What do the following books of the New Testament have in common?

Romans, 1st/2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st/2nd Thessalonians, 1st/2nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon, 1st Peter, 2nd John

Stumped?

In each one, the book starts with the writer wishing God’s grace and peace to the reader.

Why?

I mean God is really big, with a ton of attributes… a ton of things to offer us, why pick grace and peace… again and again?

Perhaps it was Paul’s catch-greeting, his trademark if you will, like Vanilla Ice’s “Word to your Mother’, and the other writers copied it because Paul was… well because he was Paul.

Probably not.

I would offer instead that there’s a reason… something beyond the trivial.  

Imagine what it would be like today if we greeted each other that way…

Make a call… grace and peace.

Send an email… grace and peace.

Come to church… grace and peace.

I think, to be honest, I’d get a little tired of it.. grace and peace… great… got it… stop it…

But then maybe, just maybe, it’d start to sink in.  Maybe they say grace and peace precisely because it would immediately confront all the stuff we go through on a daily basis….

I’ve screwed up again… grace

I’m stressed out at work… peace

I’m mad at them… grace

I need that now… peace

Maybe its because grace and peace centers our soul on what’s important… helps our heart lock onto where God is… diverts our attention from ourselves.

Grace and Peace… out.