I thought for a moment about simply leaving the title unto itself: “Got Peace?” I don’t know that I need say much more than what was communicated on Sunday. Jesus is Peace. Peace with the Father. Peace with ourselves. Peace with one another.
I think back (not too far for some examples) of times great and small lacking peace. I can honestly say they have been times where Jesus did not seem close by. They are times I had wandered far in thought and deed, not able to clearly hear His voice amidst the noise I had become accustomed to listening.
Do you hear noise? Are you pressed hard by duties or desires or fears or circumstances or memories? In this world you will have trouble.
Scripture tells us that peace is one of the hallmarks of a Christian and a result of an abiding relationship with Jesus. He wants you to have it. He wants to have you. And I do believe they go together.
“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.” (emphasis mine)
“In me.” United with Jesus, not only in mission, but in listening to Him, in following His ways, His heart for us, for others—in knowing Him. I believe that is a place of Peace—and I know of no other.
The leaves are changing color, drifting through the air, and blanketing the ground. The excitement of the football season has returned with team apparel, painted faces, and appetizer buffets. Traffic is a bit slower in the morning as school buses return to our streets, marking the beginning of another school year.
This is my fiftieth back to school, counting both my years as a student and as a teacher. The Fall to me is always bittersweet. I am sad to let go of the summer, the long days, working in the yard, and forgetting what day it is. At the same time, I look forward to the beauty of the fall, the return to routines and order, and especially to the promise of what new lessons the new year will bring.
The start of this school year has been like none other. I never thought that I would hear students (especially junior high students) say they were excited to come back to school. The absence of regular school over the past couple of years has made many of us realize what we appreciate about the old normal. For many students, the start of this school year is a chance to start fresh, to break the habit of lazy, and to form productive new habits—basically to recommit to the process of learning.
I give my students a yearly challenge to do what it takes to learn. This lecture always includes the fact that learning is not a spectator sport—it is hard work and doesn’t happen by itself. Showing up, being in a seat, and having the right supplies are not the same thing as learning. Students must engage, participate, and not only listen but hear, question, form conclusions, and seek truth if they want to learn.
I heard myself give this challenge, and I realized that I needed to listen to my own advice. In the classroom of my life with my infinitely patient and loving Teacher, Jesus, I have been more concerned with my school supplies and going through the motions than paying attention to the valuable teaching He has for me. I needed that nudge to get me back on track and help me really listen to the Word and not just hear it.
No more approaching Scripture out of habit without preparing my heart to be transformed by the living Word of God. I need to turn off the autopilot and seek the Spirit’s whisper of truth.
Fall is the season of back to school, and it is also the season of change. So I am taking my own advice and recommitting to the process of learning and listening to my true Teacher, the lover of my soul, the voice that guides me toward the Truth and truly does have the power to transform me through the renewing of my mind (Romans 12:2).
Maybe there is some advice you need to listen to? Are there habits that need to change? Fall is a good time to start down that new path. Connect with fellow believers and join a life group or Bible study for company and encouragement along the path. Come to church or livestream the service to receive the Word and be challenged and changed by it. It sounds like Pastor Ryan’s new sermon series on Ecclesiastes will nudge us out of our ruts and old ways of thinking. I’m ready for it . . . are you?
I find myself regularly returning to a particular prayer in this season. It comes from the pen of the 20th-century French Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Allow me to quote it in full:
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
—Excerpted from Michael Harter’s Hearts on Fire: Praying with the Jesuits (2005)
This is such a paradox. Jesus’s sacrificial death on the cross and His victory made manifest by the empty tomb were definitive and decisive. Truly, there and then Christ broke the power of evil, sin, and death and now is making all things new, even us. Yet this journey into newness is long. The process of sanctification is a slow and gradual, peppered with moments of breakthrough. It is almost as if Jesus is breathing His resurrection life into our mortal flesh one organ system at a time, chiseling us stroke after deliberate stroke into the image of the Son.
That means we will spend the vast majority of this life of faith as a humble work in progress. Most of our days will involve trekking uphill or slogging through the mud, not standing at the base of the waterfall and marveling at the vista. How are you doing with “the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete”?
I am so encouraged that when the Lord invites us into adventure, he promises, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14). He is not speaking merely of temporary respites for refreshment along the way, but a deep and enduring centeredness and well-being that is ours through Jesus’s abiding presence. Even in the midst of exertion and uncertainty, we can rest in our belovedness. We can experience confidence because it will never be Christ who withdraws from us. He is ever faithful and will never leave us or forsake us.
As you wrestle with impatience, as you grow disappointed with your current progress, and you despair over the lack of transformation and victory, hear the words of the Apostle Paul and take heart:
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4)
Your life is hidden in Christ in God. Much of the growth that is taking place—the maturing of your character, the softening of your heart, the transformation of your will and desires—is taking place out of sight, even for you. Your responsibility is simply to set your sights on Jesus daily and press into journeying with Him. Trust in the slow work of God in your life—and in the lives of others. He will carry to completion that good work He has begun in us. You focus on embracing today’s leg of the trail and tackling it with your Savior who loves you.
We’re closing in on three decades since we moved to Puyallup for my assignment at McChord Air Force Base. My job as an Air Force officer was to lead a team that provided support and the information necessary for the aircrews flying the big transport jets to do their jobs and safely return home. Safety has always been the mantra; active airfields are strictly controlled, and no one moves about freely. So, I was shocked by the images of a C-17 driving through the crowd at the Kabul airport with men clinging to the body of the aircraft. It was chaos and there was no control. Some of those men refused to let go and held on until they fell to their deaths. I never imagined that scenario. Never. But that is only one of several things I’ve seen in the last year that continually cause me to ponder the uncertainty of tomorrow and what I can trust.
A couple of weeks ago I went into a store intending to buy a bag of shredded lettuce. I walked into the large refrigerator section that is lined with shelves and usually has pallets of produce in the center. It was nearly empty. Many of the shelves throughout the store were empty. Last year, we all probably experienced the lack of availability of toilet paper, cleaning products, and sanitizer. I saw my retirement fund plummet. I was fortunate to continue working but have done so from home. These are new experiences in my American life, not new to many or even most in this world, but new to me here on South Hill.
At the end of May, we took a drive up to Paradise on Mt Rainier. We hadn’t been to the park in years. The snow was still deeper than our car and it was falling so much that we didn’t get out because we weren’t prepared for it. Again, I was shocked when I saw our beautiful mountain recently and it was brown and rocky, more exposed than I’ve ever seen it.
Every generation must have their “shocking” moments. I grew up with the threat of nuclear annihilation and imagined how that would bring about the end of the world. I can’t say I’m prepared to physically respond to the unknown. Everything in this world is temporary and I don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
Many of you have heard me talk of this before, but going into my second round of unemployment, I did not know if I would find a job. I didn’t know if I would keep the house or feed my family, but I was absolutely certain that God would see us through to the completion of His perfect will.
These are not just stories. They are foundational to who we are. Ryan asked at our last elder meeting what each of us envisioned for Elim. I answered that I long to see Elim be a place of a people set apart from the world. A place of ordinary people empowered by an extraordinary God, those who have the answer for the uncertainty and trials this fallen world brings. Our God has never not been in control. Sin has marred His creation, but through Jesus we have the answer to the ultimate victory over all tribulations. People are scared and angry and frustrated by COVID and life. We must be different. We must live into the promise of Jesus. That is how we are an oasis, a light on a hill. We are a gathering of diverse believers with the common faith in the One who is in control. That is the answer for those who are scared and unsure.
Sunday, we sang “Morning by Morning” by Pat Barrett:
Last week Pastor Ryan spoke compellingly of the fact that our identity is to be Jesus followers first and primarily, and all other labels (political or whatever) are to be far secondary. This touched me deeply, as I, too, have been struggling with the way we have been dividing ourselves into ”camps” or factions for reasons not related to Jesus.
In a recent blog, former EFCA leader T. J. Addington also shines a bright light on this issue.
This is what he had to say:
Politics today has become tribal, and frankly ugly. People use social media to demonize those who don’t think like them with nasty, unkind comments. Christians are not immune. I have been called nasty names when I have posted comments regarding racial injustice, for instance, that had no political intent at all. Our tribalism is invading the church, dividing congregations, killing friendships and creating divisions that sadden the heart of God.
This is not a new problem. Even the early church dealt with differing perspectives, world views and opinions. Paul addresses this in Ephesians 4:1-6 where he writes: “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
If you’re at all familiar with Jesus’s teachings in the Gospels, you’re likely familiar with the fact that much of it centers around money. Jesus has a lot of opinions about how the people of God should handle wealth. One of the more famous sections is found in Matthew 6, wherein Jesus says the following: “No one can serve two masters, for he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” Matthew 6:24.
Now, interesting thing about most English translations, they use the word wealth or money” in place of what it actually says, “mammon,” which seems to be a name. This is a small quibble: the meaning does just amount to money, but it’s interesting to me that the text and the name both personify wealth—they act as though it’s a person.
A person you can serve.
The main conflict set up here between God and Mammon is that they make competing claims about themselves. Both God and Mammon will tell you that they are trustworthy, that they are providers, and that they are worth of your admiration and worship. That you need them, because only they can provide for you.
And you can only believe one of them.
While overt worship of Jesus is important (think prayer, songs of praise, communion, etc.), what we do with our money demonstrates the truth of who we really worship in new and clarifying ways. So, I would like to propose some practical ways that we can honor our Lord Jesus and handle the money we have.
Trust in Jesus: Give until it changes your lifestyle. Have you ever given so much that it changed your vacation plans? Delayed the purchase of a new car or a new home? Or even something as simple and small as forcing you to skip a lunch out one day? The one story that the Gospels record of Jesus being truly impressed with someone’s generosity was when a little old lady gave a fraction of a penny while others around her gave huge, significant sums. The difference was that she gave the only money she had to live on, while the others gave out of their excess. Their lifestyles were not changed by their gifts; hers was.
And friends, don’t miss this. It delights our Lord when we sacrifice for the good of others.
Trust in Jesus: Give immediately. Have you ever run into someone who would really be helped by an extra $500 in their bank account? While money isn’t our savior and provider, by giving it away, we can really help lift the burdens of our neighbors. A new set of tires is no big deal until it’s the thing standing between you and providing for your family. Don’t just limit your giving to the weekly collection at church or your World Vision sponsorship. Find the people around you that need help, listen to that small voice inside you, and help lift a burden right then and there.
Trust in Jesus: Give indiscriminately. How often have you talked yourself out of giving money to someone? “They’ll just spend it on drugs,” we assure ourselves. Or “Maybe they’re not really homeless.” There are many excuses, but it amounts to this: precious Mammon is too valuable to risk on this person.
While wisdom with our money can be good, I would like to propose that we demonstrate what our God is like when we imitate the God who “makes it rain on the righteous and unrighteous,” the God who instructs us to “invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind” into our homes to feast. The people who cannot pay us back, who might not use our money the way we want—indeed, the people who hate us—are fitting recipients of kindness and generosity in God’s kingdom.
Trust in Jesus: Give until it turns to joy. Here’s the heart of the matter. Our hearts are naturally geared to believe that money gives us power and protection. We’re not naturally going to trust in Jesus to provide for us—we’re going to turn to money for that. Giving up wealth feels like embracing weakness, embracing risk, and embracing death. But what if we so trust Jesus to care for us, to do as He promises, that money loses this terrible psychological grip on us? What if generosity became a free and happy thing, knowing that the God of Heaven cares for us? I Believe one of Christ’s goals in our generosity is that we would, ultimately, delight in it. That His gladness would become our gladness and it would overflow in glad, sacrificial generosity.
Some last things to make clear: Giving money doesn’t earn more of God’s love for us or cause Him to favor us with good finances. It is because God loves us that He calls us to love and generosity. It is because God already loves us that we’re called to become more and more like His Son, Jesus Christ, who laid down his life for unworthy sinners because He loves them.
There’s great joy and peace ahead for us friends—and it’s not in hoarding wealth in a world where it can rot and get stolen. It’s in loving our neighbors so well that we come to find we’ve been storing up treasure in Heaven all along.
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