The Peace of God (6)

 

Sunday, August 9: John 15:1 - 11; Psalm 1:3; 92:12 – 14; Jer. 17:7 – 8; Rev. 22:1 – 2

 

Some of us may be familiar with the story of sisters Betsy and Corrie ten Boom. Their Dutch family provided refuge for Jews during WWII until they were all arrested by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps. Corrie was the only member of the family to survive.

 

One day in the camp, Corrie asked her older sister Betsy, “How long will we have to be here?” Betsy replied, “As long as it takes for them to know the love of God. If they can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love.” [I am writing this from memory, so these are not exact quotes but they are close].

 

As Corrie recounted this conversation she said, “At first I thought my sister was speaking of the other prisoners, of us sharing Christ with them; but then I realized that she was talking about the prison guards.”

 

This is what the peace of Christ looks like. This is why, if we will experience the peace of Christ, we will always be in the minority. This is the passionate peace of the Father who gave His Only Begotten Son. This is the passionate peace of the Son who laid down His life for us – certainly Jesus Christ thought, “If they (you and me!) can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love.”

 

And this brings us to our final two days of meditations – which bring us back to who Christ is in us, who we are in Him, and what our mission is – for without a deep identity in Christ and in the mission of Christ, knowing the peace of God is problematic. To know the peace of Christ means that we must share the peace of Christ, and if we are not willing to share the peace of Christ it is unlikely that we will live in the peace of Christ.

 

Selfishness, self-centeredness, egotism, putting ourselves first, all of these things are contrary to the nature of our Elder Brother – are contrary to allowing His peace to rule in our hearts.

 

As you read today’s passages, what common threads do you see? How do these passages speak to us of our relationship with God? How do they speak to us of our purpose and mission?

 

Please compare the Tree of Life in Genesis 2:9 with Revelation 22:2.

 

Is the Tree of Life in our wallet?