Two for One

As we have seen in previous essays, God has given us the strength and ability through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to be his agents of peace in our broken world.  We also need to be reminded that Jesus’ commands on the subject of living out the “gospel of peace” are clear: Go and Do!  The Bible has many practical instructions about what it means to live as a peacemaker and we will highlight some of these in the next few weeks.  This week we will reflect on the amazing promise of Jesus to his disciples on the night of his betrayal.
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The celebration of Easter week with the momentous events leading up to Jesus’ betrayal, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection are a highlight in the year for me and for many of you.  I have always been so moved by the conversion that takes place in the Upper Room on the night of Jesus’ betrayal by Judas.  Jesus pours out his heart to his disciples, his closest friends, knowing that they will not fully understand what he is telling them until after his resurrection.

In John 15: 1-17, which I encourage you to read, Jesus explains to his disciples the unfolding of God’s plan.  He tells his followers that the Holy Spirit will come and be their “Counselor.”  He also gives his disciples the gift of peace, a peace the world can not give.  Jesus, knowing the traumatic events that they will face beginning that same evening with his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, says to them: “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).

After sharing these thoughts, Jesus declares himself “the true vine,” a word picture often used in the Old Testament as a symbol of Israel.  For the disciples who live in an agrarian society where vineyards are commonplace, this is a graphic illustration.  The central theme is this: if the disciples believe in Jesus, they will bear fruit; if they separate from Jesus, they will not.  Being productive is directly related to one’s relationship to Jesus. 

This profound statement is exactly the opposite of the way many of us often think.  We use the results of our Kingdom work to measure the quality of our relationship to Jesus. I know I struggle with this. But God’s ruler is different than ours. What we should be doing is trusting Jesus’ promise that we will be fruitful – despite how things may look to us – if we follow him. 

Having just given the disciples the gift of peace, Jesus then tells them that they will be successful peacemakers, successful fruit-bearers, if they are faithful to his commands.  Jesus also told them that their fruit-bearing would bring glory to his Father. In other words, there will be both earthly and heavenly results – two for one!

In the emotion-filled closing moments of this last gathering before his death, Jesus calls his followers “friends” and explains “everything” he has learned from his Father.  He reminds his disciples that God chose them and commissioned them to bear fruit – “fruit that will last” (v. 16).  The strategy of the God of love is now revealed: those who believe in Jesus as Lord and who follow his commands will bear fruit as agents of his reconciling love.  We can practice peacemaking in the confidence that our labors are not in vain.

So What?

• The peace that “the world can not give”: Have you experienced this at troubling times in your life?  What do you remember about it?  Are there lessons to take away from these times?
• While we don’t totally understand God’s “ruler,” can you think of something in your life or in the life of a friend where, using our “measuring stick,”  we might see it as negative, but over time we look back and see positive results?  Can this be helpful at times when we see nothing good in a situation?
• How can Jesus’ promise about fruit-bearing encourage you?

P Squared

As we have seen in previous essays, God has given us the strength and ability through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to be his agents of peace in our broken world.  We also need to be reminded that Jesus’ commands on the subject of living out the “gospel of peace” are clear: Go and Do!  The Bible has many practical instructions about what it means to live as a peacemaker and we will highlight some of these in the next few weeks.  This week we will discuss two practical biblical injunctions for followers of Jesus.

Psalm 122 is a hymn that was sung by the Jews in biblical times as they made their pilgrimage to Jerusalem to attend annual religious festivals.  Biblical scholars refer to these pilgrim hymns as “songs of ascent,” because the elevated location of Jerusalem meant the weary travelers would sing the songs as they climbed the steep ridges to get to their sacred city.

If you read this chapter – and I encourage you to do so -- you will find this passage: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May those who love you be secure.  May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.’  For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.’” (Psalm 122:6-8, NIV).  Here’s some real practical advice: Pray for peace.  In fact, the first action step for any peacemaker should be prayer.

The words of this hymn beautifully weave together the various dimensions of shalom: peace involves physical security, prosperity which means having what one needs for a full life, and a “right relationship” with God.  Praying for shalom means praying for all these aspects of a wholesome life grounded in the Lord God. 

Ordinary followers of Jesus – like us – are called by God to be prayer warriors.  Like the Jews journeying to Jerusalem, we are to pray for our “Jerusalem” – our neighborhood, our city, our nation, our world.  In my experience, when we pray for something in earnest, action usually follows.  But it should begin with prayer.

A second practical instruction for peacemakers also comes from the Psalms, this time from Psalm 34, composed by King David.  Again, I encourage you to read this powerful message, especially verses 8-14.  David tells his followers to “fear the Lord” if they loved life and desired “good days.”  He also instructs his people to “seek peace and pursue it.”  The words of David called for action: avoid evil, do good, and seek shalom. 

Peacemaking requires a commitment to shalom that is more than just an intellectual consent to an abstract concept.  If a person truly loves someone, they are not content to merely think about that love, but actively desire to be with and do things for that person they care so deeply about.  The same is true with peace.  Scripture instructs Christians to pursue it – an active, initiating posture.

Shalom, as we have seen, is much more than an absence of conflict or a period of calm between wars.  Biblical shalom is a positive, constructive word that involves wholesome, harmonious relationships between our Creator, humanity and the world.  The Bible offers us helpful practical advice: pray for peace and then pursue it.  P squared – pray and pursue! 

So what?

• Have you had the experience of praying about something or someone and then, over time, realizing that you needed to do something about this prayer concern?  Prayer does that, doesn’t it?   It gets us focused on an issue of concern and then often leads to action on our part.  It doesn’t lead to immobility and passivity.  “P squared” can be a good reminder!
• Praying for our “Jerusalem” requires a wide-angle lense.  When we pray for the peace, prosperity and security of our city, we are lead to focus not only on our family and close friends, but on the community in which we live and on people who are struggling to survive.  Have you developed a prayer life that involves a broad view of your “Jerusalem”?

Walking the Talk

As we have seen in previous essays, God has given us the strength and ability through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to be his agents of peace in our broken world. We also need to be reminded that Jesus’ commands on the subject of living out the “gospel of peace” are clear: Go and do! The Bible has many practical instructions about what it means to live as a peacemaker and we will highlight some of these in the next few weeks. This week we will discuss how shalom does not just involve some actions, but is a way to live -- a life journey.

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The book of Proverbs contains the heart of Old Testament religious instruction and it is a good place to begin our look at practical peacemaking advice. For example, the third chapter of Proverbs – and I would encourage you to stop and read it now – begins with insights that link obedience to God’s commandments and living a full, healthy life with prosperity. This chapter highlights shalom in all of its many dimensions and emphasizes that it is a gift of God to his people.

The wise teacher, who, as you may remember, is King Solomon, encourages his readers to make love and faithfulness the core of their lives with the promise that doing so will bring favor from both God and other people. Verse 5 has been a favorite of mine for years and I frequently think about it when I pray: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (NIV) or “he shall direct your paths” (NKJV).

However, I confess that I don’t fully understand this passage. I often wonder what it means to “lean not on your own understanding” since I work hard to understand developments in Russia and have a Ph.D. in European and Russian history. But what I count on is God’s promise that he will “direct’ my paths (note it’s plural!).

When I face tough decisions, I do the best I can to follow what I think God wants me to do, even though sometimes this is not very clear. Then I pray that God will bless what I have done and I wait to see what happens. It’s a formula I learned years ago: Work like everything depends on you and but know that God is in charge and he will orchestrate the future. Work hard; pray hard. This gives me great freedom to move ahead, while continuing to seek God’s guidance in my life.

Later in this same chapter, these powerful words appear: “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. . . . Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she [wisdom] is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold . . . Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace” (Proverbs 3: 7, 13-14, and 17, NIV).

The foundation for this profound biblical insight is clear: Trust in the Lord with all your heart. The sin of humanity was and is the desire to become like God – autonomous, independent, accountable to no one – isn’t that a good description of most Americans? But these verses teach the opposite: do not trust in your own understanding, but trust in God alone. Fearing God means not putting confidence in ourselves and our plans and goals, but relying solely on our Creator.

That’s walking our talk. Life is a journey and peacemaking should be a key part of our travel kit.

So What?

• Putting our trust in God is so counter-cultural, isn’t it? Everything around us stresses how we need to be in charge, how we need to call the shots. Kingdom living points in another direction – we are men and women made by a God who loves us and cares for us. Deciding to put our confidence in our Creator is life’s best investment.

• One of the biggest challenges for followers of Jesus is to put our faith into practice. We can so easily sing all the gospel songs, but we struggle with actually living out what we believe. How can we help each other to “walk our talk”?