“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
to which indeed you were called in one body.
And be thankful.”
(Colossians 3:15)
The apostles told us to “greet one another with a holy kiss” (Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:26; 1 Peter 5:14). This is a personal, embodied, intimate, vulnerable expression of mutual reception and goodwill. You don’t kiss your enemies, you kiss people with whom you have a good relationship. It is a holy kiss, done with reference to the Holy God. A sense of awkwardness might be deliberately built into the practice—”a feature, not a bug”—but in our culture it seems especially uncomfortable, so instead we shake hands as we greet one another in holy peace.
The Passing of the Peace is a testimony that our unity is in Jesus Christ. It is a symbol, a token, but also a real participation in a relationship with each other made new by Christ. As we say, “May the peace of Christ be with you,” we are blessing each other by extending the relational peace that comes from God in Christ, we are engaging in the priestly ministry of reconciliation.
“Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). We were God’s enemies, but by his grace he has reconciled us to himself in Christ, “making peace by the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20). Through his sacrifice Jesus has restored our relationship, not only with God, but also with each other. “He himself is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14). As he unites different people to God “in one body through the cross,” he unites us to each other (Ephesians 2:16).
This relational peace is his gracious gift to us. Since it is given to us through the cross, it is a gift already given. Jesus has made peace. The church is not called to attain a peace it doesn’t yet have; the church is called to maintain the peace it already has in Christ (Ephesians 4:3). We remember, believe, celebrate, and participate in the peace of Christ as we extend it to each other in the presence of God in Worship. The peace of Christ rules among us, in our hearts, as we submit to it, offer it, and receive it with thanksgiving (Colossians 3:15).
This gracious gift of peace defines our life together in the church. Peace is the great purpose and result of our salvation. In all of his New Testament letters, Paul greets the recipients with the “grace and peace” of God. Without the peace of Christ, there would be no church, and ultimately no relating at all. But because this gift is real, “people who would never get along outside the church love each other inside it” (Timothy Keller).
It isn’t always easy to share in the peace of Christ together. We are not to maintain an illusion of peace where we pretend we have no conflict with each other. Sharing in the true peace of Christ means resolving real relational struggles with reference to the person and work of Jesus. This means sometimes we need to have hard conversations where we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness. The Passing of the Peace is part of our “Upper Room” liturgy, done in the context of our observance of the Lord’s Supper, the sacrament of communion and fellowship. If there is a discernible need for reconciliation, it is an opportunity to do what Jesus says: “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24). Just as there is no true love of God where there is no love of one’s brother in the church (1 John 4:20), there is no true Worship of the God of peace where there is no interest in dwelling in the peace of Christ together.
How have you experienced the Passing of the Peace in Worship? Have you considered it an opportunity to minister on behalf of Christ? Have you heard Christ’s blessing in the words of your brothers and sisters? Are there particular people in the congregation whom you have a difficult time greeting in holy peace? If so, do you want that to change? Is there anything you might be able to do about it? How might you lean into that relationship with reference to Jesus and his sacrifice? What do you think about the apostolic command to “greet one another with a holy kiss”?
