After Jesus spent a few years of public ministry proclaiming in word and deed a very different Good News than the Roman Empire and the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem, he was rewarded for his efforts with execution by crucifixion.  Such punishment for what both deemed insurrection was meant to deter would-be imitators who might consider doing the same.  The message they were sending was simple: go against Rome (or Jewish leaders), and you will suffer.  This mode of being flowed very naturally from an orientation of power and control.  Those in power (usually evidenced by might and money) keep it by demanding strict allegiance to their ideology.  Play by the rules and live, disobey and die.  The Romans created the greatest Empire of their time, and the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem knew the rules, played by them, and significantly benefitted from them (even if at the expense of those they were supposed to serve, which they rationalized away).  The lure of power and control usually wins.

After Jesus was experienced resurrected from the grave, how would his followers behave moving forward? Would they cower in the face of threat of death?  Would they simply stop the movement and go back to fishing or tax collecting or whatever they were doing before following Jesus?  Or would they alter their mission based on the resurrection, embracing a very different approach based on the victory of life over death?  Perhaps they would emerge as victors and wield their newly given authority over those who killed Jesus?

In the Bible’s book entitled Acts of the Apostles, written by the same author as the Gospel of Luke, we have a witness of what happened after the resurrection and the development of what would become Christianity (note: neither Jesus nor his disciples intended to create a new religion – they thought they were simply living out a new, reformed and refreshed version of Judaism). The happy surprise is that the disciples stayed on the same course they learned from Jesus.  The Good News stayed the same, essentially, despite challenging temptations that to some degree could have shifted the central message of Jesus’ grace for all approach.  The Prince of Peace remained even posthumously.

A follower named Stephen challenged the teaching of Rome and Jerusalem, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus, as was promptly stoned.  While his death surely created fear, it did not dissuade the earliest followers away from Jesus.

A devout, learned Jewish leader named Saul was given authority from Jerusalem to essentially hunt down Jesus’ devotees.  On his way to carry out his errand in the city of Damascus, however, the resurrected Jesus appeared to him as a blinding light, stopping him in his tracks.  The message Saul received was that Jesus was in fact anointed by God, and his message was true.  Everything for Saul changed that day, including his name – he would now be known as Paul, and his mission was to eventually carry the Good News beyond Jewish audiences into the rest of the world.  Paul’s ministry (which led to martyrdom), was one marked by peace as he proclaimed a radical grace for all.  Imagine what this shift entailed for him, moving from a position of power-based certitude to a more open trust in a God of love.

Peter, the infamous denier of Jesus, became one of the key leaders of the ongoing movement.  In a pivotal moment for him, Peter had to come to grips with his own prejudice and restrictive theology as he responded to a clear call from God to minister with a Roman Centurion and his household.  Frankly, he was really klutzy in his approach and delivery, yet the Good News broke through and the entire lot of them chose to devote themselves to following Jesus, marked by baptism.  Because the Spirit of God was so visibly present in the exchange, Peter could not keep himself from stretching himself and his beliefs.  When news of the baptism of such notable Gentiles made it back to the rest of the leaders, however, there was hell to pay.  Even among a group of people who walked with Jesus and witnessed the expansive love of God at work with so many who had been previously told they were not eligible for such grace, they themselves still had to grow with grace as the challenges came up.  Clunky as it was, they worked through the process.  In a critical general letter to all of the followers spread throughout ancient Mesopotamia, they came to the enormous insight that legalistic interpretations of the Jewish faith did not jibe with the teachings of Jesus, and therefore strict adherence to Law was not required.  Grace was the Way.

The last writings of the Jesus followers in the first century BCE come from John.  The Gospel bearing his name as well as his letter to the churches, and even his provocative Letter of Revelation give a glimpse to the shape of thinking held by these foundational believers.  Love and grace abound in his theological-historical remembrance of Jesus, and his letters followed suit, where he boldly asserted that God is love, and the true mark of God’s followers is the prevalence of love.  Like so many other Jesus followers, such a message got him in trouble.  Revelation was written from his perch in a penal colony on the island of Patmos.  The letter to the churches was meant as an encouragement to stay the Love Course, holding accountable churches that had strayed and celebrating those that stayed.  Many interpreters recognize that John was giving a picture of things that had already happened using imagery that would be understand by Jesus followers but not Roman authorities (who would dismiss it as prophetic hogwash).  The central thrust of the writing?  The love of God would prevail, and, in fact, already had.  The New Jerusalem emanating life and grace was open and available to all who would choose to enter, where life and healing would flow freely for all who would humbly choose it.

From the manger, throughout his life, enduring torturous death, and through resurrection where the Spirit of Life reigned free, Jesus was and still is the Prince of Peace.  His invitation to follow as embracers of such radical love still beckons to all and is no less challenging than it was originally.

The world always has been – and always will be – driven and guided by power and control where the strongest and richest win and command strict allegiance to their ideology (lest you pay the price).  The lure is incredibly tempting and easy to embrace.  The Church itself gave into it in the fourth century and only now is beginning to fully wake up to the mistake.  Once we think we have power and control, it is hard to make the shift toward truly trusting love and grace.  The everlasting invitation of Jesus continually calls for a humble walk as we love mercy even as we head toward justice for all.  

Faith isn’t about learning to toe the line. Faith is about walking freely in love and grace and seeing where it takes us.  Our inner fears caution against such foolishness, thinking love to be weak, when in actuality it is stronger than any other force on the planet and is the creative power of life itself.  Once embraced, the way we think about everything and how we live is illumined on every level, challenging everything from how we assess our success and manage our failures, to the way we raise our children, to our view of friendship and romantic love, to citizenship, to being part of a global community, to leaving a legacy – everything.  And the choice really does come down to what this Prince of Peace placed before us: are we going to live out of the fear-based modus operandi of power and control or the love-based Way of grace and freedom?