LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 97

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6. The Kiss of Peace
Brothers and sisters, ONE People—Forgiven,
I remind you that pastors are available for private
Absolution on the 3rd floor during lunch today, as indicated
on page 627 in Friday’s edition of Today’s Business .
Where charity and love prevail
There God is ever found;
Brought here together by Christ’s love
By love are we thus bound .
Forgive we now each other’s faults
As we our faults confess,
And let us love each other well
In Christian holiness .
Let strife among us be unknown;
Let all contention cease;
Be God’s the glory that we seek;
Be ours His holy peace .
Let us recall that in our midst
Dwells Christ, His only Son;
As members of His body joined
We are in Him made one .1
The peace of the Lord be with you .
[Response: And also with you .]
The sharing of Christ’s peace is a special privilege given to
ONE People—Forgiven . Referred to as the “kiss of peace” in
the Early Church, this phrase was never meant to be a casual
“Hello, how are you”-type of greeting . But in many of our
churches, it has become a trite tradition that has little meaning other than a “Holy Howdy .” What does the “sharing of the
peace” really mean to Jesus’ followers?

First, Go and Be Reconciled
Jesus places a high priority on reconciliation among His
disciples . In Matthew 5:22–24, He says:
But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother
will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, “You fool!” will be liable
to the hell of fire . So 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 .2

In the upper room, after washing His disciples’ feet, Jesus
predicts that one of them will betray Him, and then He prepares them for what is to come . “A new commandment I give
to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you,
you also are to love one another . By this all people will know
that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another”
(John 13:34–35) .
Paul often encouraged the believers to greet each other in
a special way . In Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, and 2
Corinthians 13:12, he said, “Greet one another with a holy
kiss .” To the Thessalonians, he wrote, “Greet all the brothers
with a holy kiss” (1 Thessalonians 5:26) .
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Peter also urged, “Greet one another with the kiss of love .
Peace to all of you who are in Christ” (1 Peter 5:14) .
Obviously, reconciliation among Christ’s followers is
meant to be a way of life .
Our unity in Christ is a profound truth that means more
than just belonging to the same church . We belong to Christ’s
Body, and He calls us to demonstrate our unity in Him by the
way we love one another . Because of Christ, we belong to
each other .
Our unity is not dependent on the moral perfection of disciples, but rather on what God has done for us in Christ . Because
we are God’s reconciled children, we are urged to practice reconciliation by confessing our sins and forgiving one another
as God through Christ has forgiven us . Accordingly, we are
taught to greet one another with the peace that unites us . It
is the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, that
guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (see Philippians
4:7) .

Conflict and the Lord’s Supper
The Early Christian Church recognized the importance of
seeking reconciliation before worship . They took seriously
Jesus’ admonition to go and be reconciled before offering
their gift .
Addressing their numerous divisions, St . Paul admonished
the Corinthians to reconcile . He noted that their disunity was
especially offensive as they celebrated the Lord’s Supper
together (see 1 Corinthians 10:14–22; 11:17–34) . To celebrate the unity we have together in Christ while divisions
and factions remain among us is a contradiction of our faith .
Thus, the believers practiced the “kiss of peace” during their worship . Greeting each other with a holy kiss
(cf . 1 Corinthians 16:20), they shared “The peace of the Lord
be with you .” If anyone had difficulty sharing the peace due
2010 Convention Proceedings