Today’s scripture: Ephesians 2:11-22 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Steve Adams):
In my teenage years, during the late ’60s and early ’70s, there was a great passion for peace among the younger generation. Songs of the era envisioned a revolution of love, peace, and freedom; the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, a new era of hyper-enlightenment. The love portrayed was not only about romantic love, but also love among groups of people, even nations. Everyone was invited to hop on the Peace Train and ride into a new, utopian world, a vision that, as we know, sadly never became reality.
Long ago, God engineered a true breakthrough to peace, described in this passage. The Gentiles have been united to the Jews through Christ’s sacrifice. They are one! The enmity and hostility has been washed away! And the result? Peace — spiritual equanimity that can endure through the ages.
So Jesus Christ gives us the potential for deep reservoirs of internal peace. To me, that means He can help us handle our anxiety, frustration, fear, lust, impatience, loneliness — anything and everything that causes “war” to rage within us — all the way from small mental skirmishes to global psychological conflicts!
What about external peace? Can we always have peaceful circumstances? Jesus doesn’t offer total, all-the-time, circumstantial serenity. He said, “In the world, you shall have tribulation.” Unfortunately, many of the greatest peace-makers of all time, like Jesus, Ghandi, and Martin Luther King Jr. endured LOTS of persecution and chaos in their lives because of the stands they took for peace. Yet I don’t think they minded a bit! Their inner peace remained (at least for the most part) because they were living what they believed in with their whole hearts, even when it meant sacrificing their inner mental peace for awhile.
For them and for us, it’s all about VALUES. For example, I value peace, love, and courage so much that — even if it means sacrificing my own inner peace in order to give it to others — I’m willing to do it! It’s not easy and fun, but it’s JOYOUS! The long-term joy we have from living our values totally overshadows the temporary discomfort.
Thought for the day: In the footsteps of Jesus, Ghandi, King, and others, may we “wage peace,” even if it means sacrificing some of our own.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.