“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. (Matthew 5:21-26, NRSV)
If you attend worship at a liturgical congregation then you probably pass the peace before you go to the altar for Holy Communion…
Did you ever wonder why we do this when we do?
Wouldn’t it make more sense to share the peace fo Christ as we leave the worship space? That way we are up, we don’t have to sit back down, and we can move along to coffee and share the peace of Christ as we go…
That might make more sense, but when we read the above verses and see that if we have an issue with our brother or sister, before we come to the altar of the Lord, we need to go and repair that issue. You see when there is a right in the community, it could cause you to not be focused on God. We need to give God 100% and if we are distracted by an issue with another, then we will not be focused.
So we share the peace to right the issue. To not have anything that will keep up from focusing on the grace and love we are about to receive at the altar of our Lord. We need to be fully participating in the great banquet feast!
So peace be with you!
aSacredRebel 