4-17-2020
“Peace to You!”
(John 20:19-23)
Last month, three days before a National Emergency was declared under the pandemic, there was an interesting article in the National Geographic. In this special coronavirus coverage, a staff writer, Nina Strochlic, introduced the history of an age-old habit of the handshake.
On the first Sunday when we suspended a public worship service, I was at the church before our regular worship hour, just in case somebody showed up. The church closure notification went out via e-blast on Saturday, and thankfully none of our church families came. But, there was a visitor.
We were already told not to shake hands at that time. I knew that clearly in my mind. Yet, my hand, my pastor’s hand, unconsciously and almost automatically, stretched out to her and we shook hands. Uh oh!
After I explained to her about our online worship and gave a welcome gift bag, as soon as she left, I went into the bathroom and washed my hands singing ‘happy birthday’ twice.
Have you ever wondered how this common practice of greeting with a handshake began in human history?
According to Strochlic, the most popular theory of the handshake’s origin is that it started as a gesture of peace. When your hands are free to grasp the hands of the other party, it proves that you are not holding a weapon. And when you actually shake hands, it is a certain way of ensuring that your partner has nothing to hide in their sleeve.
The history traces back to as old as the 9th century B.C. shown in some of the art pieces that depict handshaking among Assyrians, Babylonians, and later the Greek throughout the ancient world. Strochlic says, “The handshake’s catchall utility, used in friendship, romance, and business alike, makes interpretation difficult.”
In American history, it is supposed that the practice of handshake was propelled by 18th century Quakers. They found handshaking a more democratic way of a greeting than a bow, curtsy, or hat doffing. This was aligned with their efforts to refrain from the social rank and extend a gesture of friendship to everyone regardless of position.
Indeed, we, Christians, have our core practice of greeting beyond these social conventions. We do shake hands or sometimes hug when we pass the peace of Christ.
As I have shared before, this is an essential part of Christian liturgy.
In our order of worship as United Methodists, along with other denominational churches, ‘The Peace’ part comes right after the ‘Prayer of Confession’ and ‘the Words of Assurance.’ It is also placed before ‘the Holy Communion,’ immediately before the Offering time following Jesus’ teaching from Matthew 5: “So when you are offering your gift at the altar… first, be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.” (v. 23-24)
In early churches, people who had unresolved conflicts with others were actually prohibited from sharing the bread and the cup. Not only that, they did not simply settle for a handshake when they passed Christ’s peace; they kissed each other – a practice that emerged from the ancient Jewish custom of greeting guests with a kiss before a meal.
For the Jews and early Christians, it was a gesture of reconciliation and also hospitality.
And ‘Shalom’ is still a common greeting for the modern Jews. While I was reading articles to prepare the sermon, I listened to the song “Shalom Aleichem,” which means “peace be upon you.”
This is a traditional song sung by Jews every Friday night upon returning home from synagogue prayer. It signals the arrival of the Jewish Sabbath, welcoming the angels who accompany a person home on the eve of the Sabbath (en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Shalom_Aleichem_(liturgy). In the video that I watched, the singer was saying that she loves to sing this song to her children as a lullaby.
And that first Easter evening, when the disciples locked themselves in and were still in shock of the trauma of losing their teacher, there, the risen Christ appears to them and greets them, “Peace be with you!”
He had told them the same words before. In his last farewell discourse, Jesus said,
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John. 14:27)
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John. 16:33)
More than any other thing that he could wish or say, Jesus spoke the word of shalom to his friends. As he had met countless people where they were – as weak and poor, as lonely and forgotten, as oppressed and marginalized … in the houses of sinners and the sick, in the hillsides and the seashores, in the synagogues and on the streets, he meets the grief-stricken disciples where they are hunkered down in fear.
‘Where were you guys when I needed you while I was shamed and beaten and dying?’
‘What have I taught you? Haven’t I told you that I will rise again in three days?’
‘Why are you so afraid and hiding yourself?’
Instead of the words of scolding and resentment, he desires the wholeness and well-being of his friends. He yearns peace for them.
- R. Beasley-Murray, a New Testament scholar, talks about how this greeting of peace is connected to the last word of Jesus on the cross:
“It is well known that that was (and still is) the everyday greeting of Jews in Palestine – ‘shalom to you!’ But this was no ordinary day … Never had that ‘common word’ been so filled with meaning as Jesus uttered it on Easter evening. All that the prophets had poured into shalom as the epitome of the blessings of the kingdom of God had essentially been realized in the redemptive deeds of the incarnate Son of God, ‘lifted up” for the salvation of the world. “His ‘Shalom!’ on Easter evening is the completion of ‘it is finished’ on the cross, for the peace of reconciliation and life from God is now imparted. ‘Shalom!’ accordingly is supremely the Easter greeting.”
(https://www.efca.org/blog/sunday-resurrection)
Friends,
On this first Sunday after Easter, do you have this peace that God has imparted to us through the resurrection of Jesus?
The peace that reconciled us to God that we are not condemned to hell anymore as the enemies of God, but we are the beloved children of God through the amazing redeeming grace of Jesus…
The peace that breaks through the locked doors of confusion, doubt, uncertainty, and sadness deep inside of us only by the power of love which overcame the power of death and despair …
The peace that comforts us and tells us that even the risen Lord carries the wounds and scars in his resurrected body … our pain and scars are not shameful either; they can be transformed into the signs of hope and healing …
The peace that empowers us through the presence of the Holy Spirit who breathes into us the new breath of life each day …
The peace that stills our restless and worried hearts and brings us the trust and confidence in the love of God and love for one another.
As Dr. Fauci was asked in an interview, I don’t know if we can ever go back to our common practice of the handshake before the coronavirus era.
Yet, I look forward to the day when we can pass the peace of Christ- when we can rejoice in each other’s presence and welcome one another as forgiven and reconciled people.
Until then, I send my prayers and blessings of peace to you.
May this greeting of Jesus be our Eastertide hello to our family, friends, neighbors, and ourselves. Shalom! Shalom to you my friends!