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Let us pray. May the words of my mouth and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your
sight O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer; Amen.
Horatio Spafford was a wealthy, successful businessman who lived in Chicago with his
wonderful wife Anna and their five children, four girls and one boy. To the world the family may
have been seen as very lucky and blessed. They appeared to have it all, wealth and the blessing
of numerous children. But the Spafford family, despite their appearance wasn’t a stranger to
tragedy. In 1871 their youngest son died from pneumonia. And later that year they lost most of
their business to the great Chicago fire.
Following the fire, Mr. Spafford worked hard and was able to rebuild the business and be
even more successful than before. However, due to his dedication to rebuilding his business and
a sudden issue that arose, when his wife and four daughters wanted to take a trip from the United
States to Europe on a French Oceanliner, Mr. Spafford gave them his blessing and promised to
join them in a few days. His plan was to take the next ship out, after things were calmer in his
business.
About four days after crossing into the Atlantic, the Oceanliner Mrs. Spafford and her
daughters were on collided with a powerful iron clad Scottish ship. Suddenly all of the 313
passengers onboard were in immediate danger. Mrs. Spafford gathered her daughters around her
and prayed that God would spare them if that was his will, or if not that God would give them
the strength to endure whatever awaited them. Only twelve minutes later the ship sank, taking
with it all four of the Spafford girls.
A sailor, rowing in a small boat around the wreckage spotted a woman floating on a piece
of debris. It was Mrs. Spafford still alive. The sailor loaded her into the boat, and they were
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picked up by a larger vessel and taken to Wales. It was there Mrs. Spafford wired Mr. Spafford
and said just these words, “Saved alone, what should I do?” Mr. Spafford immediately booked
the next available ship and headed to his grieving wife. A pastor who was near Mrs. Spafford
recalled her saying, “God gave me four daughters. Now they have been taken from me. Someday
I will understand why.”
About four days into his journey, the captain called Mr. Spafford to his cabin and
informed him they were over the place where his daughters drown. It was in that moment
Heratio Spafford wrote the famous hymn, “When Peace Like a River”. The ironic words read,
“When peace like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot,
thou has taught me to say, It is well, It is well with my soul.” The inspiration for the song was the
death of his five children, and the passage from Philippians that reads, “And the peace of God
which surpasses all understanding, shall keep your hearts, your minds through Christ Jesus.”
When I read our gospel lesson for this morning and began to pray over it my mind
wandered to this hymn. Isn’t it interesting that in the midst of tragedy and sadness that Mr.
Spafford sought the peace that he knew could only come from God? How faithful. How trusting.
And isn’t it interesting that out of the depths of his despair and searching for the peace that can
only come from God, arose something so beautiful and meaningful as one of my most favorite
hymns? It makes me believe that despite my own challenges that come about in this world, no
matter how difficult or challenging, that God’s peace in my heart truly is possible. It gives me
hope.
Spafford’s story reminds me a lot of what the disciples must have been going through on
Easter. Their Messiah, the man they gave up their whole life to follow around is dead. They must
have been devastated and felt defeated, hopeless. Earlier that morning, they heard the news from
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the women, that Jesus was not actually dead, but alive. Peter and John the only ones to go and
scope out the situation. The rest of the disciples were hiding in the locked upper room out of fear
of the Jewish authorities, out of fear for their association with a man who was dead and is now
alive, out of fear for their life. And in the midst of the chaos, in the midst of confusion, Jesus
comes among them, despite the locked doors and says, “Peace be with you.”
Jesus could have said anything he wanted. He could have said why are YOU hiding? I’m
the one who died. He could have said, “What were you thinking on Good Friday? Why did you
abandon me?” He could have said, “Wow, you’ll never believe what being dead is like or you’ll
never believe what it feels like to be raised from the dead.” But he doesn’t. He comes and offers
those who betrayed and abandoned him God’s peace. I like to think of it kind of like a peace
treaty. The disciples wronged Jesus. They knew it. But instead of yelling at them and causing
more chaos, Jesus chooses peace and restoration of relationships. That’s a part of the promise of
Easter, a part of the promise that comes with a God who is raised from the dead for the salvation
of the world, that one day not only will all of creation be restored, but so will our broken
relationships.
I know that some of you aren’t fond of sharing the peace with one another during our
worship time, I know that you think it disrupts the flow of our service. I know that you feel that
sometimes the sharing of the peace can be insincere. But the peace that we share with one
another is a sign, a sign of restored relationships. It’s a sign that even if we are having
controversy within our church family, even if I’m having an argument with one of you, the peace
that I share with you is a sign that I believe that in Christ, all things will be healed. It’s a trust
that I have in my relationship with Jesus, and it’s a trust and a love that I have in my relationship
with you. That’s why sharing the peace with our church family is so important. I also believe that
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it’s extremely important to Jesus. In fact, it’s so important to Jesus that he doesn’t do it just once
in our gospel lesson for today, but he does it twice.
Jesus appears the first time to the disciples, but Thomas was missing. And the peace that
Jesus had to offer, the proof of the resurrection, the promise of restored relationships was so
important that Jesus came back a second time and offered that peace again to all the disciples
with Thomas present. And with that peace Jesus eases Thomas doubt. And shows him just how
important Thomas is to him. It’s a promise that in spite of what is happening in the world,
whether it be loss of loved ones, dissensions in families, loss of trust, no matter what we trust
that in God all things will be restored.
That’s exactly what the song “When Peace Like a River” is about. Even when things in
this life seem tumultuous. Even when the world around us is in chaos. Even when our hearts hurt
and are heavy. Even when we struggle to see light. We trust that God’s peace will surpass our
understanding, and restore our lives and all that is in it. That’s the promise of Easter. The
promise that allows me to sing “It is well with my soul.” The promise that allows me to trust in
God and gives me the ability to proclaim with confidence, the words of Jesus “The peace of the
Lord be with you always.” Amen.