Sermon for the 6th Sunday of Easter: Peace – preached at the Eucharist, Sherborne Abbey, on Sunday 25 May 2025 by Canon Charles Mitchell-Innes. (Acts Ch 16: v 9 – 15; John Ch 14: v 23 – 29)
Jesus said to his disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” (John Ch 14: v 27)
“Shalom” is the word he used, and it is still in common use where Hebrew is spoken or understood. Indeed it is a universal Jewish greeting, and a blessing: Peace to you. If I were to greet Jewish friends on a Saturday I might well wish them “shabbat shalom” (Sabbath peace).
But it means much more than simply “Have a peaceful day” – or, as they say to you as you leave a shop, “Have a nice day” (that is, hope you don’t get into trouble and the weather is good). No, shalom implies all the richness of experience and personal fulfilment that peace brings: peace of mind, health, happiness, and especially God’s blessing.
With many areas of conflict evident on the world’s stage, peace has seldom seemed so desirable nor so much sought after. But we do well to heed Jesus’ caveat: “not as the world gives do I give you [peace]” (John Ch 14: v 27). In one sense he is telling his disciples that his is an inner peace, independent of the world’s troubles, a reliance on God’s vision and the ultimate victory of good over evil: that is the Easter message. But in a more worldly sense it means that peace needs to be actively worked at; not simply the absence of strife but something affirmed by all parties to a conflict. Like forgiveness, reconciliation, for Jesus, was unconditional. Well, we cannot expect that ideal outcome in the peace process involved in trying to resolve conflicts throughout the world. But we can hope and pray that those negotiating for peaceful resolutions do not insist on having impossible strings attached to their negotiations.
To see that there can be a way forward for those whom Jesus described as peace-makers – and as therefore blessed – it is useful to look to the construction in 1904 of the monumental statue of Christ the Redeemer of the Andes, which stands at 12,000 feet on the mountainous border between Argentina and Chile. Those neighbouring countries had come very close to armed conflict over their disputed border. It is a point of interest to us in 2025 that the initiative for peace and harmony at that point came from the then pope, Leo XIII, since his leonine successor, Leo XIV, has just been elected to the papacy; and these things are significant, the name being chosen with care, for the character and actions of one’s predecessor. The Thirteenth Leo, in his papal encyclicals, called for peace and devotion to Christ the Redeemer; and this call was taken up by Bishop Benavente of Argentina, who had promised to erect the statue in the Andes, if peace were achieved, as a symbol of unity between the two nations. He was supported in this by the Chilean Bishop of Ancud.
After the peace accord was signed and settled, the 7 metre high bronze statue was taken in sections by train into the mountains. Then it was placed on gun carriages and drawn by mules, before being swing up on ropes handled by soldiers and sailors to the top. There it was placed on a 6 metre high granite pedestal where it remains to this day. It was dedicated by the two bishops and the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, in the presence of 3,000 Chileans and Argentinians who had made the difficult journey to the summit; and of the foreign ministers of each country. Soldiers from both armies – so recently ready to fight each other – instead fired gun salutes.
The great statue has his left hand holding a cross and his right raised in blessing. On one side of the base is written (in Spanish), “These mountains themselves shall fall and crumble to dust before the people of Chile and the Argentine Republic shall break this peace which at the feet of Christ the Redeemer they have sworn to maintain.” On the other side is written this text from Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians (Ch 2: v 14): “Christ is our peace who hath made both one.”
In 2004 the centenary of the statue was celebrated in a ceremony at the statue, attended by President Nestor Kirchner of Argentina and President Ricardo Lagos of Chile. There they reaffirmed the friendship between the two countries.
“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” (Matthew Ch 5: v 9)
“God is our hope and strength: a very present help in trouble … Be still then, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, and I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm Ch 46: v 1 & 10)
“With God all things are possible.” (Matthew Ch 19: v 26)