Attaining Peace - What are you willing to give up?
March 24, 2008 – 6:47 amYesterday, at the sunrise service on Lake DeVoe I asked the group to have a little discussion about their hopes for this Easter. Later I discovered that the majority of hopes centered on peace. I’ve been thinking about that and what peace would require. What would it require of me and what would it require of our community or nation? The more I thought about it the more two conclusions continued to become solidified. I believe Jesus validates these in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and other places. But here is the premise…
Peace come from God alone.
Peace requires sacrificial love.
The more I thought about those two simple statements they work. Try spinning them out - they just work. You might not be productive or financially successful, but peace… ah, that’s the spot.
Well, I began to think about what I would be willing to give up for peace and sadly I must say that I got to a point where I could not go beyond, so I guess I am semi-sacrificial. If my hope was peace, would I be satisfied with semi-peace and a some of my non-negotiables? (Well, back to Good Friday…)
For you to attain a peace (world peace, personal peace, relational peace, family peace, or just plain old peace), what would it take?
Are you willing to go there (or maybe semi-)?
One Response to “Attaining Peace - What are you willing to give up?”
I’ve been thinking about the peace and joy that Peter and the other disciples experienced in the book of Acts suffering for Christ. And I’ve been thinking about how comfortable I’ve become physically in my little suburban world - comfortable, but not really at peace. Yesterday I was reading the last chapter of the book of John, and I heard the words of Christ, “Do you love me more than these?” At that moment, I heard the “these” to be the physical fish, the comfortable role from his youth of fishing for them, for Peter. Do I, on my part, love Jesus more than “these” physical things I’m accustomed to? Jesus’ response to Peter’s yes was “Tend my sheep.” Am I willing to leave my “these” and just focus on tending the sheep? I’m trying to be. I think that is where I, like Peter, will ultimately find real peace and joy.
By klh on Mar 24, 2008