Focus:
Peace
Function:
To
understand our commitment to peace making.
Form:
GOK
Intro:
Thanks
to our Advent readings, we were able to focus on the great and gentle
Shepherd last week.
One
of my favorites from Handel's Messiah is his rendition of Isaiah
40:11 “He
Shall feed his flock like a shepherd...”
The
melody of that song expresses today's focus, peace.
Last
week we remembered that inter-personal peace is the peace we feel
emotionally. I should add that it is a result of our trust in Jesus
Christ and the Holy Spirit continually renews that sense and calling
inside of us.
When
people have that inner peace, they become preachers of outer-peace.
Intra-personal
peace is the peace that is experienced between nations, cities,
families, friends and with Christ Jesus' help, even our enemies.
He
came to break down the wall of division between everyone.
17b-20...anyone
united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old
life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from
the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then
called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the
world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a
fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the
task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s
representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their
differences and enter into God’s work of making things right
between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends
with God; he’s already a friend with you.
21How?
you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything
wrong, so we could be put right with God.
This
leads to an obvious question: Why are so many wars fought in the name
of religion, even Christianity?
Does
this mean that the only walls broken down are the walls broken down
specifically because both sides of the wall have embraced Jesus?
I
don't think so. I mean, if that were true, then Islam would not have
grown out of Christianity.
One
very simple, and hopefully not racist history could be that because
of the Jewish Heritage inherent in the New Testament, Arab
Christians, led my Muhammad, evolved Christianity into the new
religion, Islam.
One
could say that it had its roots in the same racism that has existed
for Millennium in the Mid East.
But
nothing is that simple and I realize that the idea that Islam was
born out of Christianity as a rejection of Christianities Jewish
roots paints a picture of Muslims as merely racist.
And
a fair appraisal will take into account that Boko Haram is a
conservative Islamic group that has attacked most of their Islamic
brothers and sisters because they were willing to work with us
Christians.
That
same fair appraisal will not judge their religion based on the
actions of a few, but instead will judge the religion based on what I
actually have known and seen.
And
I have seen Brethren Leaders, Jewish Leaders and Islamic Leaders in
Grand Rapids, Detroit, Lansing Michigan and Dayton Ohio working,
serving and praying together.
So,
do the only walls broken down have to do with those broken down
specifically by and through the Church?
It
does not say that. I love the prophet Jeremiah's command to the
Israelites when they were being sent into captivity in Babylon, the
city of the enemy.
God
told them to seek the peace and prosperity of the places that God has
sent them because when all prosper, from the rich to the poor, then
everyone prospers.
When
God comes to a village, the peace of Christ comes in.
And
when believers come into a town, a city, a nation, or a home,
Christ's peace comes as well.
Let
is pray for peace:
I
will lead prayer and when you hear me say, “Lord God,” please
respond with:
“For
your peace, we pray.”
For
our elderly and weakening loved ones whose bodies make them weary,
Lord God...
For
our young and hopeful, reconcile them to their own growing bodies and
spirits as they go through awkward times, Lord God...
For
our strong and active parents whose lives are filled with provision,
schedules, moments upon moments and lives quickly filling with stuff,
Lord God...
For
our students whose lives are filled with wonder, challenge, friends
and just enough conflict to help them develop, Lord God...
For
our politicians who have learned that politics are about setting one
side over the other to the point where little is accomplished, help
them to remember why they decided to serve, Lord God...
For
those charged with protecting us, doctors, aides, caregivers, peace
officers, medics, nurses, fire and military personal, protect them
Lord God...
For
those who pray, serve, give, aid, help, bless, encourage, shepherd,
nurture, teachers, clergy, counselors, advisors and others called to
serve, help them see you in every client, Lord God...
For
the weak, the dispossessed, the hurting, the marginalized, the
victims, the oppressed, groups that are not the dominant culture who
struggle to survive, Lord God...
Even
for our enemies, Lord God...
And
finally, for all your Children everywhere, Lord God...
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