Peace
“I have told you these
things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart! I have overcome the world.” –
John 16:33
Have you ever wondered why peace is one of the candles
we light during advent? It was a question our pastor asked during study on Wednesday
night.
Jesus’ ministry was anything but peaceful. He turned the
order of things upside down and caused a great deal of uproar. And that’s
without mentioning how He healed the sick and the lame, fed thousands with
almost no food and, yes, raised the dead to life. No. There was nothing
peaceful about Jesus’ life.
The peace Jesus referred to wasn’t about political
peace. It was about inner peace. Jesus is how we find true peace.
Pastor Ryan Martin said that Jesus exposed false images
of peace. We compromise so many times to “keep the peace.” He’s right. We let
things go, we turn away, we mind our own business. And what is the cost? Our
integrity, our witness, our church, and our family.
Jesus didn’t come to overthrow rulers, Martin said. He
came to throw us off the throne of our own hearts so that Jesus can take up residence
there. Peace starts with us – with changed lives. It comes when we put Jesus
first.
Think about it for a minute. The spread of the early
church came when Jesus’ followers put Him first. They didn’t care what happened
to them. Their only purpose was to spread the Gospel to as many people as
possible and to live fully in His light.
Contrast that with today’s world. We love Jesus. We
do. But we aren’t willing to sacrifice for Him. We don’t want to face ridicule,
imprisonment, suffering, to prove we belong to Him. We don’t want to sacrifice
and be uncomfortable because we love Him. He understands, we tell ourselves.
But do we?
When we put Jesus first, peace comes into our hearts
and, then, spreads throughout the world. Have you ever watched someone with
deep faith ride out a storm? There’s a peace about them, a deep certainty that
no matter what happens they rest in Jesus’ embrace. That’s the peace Jesus came
to give to us.
We were at war with God. As sinners, we can’t be
around God. We were doomed. Jesus came as the perfect sacrifice so that all who
believe can be reconciled to God. We can be at peace with God because of Jesus.
But we have a choice. We can continue the war, both
inside of ourselves and with God, or we can let Jesus fill us with His peace.
We can fight alone, trying to control what can’t be controlled, seeking things
that will never satisfy us, or we can rest in Jesus and be filled with Him.
In this season of Advent, we can reflect on what it
means to give ourselves over to Jesus. We can watch and wait for the coming
Christ child. We can remember what God did for us, how much He suffered, because
of the deep love He has for all of us.
A baby came to one day give us life. That is our
peace.
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