Adult Object Lesson: John 14:23-29, Psalm 67
The Gift of Peace
Today’s object lesson can be a gift-wrapped package. Inside the package should be some symbol of peace. There are yard ornaments — rocks with peace written on them. (You could paint your own rock.) Or you might pull out a dove from a Christmas decoration. Think of some physical symbol of peace. Ask a member of the congregation to open the gift.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus is preparing the apostles for their mission without His physical presence. He knows that their journeys are not going to be easy. Most will die martyrs’ deaths. He sends them out with the assurance that He will somehow, in a way beyond normal understanding, be with them. He offers them peace.
That’s quite a promise!
How can He possibly deliver on that promise!
Well, it’s not the type of peace the world gives you, He explains.
There’s something to talk about in that because the world is always at war, it seems. Yet we still long for individual oases of calm. Lake houses of serenity.
Talk of the Spirit is never far away. The Spirit is about to figure prominently in the post-Easter story. The Spirit keeps the sense of peace in motion. The peace of the Lord is an active peace. Less of a lake house of serenity and more like a boat on a storm-tossed sea—that Jesus has the power to calm!
A great gift deserves a response.
Given the gift of peace, what are we going to do with it?
Don’t just let the question dangle in the air. Help your congregation explore answers. When they pass the peace later in the service, it may take on new meaning.
In fact, when you come to the passing of the peace, you could physically hand the symbol of peace you unwrapped from one congregant to another. That will be a reminder of your teaching this morning.