1 Peter 5:14: Greet one another with a kiss of love.
We have said it often before, but it bears repeating: The command to greet one another with a kiss is one of the most frequently repeated commands of Scripture. Paul says it at the end of Romans, and then at the end of 1 Corinthians, and 2 Corinthians, and 1 Thessalonians, and now Peter at the end of his first letter.
Each week, before we sit down to this table to receive Christ’s body and blood, we exchange greetings, hugs, kisses, and pass the peace. Confusing as it is to visitors, many of us think that this is one of the high points of our liturgy here at Trinity. It’s not a time for chatter and catching up on the week’s activities. It’s not a time for kids to run a few laps around church.
For us, so far, this has been mainly a liturgical rite. Liturgy shapes life, and as we learn to greet one another here with hugs and kisses, so we will learn to do it outside the church. Though it is a rite, it is not a “mere” rite. We do this in obedience to Scripture and that we do this as an expression of the peace, reconciliation, fellowship and love that we have for one another, and not only an expression but a means for renewing and deepening that fellowship.
It is no accident that we exchange peace and the kiss of peace before we celebrate the Supper. The Supper is a feast of love, an expression of our unity, and a means to realize and deepen that unity: We are one body because we partake of the one loaf. We become what we eat together; we become the body of Christ as we share in the bread that is His body.
This table is a foretaste of the marriage supper of the Lamb. We the bride share in that banquet ahead of time, and as we come, we exchange kisses. This is not simply the bride kissing the bride. We recognize and honor Christ in one another, and the kiss of peace is a sign that we who share in this one loaf are one body, and together with our Head Jesus Christ, we are in fact Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12). The kiss of peace is a recognition that we are what we eat.
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