Outdoor Worship with St. Paul’s Lutheran, Pittsford on Sunday gave us a chance to live out Building Lasting Community that follows Jesus AND be honest about how doing new things can be hard! Pastor Johanna Rehbaum from St. Paul’s along with Pastor Hoffman and Pastor Amy talked about the challenges of doing new things and moving into uncharted territory, which seems a lot like the experience of the disciples when Jesus’ told them that he would be leaving them soon before saying, “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 14:22-27).

What is this peace that Jesus gives to those who follow him? The peace the world brings is status quo, not rocking the boat; but God’s peace is “kingdom come.” Seeking God’s kingdom sometimes leads us through some difficult experiences that we would rather not have, just as it did for Jesus.

In contrast to the world’s peace, Christ’s peace is not dependent upon temporal circumstances, it cannot be taken away by things that are of this world. Christ’s peace is grounded in the promise that the Holy-Spirit-as-Advocate will be walking with us every step of the way and giving us the hope and courage to endure whatever temporal experiences we are living through. Christ’s peace is grounded in our baptism which makes us one and allows us to wrestle, and fall, and fail, and get up and try again knowing that God’s grace always catches us and that we are ALL in this together.

As we continue to live into Building Lasting Community that follows Jesus, we know that there will be hard experiences to live through and yet we journey ahead, trusting that Christ’s peace has already been showered upon us . . . even when we don’t notice it and can’t feel it!