January 30, 2017
Peace of Bautzen

“The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.” John 14:26-31

Henry II
Holy Roman Emperor

On this date, January 30, 1018, the Holy Roman Empire and Poland conclude the Peace of Bautzen. Bautzen was a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany. Polans was a West Slavic tribe. The Peace agreement between the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II and Bolesław I, duke of the Polans brought to an end a series of Polish-German wars over the control of Lusatia and Upper Lusatia as well as Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia. The contemporary German chronicler Thietmar, who was generally ill disposed towards Poles, commented on the peace with the words “non ut decuit sed sicut fieri potuit”, meaning “not as it should have been but as was possible in the circumstances”.

Peace is often elusive. For many people in our world, peace is just a pipe dream. Peace should be neither – elusive nor just a pipe dream. One of the purposes of the Christian church is for disciples and followers to be messengers of peace. It was for this and other purposes that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit – so that as people of G-d, we would move into the world, emboldened with the Spirit, to be messengers and teachers of peace, love and the Grace of Christ. This is also why we cannot just sit back and do nothing when evil is unleashed into the world – by people, by events, by governments.

We often say that Jesus gives us the “Peace that surpasses all understanding”. If we believe that Jesus does, and we have had a glimpse of that peace, then let us go forward and share the Peace of Christ – not just on Sunday morning, but every day.

Pastor Dave