Jesus said, �gPeace 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.�h

What is �gpeace�h? Peace is when there is no fighting. But a better peace is when there is no fear about fighting starting again. There is also peace in the heart when there is no mental, emotional or spiritual fighting. Then there is the peace of the Lord. Jesus says that the peace he gives is different than this worldly peace.

I was born after World War II. I grew up during the �gCold War.�h I remember having drills at school in case Russia attacked us. There was the threat of an atomic attack. There was no open warfare, but it was not a time of real peace, either. I was in school during the Korean War and the Vietnam War. It was not a time of real peace. Today there is the war in Iraq. And yet Christians are blessed by the peace of the Lord.

I read in an e-mail newsletter last week that a group of Moslem youth in Turkey attacked and killed a couple of Christian missionaries. Where there is no religious freedom there is no religious peace. And yet those Christian martyrs were blessed by the peace of the Lord.

What is peace? Is it sitting under your own apple tree sipping ice tea on a nice afternoon in May? Is it mother surrounded by her loving children on Mother�fs Day?

I asked my wife, �gWhat is the peace that a mother gives?�h She answered, �gMother does not give peace. Mother is always nagging.�h And what do kids say when they are being bugged by their mother, �gMom, let me alone. Mom, give me some peace!�h And mother says the same to her kids, too. �gQuit your fighting. Keep it down. Give me some peace!�h And so on Mother�fs Day, Mom and the Kids try to give at least one day of peace to each other. But if we are going to find out what God�fs peace is like, we have to look elsewhere.

The peace that this world gives is peace for things in this world. The peace that Jesus gives is for things greater than this world. This world�fs peace is temporary; the peace of Jesus is eternal. Our greatest enemies are not invading armies and the noisy family. Our greatest enemy is the devil. This enemy will give no truce, no peace. His constant attacks are sin and the evil of this world. Only Jesus can save us. Only Jesus can die on the cross and forgive our sin and in this way conquer the devil. This is the peace that the world cannot give, the world cannot give us that peace, and we cannot make that peace by ourselves, either.

In today�fs Gospel reading, Jesus said that God the Father will send the Counselor, the Holy Sprit, who will teach us all things and remind us of what Jesus had told us. In this way we have peace, because the Holy Spirit makes us holy by proclaiming the Holy Gospel and forgiving our sin through Holy Baptism. This forgiveness of sin is the peace that only Jesus can give.

Today is Mother�fs Day. If mother wants to give her children true peace, it will be by giving them the peace of Christ. This means that mother will raise up her children to know Jesus as their Savior, to bring them to church, to bring them to Baptism. It also means that there will be the love of Christ in the home. There will be forgiveness. Sure there will be nagging, because that is part of mother�fs job as a good mother because she loves her children. All of this is the Holy Spirit working in the home.

We often end sermons with the words from Philippians 4:7, �gAnd may the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.�h This peace is the result of proclaiming the Gospel. Our sins are forgiven. In this peace we have hope for world peace, that enemies are made friends, that families are unified, that diseases are cured, that pains are relieved, that sorrow is turned into gladness, and that death is turned into eternal life.

Amen.

And may the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.