Sean C. Capparuccia
Jan. 8, 2024
Some thoughts on “Peace”
Seeking Peace
Christ is our Peace
Read John 14:27.
Before leaving the disciples, Jesus said He would give them peace. Peace is also a fruit (or part of the fruit) of the Spirit given to all Christians.
How would you define peace? No more wars? No more civil strife? No bickering among Christians? Peace in your family? Peace within yourself? Peace can take many forms, but what kind of peace is Jesus talking about?
Let us pray each day this week that the Holy Spirit increase our peace and the ability to live at peace with those around us.
Whose Peace?
Read John 14:27 and Philippians 4:4-9.
They say, “Money can’t buy happiness.” I think it actually can- to at least some extent; but what money cannot buy is Peace. Scripture tells us that the peace which God gives ‘passes all understanding.’ In other words, to the unbeliever, and perhaps even to the believer in Christ, it is hard to comprehend how a person can be at peace even in the midst of turmoil, strife, pain, financial stress, you name it. Indeed, the world (or, the things of this world) cannot give this peace – but God can, and He does; it is His gift to those who give their hearts and minds to Him through Christ Jesus.
Think of some tough times in your life when your faith carried you through… thank Jesus for that.
Think of some people you know who are going through a tough time… share Christ with them.
This week, reflect heavily on Philippians 4:8 and see if God’s peace increases in you.
“Visualize Whirled Peas”
Read Luke 12:51-53 and James 4:1-4
“Visualize Whirled Peas” has always been one of my favorite bumper stickers. It never ceases to strike me as funny; but then, I love words and sounds and puns. Nevertheless, I think it also strikes at the truth as well: we can visualize world peace all we want, but it can never be attained. R. J. Rushdoony remarked that what we ever experience as “peace” in the world is, in reality, nothing more than a temporary truce. Until the world comes to accept that Jesus Christ is Lord there can be no “world peace” because all of humanity suffers from the terrible disease called sin. As James points out, sin is the source of all strife and fighting. To be at peace with the world is to be at enmity with God. Even Christians succumb to the pull of the world and oftentimes we are too willing to accept what is blatantly ungodly in order to be at peace with the world around us. And yet for the Christian, there is always that uncomfortable feeling within us when we do so. It is the Spirit of God, dwelling within, that is fighting against us and urging us to conform to Him and not the world. Until Christ comes again, the world can know no peace.
This week:
Read the James passage slowly and substitute the pronoun “I” whenever you read “you.” Make it personal. “I lust and do not have; so I commit murder…”
Ponder what it must mean that Jesus says He did not come to bring peace but a sword.
Though “world peace” is nothing more than a humanistic illusion, ask what can I do to foster peace within my own sphere of influence?
Prayer: Holy Spirit, You who search me and know me, see if there is any wicked way in me. If I hold to any beliefs or assent to any position(s) that are contrary to Your law, I ask that You, in Your mercy, gently correct me and bring into conformity with Your Word that I may know peace more fully. Amen.
Peace in the Body
Read Romans 15:7 and Colossians 3:12-17.
Some may have found last week’s challenge a bit bleak. Yet as we study the whole counsel of God we must not neglect the “other side of the coin.” Flipping said coin back over we now see the context into which God places peace. Though we are certainly individuals – living at a specific time in history – each with our own journey into the Christian life, we must remember that Christ came to save His Church, his collective Bride. Yes, “You is smart; you is kind; you is important,” but as a Christian, you is part of the Church universal. In Romans, Paul exhorts us to “accept one another.” This doesn’t mean accept one another’s sins – Jesus addresses that elsewhere. But we are to accept people into the Church who are different from us (mainly along ethnic lines in his context.) And he exhorts us in Colossians, as members of the Church, the Body, to “let peace rule in our hearts.” Together, as a church, we intentionally remember that in Christ our sins are forgiven and therefore we forgive one another. As humans we will never cease to annoy each other (see last week) but as Christians we can never cease forgiving one another and encouraging each other to greater faith and works (or outworking of our faith.) If God can forgive our utter depravity, who are we to withhold forgiveness from a fellow Christian’s peccadillo? Let peace rule your heart and let the body of Christ be at peace.
This week:
Ask yourself, what things in other people tend to bother me?
Am I sometimes guilty of those same things?
Are they theological/Biblical issues or personality issues?
How can I, as a forgiven child of God, have peace with my brother/sister in Christ?
In what ways does a local church at peace within its own walls, show the love of Christ to those outside of its walls?
Prayer: Lord, make us instruments of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let us show love; where there is offence, pardon; where there is error, let us bring truth; where there is doubt, let us bring faith; where there is despair, let us bring hope; where there is darkness, let us bring Your light; where there is sadness, let us bring joy. O Divine Master, let us not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are raised to eternal life. (Prayer of St. Francis.)
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