Passing the Peace
By Rev. Heidi L. Barham | December 7, 2025
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Read Romans 15:4-13 (NIV)
Today is the second Sunday in Advent when our attention is called to the theme of peace. And in preparing today’s sermon I thought about a seemingly innocuous practice that takes place in some houses of worship... and one that used to happen here at Ledgewood…
It involves extending a hand to shake, or perhaps a fist or elbow to bump or in some cases offering a hug to someone else… while saying, “Peace be with you,” …which is then followed with a standard reply of, “And also with you.”
In most houses of worship, this practice is referred to as PASSING THE PEACE.
And as I thought about this, it caused me to ponder the question, “When we say or do something so often… simply out of habit or routine… do we lose a sense of genuine feeling about what we are saying and doing?”
Does this ritual of PASSING THE PEACE come across as anything more than an empty gesture when it is done week after week?
Is it remotely possible for us to move even one step closer to finding peace on earth by simply repeating the same words… over and over… time and time again?
Peace be with you… and also with you.
Are we honestly accomplishing anything by doing this?
And yet, PASSING THE PEACE to one another is exactly what we, as Christians, have been called to do for centuries and generations.
In fact, it was modeled for us by Jesus, Himself.
Over in John 20, we find three times when Jesus said, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19, 21, 26). The first two times were when He went into the upper room where the disciples were hiding... panicked and afraid that the Jewish leaders who had crucified Jesus would decide to come after them.
The third time that Jesus said, “Peace be with you” occurred a week later, when the disciples were again locked behind closed doors. This time; however, Thomas, who had not been there when Jesus appeared the first time, was there.
And Jesus spoke directly to Thomas, encouraging him to reach out to touch His hands and His side... responding to Thomas’ doubts that his companions had really seen Jesus... declaring that unless he saw the nail marks in His hands and touched the hole in His side for himself, he would not believe that Jesus had returned.
It is on these two separate occasions when the disciples were locked behind closed doors... when fear had a firm grip on them... Jesus stepped in... literally PASSING THE PEACE to allay whatever anxiety they were facing.
Now, we can find other references to Jesus PASSING THE PEACE throughout the Gospels.
In John 14:27, we read, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” In essence, Jesus was PASSING THE PEACE to His disciples... His peace... which was far greater than anything the world has to offer.
And in John 16:33, He said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Again, reminding the disciples (as well as us), that the peace Jesus has is unlike anything that we can find in this world... and He was intentional about PASSING THE PEACE to them (and us) as encouragement that no matter how bad things may seem... we can have peace as long as we have Jesus.
We find confirmation of that in Mark 4 (38 -40) where, looking at the Revised Standard Version, we read:
Read Romans 15:4-13 (NIV)
Today is the second Sunday in Advent when our attention is called to the theme of peace. And in preparing today’s sermon I thought about a seemingly innocuous practice that takes place in some houses of worship... and one that used to happen here at Ledgewood…
It involves extending a hand to shake, or perhaps a fist or elbow to bump or in some cases offering a hug to someone else… while saying, “Peace be with you,” …which is then followed with a standard reply of, “And also with you.”
In most houses of worship, this practice is referred to as PASSING THE PEACE.
And as I thought about this, it caused me to ponder the question, “When we say or do something so often… simply out of habit or routine… do we lose a sense of genuine feeling about what we are saying and doing?”
Does this ritual of PASSING THE PEACE come across as anything more than an empty gesture when it is done week after week?
Is it remotely possible for us to move even one step closer to finding peace on earth by simply repeating the same words… over and over… time and time again?
Peace be with you… and also with you.
Are we honestly accomplishing anything by doing this?
And yet, PASSING THE PEACE to one another is exactly what we, as Christians, have been called to do for centuries and generations.
In fact, it was modeled for us by Jesus, Himself.
Over in John 20, we find three times when Jesus said, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19, 21, 26). The first two times were when He went into the upper room where the disciples were hiding... panicked and afraid that the Jewish leaders who had crucified Jesus would decide to come after them.
The third time that Jesus said, “Peace be with you” occurred a week later, when the disciples were again locked behind closed doors. This time; however, Thomas, who had not been there when Jesus appeared the first time, was there.
And Jesus spoke directly to Thomas, encouraging him to reach out to touch His hands and His side... responding to Thomas’ doubts that his companions had really seen Jesus... declaring that unless he saw the nail marks in His hands and touched the hole in His side for himself, he would not believe that Jesus had returned.
It is on these two separate occasions when the disciples were locked behind closed doors... when fear had a firm grip on them... Jesus stepped in... literally PASSING THE PEACE to allay whatever anxiety they were facing.
Now, we can find other references to Jesus PASSING THE PEACE throughout the Gospels.
In John 14:27, we read, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” In essence, Jesus was PASSING THE PEACE to His disciples... His peace... which was far greater than anything the world has to offer.
And in John 16:33, He said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Again, reminding the disciples (as well as us), that the peace Jesus has is unlike anything that we can find in this world... and He was intentional about PASSING THE PEACE to them (and us) as encouragement that no matter how bad things may seem... we can have peace as long as we have Jesus.
We find confirmation of that in Mark 4 (38 -40) where, looking at the Revised Standard Version, we read:
But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
How awesome is it to know that Jesus is capable of PASSING THE PEACE to a literal storm... causing that storm to cease? And how much more awesome is it to know that Jesus has no problem PASSING THE PEACE to the figurative storms we face as well? Bringing order out of disorder... calm out of chaos... tranquility out of turmoil.
Jesus is all about PASSING THE PEACE in any situation... in good times as well as bad... PASSING THE PEACE is the order of the day... whatever day it is.
Because we need to be clear about something... the peace that Jesus passes to us is not a gift that we were ever meant to keep just for ourselves…. rather this gift of peace is meant for us to share with one another.
In Mark 9:50, Jesus commanded His disciples to, “be at peace with each other.”
And, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church saying, “…Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Corinthians 13:11).
While the writer of Hebrews wrote:
Jesus is all about PASSING THE PEACE in any situation... in good times as well as bad... PASSING THE PEACE is the order of the day... whatever day it is.
Because we need to be clear about something... the peace that Jesus passes to us is not a gift that we were ever meant to keep just for ourselves…. rather this gift of peace is meant for us to share with one another.
In Mark 9:50, Jesus commanded His disciples to, “be at peace with each other.”
And, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church saying, “…Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Corinthians 13:11).
While the writer of Hebrews wrote:
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many (Hebrews 12:14 – 15).
Now in our text for the morning, Paul put it like this when addressing the Roman church, “May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:5 – 6, RSV).
And in his letter to the Ephesians, he wrote:
And in his letter to the Ephesians, he wrote:
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:1 – 3).
And we can add to that what Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3:8, “Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love of the brethren, a tender heart and a humble mind.”
When we put all of this together, we can come to the realization that we have been called to live in peace, harmony and unity with one another… all for the purpose of giving God glory and praise.
Now, clearly, if repetition in the scriptures is a sign of importance… living in peace, harmony, and unity is definitely important.
And this call to live in unity and peace is not new… nor is it exclusive to Peter, Paul or the Gospel writers. In fact, back in Psalm 133 (1), David wrote, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”
During this season of Advent, we are encouraged to focus our hearts and minds on the themes of hope, peace, joy and love… all the gifts we receive through the Christ Child… all the things that we need in order to live in unity with one another.
Now, when the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the church in Rome… he was writing to a church that was having difficulty with accepting people from many diverse backgrounds… Jews and Gentiles… slaves and free persons… rich and poor people alike.
And Paul wrote words of encouragement to the Roman Church that we can hold on to today… for as the first verse of our text says, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”
The world that we are living in today is struggling with many of the same issues and challenges that the church in Rome was facing way back when… these challenges can be tied to the reality that some folks are unwilling to accept people from different backgrounds, cultural identities, socio-economic statuses, political affiliations, gender identities and sexual orientations... basically, they are unwilling to accept the fact that diversity is not a four-letter word...
But the church is called to be different than the rest of the world.
The church is the place where the people who have traditionally been forced to the margins and treated as the least of these… should be able to come and find a place of refuge where they are welcomed with a genuine passing of the peace.
But more than just a catch phrase uttered at the appropriate time in the order of worship… those words, “peace be with you,” ought to be demonstrated in the ways in which we live our lives… so that when someone has been in our presence… they walk away with a heart set on PASSING THE PEACE to someone else…. so that we can find a way for us to all live together in peace, harmony, and unity.
Now, if we look back at our text for the morning, we read in verse 7, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”
Jesus did more than simply extend the right hand of fellowship to a group of strangers… He spread His arms wide and opened the doors to more than just the church… He accepted and welcomed any and all who would believe into eternal life in the kingdom of heaven.
And whenever strangers or friends are gathered in our midst… PASSING THE PEACE should be more than something simply done out of habit... it should be an authentic reflection of the peace of God that surpasses all understanding… the peace that Jesus was willing to give His life to make available to us.
Let me just say that there is an indescribable sense of peace that comes when we focus our hearts and minds on God and the things of God.
As Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” And went on to say, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9).
And when we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the God of peace is with us… right here in the midst of whatever we find ourselves going through… it will be like the hymn writer, Horatio Spafford, wrote in our Hymn of Discipleship for this morning:
When we put all of this together, we can come to the realization that we have been called to live in peace, harmony and unity with one another… all for the purpose of giving God glory and praise.
Now, clearly, if repetition in the scriptures is a sign of importance… living in peace, harmony, and unity is definitely important.
And this call to live in unity and peace is not new… nor is it exclusive to Peter, Paul or the Gospel writers. In fact, back in Psalm 133 (1), David wrote, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”
During this season of Advent, we are encouraged to focus our hearts and minds on the themes of hope, peace, joy and love… all the gifts we receive through the Christ Child… all the things that we need in order to live in unity with one another.
Now, when the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the church in Rome… he was writing to a church that was having difficulty with accepting people from many diverse backgrounds… Jews and Gentiles… slaves and free persons… rich and poor people alike.
And Paul wrote words of encouragement to the Roman Church that we can hold on to today… for as the first verse of our text says, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”
The world that we are living in today is struggling with many of the same issues and challenges that the church in Rome was facing way back when… these challenges can be tied to the reality that some folks are unwilling to accept people from different backgrounds, cultural identities, socio-economic statuses, political affiliations, gender identities and sexual orientations... basically, they are unwilling to accept the fact that diversity is not a four-letter word...
But the church is called to be different than the rest of the world.
The church is the place where the people who have traditionally been forced to the margins and treated as the least of these… should be able to come and find a place of refuge where they are welcomed with a genuine passing of the peace.
But more than just a catch phrase uttered at the appropriate time in the order of worship… those words, “peace be with you,” ought to be demonstrated in the ways in which we live our lives… so that when someone has been in our presence… they walk away with a heart set on PASSING THE PEACE to someone else…. so that we can find a way for us to all live together in peace, harmony, and unity.
Now, if we look back at our text for the morning, we read in verse 7, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”
Jesus did more than simply extend the right hand of fellowship to a group of strangers… He spread His arms wide and opened the doors to more than just the church… He accepted and welcomed any and all who would believe into eternal life in the kingdom of heaven.
And whenever strangers or friends are gathered in our midst… PASSING THE PEACE should be more than something simply done out of habit... it should be an authentic reflection of the peace of God that surpasses all understanding… the peace that Jesus was willing to give His life to make available to us.
Let me just say that there is an indescribable sense of peace that comes when we focus our hearts and minds on God and the things of God.
As Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” And went on to say, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9).
And when we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the God of peace is with us… right here in the midst of whatever we find ourselves going through… it will be like the hymn writer, Horatio Spafford, wrote in our Hymn of Discipleship for this morning:
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Perhaps you have heard me share the story before of how these words were written nearly a century and a half ago by Horatio Spafford. He was a lawyer who also happened to be a Presbyterian elder... and he was well acquainted with hardship and tragedy.
He wrote these words... which became the lyrics to a much beloved hymn of the church... while he was traveling on a ship as it was crossing over the spot in the Atlantic Ocean where his four daughters had died when the ship they had been on was rammed by a British vessel that caused their ship to sink.
But even in the face of such a devastating loss, Spafford was still able to hold onto that peace that surpasses all understanding and declare... it was well with his soul.
How many of us can say we have that as our witness and testimony?
How many of us can say “It is well with my soul” and give glory to God, even as the world seems to be in a perpetual state of chaos and confusion?
And the fact of the matter is that in these turbulent and tumultuous times that we are living in… there are many people who are desperate to have that kind of peace… the peace that would allow them to say “It is well with my soul” – no matter what else may be going on around them.
During this season of Advent and beyond… the call to us, as the body of Christ, is to offer the gift of THAT kind of peace to everyone we meet… whether within the four walls of the church building or without.
PASSING THE PEACE is something that we should make a habit of doing each day… in everything we do. We do not have to follow the prescribed ritual of walking up to friends and/or strangers to say, “Peace be with you.”
We can pass the peace through random acts of kindness... smiling and saying, “Hello” to that person we pass on the street... holding the door or offering to help someone struggling with a load of groceries... showing kindness and compassion to others we encounter... being intentional in looking for ways to dwell with one another in peace, harmony and unity... even when it is not the easiest thing to do.
If we are being honest, we can probably all agree that it does not take much effort to be kind to people who are kind to us... but the reality is that we have been called to be salt and light in a dark and dying world... we have been called to show love to those who seem to be unlovable... because that is what Jesus did for us.
But unfortunately, folks do not always make it easy to love them... but easy or not, the Lord says we are to love them anyway...
And that reminds me of a poem that I came across many years ago. It is said to have been written on the wall in Saint Teresa’s home for children in Calcutta.
The poem is entitled, “Do It Anyway.”
He wrote these words... which became the lyrics to a much beloved hymn of the church... while he was traveling on a ship as it was crossing over the spot in the Atlantic Ocean where his four daughters had died when the ship they had been on was rammed by a British vessel that caused their ship to sink.
But even in the face of such a devastating loss, Spafford was still able to hold onto that peace that surpasses all understanding and declare... it was well with his soul.
How many of us can say we have that as our witness and testimony?
How many of us can say “It is well with my soul” and give glory to God, even as the world seems to be in a perpetual state of chaos and confusion?
And the fact of the matter is that in these turbulent and tumultuous times that we are living in… there are many people who are desperate to have that kind of peace… the peace that would allow them to say “It is well with my soul” – no matter what else may be going on around them.
During this season of Advent and beyond… the call to us, as the body of Christ, is to offer the gift of THAT kind of peace to everyone we meet… whether within the four walls of the church building or without.
PASSING THE PEACE is something that we should make a habit of doing each day… in everything we do. We do not have to follow the prescribed ritual of walking up to friends and/or strangers to say, “Peace be with you.”
We can pass the peace through random acts of kindness... smiling and saying, “Hello” to that person we pass on the street... holding the door or offering to help someone struggling with a load of groceries... showing kindness and compassion to others we encounter... being intentional in looking for ways to dwell with one another in peace, harmony and unity... even when it is not the easiest thing to do.
If we are being honest, we can probably all agree that it does not take much effort to be kind to people who are kind to us... but the reality is that we have been called to be salt and light in a dark and dying world... we have been called to show love to those who seem to be unlovable... because that is what Jesus did for us.
But unfortunately, folks do not always make it easy to love them... but easy or not, the Lord says we are to love them anyway...
And that reminds me of a poem that I came across many years ago. It is said to have been written on the wall in Saint Teresa’s home for children in Calcutta.
The poem is entitled, “Do It Anyway.”
People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
(https://www.bing.com/search?q=mother+teresa+do+it+anyway+poem&FORM=QSRE1)
And in those moments when it feels like the deck is stacked against us and nothing seems to be going right... when we make it our mission to do the hard things anyway... we will be able to say like Horatio Spafford, “...no matter my lot, thou has taught me to say, ‘It is well, it is well with my soul.’”
And if that is your desire this day, then won’t you stand and join in singing our Hymn of Discipleship It Is Well with My Soul #561
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And if that is your desire this day, then won’t you stand and join in singing our Hymn of Discipleship It Is Well with My Soul #561
