2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our

Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 Peter 1:2-4 (NKJV)

How do you greet someone when you see them, talk to them on the phone, or send a letter or an e-mail? If we greet them in person, we often begin by telling them how well they look or how long it has been since you have seen them. At times we begin by apologizing for not having communicated with them for so long, or we mention the weather or some personal, community or national event.

Notice the way St. Peter greets those who will receive this letter. He begins by wishing that grace and peace might be multiplied, grow in them, through their increasing knowledge of God and Jesus, their Lord and Savior. We get close to this when we greet someone who has been ill as we say that we pray that their recovery will continue to go well, or when they are in mourning when we say we will continue to pray that God will be with them in their time of sorrow. That is good. But have you ever greeted anyone by wishing them an increase of God’s Grace and God’s Peace? I wonder how they would react. When people are ill or in sorrow, they know they need prayers. When things are all going well, they need these prayers just as much but seldom recognize it.

What then are we offering to others when we greet them with the Grace and Peace of God?

1. We are reminding them that by the Grace and Power of God, He gives us all things that pertain to life and goodness, AND

2. We are given these gifts because He has called us and given to us exceedingly great and precious (costly) promises, SO THAT

3. If we accept this costly promise, we will have escaped the hold that corruption has on us, IN ORDER THAT

4. We might be partakers of the divine nature, that is being washed by the Blood of Christ we are cleansed.

Can we consider skipping the trivial things and get to the greetings of importance? No, we would probably not use the same words as St. Peter used. No, you may not use the same words that I might use. You might not even use "religious" words. A person does not need to hear about the weather; if it is raining they got just as wet as you did. They don’t need to hear about the latest news events that have already been made known by the media. They need to know that you care about them, and then someway, somehow, you can make the Greeting complete by letting them know that God cares about them as well.

WE PRAY:

HEAVENLY FATHER, send your Holy Spirit upon me that I might receive the power to greet people in your Name. Help me so that I am not pushy or disrespectful, just faithful to you, with the desire that others might know the great love you have for them. AMEN.

You will need a Christian friend to help you carry out this suggestion. You and your friend reach an agreement that when you greet each other, along with the handshake, the hug, and/or the smile, one of you says, "The Peace of the Lord be with you" and the other responds, "And also with you." Yes, it would please God if we would share the PEACE in places other than within the four walls of the church. To you I say, "The Peace of the Lord be with you."