Living in peace is active.
The world is far from peaceful at the moment. I don’t really even watch the news much anymore, but social media and my internet homepage is more than adequate to keep me up to date on the gory details of daily events. It’s sometimes difficult to remember that chaos is not God’s will for us.
In John and Luke’s Gospels, when Jesus appeared to the disciples, his closest companions, the first thing he said was, “Peace be with you.” In fact, in John, he said it twice. I find that particularly relevant considering the horrific, violent death he endured. There was nothing peaceful about the cross.
And his closest followers deserted him. Did they deserve peace? John’s Gospel says they were hiding behind locked doors after the crucifixion, hiding from Jewish authorities. They were terrified of worldly retribution. Would they be next in line for execution?
But, then Jesus showed up out of nowhere and tells them to be at peace. Not only was he letting them off the hook for not doing anything to stop his death; he was giving them the responsibility of spreading the Good News. The men in that room went from feeling like terrified losers to the specially and carefully chosen ones to share the unique story of grace.
Jesus promised them the Holy Spirit; and after he appeared, those disciples were truly fearless. They had a unique peace that came from knowing that Jesus spoke truth when he said: “I am leaving you with a gift-peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. John 14:27
Peace seems to be far from us in the world we live in. Our desire to have more material things keeps us in constant turmoil. Buying all of those things keeps us working long hours and very often in deep debt. We worry about finances. We worry about our jobs. We worry about the economy. We worry about our health and the health of our families. We have so many worries and concerns that keep us from being at peace and those are just local examples.
Globally, the chaos is much worse. Last week, twelve Christians seeking an escape from war-torn Libya and work in Italy, were tossed overboard and left to drown by Muslim aggressors. The reason was simply that they professed their Christian faith.
That kind of hate seems almost unfathomable to Westerners. However, last week, many parts of the world commemorated Holocaust Remembrance Day. It’s only been seventy years since the end of World War II. Hate was alive and well then.
But, hate was alive and well when Jesus was nailed to a cross too and yet, his message to his disciples and to us is to be at peace. God does have a plan.
Does that mean we should stand idly by and watch evil spread? No, I don’t think so. I think first and foremost, we are to pray for peace and protection of all Christians and Jews worldwide. I think as a nation, we should intervene where we can, to protect the innocent.
Perhaps as we begin a new election cycle, we should pray for discernment on who God would like to lead our country. Make no mistake, there will be plenty of hate to go around there as well.
But, in the end, after we have done what we can spiritually and physically, we need to lean into Jesus and seek and experience his peace. Fear and worry don’t come from him, so how can surrendering to it be his plan?
Seeking peace is active not passive. I realize that this is much easier said than done, but the outcome will be well worth it. Peace be with you.
Have an awesome day.
Wendy 🙂