…”Jesus reinterprets familiar teachings with a higher calling. How do you respond when Jesus challenges cultural or personal norms in your own life?
What habits or beliefs might he be inviting you to reevaluate?
In what ways are you participating in Christ’s work of tearing down walls of hostility—in your home, your community, or in broader social issues?
Galatians reminds us that in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female. What modern-day divisions might Paul include today?
How can the church model a radical unity that transcends political, racial, or national boundaries?
Ralph Hummel’s simple phrase, “The peace be with you,” carries deep meaning. When you think of “the peace of Christ,” what do you imagine?
How might you become a bearer of that peace in your relationships?
What does it mean for you to “pass the peace” not just in worship, but in daily life?
What small action could you take this week to be a peacemaker?
Transcript:
A reading from the Gospel of Matthew, the fifth chapter—part of what we know as the Sermon on the Mount—beginning with the 43rd verse and continuing to the end of that chapter.
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
"You have heard that it was said… but I say to you." In a very short span in that fifth chapter of Matthew, we hear Jesus use that phrase six times. Six times he raises the bar. He sets a new standard or way of expectation for those who would choose to follow. It seems that's the way it is with Jesus—whether it's here in the Sermon on the Mount or just about any other place we find him in the Gospels talking about a life of discipleship. He's always calling us to a higher way, a better way—a holy way. And by the time we get to the end of the reading for today, at the end of chapter five, choosing to pursue that holy way apparently means seeking to be perfect.
But not in the way that, in our 21st-century American sense of things, we understand “perfect.” It's not the perfection where you never make mistakes. It's perfection as we experience it from a loving God. To be perfect, the way Jesus talks about it here, is to pursue being perfect in love, as God is perfect in love.
To pursue being perfect in love of all of God's children, as God is perfect in loving all of God's children. So when Jesus says, "You have heard it said, but I say to you, don’t hate your enemies, but love your enemies," Jesus is moving us along that road to the point where we might relinquish all of our supposed enemies—because we have chosen to see them as other children of God, and therefore the term “enemy” can no longer apply for us.
It is a reshaping of how we see others around us, and especially those that we perceive as different or “other.” Today is a day for renewing our trust in Christ to break down every barrier, to bring down the walls of hostility that divide us as human beings—whether it's in our own household or community, or state or nation or world.
And the invitation is for us to start the work in our own lives, in our own settings.
You know, it just so happens that one of the passages of Scripture that shows up today, on this Sunday, in the three-year cycle of readings that the global church follows—the lectionary—one of those passages is from the Letter to the Galatians. And it says this:
"For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek. There is no longer slave or free. There is no longer male and female. For all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise."
You are all one in Christ Jesus.
Because in Christ, there is no East or West. There is no South or North. There is no better or worse. There is no Democrat or Republican. There is no American or Israeli or Iranian or Arab or Libyan or South African. There is no rich or poor.
There is no distinction when it comes to the level to which we are each and all valued as beloved children of God. And when will we learn to see with eyes as Christ sees? When? When will we seek to follow so deeply that we would choose the way of Christ no matter what?
Two weeks ago, out in our chapel, we held a memorial service for Ralph and Val Hummel, longtime members here at Trinity. Ralph was present every Sunday during my first few years as one of your pastors, and one of my fondest memories is having the privilege of serving communion alongside Ralph on a number of occasions.
Ralph grew up in the 30s and 40s in Nazi Germany. Ralph saw firsthand the ravages of war, of what happens when evil presents itself and causes cosmic conflict and battles across peoples and nations, when we choose not the way of peace, but the way of hostility and violence.
Whenever Ralph would serve communion, he would always choose the cup. He would ask me to serve the bread, and he would choose the cup. And the words that he would say as he offered the cup to each person that came were the same every time: “The peace be with you.” And it was always the peace, because Ralph was very clear that it wasn’t just any old peace.
No, the peace that we need—the peace that has the power to break down hostility and transform hearts and lives and families and communities and beyond—is the peace that only comes from Christ, the one who offered himself up for our sake and for the whole world, so that we might be one with God and with each other.
Friends, today, as we approach a table where we are met with abundant love and grace, may the peace be with you—and with me—that our lives might be transformed. Amen.
Siblings in Christ, we have come into a time of uncertainty and unknowing. It is a time to pray. Pray for peace. Pray for faith. Pray for endurance. It is a time to reflect upon God's call to us as people of faith. It is a time to acknowledge the divisions among us as well as with our world neighbors. Let us therefore come before the God of our faith with humble hearts, and pray for ourselves and for our world.
Lord of the Nations. God of peace and love. In your hands are all the people of this world—the prideful, the needy, the arrogant, the lost, the high, the lowly, the entitled, the dispossessed, the loved and the unloved, the blessed and the not-so-blessed.
And even we, too, seeking your comfort, seeking your aid in our time of conflict and warring. For all our divisions and divisiveness, we must acknowledge that in your hands, we truly are just one people, one flesh, one blood created by you at the beginning of time.
You alone, O God, can curb the passions that take us from you and turn us upon each other. You alone can save us from ourselves. Through your great love for us, be with us now, O Lord, and hear our prayer for peace.
Come to the aid of nations and leaders who need your guidance. Come to the aid of those standing in harm’s way. O Lord, hear our prayer.
Come to the aid of those in harm’s way and their families. Come to the aid of all who need your assuring and loving presence. O Lord, hear our prayer.
Strengthen us in faith and calm the fears within us that are many. Help us to trust in you, for our lives and for our future. O Lord, hear our prayer.
Forgive us for our sins, both corporate and individual, especially for our failings as peacemakers. Forgive us for the divisions among us and with our neighbors. Renew our spirits and increase our resolve to pray fervently for peace. O Lord, hear our prayer.
Protect us from any evil that surrounds us. Lift the hearts of the sorrowful. Bring healing to the sick and the wounded. Comfort the dying and the bereaved with your love. O Lord, hear our prayer.
Above all, give us assurance that, as Lord of all, you are in control. Give us hope and give us peace on earth. Lasting peace. O Lord, hear our prayer.
God of our ancestors, God of all who are in need, heed our call and answer our prayer. Send peace in our time. Peace for our hearts. Peace for our lands. Peace for all the world. Peace that abides as we abide in you. For you are God alone, blessed above all others, from whom comes the only peace that endures forever and ever. Amen.
Not an easy peace. Not an insignificant peace. Not a halfhearted peace. But the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with us now. Let us strengthen the bond of unity by sharing the peace of Christ with all we meet. Amen.