Peace in Action

I recently saw that a fat-burning pill is being developed that will take the place of exercise for those who want to lose fat, it is in the trial stage and may be available within five years. While this may be a much-needed help for folks who simply cannot exercise due to physical limitations, for the rest of us it may represent another reason why we don’t exercise, another reason why we don’t care for our bodies, another reason why we stay glued to a video screen or not be thoughtful about what we eat.

A pill can be so much easier than engaging ourselves in the process and discipline of health. In much the same way we often approach the Bible looking for a pill, a quick way to get out of our trials, the pressures of life...so that we can move on and continue with our own agendas. We can be more concerned about getting what we want from God and His Word than we are in having a relationship with God and with being a blessing to others. The Bible can be like a fortune cookie, we just want a verse or two to help us along and we’ll come back later for another cookie when we need it.

One of the differences between the True and Living God and idols and philosophies is that God desires relationship with us, He wants the best for us and the best, the very best, is to know Him, the only true God and Jesus Christ (John 17:3). This means, among other things, that God desires a response from us when He approaches us, when He gives to us, when He engages us. How often do we treat God as if we were going through a drive through at a fast food restaurant? We don’t even have time to go inside and sit for fast food, we are going to eat on the go. “Hi God, I’ll have a number 3 combo.” Do we expect God to come back and ask, “Would you like to supersize that?”

“God, just please give me a verse or two to get me through the day and I’m good. I’ll be back tomorrow if I need something.”

One of the passages that we often go to when we’re facing anxiety is Philippians 4:6 - 7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” I love these verses and I meditate on them often, they remind me that God desires that I have peace in Christ, in fact, God wants me to know His very own peace and I find this reassuring. Jesus says in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you…” I find this incredible, that our Father and Lord Jesus deeply desire their very own peace for us in a world of anxiety. But back to Paul’s words to the church in Philippi, does Paul say anything else about peace? Below is Philippians 4:6-7 in context:

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:4 - 9.

While there is much to glean from this passage, I want to focus on elements of verses 8 and 9. The word “dwell” in verse 8 has the meaning of “think upon”, “ponder”, “ruminate”, “consider”; so “dwell” is a pretty good translation if we understand it to mean “live in these things, live with these things, associate with these things, make these things your life partners, focus your attention on these things.” We could put verse 8 alongside 1 Corinthians Chapter 13, the great love chapter, and compare it with the characteristics of love. Our minds and our hearts matter, it matters how we use them, it matters how we engage them, and if we want to live in relationship with God and if we want to live in the peace of God then we need to be aware of how we use our minds and hearts, we need to be aware of our thought life.

When Christians engage their minds with things that are not true, with things that are not of “good repute”, with things that are not “worthy of praise”, they cannot expect to have peace in their lives. Rather than engage in the vitriol of the times we’re counseled to “Let your gentle spirit be known to all men.” We cannot expect to live in peace if we do not live peaceably. We cannot engage with vitriol, with sinful actions and attitudes, with filth, with toxicity in any form, and expect God to give us a pill to alleviate the consequences of our actions and attitudes. Keep in mind that Paul wrote these words in a Roman prison - he was practicing what he was preaching, he was living in the grit of life.

But then consider verse 9, “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” Our cry to God for peace is to be mixed with an obedient response to His Word - just as a seed requires good soil, appropriate sunlight, and water to germinate and grow, so God’s Word requires an obedient response (see Mark Chapter 4). Of course only God’s grace can enable a response, but in the mystery of this dynamic we are called to decide to respond, called to make a choice, called to follow Jesus as His disciples.

Peace is a way of life, living a life of peace in Jesus Christ is our calling; peace is not the equivalent of a pill, or an elixir, or a mental gymnastic; we cannot build a firewall between our actions and attitudes and our mental and emotional health, which is to say that we cannot engage in thoughts that are contrary to our Philippians passage, contrary to the love passage of 1 Corinthians Chapter 13, and contrary to the Person of Jesus Christ, and expect to have peace in our lives - as we “practice these things” as our Way of life we learn to live within the house of the Prince of Peace. We also learn to be a source of peace in Christ to those around us.

Are we living lives of peace? Can we say with Paul to others, “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

What do we need to learn today to live in God’s peace? What do we need to say “no” to? What do we need to say “yes” to? Can we say to others what Paul wrote in Philippians 4:9?