Overwhelming Peace

Currently, my heart cries for the families who have lost a love one due to the oil rig explosion. My heart cries for all the living creatures of our ocean dyeing because of our love and dependence on oil. My heart cries for the victims of the China and Haiti earthquakes. My heart cries for those dyeing of AIDS and Malaria in Africa. My heart cries for the tension in Thailand. What’s even scarier is that this list goes on and on and on...

Honestly, all of this is OVERWHELMING and Exhausting. After all there is not much we can personally do about it. I know that I’ve often wanted to crawl in a corner and ignore it.

And sometimes we do. We have the choice to turn off the TV. Build a strip mall around the run down trailer park that has poverty written all over it. We can bury things and pretend they are not there.

I imagine the 12 guys hiding in the upper room – realizing what happened when Jesus died. Not knowing the next move. So, naturally they locked the door and hid in fear.

So what does Jesus do? He meets them where they are at and says, “Peace be with you.” Then Jesus shows the disciples his wounds and again says, “Peace be with you.” Friends in Christ, this is not a greeting. It’s a gift. Jesus gave them peace. Jesus gave them the breath of the Spirit.
Even before the disciples were locked behind doors with fear. Jesus was offering peace.

Jesus knows that our hearts are easily troubled. Jesus knows that the ways of this world are overwhelming and that is why we can grasp at the words, “I do not give to you as the world gives.” Jesus even on the way to the cross was assuring us peace over and over again. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Don’t let your hearts be troubled, do not be afraid.

How many more times do we need to hear it?

It’s like a child that has been injured. Imagine a child bumps his head or scrapes her knee what do they run? They run into arms of a mother or father and just want to be embraced. A child knows that the parent cannot actually take away the pain. But there is renewed life found in the embrace of the parents comforting arms.

This world is fallen. We fall. We may not be able to physically run into the arms of God our father, our mother – but we sure can embrace our gift. A gift of peace. A gift of the Spirit.

Instead, of being overwhelmed by this world - we get to experience overwhelming peace.

Lord today we again cry for your peace.